Variety is reporting that Bugs Bunny and Scooby Doo will be stars in brand new series set to premiere on Boomerang this Fall which is a new move for the network who had previously only aired reruns.
From the site:
Time Warner is banking on some of its oldest stars to breathe new life into a cable network that has aired only reruns over the course of its 15-year history.
Scooby-Doo first appeared on TV in 1969 and Bugs Bunny debuted in 1938 and 1940, but the company believes the two characters  have enough strength in their limbs to carry a retooled version of Boomerang, the kids network that is part of Time Warner’s Turner unit, to new levels in an extremely competitive arena.
Sister unit Warner Bros. will develop 450 half-hours of original programming for Boomerang, in an agreement that marks the first time original programming has been developed exclusively for the network, which was borne out of a programming block on Turner’s Cartoon Network in the 1990s. The content will appear on all Boomerang channels worldwide and on some Cartoon Network channels internationally, along with potential crossover with Turner Broadcasting outlets like Pogo, Boing, Toonami and the U.S. version of Cartoon Network.
I’ve been drooling over the Surfaces since Microsoft first announced them and have been lurking in the shadows quietly studying reviews and feedback and during all of it I NEVER once heard whether Adobe Flash worked with the device. Or Toon Boom Storyboard Pro. Or Harmony for that matter. Even the apparent Go To Site for all things Surface; SurfaceProArtist.com has been oddly silent about this. I figure it’s just simply that animators have just not bought the device yet and that’s the reason.
Sooo… I decided to buy one and find out for myself how well this thing works from an animator’s perspective.
So here we go.
The Hardware First off let me say it’s an AWESOME piece of tech! It’s sturdy, light and feels good in your hand on the way to Starbucks or lunch for some freelance… (something I do with regularity). And MAN is the thing FAST! I don’t know what Microsoft did under the hood here folks, but it’s not like your normal laptop or tablet. Programs open in mere seconds which is startling at first. Installing Toon Boom Storyboard Pro took less than a minute and Adobe Flash which is an absolute pig when it comes to installing (as is really ANYTHING Adobe) installed in under 4 minutes which is quite an achievement in my book. I’m quite sure some of that has to do with the large 256 gb SSD drive I got with it as opposed to the typical 64gb drive the cheaper model comes with. I also have 8gb of memory in there too which helps. So let’s just say it’s FAST.
Also, I don’t know about you but I personally like to draw at more of a flat angle and not so upright as many do. But trying to draw with the tablet completely flat also is too much of an angle for me to be happy either (What can I say, I’m complicated). Anyway, years ago I found this cool laptop wedge called The Allsop Cool Channel platform for my old LE1600 which angled the tablet just perfectly for me to draw.
The Allsop Cool Channel Platform for Laptops
I started using that with my Surface Pro 2 and it works well also but of course I then have to disconnect the keyboard and if you’ve ever used Photoshop, Flash or Storyboard Pro without a keyboard you know it’s much more difficult. Suddenly I realized that I could actually keep the keyboard connected and if I left the kickstand open anyway it sat at the perfect angle with the Allsop Wedge to keep my keyboard AND the tablet connected together which no other tablet has been able to do! Also by the way I don’t think the Surface Pro 3 would be able to do this because the Kickstand has many more angles and it would likely fold over form the weight of my hand. the more limited angles of the Surface Pro 2’s kickstand actually ends up working to my advantage!
My perfect angle for animating!
My one and only pet peeve on the build of the device goes to the complete IDIOT who decided that the charge adapter should be a magnet connecting to the device as opposed to an actual plug that’s inserted. Clearly this fool never actually uses a tablet. I mean COME ON! If you don’t know what I’m referring to the Surface Pro 2 does not have your typical AC jack with the hole in the side of the tablet. Instead, some ‘genius’ and I use that term loosely, decided “Hey that plugging in and out all the time is SO much work, let’s just make it a magnet instead, shall we?” So they did. And it does exactly that, it snaps easily to the side of the tablet. Problem is, that it also PULLS OUT easily as well and quite often unplugs if you’re, oh I don’t know… USING THE DEVICE! I swear, why don’t people test these things out first? Not only that but it’s damn near impossible to attach the cord to the tablet without picking it up, looking at the hole and then connecting it because it’s also at an odd angle and you can’t really connect it while it’s propped up on a table. I know that Apple does this magnet thing as well on their MacBook Pros but they must hold a patent on using a strong enough magnet to stick because my Surface Pro 2 disconnects when I sneeze.
Surface Pro’s charger cord
That five dot hole is where the Surface Pro 2’s cord connects to…
Anyway, other than this flaw the Surface Pro 2 is built quite well as far as I can tell.
Since, I bought the device I also grabbed a better keyboard for it called the Surface Type Cover which has a plastic trackpad instead of the ‘pleather’ trackpad my original keyboard had. What was Microsoft thinking?!?!
Original keyboard
The new keyboard. It may be hard to tell from these pics but the new trackpad is FAR more responsive.
Okay, then moving on…
Performance
I’ve read about people having issues with the high resolution screens and Adobe apps like Photoshop having squiggly jagged lines and Flash only drawing straight lines instead of curvy ones. I have not had that problem and only the largest Photoshop brushes cause it to lag for a heartbeat which in all fairness happens on my desktop sometimes. there is no drawing lag in Flash. Even Storyboard Pro which is usually pretty processor intensive performed very well using both the vector brushes AND the newer bitmap brushes. No lag whatsoever while drawing. I recently finished up a 500 page board using Storyboard Pro (on my desktop) and the file opened very quickly and flipping through panels was every bit as fast as on my desktop.
All in all everything I threw at the Surface Pro 2 performed admirably.  Even Maya, Mudbox and Z-Brush preformed admirably on it. Also, it was fairly easy to animate on it using Sketchbook Pro’s Flipbook timeline as well. I animated the quick pencil test below on my Surface Pro 2.
In fact for pure drawing? The Surface Pro 2 performs more than admirably! It’s perfect. The pen glides nicely on the glass, it has a little pull and there is absolutely zero lag as I sketch. It’s fantastic and if that’s all I judged a tablet on this would be a clear win.
But it’s not…
Hacking the Screen
Coming in at only 10″ the Surface Pro’s screen size is actually smaller than a sheet of Letter size Paper (8.5 x 11) to draw on which isn’t so bad on paper but then when you add all the toolbars and floating palettes there’s not so much room to draw upon!  That’s okay I guess because with collapsing palettes and whatnot, you can work around it. What IS harder is the high DPI screen that makes apps TINY and particularly anything Adobe. The resolution is SO high on *Photoshop and Flash I couldn’t even SEE the menus. And when I say I can’t see them I literally CAN’T see them. I had no idea what frame I’m on and couldn’t even see the Preferences palette to swap out a frame in a symbol. Yes, I know Flash inside and out and so I could pretty much run blind, but it was still REALLY hard to see.  Check out the example.
Adobe Flash on the Surface Pro 2
Tiny huh? Remember this is on only a 10″ screen about the size of your mouse pad, so it’s REALLY hard to see. That said, there is a hack that let’s you uprez the interface on high DPI screens which works flawlessly and makes Flash (and any other app) usable again! All that said, hacking the registry can cause other problems and while this particular hack is really easy to pull off, you could still brick your computer if you do it wrong, so unless you like to tweak software the Surface Pro still isn’t for you. Check out this example of after the screen hack below:
Flash Pro with the High DPI Manifest Hack
Much better if not a little cramped. Storyboard Pro works with this fix as well, but I did find that the new Flash CC 2015 (which has it’s own problems anyway right now) sadly does NOT work with this hack yet. Other programs like Premiere and Illustrator works too. I have an email to my friends at Adobe to see if they can do something similar to what the *Photoshop team did to address the high DPI issue.
A bit of art I did on the Surface Pro 2 using Storyboard Pro.
Software that works
Sketchbook Pro
Photoshop-(works well with Adobe’s zoom preference)
Flash-(requires manifest hack to see well.)
Illustrator-(requires manifest hack to see well.)
Premiere-(requires manifest hack to see well.)
Audition-(requires manifest hack to see well.)
Storyboard Pro-(requires manifest hack to see well.)
Autodesk Maya-(requires manifest hack to see well.)
Mudbox-(requires manifest hack to see well.)
Windows 8.1 But that, dear friends is the good stuff… now comes the bad, because in order to USE the Surface you need Windows 8.1 which is a giant piece of donkey doo. Yes, even though Microsoft has been trying like a little puppy to get you to like them with their happy-singy ads, talking about how you can dance on picnic tables AND use the Surface, Windows 8 is still a giant hunk of shit. It’s a HORRIBLE interface even on their OWN hardware designed FOR their software!
Case in point. You start up Sketchbook Pro and try to draw with it, but when you place your hand on the screen it causes your palm to also draw. Okay, no problem, disable the Touch interface right? Well Microsoft doesn’t WANT you to do that so they make it hard for you and so you have to go into the Device Manager and disable it. Luckily there’s a little app called Touch Toggle which sits in your System Tray and let’s you click it to enable touch and click again to disable touch. And therein lies the reason I use Windows. It’s hackable.
Touch Toggle On
Touch Toggle Off
See Microsoft? That wasn’t SO hard was it? I am left wondering WHY WOULD MICROSOFT BE SO STUPID!?!?!?!? Do they even USE their products before skipping them off to the shelves in a trail of flowers and rainbows? And if you’re not computer advanced like I am, you might not even know what the Device Manager is! Let alone how to make Touch Toggle start up each time with the system. Grandma sure won’t, so forget those commercials about how it’s easier than an iPad. Pffffff. And I don’t even LIKE iPads. Yes, I know here’s where some of you say “Get a Mac!” but see Dead Uncle Steve proselytized the Mac faithful that “No pen shall toucheth thy Macintosheth!” and so there IS no portable device with a Mac interface to draw on except the iPad which is akin to drawing with a crayon on a window pane made by Fisher Price. go ahead tell me about the $4000 Modbooks that use to exist. They don’t anymore so…
To Sum it All Up…
So at the end of the day, will I keep the Surface Pro 2? I’m honestly not sure yet… What I look for in a tablet is the ability to draw (and Sketchbook Pro does that admirably) and to write (and I can easily do that with Word and the surprisingly decent keyboard cover). I can even animate with it using either Flash or Harmony and if I choose to get an adapter, suddenly now I can add an external monitor to it as well making it much more powerful. I might also just get a Surface Pro 3 but I am leery of the N-Trig Digitizer as I have heard that it’s not the best and even messing aorund with it in the store left MUCh to be desirred. you’d think that Microsoft would put a decent drawing app on a tablet with a pen, but noooooooo.
Idiots, truly idiots.
Still they make a 12″ Surface Pro 3 AND you can even get it in an i7 so I may yet go down that road…
Pros -Impressive speed and performance. -Innovative design. -Surprisingly comfortable keyboard. -Literally ran anything I threw at it. -Pressure sensitivity performed well.
Cons -Text too small on all Adobe apps except Photoshop with out hacking. -Screen size too small to do serious video editing or animation. -Windows 8.1 still sucks ass.
*Adobe released Photoshop CC 2015 which automatically uprezzes the app for super high resolution screens but the screen’s menus are then too big for me and you endlessly scroll to get to the bottom of a menu.
This Animation was created using Toon Boom Storyboard Pro version 4.1 and a Wacom Cintiq. Background Art was drawn and Painted in Adobe Photoshop CS6 By Arshad Mirza Baig of A.M.B Animation who we interviewed some time ago. Arshad goes through the process on his blog.
From his site:
Flash is fine for demonstrating simple tutorials but extremely frustrating for anyone attempting to produce a high quality piece of drawn frame by frame character animation. The vector tools are extremely intrusive and inhibit the organic flow from brain to pen stroke making the whole process of animating extremely disjointed – much like the symbol style that Flash was created for. In my ignorance I held the word vector in disrepute and refused to work in Toon Boom Story Board pro purely because it was vector based. Then Toon Boom announced a bitmap drawing tool in it’s new version so I decided to give it a go. After a while of playing with the programme I thought I’d just try and see what the vector drawing experience was like in it and I was stunned. It was just as good as drawing with a marker pen and I had full control! I never looked back and spent last year doing most of my story boards happily in vector line work.
We shall shortly be posting vacancies in most departments for the next season of The Amazing World of Gumball. Â The approximate dates for these job ads will be:
Storyboard Artists & Storyboard Revisionist
Advertising in June/July for positions starting immediately
2D/3D Layout/Previz Artists – Junior /  Mid / Senior
Advertising in August for positions starting in October
2D Flash Animators – Junior /  Mid / Senior  Â
Advertising now for holiday cover for Season 4 and Season 5 contracts starting in November
3D Maya Animators – Junior /  Mid / Senior  Â
Advertising now for holiday cover for Season 4 and Season 5 contracts starting in November
2D/3D Background Artists – Junior /  Mid / Senior Advertising now for holiday cover for Season 4 and Season 5 contracts starting in January 2016
Please keep checking back for new job opportunities here at Cartoon Network.
Most job applications will require applicants to do a short test before any offer will be made.
Great Marlborough Productions Ltd in partnership with Cartoon Network London are looking for 2D/3D BACKGROUND ARTISTS.
The background department is tasked to deliver all the final matte paintings and 3D environments for the show. Starting from the layout artwork they are responsible for the final look and lighting of each background plate. They will use Maya (Mental Ray) and After Effects for moving backgrounds. They will sometimes have to integrate 3D elements over photographs, and sometimes build and render full 3D environments. They also design graphic elements to integrate in to the backgrounds.
Please provide a CV and portfolio. Selected applicants will be required to complete a test that may take up to one day of work. That test can be done remotely.
Requirements:
Strong knowledge of every step of the creation of a 3D set (modeling / texturing / shading / lighting / compositing);
Ready to work in a fast-paced series production and good communication skills;
Confident with photo-realism and heavy photo manipulation;
Comfortable with graphic design, color and composition;
Knowledge of real-world lighting and photography will be considered.
Knowledge:
Required: Â Maya & Mental Ray, Photoshop, After Effects.
Knowledge of additional software will be considered.
If you would like to apply for this role please submit your CV/Resume with link to showreel to: Â gumballjobs@turner.com. Â Please print the name of the position in the subject line of your email.
This job has an immediate start is an in-house position (Old street, London)
It requires you to have the legal rights to work in the UK.
Great Marlborough Productions Limited as part of Cartoon Network is looking for short term and long term FLASH ANIMATORS to work on the THE AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL (40 x 11 minutes).
As part of an in house team of 12, you will be taking each episode through its key frame animation stage, in addition to rough assisting full animation on more complex shots. This is in preparation for the out of house in-betweening.
The style of the show requires strong 2-D drawn animation skills, the ability to stay on model, and deliver well executed animation to tight production deadlines.
You will need a thorough working knowledge of Flash (CS 4 or higher would be a bonus). Previous series experience is preferable, but not essential.
If you would like to apply for this role please submit your CV/Resume with link to show reel to:Â gumballjobs@turner.com
Please print the name of the position in the subject line of your email.
This role requires you to have the legal rights to work in the UK.
Start date: Â Â Â Â Â Varied start dates throughout 2015 Location: Â Â Â Â Â Â LONDON
Great Marlborough Productions Ltd in association with Cartoon Network London is looking Layout Artists for short term (2-4 weeks) holiday cover in 2015.
The layout department is tasked to translate hand-drawn storyboards into cinematographic and realistic sequences. Working as a team the artists will compose and frame every shot, create new backgrounds from photos, animate cameras for action sequences, match the 2d and 3d assets.
Please provide a CV and portfolio. Selected applicants will be required to complete a layout test that may take up to one day of work.
Send your applications to gumballjobs@turner.com
Experience profile: – Junior/Mid
Requirements: -Ready to work in a fast-paced series workflow.
-Good eye for composition and storytelling.
-Completely confident with perspective drawing.
-Comfortable with heavy photo manipulation.
-Comfortable with camera animation.
– Organised and rigorous.
Knowledge: Required: After Effects, Photoshop and Maya.
Knowledge of additional software will be considered.
The job starts in 2015.
This role requires you to have the legal rights to work in the UK.
Great Marlborough Production Limited in conjunction with Cartoon Network London is looking for a CG Technical Director.
The Amazing World of Gumball is an award-winning animated TV series with an original and distinctive multimedia look. We’re crewing up for its fourth season and are looking for new talents to help improve and facilitate our challenging workflow. It is a fast paced series production with a passionate and talented team that continually push the boundaries of what is possible in a TV show.
The CG Technical Director is a newly created position to help us efficiently solve the different challenges we’re facing, coordinate the pipeline between departments and build technical experience within the studio.
In this role you will advise Producers and Supervisors on best technical procedures and tools, as well as supervising their deployment. We have no permanent R&D team so you should be resourceful and able to rely on your own experience. You should facilitate the jobs of artists around you and homogenise workflows. You will also be expected to solve challenging shots sometimes containing particle or physics simulations, troubleshoot software issues and depending of your profile and workload, participate in asset building, shot lighting or animation.
 This is a great opportunity for somebody seeking a technical decision-making position while still working on a variety shots and influencing the aesthetic look of the show. We’re looking for somebody who is experienced, motivated, curious and has initiative.
Pipeline creation and improvement between our Pre-vis, Background, Animation and Compositing departments.
Train and monitor teams to follow procedures and conventions.
Advise Producers and supervisors on appropriate technical procedures.
Work with the art teams to achieve challenging sequences.
Build simple tools where possible and necessary.
Solve all 3D simulations and other 3D special effects.
Work on challenging shots when necessary.
Other duties as assigned.
Requirements:
An encompassing knowledge of 3D animation and VFX workflow.
Significant demonstrable experience with Maya.
Python or JavaScript programming knowledge.
Fluent English (Spoken and written).
Excellent communication skills.
Desirable:
Knowledge in: Asset management, colour theory & linear workflow, geometry caching.
Experience with After Effects, Shotgun software, Mental Ray.
Rigging experience in Maya.
Any additional knowledge will be considered.
Send your applications to gumballjobs@turner.com making sure you put the position you are applying for in the subject line. This role requires you to have the legal rights to work in the UK.
Start Date:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â September/October 2014 Location:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â London
Great Marlborough Productions Ltd in partnership with Cartoon Network London are looking for  junior background artists.
The background department is tasked to finalise all the matte paintings for the show. Starting from the layout artwork they are responsible for the final look and lighting of each background plates. They will sometimes use Maya (Mental Ray) and After Effects for moving backgrounds. They also design graphic elements to integrate in the backgrounds.
Please provide a CV and portfolio. Selected applicants will be required to complete a layout test that may take up to one day of work. That test can be done remotely.
Experience profile:
– Junior
Requirements:
– Ready to work in a fast-paced series production.
– Good eye for photo-realism and confident with heavy photo manipulation.
– Comfortable with graphic design.
Knowledge:
Required: Photoshop, Maya (Mental Ray), After Effects.
Knowledge of additional software will be considered.
If you would like to apply for this role please submit your CV/Resume with link to showreel to:  gumballjobs@turner.com. Please print the name of the position in the subject line of your email.
These jobs start January 2015.
This role requires you to have the legal rights to work in the UK. That job is an in-house position.
Studio Soi (www.studiosoi.de) is looking for experienced After Effects Compositing Artists to work on  THE AMAZING WORLD OF GUMBALL (40 x 11 minutes) starting in early 2015.
As a part of a multidisciplinary team, you will be taking care of the compositing and implementation of 3D renderings, 2D flash animations as well as backgrounds consisting of 3D and live action both still and moving.
Requirements:
Ready to work in a fast-paced series workflow
Conscientious and precise way of working
Approchable for new chores and styles
Strong knowledge of Adobe After Effects
Good knowledge of Adobe Flash (a plus)
Good knowledge of Adobe Photoshop (a plus)
The position is located in Ludwigsburg, Germany. It requires you to have full legal rights to work in Germany (holder of EU passport).
If you would like to apply for this role please submit your application including your relevant reels/portfolio to: Â contact@studiosoi.de
Please print the name of the position as well as ‘Gumball’ in the subject line of your email.
This includes the motion and some light rigging, but not the backgrounds, character illustrations, or audio. You’ll probably need to draw a few in-betweens here and there, but it’s mostly tweening.
Timeline is mid July to end of August and depending on how quickly you can animate, it will be anywhere from 2 to 12 minutes of animation, dolled out at 2 minute at a time increments.
If you’re interested, shoot me an email at Jeremy@g-dcast.com with a link to something that shows me you can do solid cut out animation. I’ll shoot you a test (around 5 seconds), and we’ll take it from there.
 • Produce finished Illustration and/or comp work to support Live Action Boys properties.
• Responsible for executing character art “on model†and in alignment of various franchises
• Responsible for reviewing art and 3D sculpts for various franchises
• Execute against various art styles and trends
• Handles low and medium complexity projects
• Works closely with more senior Artists to meet operational and quality standards
• Creates character artwork for both two dimensional and three dimensional product applications
Desired Skills and Experience
Basic Qualifications
• Excellence in character drawing and character development
• Excellence in layout and storytelling
• Understands principles of cartooning and cartoon animation
• Solid foundation on human and animal anatomy
• Exposure to multiple mediums (sculpting, painting and drawing)
• Exposure to rendering
• Strong time management skills and ability to deliver against tight deadlines
• Fast learner- able to master character family quickly
• Able to use various rendering methods and styles
• Storytelling capability – able to use pose and composition to create clear definable movement
• Self-motivated – takes initiative to develop and present ideas
• Able to clearly communicate creative concepts
• Partners well with category and other design/artist teams Preferred Qualifications
• Working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
• Passion for Disney properties (including Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel properties)
• Working knowledge of 3D software such as Maya, Modo, and/or Z-Brush is a plus Required Education • BA/BS or 2 years technical college in a related field
• 2 years work experience or combination