Animation-The January Outlook

The year 2013 has kicked of on a very high note for the Kenyan animation industry.Recon digital released a series of short animations that were done by their team of apprentice animators and from what we can see,we should expect nothing but the best from them in 2013...probably even a TV animated series(domestic disturbance).You can read about their story from Techmoran    

 
In addition...we've been following up on international news and it seems that part of the visual effects company, Digital Domain  has been sold off to the Chinese..... "The latest deal Zhong completed was a joint venture between the US division of the company and Reliance Media Works Ltd of India for the special effects unit and various other businesses and assets of the US visual effects and animation company Digital Domain. Galloping Horse owns 70 percent of the new venture"

The good news for most of us is that we will actually get to see the Legend of Tembo produced and released ‘on schedule’-which is probably in 2014.There is very scarce information regarding the above animation but from the name,I believe it will have a lot of references to Africa or even more specifically,Kenya.We’ll just have to wait and see.
Check out these links for the additional information:

http://www.chinesefilms.cn/141/2013/01/22/122s13453.htm

http://www.chinesefilms.cn/141/2012/11/30/122s13064.htm

http://www.tcpalm.com/photos/galleries/2011/aug/12/legend-tembo-exclusive-first-look/74552/#section_header

Another development that will excite any CG Artist in Kenya, is the prospect of having a 'render farm' with quite a lot of rendering power (not everyone can get a G5 Mac/Mac Pro you know..) right here in Nairobi.This may soon be possible if the project being undertaken at the iHub-Ngong Road, in Nairobi,Kenya achieves it's goal.The iHub-through some of it's members and other partners, is creating/hosting a cluster based computing system that will be equipped with enough power to render most of the processor intensive simulations and photorealistic3D images any CG artist in Kenya aims to create.The iHub Cluster project-conceptualized by a Kenyan ICT guru..Idd Saalim seeks to bring 'supercomputing' to Kenyans and will be used to teach/test parallel programming software developed in Kenya among many other things...e.g 3D rendering so be sure to check their page on the iHub website for any updates.

Animators-A Kenyan Inception

There have been various developments in Kenya recently, some of the major ones being in the ICT industry. For starters it is now quite easy for the average Kenyan to get decent internet speeds on their phones and most importantly on their computers. We’ve all heard the hullabaloo that the internet is THE opportunity place to be and I’m here to show you that indeed it may be. There is a tendency in the country, I presume it’s due to ‘demand’ from the respective market that most of the best work to be done in IT is only in the programming field. The reasoning is IT=programming=money.I would however like to tell you that there is another field that though still underdeveloped, has the capacity to take this country to ‘the next level’ if I may refer to it as such.3D ANIMATION……….Yes…yes… it can be ones job too and believe it or not there’s more to animation than just ‘cartoons’ like Madagascar, Toy Story and of course Finding Nemo (I just had to fix it in here….big fan!)’........3D Animation is a very broad field but basically it refers to the process of giving the illusion of movement to drawings, models of something e.g. cars and objects.This site hopes to bring together the practitioners of the art of animation in Kenya to be able to come together and share ideas and their creativity for the good of this still young industry in Kenya. As part of this below is a list of some of the people and businesses already set up in Kenya doing 3d animation. I will also include  several places offering 3d animation courses in Kenya.The list is in no way comprehensive and any business in Kenya in the above field should feel free to contact us so that we can include them too.Do also leave your comments on any new developments in the field or experience with 3d animators or colleges

A chat with FatBoy Animations

If you happen to search for Kenyan Animations on the internet-there’s a high probability that you will come across a funny guy dancing to the song Huratete by Jimmy gait. The animation with almost 60,000 hits on YouTube (a hit by local standards) was made by none other than Michael Muthiga, a man whom if you don’t know is the owner of Fatboy Animations.Last week on the Wednesday 9^th January, 2013,i had the great opportunity of meeting the crew at FatBoy animations, a company which,as some of you already know, is behind the series of creative adverts  aimed at promoting Jamii Telkom's 'Faiba' product.The company's located in a serene environment near Jamhuri ground,lots of trees,cool wind and you actually see horses outside the main compound....The interview was quite revealing so read on......

1. What is your background as Fat Boy Animations, and why the name FatBoy?

FatBoy Animations is made of two CG artists Michael Muthiga and Sendeu Kanyare.The two are responsible for the creative Jamii Telkom adverts currently being aired on local TV stations in Kenya.

Michael Muthiga states that he was a lead animator at the Tinga Tinga tales project by Tiger aspects.He started FatBoy Animations  after the contract ended (around 2009).Muthiga says he was trained by Joe an Australian animator  in the Tinga Tinga tales, who also mentored him. Claudia Lloyd-the show’s Producer was also instrumental in shaping him up to become the man he is, as she provided him with the opportunity.

Sendeu Kanyare is the other half of FatBoy Animations and acts as the Director at FatBoy Animations. Sendeu was also part of the team that worked on Tinga Tinga tales where he gained valuable experience.

The two have a combined experience of more than 11 years in animation.

Interestingly,FatBoy Animations company name is actually a tongue in cheek name Muthiga chose since as at that time, he was...well fat…..

2. What are some of the (major) stints/shows/productions you have been involved in? (A brief on the FAIBA project…conception e.t.c)

As stated earlier the duo,Muthiga and Sendeu were part of the team that created Tinga Tinga series,earlier on before FatBoy Animations came to be.In addition,as FatBoy Animations the two have been able to execute some great projects such as The Barclays commercial of a dancing robot and lately the Faiba adverts for Jamii Telkom among many others.

Faiba advert is undoubtedly one of the best animated adverts locally.Muthiga says the idea had been ‘simmering in his brain’ for awhile and luckily he was able to pitch the idea successfully to the Jamii Telkom Limited chairman who approved it. The first advert was well received and Fatboy animations was able to convince the Chairman to turn it into a series of 5 different adverts.Muthiga says he also prays a lot,for ideas and is sometimes surprised after seeing the final product he comes up with.

 

3. What are your preferred tools of trade?

As seen through their work,FatBoy animations is excellent in character animation and the company has settled on Maya-an industry standard for character animation; the experience the two had, using  Maya earlier in Tinga Tinga tales also helped them reach the decision on what tool to use.

4. Some of the major challenges you face in the industry and possible solutions

Modern day life is very dependent on electricity and for FatBoy animations, the dependency on  KPLC Power is one of the main hurdles that keeps getting in their way-the power is erratic and issues such as transformers malfunctioning usually mean lost productivity, interference with renderings e.t.c

In addition meeting deadlines for the various projects they are involved in is not easy and the rate the company has been expanding its hardware is indirectly/inversely proportional to the rate jobs are coming in.

5. Current projects we should know about/be expecting?

Stay tuned…….TOP SECRET

6. What are your sources of inspiration and motivation (what keeps you going)?

Muthiga finds his inspiration from various sources such as gospel music, animation movies and walking around animation schools locally too.

7. Word of advice to local budding animators and interested parties ?

FatBoy staff state that local animators need to understand that making good animation takes time, commitment and sacrifice. Studies are also crucial for one to excel in animation e.g. through hands on training. Lastly as a way of giving back to the society, FatBoy Animations is in the process of setting up an online animation training school for local animators. This is a great step especially for would be animators who are based outside Nairobi since most animators are based in the capital city. The online school should be up and running by the third quarter of this year. In addition,Muthiga states that excellent students will get a once in a lifetime chance to join the team at FatBoy Animations.

8. What are some of the services that one can expect from your company?

FatBoy specializes in animated commercials,graphics design,story-boarding,sound production,script production-and animation training soon,through their online school.

9. What are some of your interests apart from animation?

Michael Muthiga has other interests too such as travelling, checking out cars,movies,music,going out with friends, the good old PlayStation video game and going to church.

10. Any other information….

FatBoy Animations is very grateful to all the fans who made the Faiba advert a success and thanks all the fans out there e.g The Faiba fan pages on Facebook.As for the question of whether the advert may just morph into a full brown TV series, we’ll just have to wait and see. Lastly stay on the lookout for the animation school that will be up soon……