Pencil Tests

I was digging through the archives this week and found the above rough pencil test from HANDYCAT the seven-minute short we made for Frederator Studios and Nickelodeon. Animators sometimes like to test rough drawings to see how the movement is going. At the studio, we use a software program called FlipBook to test animation. Sometimes the drawings are then cleaned up by the animator his/herself or an assistant and then imported into Flash for manipulation. With this particular test, however, the drawings were not cleaned up, and the pencil test was simply imported into Flash to be used as a guide. Handycat head shapes, body shapes, leg shapes, and other shapes were then aligned with the pencil test guide to make the color version of the scene.

FlipBook and Flash Animation are terrific tools, but it takes a skilled animator to get the best out of them. G. Brian Reynolds is one such animator.

Click the link below to see Brian’s pencil test and the color version of the scene. Actor Rob Paulsen provides Handycat’s funny coughs.

Handycat Pencil Test and Finished scene

(Be patient - the Pencil Test takes longer to load.)