Would you like to introduce your work and your innovative product? How did it start?
Yes! My name is Niels Krogh Mortensen, animator, director and CEO at Krogh Mortensen Animation (KMA) based in Copenhagen, Denmark. I am 37 years old and have worked as an animator and computer graphic artist since I started working in the mid eighties. In the beginning my most important tools were Deluxe Paint for the Amiga and several self developed tools. I have worked in the computer games business and have done over 30 titles for the Commodore 64, Amiga, PC, Playstation etc. In 1997 my brother Lars Krogh Mortensen and me started our company and are now doing feature films, television series, commercials and animation for games.
Our software, Plastic Animation Paper (PAP), started in my head many years ago, when I thought to my self why we didn't have any good digital solutions with real focus on the art of hand drawn animation. So I called up my dear friend and co-owner of PAP, programmer Jakob Frandsen, and we got to it right away. Our philosophy has always been to go for a simple and easy piece of software that could help and speed up the everyday work of animators all over the world. Most of our time spend on developing PAP is used at discussing and testing how to keep any new functionality straight forward and as logical in the broader picture as possible. I believe this is why people like PAP so much. It's just easy and fun! And it works. Even though its simple, you can do the most advanced high quality animation any animators skills will allow. I'm proud of PAP, I must admit. .
Why did you choose 2D animation right when 3D is becoming more and more popular?
3D animation is great. It has so much potential and in my mind there's no doubt you can actually achieve the most subtle animation through 3D computer animation. Just look at Pixars work. And 3D is developing so fast these years. I love 3D animation. However, 2D can be developed the same way! 2D or 3D, - animation is animation. For me, it's just fun work and a great business to be in! All animation, whatever the medium or style, is just a way of getting your stories told. PAP is, besides being used by traditional animators for everything from rough animation to cleanup, - the perfect tool for animators of all mediums (from stop-motion to cut-out, 2D or 3D), because sketching and planning what ever you want to do is so important.
We chose to do 2D animation software at this time and age, because we came from a creative innovative computer background with pixel based 2D animation and 3D animation and needed a real animation tool for real animators!
What are the strenghts of your software?
In my mind, it has this effortless ease of use. It helps you to do your best animation. You can work fast and concentrated, not having to think of unnecessary distractions. This is how you do great quality animation.
How could you develope a software that is very intuitive, yet highly flexible?
With a lot of thought really - and by keeping it simple. Of course we use our experience and our friendly users input and good ideas. And I guess we're a little lucky too!
But again, we don't just cram in any nifty idea. We think about it long and hard. And testing different solutions in practice. Is this idea really fitting our main goal with PAP? Can it be implemented in a nice and logical way, fitting the interface and basic concept? Are we really serving the animator or are we cluttering up the simplicity of the software? Those are questions we always ask our selves. This tend to give us good solutions. Sometimes the solution is even to just leave out the feature completely..
In what kind of environment is your software used?
It is used in big studio environments or by the single home based animator. Some are technical people fitting PAP into their studios existing pipeline, some are pure artists animating away. Most users are Windows based, but some big studios use Linux. Many people have asked us about supporting the Mac - so we are now working on a Mac OSX version! It will be ready and released very soon.
What is your view over animation in northern Europe?
I think European animators in general have so much talent and we are seeing some very high quality and promising stuff. In Northern Europe I will have to mention my own country, Denmark, as one with a big animation tradition and successes. A long list of feature films and animation in general are produced here, and our animation schools are feeding the world with young talent. But animation is really taking off in many countries around the world, so this is an exciting time for all of us!
French animation is becoming increasingly popular. How would you think it is possible to create a european alternative with its individual character?
In Europe we have a great tradition for good artistic film. I think we have the mindset to produce animated movies with specially good stories a distinct style and using innovation and technology for overcoming todays lower budget competition from the far east. I think it is highly possible for us Europeans to do fine international movies with good appeal worldwide.
Do you have any advice for somebody approaching the world of animation?
As an animator, experience is key. So if you are not lucky enough to get the perfect job right away (nobody are) - do your own projects. Practice!
Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?
In the middle of a innovative, busy and fun animated movie production, pushing the boundaries of our technique.
email: Niels email
homePage: link
