How did you become an animator?

I always wanted to be a comic book artist growing up, but somewhere in there I found out that they did the lightning bolts on the Delorean in back to the future BY HAND, and decided that was the job for me! I went to a performing arts high school where the film arts teacher, Mr. Ziegler, suggested I go into animation at Sheridan College.

Where do you get inspiration?

I’m a huge film guy. Most of my inspiration comes from film. But obviously my love of comics and artwork in general fills my mind a lot. I’m usually trying to create the feeling of something I’ve seen in a movie.

What’s your hardware setup?

Right now I have an iPad Pro, a Mac Mini with a Cintiq 16, and begrudgingly a PC for rendering.

What do you like best about Moho?

I like the dive in head first aspect of Moho. I used to do so much character stuff in After Effects - but it was always a pain - and always broke. I like that with Moho, you’re constantly refining rigs until they’re perfect. (They’re never perfect, but you know what I mean)

Would you like to promote a project made with Moho?

I love to mix 2D and 3D elements when experimenting - and Moho allows me to use smart actions to create subtle turns to match the 3D camera that would be hugely laborious with traditional animation. A very slight head turn with the camera can be the difference between something looking too flat - and actually feeling like it’s “there”. It also means quick turn around for trial-and-error matching of the 2D and 3D - quickly exporting and updating PNG files in either after effects or blender in this case. Watch the animation test below and leave a comment (and Like it ❤ ) on Instagram HERE.

Would you consider Moho an industry tool?

For sure. It’s great for those shots that need structure and speed - specially when it’s a style that would be too intensive to creative with traditional 2D. I’m a big fan of the puppet workflow.

Would you like to promote a recent project?

I’m working on a new Apple TV show but that’s not going to be done for 18 months.

Where can we follow your work?

Just my Instagram @themikeroberts where I post my silly experiments. You can visit my site: https://www.michaeljohnroberts.com