Toonbots message board: Stick figures

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Michael Thu Jan 11 00:52:35 2001
Stick figures

As promised.

They're late, of course. I'm not sure how I could miss even a tridiurnal update cycle, but I did. I already have the idea for the next one, though, so maybe I'll do it tomorrow to make up.

Chris Thu Jan 11 01:23:38 2001
Re: Stick figures

[Picture: michael.gif]

WALTER RETLAW: THIS MAN WANTS YOUR JOB.

That is all.

(Those who don't get it: point yourself in the general direction of http://fred.keenspace.com. I throw myself upon the mercy of the Jihad for having uttered the vilest K-word.)

Chris Thu Jan 11 01:36:40 2001
In all seriousness, though...

This rocks. The choice of names for the new characters is a bit strange, but that's nothing new for Toonbots. ;)

I rather like the fourth-panel commentary between BoxJam and the dot... perhaps that's leading toward MST3K-style slams of older Toonbots comics? Or perhaps even other strips? (although you may need to fend off the Copyright Lawyers From Hell!!! if you do this.)

Michael Thu Jan 11 15:18:13 2001
Re: In all seriousness, though...

> This rocks.

I'm working on it. Thanks.

> The choice of names for the new characters is a bit strange,
> but that's nothing new for Toonbots. ;)

You had fair warning. I "developed" these characters in late 1999 when I first started kicking around the idea of a Toon-o-Matic. Since they're stick figures and since their entire raison d'etre is as gender icons and since Toonbots has gotten into this Seussian narration paradigm, I couldn't think of any better names (rhyming with stick) than Hick and Chick. Maybe those aren't their names, though. Maybe those are just their categories and their names are actually Cheetah and Rita. Or Seth and Beth. Or Bill and Jill. Or Eek and Ook. Heh. Don't suppose anybody here likes _Hudson Hawk_ quite like I do?

> I rather like the fourth-panel commentary between BoxJam and the dot...
> perhaps that's leading toward MST3K-style slams of older Toonbots comics?
> Or perhaps even other strips? (although you may need to fend off the
> Copyright Lawyers From Hell!!! if you do this.)

Nah, MST3K isn't my style. Funny but not as a motif, for me. Now, internal self-commentary, yeah, but not all the time.

BoxJam's days are numbered. One more strip and his cameo is over. For now. It's not like he's not on file. As soon as I can draw him a body, I'll bring him back for a while.

Lord Emsworth Thu Jan 11 16:37:33 2001
Re: In all seriousness, though...


> Maybe those aren't their names, though. Maybe those are just their
> categories and their names are actually Cheetah and Rita. Or Seth and
> Beth. Or Bill and Jill. Or Eek and Ook. Heh. Don't suppose anybody here
> likes _Hudson Hawk_ quite like I do?

Bill and Jill would be all right (Seth and Beth seems more original, though), but unlesss you plan on spoofing B jungle pictures, I'm not so sure about Cheetah and Rita. Somehow Ekk and Ook simultaneously make me think of monkeys and those weird blobs, Gleep and Gloop, from "The Herculoids" (one of those cheesy 60's Hanna-Barbera shows. Never actually seen "Hudson Hawk" (seen comparatively few live action films made later than the 60's, to be honest.)

I'm still mildly astonished at how far Toonbots has come since October. At this rate, in another year or possible even less, you might be able to handle stick bulls or cats or kangaroos, or even better. Amaziing accomplishment, really.

Michael Thu Jan 11 18:46:15 2001
Progress is my middle name!

> I'm still mildly astonished at how far Toonbots has come since October. At
> this rate, in another year or possible even less, you might be able to
> handle stick bulls or cats or kangaroos, or even better. Amaziing
> accomplishment, really.

Emsworth, *I'm* astonished at how far I've come -- and simultaneously at how far I could yet go, in the sense that I'm seeing possible solutions to things I wouldn't have considered real possibilities at first.

For instance, I'm thinking long and hard about human figure modelling, you know, the sticks-and-balls skeleton thingies you see in how-to-cartoon books? There, I'd effectively be parameterizing the position of the limbs, etc., and there are fewer degrees of freedom than one would think. Combine that with a kind of "draw-the-envelope" function, and you'd have pretty neat-looking quasi-realistic figures.

And the really good part is that it's still fun.

I'll bet I could do a stick bull right now. Wouldn't be elegant, though. Actually, I could do a stick *anything* now. You don't need much more than lines to do stick figures (hence the term). But what's going to be much more interesting is things like draw the envelope -- you know, like what you'd do with Illustrator or something.

A shame about Hudson Hawk. You wouldn't care for the language (liberal doses of the 'f' and similar words, hey, it was the 80's and we all thought it was cool) but the movie itself is one of the most cartoon-like movies I've ever seen. The critics hated it. It was, however, the first movie I ever bought. I love it.

But I'm happy that you all are still enjoying the show, such as it is. Keeps me moving. I wish people paid more attention like that to my paying projects. I guess if I could figure out how to use my workflow toolkit to produce a webtoon, I'd get a jihad for that, too.

Hmm...

Joe Nadeau Thu Jan 11 19:23:11 2001
Re: Progress is my middle name!

Yeah. Hudson Hawk is a pretty cool movie. I like coffee. As for stick animals, add a stick snake. Not just because it's easy, but also because of the Biblical implications. A man. A woman. And a snake. Eh, eh?

Michael Thu Jan 11 22:41:33 2001
Snake

> Yeah. Hudson Hawk is a pretty cool movie. I like coffee. As for stick
> animals, add a stick snake. Not just because it's easy, but also because
> of the Biblical implications. A man. A woman. And a snake. Eh, eh?

You mean ... so, what I hear is that you're suggesting something with _meaning_ for Toonbots. Hmm. Interesting idea, yes, I can see where there might be something there. I'll run it by the boys in the back room.






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