This week’s episode has some interesting discussion on Amazon vs eBay, sub vs dub, and who pays creators when people are used to getting their content for free. Are all the different methods of consuming content just trying to get their own piece of the pie or is it healthy competition to prevent monopolies? Little bit of everything this episode.
Finally all four hunker down for a round of toy trivia. Who will emerge victorious this week? Tune in to find out!
Don’t forget you can watch the video version of this podcast here:
Ben then shares the recent article SAVE ANIMATION: HOW ‘WATCH TIME’ IS ENDANGERING YOUTUBE ANIMATORS, which ads a number of UK animators’ voices to the discussion of YouTube’s algorithm being weighted against animators. This leads to a discussion with Nate on why animators can’t just move on to another site that gives them a better deal. Ben also brings us an April Fools Day video from the Game Grumps, Minecraft is for Everyone – Toon Grumps. Arin Hanson (Egoraptor) and Ross O’Donovan (RubberNinja), hosts of Game Grumps and Steam Train respectively, and both animators, joke about canceling their Lets Plays and dedicating their shows to cartoons. They then discuss their experiences with animation and it’s current state on YouTube over top video of O’Donovan animating Starbomb’s next music video.
Ian tells us about and shows us examples of simulation/dynamics types.
This week Ian and Ben come together to discuss the changes going on with Toon Boom Animation’s release of Harmony 12. But first Ian brings us some headlines.
Full disclosure: We are affiliate partners with Toon Boom. Meaning if you click through one of their ads on our site and make a purchase we get a commission. However, we sought out that partnership because we use and recommend their products to begin with. We’re also customers and are providing this coverage from that position.
The big story this episode is Toon Boom’s repositioning of Harmony to replace their previous lineup of Toon Boom Studio, Animate, and Animate Pro. Now you can get Harmony in 3 versions, Essentials, Advanced, and Premium. You can purchase a perpetual license as well as a subscription paid monthly or annually for both Harmony and Storyboard Pro. Check the FAQ for more information. Their support options have also changed to Kickstart (free with purchase), Silver, and Gold. It’s now easier for more people to have easier access to Harmony more affordably. If you have a previous version of Harmony or a comparable product from the old line you can upgrade easily.
Looking over the features of Harmony 12 we see the bitmap brush tool has been improved for better customization. Deformers have been made more straightforward and include new Game Bone deformers for building character rigs compatible with Unity. You can import 3D files in Collada and Alembic formats now. 3rd party OpenFX plugins are now supported for adding a multitude of new effects. There’s also a new light shading system where you can give 2D objects and characters volume to create highlights and shadows. On multicore machines rendering speed has been sped up 65% along with real-time visualization of deformers and effects.
A recent discussion in the animation industry is frustration with a perceived monopoly CalArts alumni hold. Ian and Ben comment on it, factoring in what different artists’ goals are and how they can obtain them. Does having a degree from on particular school really guarantee you more success? This leads to movie talk where Ben brings up the recent controversy over the latest spoilery Terminator: Genisys trailer and Ian shares the Superman v. Batman: Dawn of Justice trailer.
Finally our hosts hunker down for a round of horror movie trivia. Who will emerge victorious this week? Tune in to find out!
Don’t forget you can watch the video version of this podcast here:
This week Ian returns to tell Ben he’s still busy coding javascript. Ben tells us of his adventures hanging a new studio door, getting an acoustic guitar, and working on his entry for Stencyl Jam 15. Then Ian brings us this week’s headlines.
This week Frank and Ben hold down the fort while everybody else is out this Easter. First on the agenda is talking about having sweet hair. Frank tells us of his struggle to get a haircut appointment and using pomade. Ben dreams of having Citizen Kane-era Orson Welles hair. After that, they get on to the headlines Ian was kind enough to send in even though he couldn’t make it to the show.
This leads to the eternal debate over subs vs. dubs. Which are better for watching a foreign film? They also discuss Japanese honorifics and etiquette, typical things concerning two white guys from Ohio.
Finally it’s brother against brother in a round of movie quote trivia. Who will emerge victorious this week? Tune in to find out!
And don’t forget you can watch the video version of the podcast here:
Ben also brings in a new story, Pixar Releases Free Non-Commercial RenderMan. Now if you’re a student working on class film, making a personal project, or just want to use the same renderer the big studios use for a portfolio piece, you can get RenderMan for free.
After Doug leaves for the night, Ian, Frank, and Ben all sit down for some comic book trivia. Who will emerge victorious this week? Tune in and find out!
Don’t forget you can also watch the video version of this episode here:
Ian’s out sick this week, but Ben is joined by his bro Frank and friend of the show Doug on this episode. The three of them are feeling nostalgic and discuss old TV shows and what things they’re watching now. But first, Doug brings us some headlines.
This week’s topic is rather scattershot as the trio discuss TV and movies. Ben takes the temperature of the room about this summer’s coming Terminator Genysis and everybody seems cautiously optimistic. He then questions if the old/new Arnold fight is going to be big or if it’s just going to be a glorified cameo like in Terminator Salvation. The conversation circles around to Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and how it differs from the first. Ben also tells Frank he really needs to start watching Gravity Falls. Frank says he’s been watching a lot of Tested.
Moving on to the main topic, Ben tells us about Patreon, the site where users can subscribe to content creators to help support them. He asks if it’s a better idea to list the different things you make and go monthly or to specialize and have one campaign per skill. He shows us examples of people running successful campaigns like Zach Weinersmith of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, of podcasts like Surviving Creativity, of a couple episodes of Webcomics Weekly where two of the hosts are convincing a third to launch a campaign. He also shares the Creator’s Toolbox for the official suggestions on using the site.
Finally, all three hunker down for a round of political trivia. Who will emerge victorious this week? Tune in to find out!
Don’t forget you can check out the video version of this episode here:
The main topic this week is affiliate advertising. Ben starts out by introducing us to the idea. When you have products and companies you use and recommend to others, you can form mutually beneficial relationships with them. You can display banners and links encouraging people to use their services and then those services agree to help you financially. The specifics of what they agree to do is detailed in the individual affiliate program you sign up for.
How to Use Affiliate Programs
Consider your site and the message you’re sending with it. For example, the NoRights Blog talks about making art and animation so we’ve sought out affiliations with Smith Micro, the people who sell Manga Studio 5, Anime Studio Pro, and Poser 10 in the US. We’ve also teamed up with Toon Boom Animation, the folks who make Toon Boom Animate Pro and Toon Boom Storyboard Pro. And since we love comedy and movies, we joined up with RiffTrax LLC, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 alums who make joke commentary tracks you can sync over movies.
These relationships should be made based on your site and your voice. If your blog is all about vegan dining it wouldn’t make sense to promote pure Angus Beef on it. It should reinforce the message and identity of your site, not contradict it. You should also consider their placement in relation to your layout. Never let your advertising get in the way of consuming your content. Banner ads shouldn’t obscure parts of the page and users shouldn’t be confused on whether text is actual articles or ad copy.
Where to Find Affiliate Programs
We’ve started using Affiliate by Conversant and Rakuten Affiliate Network. They let you fill out a site profile, search out advertisers by categories, apply to their programs, and easily copy their ad links to paste into your blog. We’re also using the WordPress plugins Advertising Manager and Wp-Insert to place the ads in different sections of our site based on format.
Other Partnerships
Say you really like a product and recommend it to your audience but there’s no affiliate program available for it. Amazon has one where you can link to the product through their store. Not only will they give you a percentage of any sales you bring in on the product you link, you’ll get something back on anything your people buy through Amazon within a certain amount of time after going through your site. It doesn’t cost your users anything more but it helps you out. If you post reviews on YouTube you should also become a YouTube Partner so you can monetize them. If you’re an artist selling your work, Society6 has a curator program for helping promote other artists. Look at the services you’re already using and see if they have systems set up for you to see a return on using them.
A Word of Caution
As we’ve stated before, these relationships should form organically and benefit you, your audience, and the companies you promote. Don’t just sign up for programs without thinking about their impact. Poorly chosen ads can hurt your credibility with readers and ones from questionable sources could bring malware concerns. Decide on what works best for your site and don’t do things you’re not comfortable with just because you think you’ll make more money.
Finally, all 3 hosts hunker down for a round of Guinness World Records trivia. Who will emerge victorious this week? Tune in to find out!
Also, don’t forget you can watch the video version of this week’s episode here:
