2D animation and camera set ups from the past

today’s update are a few pictures of some old school camera set ups for traditional animation. if you didn’t know, everything was shot on film 24 frames at 1 second on movement. this was a very costly and time consuming method but it worked great. we don’t see to many people working in this way anymore, so checking out old school pictures is always a treat

Top-Jack Cardiff BSC, ASC at work. Bottom- A later, more sophisticated Disney animation camera with pedal operated glass platen and rostrum “tower” equipped to allow the camera body to “truck” in and out

Top-Jack Cardiff BSC, ASC at work.

Bottom- A later, more sophisticated Disney animation camera with pedal operated glass platen and rostrum “tower” equipped to allow the camera body to “truck” in and out



Andy Chandler operating and Oxberry animation camera

Andy Chandler operating and Oxberry animation camera


the Fleischer “stereoptical” turntable camera in use during photography for a Popeye short

the Fleischer “stereoptical” turntable camera in use during photography for a Popeye short


Behind the scenes of Popeye the Sailor meets Sinbad the Sailor, and academy award nominated short

Behind the scenes of Popeye the Sailor meets Sinbad the Sailor, and academy award nominated short


Left- Diagrams from the Walt Disney patent application for a modified animation camera stand intended to allow cartoon characters painted on cel to cast their own shadow on a simple 3-dimensional interior, recessed into the “compound” table beneath the camera lensRight-Photo from the september 1944 issue of the monthly magazine Popular Science showing the camera operators at work on the Disney Multiplane “crane”

Left- Diagrams from the Walt Disney patent application for a modified animation camera stand intended to allow cartoon characters painted on cel to cast their own shadow on a simple 3-dimensional interior, recessed into the “compound” table beneath the camera lens

Right-Photo from the september 1944 issue of the monthly magazine Popular Science showing the camera operators at work on the Disney Multiplane “crane”


Left- Dave Fleischer operates operates a gearwheel of the rotating turntable on which the studios “Scenics” supervisor, Bob little, built the miniature city for the opening title sequence of My.Bug Goes to Town (Paramount, 1941)Right-Puppeteer and model maker Bob Jones with Miniature of Strombolis wagon

Left- Dave Fleischer operates operates a gearwheel of the rotating turntable on which the studios “Scenics” supervisor, Bob little, built the miniature city for the opening title sequence of My.Bug Goes to Town (Paramount, 1941)

Right-Puppeteer and model maker Bob Jones with Miniature of Strombolis wagon


Top- Disneys 1950s Tricks of our Trade documentary showing a nocturnal landscape, demonstrating the creation of a realistic parallax effect on the studios multiplane cameraBottom- Still from an animated diagram featured in the same 1950 Tricks  of Our Trade documentary

Top- Disneys 1950s Tricks of our Trade documentary showing a nocturnal landscape, demonstrating the creation of a realistic parallax effect on the studios multiplane camera

Bottom- Still from an animated diagram featured in the same 1950 Tricks of Our Trade documentary


A rare multi level scene from Pinocchio, allowing horizontally oriented camera running on rails

A rare multi level scene from Pinocchio, allowing horizontally oriented camera running on rails



Animator Les Clark editing in a Moviola

Animator Les Clark editing in a Moviola


Disney camera operators in action

Disney camera operators in action

X Men simplified character redesigns

today’s update are some more beautiful character model sheets from the x-men art book called. X Men the art and making of the animated series. these pages are from the newer X Men cartoon, you can see the difference in design. the have been stream lined, something that makes an animators life easier but the look just isn’t the same. i will always gravitate towards the older original designs but thats just cause i’m an old soul. i don’t think these designs were ever used in the series run, one of those “would have been cool” but just never got the green light projects







animation layouts

today’s update are some beautiful layouts from a few disney animated films, all images are from the book Setting the Scene the art and evolution of animation layout. i love looking at these old gems, they take me back to my young days of watching cartoons all morning and after school.

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Pixar's Coco Storyboards

todays update are a few story boards from the pixar moive Coco. story boarding is both extremely challenging and rewards at the same time. I love storyboarding, its something i would usually a point myself todo when i was part of group projects while taking my animation studies

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Dev Jam Labs…my side project

today update is about a side project i been involved with for a few years now. one of my titles in my day job is animation consultant/producer, this means i help create digital content. i have been involved with a project called “The Adventures of Mic & Sim”. i am co-writer/director/producer/animator. it’s a very small group of motivated talented men located in long island NY. we are trying to establish a community of like minded individuals.

the images below are from our website which we launched recently, we have a production blog and update once a week. the project is wrapping up its pre-production stage and will be entering full on production within the coming months. we are working with mainly open source softwares, we love the open source community and will be using Blender 3D for the majority of our production.

have a look at the site! we at Dev-Jam Labs appreciate it!
Go to www.devjamlabs.weebly.com

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Tracking my progress

today’s update is about productivity. i’m a big fan of metrics and writing things down. since 2019 i have been keeping count of my productivity on this beautiful planner from Muji. my goal is consistence, daily progress, 30minutes or 3hours, doesn’t matter. progress is slow and it’s all about building the habit.

my goal is to create art or more specifically to work on my animated short FRANK. every night before bed i journal in my planner and add a Yes or No depending on if i worked on my project. i don’t beat myself up for missing days, i simply try not to miss to many in a row. in the end as long as i have more positive months then negative months i’m happy

this pic from 2019 shows a great strong start but in March my bday month my productivity drops due to my celebration of my bday.

this pic from 2019 shows a great strong start but in March my bday month my productivity drops due to my celebration of my bday.


last year however i was extremely productive due to covid starting and travel being shut down. i spent my bday in my room, working remotely on zoom

last year however i was extremely productive due to covid starting and travel being shut down. i spent my bday in my room, working remotely on zoom


this year i started strong as i usually do, but then in march my productivity dropped, due to my bday month. i took a weekend trip to a cabin in rome ny. and i went on a few dates…so my routine was not normal

this year i started strong as i usually do, but then in march my productivity dropped, due to my bday month. i took a weekend trip to a cabin in rome ny. and i went on a few dates…so my routine was not normal