On the Right Track
A safety film produced by Sheridan College and CN Rail
Background Artist and Cel Painter
MAINFRAME ENTERTAINMENT INC (1995-2003)
ReBoot (Season 1-3)
Animator, Modeler, later Senior Animator (S3)
Created the characters walk/run cycles. Also modeled a Binome after myself who appears in "Painted Windows".
We put a lot of "Easter Eggs" in the show. I put everyone's names on gravestones with a humorous epitaph in "To Mend and Defend".
A number of animators got a chance to direct in Season 3 but I turned it down when asked as I considered myself too "green" at the time.
Transformers: Beast Wars (Season 1 & 3)
Animator, Modeler, later Senior Animator (S3)
Created many of the characters walk/run cycles and transformation sequences. Also changed the title sequence to "Beasties" for YTV (thought it was a joke) for which I still want to beat whoever came up with that name with a hockey stick!
War Planets: Shadow Raiders (Seasons 1 & 2)
Animator
Created many of the characters' walk/run cycles
Only credited for "Embers of the Past"
Transformers: Beast Machines (Seasons 1 & 2)
Senior Animator, uncredited Supervising Animator for an episode as the guy was "sick" (actually he was surfing at Long Beach). When he returned he took credit for most of my work and almost got me fired. He got fired the next episode he worked on as he showed up on the news bragging about how he had been calling in sick to go surfing.
Created many transformation sequences for the drones.
Action Man (Season 1)
Senior Animator.
The show used some motion capture animation.
During the early days of this series we were plagued by visits from dumb-assed network executives. One thought everything looked like a penis, another thought Action Man had to be able to fly to be a super hero, then there was the guy that wanted to tell people what he liked on his bagels all day.
Got sucked into doing 40% of the lighting on "Storm Front" as that team were way behind schedule. Then they also then just slapped on the mocap and expected me to fix it and do the facial animation.
Heavy Gear
Animator (acting Senior Animator)
The show used a lot of motion capture animation.
I got offered Supervising Animator for this series but it came with a severe pay cut that I could not afford due to repairs to my condo building. Not taking the promotion probably saved my hide as the studio started laying off someone from each animation team every week or two until I was the last person animating.
Max Steel (Season 3)
Animator
The show used a lot of motion capture animation.
The client was a real A-hole on this, making us fix a finger to rotate one of the digits 6 degrees or to move the animation 1 or 2 frames in each scene not once but several times to justify his 6-figure salary in down in LA. No wonder the first studio that worked on it before us went bankrupt!
Scary Godmother - Halloween Spooktakular
Storyboard Artist
First project to be animated with SoftImage XSI by the studio. Didn't get to animate on it as I didn't get to go to the classes the studio provided.
Scott F and I had a lot of fun storyboarding this but the best stuff was nixed by our supervisor. Jill Thompson, the creator, complimented us on the stuff we came up with though having 2 Scotts to talk to on the phone was pretty confusing her.
Spider-Man The Animated Series
Credited as Animator (then why was I at all those Senior Animator meetings?)
The show used a lot of motion capture animation.
The start of the show was held up due to 9-11 and we had to remove the World Trade Towers from the NY skyline set.
I created a figure of myself (Angus farm hat and orange MFE jacket) that appeared in "When Sparks Fly" and "Identity Crisis Part 1".
Stan Lee visited the studio but no one told me. I was stuck in an empty suite on an empty floor doing lighting for animators that considered the task to beneath them for a few weeks.
BIG BANG FX (2004)
Scaler (video game)
Animator
Animated the beginning and ending sequences of the cinematic scenes. My first project with SoftImage XSI.
Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag (Imax movie)
Animator
Animated the computer displays to make them look better than they actually were.
The inside of the AWAC is actually a set and some of the crew are Big Bang FX animators (filmed before I got hired).
MAINFRAME ENTERTAINMENT INC (2004-5)
Stuart Little 3
Animator (though acting as Senior Animator as I trained the new kid who held that title how to animate - Yes really!).
Motion capture used on the human characters.
Had a lot of nearly completed shots that only required a rope from the Modeling Dept to finish but that never got made until the final week then those shots were handed off to someone else to finish so he got an easy quota plus $$$ in bonus for the week.
Hot Wheels: Acceleracers
Animator on the DVD Extras.
It was for a game where the viewer either came out the World Portal to park his car or hit the crash pad. My supervisor was completely clueless as to which way a person leans into a turn. I made him act it out in a chair to prove my point.
Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus
Senior Animator
A lot of motion capture used on human characters. I mostly animated Annika (Barbie) and Shiver (Polar Bear cub).
HALIFAX FILM (CHILDRENS STUDIO) (2006-11)
Bo on the Go (Seasons 1-3)
Senior Animator
Some motion capture used during early 1st season but CBC hated it so we reverted to keyframe animation. Later we made 2 versions of each episode; one 20 minutes and the other only 10 (2 doors & no dancing).
Got offered Lead Animator when I did my interview over the phone but as this was my 1st project with Maya software I turned it down. When I got to the studio I discovered that I had more animation experience than the entire Animation Dept combined. For most of the crew this was their first job.
In my shots when the door swings open, it then sways back, and settles.
Animal Mechanicals (Season 1-3)
Senior Animator
I made Rex and Mouse transform back to normal in my shots instead of relying on video merge effects. Got chewed out by a manager for fixing the characters' walk/run cycles so that they actually cycled and didn't have their feet crashing through the ground. I knew then that she knew as much about animation as a fish knew about riding a bicycle!
Pirates: Adventures in Art (Season 1 & 2)
Senior Animator
The pirate ship flags in my scenes face forward as they are blown by the wind not backward as my manager wanted them to be. Had an argument with a city-boy boss as to how a bull runs. He used a horse walk sped up for a bull's run cycle then claimed all 4-legged animals walk/run the same.
DHX Media (2012-19)
Doozers (Season 1 & 2)
Senior Animator
A spin-off of "Fraggle Rock", the Doozers are very high tech and no longer have antennas on their heads. Every member of the "Pod Squad" is missing at least one parent (reason unknown - studio joke that they died in the fight to overthrow the evil Fraggle overlords).
American studio heads called this show "too Socialist" as the characters seemed to trade or borrow stuff rather than purchasing it.
I tried to make a background Doozer of myself but management wouldn't allow it.
Inspector Gadget (Season 1)
Senior Animator
The only series with explosions that I did during my Halifax Film/DHX Media years. Got to destroy the Gadgetmobile a few times. Was told I was to be promoted to Lead Animator for this series but it didn't happen nor would it every other time I was told I was being promoted.
Super Why (Season 3)
Senior Animator
This season introduced ebooks to the viewers.
Red's school skirt was too short as you could see her underwear whenever she sat down.
I kept getting stuck animating the beginning and ending sequences of each episode that I worked on. Only have 3 shots inside an ebook.
Wishenpoof (Season 1 & 2)
Senior Animator
Despite the fact that Bianca wears pants, there could be no shots looking up her dress. Used Dynamics a lot on her ponytail, dress and ribbons.
Little People (Season 1)
Senior Animator
Though we weren't allowed to I animated the characters' eye highlights on a couple of occasions to emphasize the character's expression. Created some characters' walk/run cycles.
Space Ranger Roger (Season 1)
Senior Animator
Most of the background sets were made of two dimensional cards so we had to make it look like the characters were standing on the floor or interacting with furniture.
Bob the Builder (Season 3 or 21)
Senior Animator
I was kind of in my element with this show as I once was a construction worker. As the boss, Bob should have been wearing a white helmet instead of construction equipment operator yellow (I wore blue for carpenter). I tried to introduce international crane hand signals to the show. My Animation Director thought it was a great idea. A manager however chewed me out for it (because she didn't think of it first!).
Rev & Roll (Season 1)
Senior Animator
Rev has the only parents that are ever seen on the show.
I wanted Hopper to have a frog tongue (the toy has one) for a couple shots I had but management said no.
After 6 years with the studio, I finally got a pay raise - 30 cents/hr!
DHX Media sold the studio to Island of Misfits before we wrapped up this series. Then we all got laid off.
Later I would be paid better as a security guard!
MAINFRAME STUDIOS (2022-23)
Barbie: Skipper and the Big Babysitting Adventure
Animator (remote from home)
Working from home on a computer located in Vancouver BC. And I thought the computers at college were slow! The distance from my home and the computer that I logged into at the studio in Vancouver BC affected the connections operating speed.
Barbie: A Touch of Magic (Season 1 & 2)
Senior Animator (remote from home)
Instead of one team working on an episode, all teams worked on the same episode so it was completed in 7 work days.
Worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week due to my slow and often faulty computer (located in Vancouver), got demoted to Animator for 2nd season due to it. Still it was fun and I was well paid working on it. The Writers' Strike eventually led to Mainframe laying much of it's staff off including my team.