Definition of a strong marriage…
Monica: What are you working on today?
Me: I’m animating myself as a zombie.
Monica: Oh, that’s cool.

Clay Kaytis sitting at a wood table that is set up for podcasting with two microphones, a monitor, and dark curtains in the background.

Finally got a chance to set up my new podcast studio for the first time. About halfway to where I can start testing.

From: The Day I Quit Smoking (1982), dir. Nedeljko Dragić, Zagreb Film

9 Hour Krampus Yule Log | Brongadoo YouTube video by Brongadoo Productions

Happy Krampusnacht! As a special treat we have put together a NINE HOUR KRAMPUS THEMED STOPMOTION YULE LOG!

It’s packed with different audio surprises just to celebrate the festive holidays so you can play it all month long, preferably on loop

youtu.be/hI6yiZnoas4?...

Russ Edmonds Animation Bringing Animals to Life - Drawing for Animation. I'm sharing my videos focused on drawing from life and bringing that knowledge back to the studio where we will draw and animate. Observe, Understand,...

This was a nice surprise to find my first animation mentor at Disney – Russ Edmonds – has a YouTube and a Patreon. Good stuff. Brings me back.

After a LONG break from animating, I animated seven 2D shots for an upcoming video for my @nowgomakeamovie.com channel, and the biggest takeaway - PLANNING. Follow the steps. Don’t just jump ahead to cleaning up a super rough shot “because it will be easy.” Each time I skipped a step I regretted it.

The Lightbox Expo logo in gold writing - a graphic of a 3D cube with a burst of light coming out of its upper corner with the words Lightbox Expo below.

Adapting Games into Animated Series and Films Civic Auditorium | Maureen Fan, FERGAL REILLY, Patrick Osborne, Clay Kaytis, Jony Chandra, Katherine MacDonald Recent animated game adaptations have crushed it with fans like Arcane or at the box office with Sonic. Making them is hard though: these games have rabid existing fanbases much larger than comics, the games are still ongoing, some have thin story, and Hollywood + games have had a storied history with many previously failed film adaptations. Hear from the creatives, who adapt these beloved IP into animation, share how they do it well.

I’ll be at Lighbox Expo this Friday, speaking on a panel at 3:30 - Adapting Games into Animated Series and Films - with my Angry Birds directing partner Fergal Reilly @f3rgal.bsky.social. Hope to see some familiar and new faces there!

“7 little hand-drawn animated shots - how hard can it be?”
This is the first - and maybe the last - time I do cleanup, color, and tones (shadows) on my own animation. I’m really enjoying it, but it’s taking FOREVER! Doesn’t help to have three characters, either. (It’s for an upcoming YouTube video.)

They should heed the words of the irrepressible Disney animator Ward Kimball:
“Walt’s dead, and you missed it.”

I hope I’m not wrong, but I’m going to go out on a pretty stable limb and say an animator colleague of mine animated that - Bill Waldman. Good on ya, Bill! People like your stuff! Wonder if he’s still working?

2025 NBA Champions. Tribute animation by Antoine Tran.
www.instagram.com/toine_tran/

KNIGHTS OF GUINEVERE: PILOT YouTube video by GLITCH

I love seeing indie animation go for it. Worth a watch to see what’s possible.

NIGHTS OF GUINEVERE: PILOT

Hand animating a TEENY clip for a YT video and I feel so… EMPOWERED. Creating something from scratch – FOR MYSELF, BECAUSE I WANT IT TO EXIST – feels like a giant middle finger to everything wrong in tech and entertainment right now.

Trying out Clip Studio Paint for this, and I’m mostly liking it.

If any animation app companies want a consultant who has helped develop state-of-the-art animation software at Disney Animation, I’m your guy.

While I’m asking, do any apps let you ROLL drawings like on paper? Basically quickly step backward through the previous five drawings and then step forward five drawings to where you started. Again, completely crucial and intuitive way to animate with flow of motion and shapes, and it’s just ABSENT.

Flipping is a very intuitive way to draw an inbetween and it just doesn’t exist in apps AFAIK. Do people really just trace between lines with onionskin turned on and step linearly between drawings? What, are we cavemen???

Does anyone know of a 2D animation app that does flipping the way it happens on paper: going from drawing 2 (the inbetween I’m drawing) to 3 (next drawing), to 2 to 1 (prev drawing), back to 2.

Basically a hotkey that goes: 2-3-2-1-2

Does what I’m asking even make sense to anyone?

Doing some hand-drawn animation for myself after a LOOONG break. Rusty, but it comes back. Funny, wanted to do a slow-in, so I instinctively drew a timing chart and it worked! Lots of things are coming back & I’m done w/ a rough pass. Time to tie down. I dunno, just sorta happy and wanted to share.

Sorry for the cross-posting but I’m bad at separating my posts into the right buckets

This is my first time seeing these but I can understand the fandom

"Which Way Did He Go, George?" YouTube video by Kevin Nguyen

Before the Dumb & Dumber/Ace Ventura double-feature @newbeverly.bsky.social last night, they played “Of Fox and Hounds” (1940 Tex Avery) & a flood of memories came back when I heard that famous line: “Which way did he go, George?”
We said that ALL THE TIME in my family.
youtu.be/jOypj5XFGrU?...

I worked with Rosaemary @travale.bsky.social on the Peanuts specials. Happy to see fellow creatives creating for themselves. Give Rosaemary and Craig a follow here and on YT!

Who wore it better?

Happy 88th birthday to the greatest fictional character of all time

In 1994 I would drive around LA with John Aoshima and Sean Jimenez to go to every figure drawing class we could find to build up our portfolios. Then we all got jobs and now 30 years later I’m here still cheering on John!

I always get excited for a new Sylvain Chomet film. Such a unique filmmaker. I still have that dog from The Triplets of Belleville seared into my memory.

Amazing to hear I was a small part of your artistic journey. 🙏

I think I’m gonna have to buy the EX version for a little animatioOOON.

Now that Bluesky allows 3-minute videos, it is my responsibility to post one of the greatest moments in animation c/o Blue Seed. I will be forever grateful to
@rookery-ceramics.bsky.social for sharing this with me. #blueseed #animationcels