Community Spotlight! Interview with Kyutwo

We interview the animator Kyutwo! 

1.Hi, can you tell us about yourself?

  Sure.  I go by the pseudonym Kyutwo, which was simply inspired by the name of my favorite Pokemon.  ;)  As far as I can look back, I have always been a very creative person with so many ideas that I hardly have the time to work on just half of them.  Henceforth, I decided to create my website as both, an art portfolio for myself, and a place to meet the needs of creators like me

  2.  Where did you learn to animate? And why did you?

  I learned hand-drawn animation and 3D animation from the Art Institute of Dallas.  However, Flash animation I am still learning on my own.  It doesn't seem that different from 3D animation so it's pretty easy.  As far as why, I have two answers.  I wanted to get into cartoons ever since I watched the old Super Mario Super Show and wanted to make my own Mario cartoon for TV.  But the thing that actually convinced me to be an animator was in fact the Japanese opening animation sequence to Sonic CD.  I was just in a computer store that had that video on display, but I replayed that video several times and was mesmerized by the music sync and smooth animation quality.  So you can say, Super Mario inspired me to go into cartoons, while Sonic inspired me to be an animator.

;

3. Do you have any advice for anyone looking to learn?

  The best advice I received while in school is to practice drawing/animating from real life.  Study how things move in reality, and then apply those movements to the drawings.  Even the professionals in the field study from real life for reference.  I even use myself for references when drawing or animating.  I can offer more advice, but then I'd probably say too much.  :)  If anyone needs some advice on animation, just ask me.

       4.  Can you tell us a bit more about Spirit stars? Can we expect any more?

  Ooh, this is a tough question.  :)  I don't want to give away too much on Spirit Stars.  I will say that I've been thinking a lot about it, and I mean a lot, for almost ten years now.  It's received so much positive feedback and it has given me so many ideas that I believe that it is my best original idea.  Once I have the resources to really mass produce animations, you can definitely expect more, as well as more parody stuff.



       5.  Do you think it's necessary to have VA experience yourself to be able to work with VAs online?

  I believe that it should help, but I do not believe it is necessary.  After all, one must start somewhere, and that place may be online with other voice actors.  However, I have little voice acting experience myself, spanning between my own projects and only a couple of projects by other producers.  I'm probably not the best person to comment on that.

       6.  Do you have/aspire to do creative work professionally?

  Oh, yes.  All the time, every project, no matter how small.  Just like the final part to The DubSpace Emissary when I told my friend I was going to just half-ass that part.  So after I finished it and posted it online, my friend came back to me and said, "I thought you said you were going to half-ass it!"  So be it I am either very dedicated to my work, or that I am a perfectionist, any creative work I do must be done professionally.

       7.  Your site has a lot of resources for animators, fan dubbers etc? Is helping the community important to you?

  Yes it is.  In the past, as I was looking for certain resources for my own projects, I found that a lot of people were looking for the same things that I were, but those resources couldn't be found.  So when I found or created those resources, I wanted to help out the others who needed them too, so I've made a site where people can obtain them.  My goal is to make things easier for animators, voice actors, artists, producers, any type of creator or free thinker, so it really helps to know what they need.


       8.  What kind of things inspire you?

  Oh, man... XD  Pretty much anything.  Video games, anime, cartoons, music, dreams, math, problem solving, etc...  I've even been inspired from just passing thoughts.


       9.  Do you have any other projects you'd like to share with us, what are you up to at the moment?

  I do have several projects I've been working on this year that won't be finished soon.  I do need more voice actors for them, so I will probably host auditions for them soon.  I will say that some of them are Spirit Stars animations.  :)  I may need to ask for the aid of other artists and animators as well.  Some of these are pretty big projects.  I also have a fan dubs.