Last week, ESPNRadio.com launched ‘Off Mikes,’ a new online 
show that marries audio clips from the ‘Mike & Mike In the Morning’ radio show with clever Flash animation. For ten weeks in a row, we’ll be treated to the vocal stylings of Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg, the co-hosts of the show, and animation by ANIMAX, the Los Angeles-based animation studio. ‘Off Mikes’ is the second Flash series to debut on ESPN.com, the first being ‘The Sports Guy,’ which recently launched a second season and is based on the writing and experiences of Page 2 writer Bill Simmons.
Tim Jones, VP of Production at Animax, headed up the animation production effort on ‘Off Mikes,’ and we recently teamed up to go over their methods. We also discussed ‘Catching Kringle,’ an elaborately animated theatrical short produced by ANIMAX in 2003 with both USAnimation and Flash.
AARON SIMPSON: Can you tell us a bit more about ‘Off Mikes?’ What is the series about?
TIM JONES: The series is based on the ‘Mike & Mike in the Morning’ radio show on ESPN radio. Mike & Mike are a modern-day ‘Odd Couple’ of the sports world. Off-Mikes takes actual audio from the radio broadcasts and creates interesting (and sometimes bizarre) animation based on real audio.
AARON: Who designed the characters?
TIM: ANIMAX designed the characters for ESPN, based on the real-life radio personalities of Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg. Al Rosson, Ed Frayna, David Croy and Nassos Vakalis were all involved in character design.
AARON: How big is the ‘Off Mikes’ animation team?
TIM: In total, there are about a dozen people involved in the animation process, from script to post.
AARON: How long does it take to produce an episode?
TIM: From start to finish, the average 1-minute episode takes about 1 month to complete (including feedback at key points from ESPN).
AARON: How is your online animation production process different from your TV or DVD production pipeline?
TIM: Actually this production is identical to our TV & DVD production pipeline. We are producing all animation at broadcast resolution and then compressing for internet delivery. ESPN does final compression for their proprietary Motion platform.
AARON: Are you using any other software in your production pipeline?
TIM: We find After Effects and Flash to be very complimentary. Perhaps that’s why Adobe and Macromedia just merged.
AARON: What’s the secret to storyboarding for a Flash animation project?
TIM: Typically you want to limit the angles (no extreme up or down angles) which allows you to maximize your Flash library. The downside is that you don’t always get the shots you want, but the shots that work best economically. For this series, we didn’t place any such restrictions on our board artists. This definitely requires more effort when animating, but it really serves the series well. Additionally, because each 1-minute episode is unique and distinct from the others, including most characters and BGs, we felt we could storyboard freely since the potential for re-use of particular characters in subsequent episodes was limited.
AARON: Before you started animating episodes, did your team build stock models, complete with eye and mouth libraries?
TIM: Yes, for the main characters Mike & Mike.
AARON: Are you a sports fan?
TIM: I listen to a lot of Dodgers games on the radio, and go to a few games over the summer. I watch the Super Bowl and might catch a Final 4 game or two, but would consider myself a Fan (with a capital F).
AARON: You worked in conjunction with your Ukrainian sister studio DDM Group to produce the animation for ‘Catching Kringle.’ How did you break down the rolls for each studio?
TIM: We typically do pre and post-production here in LA and hand over animation to our sister studio.
AARON: Your team animated with Flash MX, and then color and compositing was completed with Toon Boom’s USAnimation software. How does USAnimation handle the coloring aspects of a project differently than Flash does?
TIM: US Animation is a high-end ink & paint and compositing system. It allows you more latitude in color, lighting and texture than does Flash.
AARON: How did the animatic build work on ‘Catching Kringle?’
TIM: Boards were done traditionally, then set up in Flash and matched to audio. The director then gave extensive hand-out notes on a per-scene basis so that animators had both written and visual direction on every scene.
AARON: Did you finalize all animation before you moved over to USAnimation?
TIM: Yes, absolutely. Animation was viewed in black & white as SWFs, which allowed scenes to be so small that they could be e-mailed. After approval, scenes were rendered large enough for 35mm film.
AARON: What’s the secret to handling an overseas animation partnership?
TIM: Good coordination and communication. I talk with our overseas studio on a daily basis to make sure there are no mis-understandings.
AARON: What are the steps your team takes in getting layouts and poses into the computer after they’re drawn.
TIM: At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that what the audience sees is the crucial thing.. Therefore, we may do rough character poses and layouts with paper and pencil, but it’s important to get them into Flash as soon as possible. We often do pencil-on-paper roughs, import into Flash and then clean the drawings up in vector format. Sometimes, we work directly in Flash, using a Wacom tablet.
AARON: ‘Catching Kringle’ has received several awards and recognitions – what’s the most personally satisfying accolade the show received?
TIM: Winning an Oscar. Oh wait, that didn’t happen…yet. 
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