Burbank, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/13/2014 -- Independent developers Tamara and Corey Smith, together with their cat Mew, is one with the KickStarter community in celebrating the success of their crowdfunding goal for Animation Dock funded in less than a week since it started rolling last February 11th 2014. Click their KickStarter link for more details on how to become an early adopter. Animation Dock, their envisioned animation desk prototype for iPads, just reached more than $10,000 in pledges from people who believed that the project will be a success. It now goes on for stretched goals since more pledges are still coming in. Tammy and Corey wishes to make this product accessible to all artists who love traditional animation, without sacrificing hundreds or even thousands of dollars for sophisticated equipment.
An Inspiring Back Story
Corey and Tammy's goals were first divided into three: First is make stuff they want, second is make that stuff in the right manner and third is make sure to pay it forward. Surely, with Animation Dock the first one was already achieved. When they started putting up a crowdfunding page in KickStarter for their first goal, the support had been outstanding so goal number two was easily achieved. The last goal is tricky. It can be attained once the prototypes turn into real products that most of the pledgeians can make use of. But with the major aim of reaching animation enthusiasts who are in love with traditional drawing, the Animation Dock brings a solution for iPad owners that is more affordable than its established industry counterparts.
What Animation Dock Can Do
As the product name entails, it is designed to make traditional drawing (in a paper canvas), more comfortable with a little aid from new technology. It has an integrated built-in ACME pegbar that allows docking of traditional animation paper. Currently, it supports 7'' and 10'' sized tablets which in turn will be used as light source upon drawing. Traditional animation relied much on classically-designed desks with a rotating disc in the center. Animation Dock also has that 360 degree rotating functionality to get the best angles without ruining the artwork. All these are attached to a detachable desktop. The Lightbox is an iPad app created by the couple's good friend, Patrick Cossette. Aside from adjusting screen brightness, it also has the capability to import images, set custom rulers or grids, adjust opacity of image rendered and use both image and grid options simultaneously. The Lightbox also comes with a protective cover.
In simpler terms, the iPad runs the Lightbox app to control brightness. It is housed below the whole desktop. Paper can be attached to the pegbar and the rotating disc allows free moving. As the desktop is detachable, the Animation Dock can also be customized for couch drawing.
The Stretched Goals and Promise
As of this writing, the KickStarter fund has already unlocked the second level of stretched goal. At $11,000, a new stain color can now be included in the benefits given to backers. At the current level of $12,000, free keychains will become inclusive for every dock release. There are 10 other levels which will be achieved as the funds go higher until the time expires on March 14th.
Stretched Goals was made in order to accommodate the still overwhelming financial support that the couple is receiving. It helps provide better tools and other benefits to them including months of rental fee, upgrading of their facility and payment for people who help them, among many others. More funds will mean more time they can dedicate into finally completing the whole project and delivering the products to backers.
As was usual of every KickStarter funding, there are allotted promised number of rewards as a return gift to everyone who supports them with listed denominations. One likely reward is a mini-desk copy of the product and a fully hand-made dock for early adopters. For a wealth more of information on those rewards and updates on their progress, their website is always a click away: http://www.animationdock.com. Visit their Press Kit for more details.
About Animation Dock and its Developers
Animation Dock is the brain-child of couple Corey and Tamara Smith with more than 14 years of combined experience in VFX, game designing, 2D animation, model building and 3D animation. Animation Dock is designed for traditional artists who love to draw. It aims to bring affordable alternatives to sophisticated desks while producing the same satisfactory result.
Contact:
Tamara Gray-Smith
Burbank, CA
info@animationdock.com
http://www.animationdock.com