Until now, all of the interviews here at Cold, Hard Flash have focused on artists. But now we turn to the production team, and to Tim Yoon, Producer on Disney’s ‘The Buzz on Maggie.’
AARON SIMPSON: What was your introduction to Flash?
TIM YOON: I got my introduction to Flash working for Icebox. Since then I have worked on Flash projects for Klasky Csupo, Warner Bros., and Disney.
AARON: As a producer of a network Flash-animated TV series, what does your daily work routine consist of?
TIM: Since this is our first season, a lot of my time is spent making sure our specific production model works. We already know Flash productions work for broadcast. There’s a bunch of shows out there to prove it. But we’re trying to improve upon that process with our current project. We are not allocated much research and development time, so our team tried a lot of new methods and took the gamble that it would work on such a compressed schedule. When we would discover problems, or ways to make the process better, we would fix it as we go along. The rest of my day is spent doing the same work as a traditional producer. You hire artists, go to voice records, try to stay on budget, you test overseas studios, you ship, call retakes, you post, you play Halo 2, ping pong, PSP, you go to the movies, etc.
AARON: You worked on ‘Mucha Lucha,’ one of the original Flash-animated TV series. How has the Flash production model been modified since then?
TIM: Our production model is built off of the ‘Mucha Lucha’ model. There are slight tweaks because studios have different templates set up for post. The major difference is that we have put a heavier emphasis on drawing count and art direction. We heavily pose out our boards and add still more poses in the animatic stage. We do this so the overseas studios will have more to work with. Instead of just telling them to draw more, we try and meet them half way. In addition, our BG supervisor worked out a new method to add textures to our BGs so that keeps our designers busy.
AARON: Are there currently enough overseas animation studios to meet the increasing demand from US studios?
TIM: Currently, I do not think so. There are a lot of Flash productions out there. Off the top of my head, I count at least 7 in Los Angeles. Aside from setting up your own crew stateside, I still think we’re fighting for the same two overseas studios. There’s a lot of new studios trying to get in, but only a few have the proven track record of a couple of seasons under their belt. It’ll get there in a couple of years, but we’re still a ways off.
AARON: What’s the trick to a fluid relationship with an overseas Flash animation studio?
TIM: I think you have got to work with them as a team. You’re both trying to make a good show, in a relatively new medium and budgets and schedules seem to be getting smaller and smaller for domestic pre-production and overseas animation. You keep the communication open and try to help each other out as much as possible.
AARON: How does the production model of a Flash series differ from than that of a traditionally-animated series?
TIM: Every Flash production is a little different. Some use After Effects, some don’t. Some use vector backgrounds, some don’t. Some use in-house animators, some don’t. The way ours is different from a traditional production is that we design, ink, and color our backgrounds, props and characters in Flash. We have an in-house team of Flash artists to set up, and symbolize all our designs. We put more emphasis on animatics and slugged boards and don’t do X-sheets. In our shipping package, we deliver walk, run, and other animation cycles. We also have an in-house team of Flash animators to do creative and technical retakes.
AARON: After several seasons of Flash production, a typical show is endowed with an enormous amount of reusable ‘assets.’ How does a producer ensure these elements are put to good use on the next season?
TIM: It’s time consuming, but pretty basic. We review final footage, and just log in all the scenes which have good animation that is general enough to be used elsewhere. We then pull those FLA’s, isolate the animation, and add it to the library of reuse animation.
AARON: Do you see Flash-animated TV production as a passing fad, or the future?
TIM: I think Flash productions will be around for a while, but they won’t take over. I think Flash is a specific medium just like 3D, stop motion, or traditional. You pick which medium is best for your show and you use that.
AARON: So what type of show lends itself to Flash production?
TIM: I think this is a tricky question because it’s basically talking about limitations, which are usually dictated by budget. By coupling Flash with other softwares, like After Effects, you can do a lot. By ‘lends itself’ I assume you are really asking ‘What kind of shows are easier to produce in Flash with current budget restrictions?’ (AS: yes, that’s about right) For that, limited animation and simple character designs will get you more bang for your buck in a Flash production.
AARON: Why is Flash currently the more popular vector-based production software at the studios, as opposed to CelAction or ToonBoom’s Harmony?
TIM: Before a traditional studio adds a completely different production model into their pipeline, they want to see it proven first. Flash productions have officially been proven, so more studios are supporting them. All of these Flash shows are also creating a pool of talented Flash artists, animators, studios, and production staff that make it easier to start a new production.
AARON: Do you have a sense of how much Flash animation is being taught at the major animation-focused universities?
TIM: I don’t know what’s being taught in art schools. I hope it’s being offered as a class. It just gives students one more option in trying to find work after graduation.
AARON: What benefits have you found in sending a member of your production team to visit the overseas studios?
TIM: I think having the time, up front, to properly set up a production is very important. The way we build our designs directly affects how well the overseas studio can animate with them. The way the overseas studio builds a scene directly affects how quickly our in-house team can fix retakes. If you can work out all these kinks before you ship, your life will be a lot easier and you’ll be eating less dinners at work.
AARON: What does a traditional storyboard artist need to know before starting on a Flash show?
TIM: If you are trying to make an inexpensive show with limited animation and lots of reuse, then you would tell the board artist the same thing, whether it was a traditional show or Flash. You tell them don’t go full blast because the overseas studio has agreed to a certain work load for a certain price. If you are just trying to tell a good story and you don’t want to be limited by reuse or drawing count, you tell them to deliver a good board. You then make sure the shipping package has enough assets for the overseas studio to deliver a well animated episode for the agreed price.
AARON: Any words of advice for someone who’s trying to get their foot in the door on a Flash TV production?
TIM: Get ready to work hard. Be flexible and ready to trouble shoot. The work being done in Flash now is setting the foundation for the next Flash production you work on.
AARON: Thanks, Tim. And congrats on the recent birth of your son!
ColdHardFlash.com is officially 5 years old today! 
Regular posting over the next few weeks brought a trickle of regular viewers, but what I saw as more of a research project had helped my cause at WBA. Spreading this information around internally helped justify further Flash exploration, and soon handfuls of Flash-pilots were in production, including Coconut Fred and Johnny Test, which both made it to TV. To their credit, WBA executives like Marge Dean and Christopher Keenan were way ahead of me, and even if they didn’t use the software, they understood that a revolution was underway.
working out of Cartoon Network in Burbank, California. He’s amongst the group of pioneers who, 5 years ago, helped Flash animation rise out of the shadows of crappy, online shorts. He worked on the first season of ‘Mucha Lucha’ and then went on to give birth, along with Matt Danner, to his own short, 
animators want to ‘flatten’ an element on their timeline. Whether it’s a head-comp or an entire character, it’s often much easier to compress many layers into a single symbol, so these elements can be manipulated as a group. It also makes for a leaner, cleaner workspace. Artists can use folders to clean up their workspace, but folders don’t offer the ability to manipulate the contents as a single graphic or movie clip. Flash artists have been ‘flattening’ their work for years, but ‘The Pringle’ allows you to do it much quicker and with perfect accuracy.
