FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)
 How
much do you charge for a cartoon?
What
services are included in price quotes?
Do you do anything besides character animation, like web design?
What kind of experience/training do your animators have?
Where
can I learn more about your new animation book?
 How
much do you charge for a cartoon?
That's like asking "How much to fix my car?" Well, first
we have to find out just what exactly you need. There are a wide
variety of styles of cartoon animation, from the lower-budgeted
cutout animation (like Monty Python's Terry Gilliam style) to 60's
Saturday morning "Moose and Squirrel" to Looney "Golden
Age" animation (our favorite). And then, how long a cartoon
are you looking for? We've done everything from ten second
promos to twenty-second TV program openings to thirty-second
commercials
to five-minute sales videos. And we can even do mixtures of
live action video with animated characters. Obviously, the
longer the
cartoon, the longer it takes to produce; and therefore, more
expense can be involved.
Rather than telling our clients what we charge for special projects
not outlined on our Price Info page (like longer animation or live-action/animation
combos), we often prefer to have our clients tell us what kind
of budget they have, and we tell them what we can afford to do
for them. We will say up front, however, that even the most rudimentary
animation starts in the four-figure range.
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What
services are included in price quotes?
While some animation studios specialize in animation, MarkToons
is a full-service independent animation studio. Price quotes include
character animation, backgrounds, soundtrack mixing and breakdown,
as well as our in-house voice services when needed. MarkToons has
a full cast of various character actors for male, female, and animal
characters.
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Do
you do anything besides character animation,
like web design?
Although, depending on our current workload, we occasionally do
character graphics for T-shirts, illustration, and web design,
our focus is and always has been character animation. No, we do
not design web pages, but we can refer you to associates who do,
like our friend at C-Eye
Design who created the re-design for this site.
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What
kind of experience/training do your animators
have?
Mark S. Smith, the founder and president
of MarkToonery.com Animation, has been
drawing since age two (or BEFORE, so
his mother tells
him), and graduated with a degree in Graphic Design from Auburn
University Montgomery. While working in AUM's Graphic Design
Center as a Lab Assistant, he animated
his first scene for television
in a public service announcement warning children not to accept
rides from strangers. He took Video Animation four times: twice
as a class (it could be repeated for credit), once as an independent
study, and once as his senior portfolio. Mark did his internship
at the Alabama Department of Public Health in their Video Production
facility, doing animation and graphics on various germs and
text, as well as animated caricatures
of the state health officer in
an informational video. He went on to start his freelance animation
career in 1992, and while later employed as a Multimedia Specialist
for KinderCare, he was sent to take the Animation MasterClass
from the "Animation Maestro," the
thrice Academy Award(TM)-winning Animation
Director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit,
and the Animated
Classic, Thief and the Cobbler.
 Mark
was recruited by Phil Coley, head of AUM's Fine Arts Department,
to teach the Video Animation Class in 1995, as well as Animation
Director for a Department project, Gladys the Octopus Nurse,
a 13-minute children's video, funded by a private producer.
Since taking Richard Williams' Animation MasterClass in 1997,
Mark has taught his animation classes using the MasterClass
notes.
Mark then went to work for Alabama Public Television
as a Computer Graphics Operator in 1998, and stayed there
until 1999. Then
he moved over to ABC-32 in 2000, doing pretty much the same thing
for their evening news broadcasts, making subtitles and full-screen
graphics of exciting quotes from politicians. During this
time he continued to teach Video Animation at Auburn University
Montgomery, and one summer he also taught fulltime at Trenholm
Technical College, while maintaining his fulltime status at ABC-32! (Some
folks will do anything for Health Benefits...) In December
2003, Mark was promoted to Creative Services Director.
In 2004, Mark's wife Albalis was offered a job in an architectural
firm near Atlanta, Georgia and since he was quite fond of being
married to her, left his day job to join her there in "Peachytown." Mark
began teaching Graphic Design and Digital Video Editing classes
for Westwood
College's Midtown Atlanta campus in 2005, and started working
on the second PSA for the Georgia Public Library, tentatively
entitled, "A
Barnyard Fairy Tale."
Mark and Albalis are both members of the Atlanta chapter of ASIFA,
the International Society of Film Animation (A French acronym accounts
for those letters not quite matching, in case you're wondering),
where they get to hang out with all kinds of cool people from Cartoon
Network.
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Where
can I learn more about your new Animation book?
Mark Smith talks about his latest book, The
Art of Flash Animation: Creative Cartooning, while
also reminiscing about his career thus far in a great
interview at Animated-Views.com.
Buy it from
our Store page.
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Contact
us for more information about your
next animation project!
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Mark
with Producer Gary Goldman and Director Don Bluth
- American Tail, Land Before Time, Titan
AE - www.donbluth.com |
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