Hi there --

I recently uploaded an animated music video I made for a song I wrote and recorded. The video was made with a massive $7.25 budget, using construction paper, glue, a black magic marker, a scanner, a paint program, and a couple freeware apps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGKCxyAiBpY

I should warn you that I'm a musician, not a cartoonist or video director. Hope you like it anyway! :)

I{ really, really liked it! It's simpel but effective.

Gotta say I really like it to. Fit the music perfectly. Well Done.

Excellent Jeff. Kept me with you until the end. As Lou says, fits the song really well.

What were the shareware apps you used?

Thanks for the nice words, guys... I used Paint Shop Pro 5.1 (not a free app, but not expensive either) and several free apps: ABC Video Roll, AutoHotKey, and VirtualDub.

I put up a detailed article on my blog about how it was done -- which is pretty much the wrong way!

http://songsandsonics.com/?p=38

If I ever attempt a video like this again, I'll probably use tools that are better suited for the job. :)

Well for my first animation, about six years ago, I kitted myself out with a whole load of new gear dedicated to animation - and finished up taking stills and editing them in Photoshop! It ended up being the first commercial job I had and although I haven't done much animation since then my fingers still itch for it.

I'll look forward to reading your blog in the morning (getting late here).

Cheers,

Ian . . .

Couldn't wait. Just read the blog and I'm glad I did. Very well written and entertaining. Good work!

Thanks! :)

Just wanted to bump this up...

In honor of Harry Nilsson's birthday weekend, I've decided, for this weekend only, to provide free mp3 downloads of The Simple Carnival's latest release, "Me and My Arrow." (The title track is a cover of a Harry Nilsson song.)

The "Me and My Arrow" EP contains "Really Really Weird," so if you like the video, you might enjoy the other tracks as well. It's available to anyone who signs up for The Simple Carnival's e-mail list. I send out only about one e-mail a month and don't share your e-mail address with anyone.

You can sign up here:

http://www.simplecarnival.com/

Hope this isn't too spammy, but hey, it's free! :)

Thanks again for the nice comments about the video, and for letting me bend your ear!

well done. Very creative