Then I made a color palette for each colouring I was going to use. I used the shape tools specifically the polyline tools and the line tools to recreate assets that I had drawn out on paper. I prefer drawing on paper and then scanning the sketches in. Can you describe your process for creating the cut-out assets that you used in making this scene?įirst I drew the sketches out on paper. For example, a short film that was one of my inspirations for this scene was Pinch Cookies by Olivia Watts - one of my fellow animation graduates! The film’s ability to give life to each ingredient as it appeared on screen was an approach I wanted to undertake in my own style of animation and design. Stylistically, I was inspired by the informative nature of animations I had seen in both educational programs and short films. When Toon Boom asked me to create this scene around the theme of food that’s really special to me, I thought yes! I knew right away that I’d create a scene that shows my love for this pizza. I love it still today, and it always reminds me of home, my family, and my favorite city. It was one of my favourite dishes as a kid, especially because my mom makes it really well. I grew up near Chicago, and so of course I grew up with Chicago-style pizza. I think if you’re not from Chicago, you might not know this! Deep dish pizza is made upside down in a pan, similar to a pie. Making this type of pizza is unique compared to how other traditional pizzas are made, so I wanted my scene to show that process. I wanted my demo film to show the fabulous creation of a deep dish Chicago pizza. Can you describe the story that your scene tells, and what inspired it?

Read on to learn about how she animated her scene, her favourite features of Toon Boom Harmony, and her experiences as an animation student.Īria Dines’ scene was featured in the demo video for Toon Boom Harmony 21. We caught up with Aria to hear about the inspiration behind her demo scene. Before that, she’ll be working on earning her masters at the California Institute for the Arts, which she started this fall. Aria says that rigging and directing are her favourite parts of the animation process, and as a result, she aspires to work in the future as a director, or a technical rigging supervisor. Earlier this year, she completed her undergraduate animation program, where she fell in love with rigging for 2D cutout animation. Each artist hired for the project contributed scenes, made using a variety of cutout and tradigitial paperless techniques - and were inspired by recipes they have a personal connection to.Īria Dines is a 2D rigging artist and a commercial illustrator. To encourage animators to try out new tools and techniques following the release of Harmony 21, Toon Boom Animation assembled a demo pack titled The Ingredients of Animation, which features work from six artists participating in the Toon Boom Ambassador Program.

Toon boom harmony student