If you hadn’t already noticed, Disney’s Jetix network has relaunched as Disney XD. New series have been added to the slate including a couple digital 2D projects – Kid vs. Kat (created by Rob Boutilier) and Jimmy Two Shoes (created by Edward Kay and Sean Scott). Kid vs. Kat is produced in Flash, while Jimmy Two Shoes is brought to life using Toon Boom Harmony. Jimmy Two Shoes is being produced by Breakthrough Animation and TELETOON, with help from Mercury Filmworks. Here’s title sequence:

Kid vs. Kat is from Studio B Productions and YTV Canada. Here’s the title sequence, which we showed here before:

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Thanks to Ron Doucet for the tip.

ColdHardFlash has a baby sister! Today we launched Lineboil.com, a new entertainment website focusing on the ENTIRE character animation industry. We’ve actually been running silent for over a year now, getting a feel for the task of covering the whole industry and building our contributor team. Speaking of contributors, head over to Lineboil to meet Brendan Burch, Pasquale D’Silva, Ron Doucet, Keith Staskiewicz and Alan Cook. They’ll be helping me write about all things animated – feature films, TV commercials, music videos, TV shows, student shorts and whatever else is crafted with “the illusion of life.” If you’d like to join our contributor team, contact us here.

So, what does “Lineboil” mean anyway? Well, a “boiling line” is what happens when an artist repeats a particular drawing and the inevitable inconsistencies make for a wobbly line that appears to be boiling. Some teams have chosen to utilize this for stylistic effect.

Shows like Ed, Edd n Eddy and Dr. Katz are good examples of this effect.

A big thanks goes out to the infinitely talented Tyler Schroeder, the Vancouver-based artist who designed Renda, the Lineboil mascot. Tyler is also one of the founders of Industry Creative – a new game development and animation services team you should keep an eye on. Additional props go out to Dizzain, who built the new site and continue to help us here on CHF. And finally to Tim Barkow and Sean McKenzie for their excellent feedback and advice.

So we hope you’ll bookmark our new site and make it part of your daily routine. And if you get a chance, let us know what you think of the design and concept in the comments.

In 2006, Mike White and Ron Doucet, who both work at Collideascope Digital Productions in Halifax, found themselves with a small window between projects and an opportunity to create an animated music video for the Toronto-based band MSTRKRFT. The resulting video for the 2006 track Work on You has since been viewed several hundred thousand times on YouTube. As part of the Aniboom/Radiohead Music Video Interview Series, Ron Doucet answered a few questions about the production.

AARON SIMPSON: How did you guys end up partnering with MSTRKRFT on the Work on You music video?

RON DOUCET: Mike and I were between projects, working in the same studio. The timing was perfect, since an upcoming series wasn’t starting up for a couple months, so as one project fizzled out, another ramped up. Beyond that, we had access to our best designers and animators to do this quick gig. Mike hadn’t directed before, so he asked me to come on board to assist him in planning, setting up and eventually adding some FX animation.

AARON: Let’s watch the results of this “quick gig”:

AARON: What was your process for dreaming up the video? Read the rest of this entry »

The Canadian indie rock group who call themselves the Meligrove Band have called upon the services of animator Mike White for their latest music video. The track is titled Our Love Will Make the World Go Round, and White designed, animated and composited the entire space-themed video over the last six months. He would chip away at the project about an hour a day, between sleeping and his day job at Collideascope Digital Productions.

You may have seen another music video that White produced for MSTRKRFT (along with Ron Doucet), which also features an homage to Transformers.

Comic-lovers should keep their eyes peeled for White’s upcoming strip Pigtails and Potbellies.

Ron Doucet and the Collideascope Animation team have provided us with a pair of excellent animation FX tutorials on the studio blog.

First is a step-by-step walk-through on how to build an “energy field cycle.” Not sure what that means? Here’s what it looks like in action (animation by Jake Macher):

More recently, Doucet posted an elaborate smoke tutorial, which covers a variety of different variations.[link]