TerminalMontage - FAQ (Patreon)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I want to be an artist, what advice can you offer?

A: As with anything, practice gets you more comfortable with something, making you faster and more efficient - with animation it takes a while, and you don’t really notice improvements until a good amount of time has passed, it’s kinda like working out I guess. You don’t really realize how much weight you’ve lost or muscle you’ve gained as you’re going through the weeks/months, but if you look at a before and after pic you can see things clearly. It’s kinda generic advice, but one thing that helped me was sticking to very simple designs. It made it fun and didn’t make projects seem too daunting. That’ll help you animate and get familiar with whatever style you’re using. Also, make storyboards and animatics for your animations. (Don’t make them too detailed). Get all of your movements down with a stickman in your animatic then draw your characters over them. It’s easy to animate a stickman over and over - through trial and error you’ll find the right movements, then drawing the character over that won’t be so tough, it’ll just be time consuming. 

Q: What program do you use to animate?:

A: Animate CC - On a Cintiq21UX and Mobile Studio Pro 16. 

Q: Will you ever upload video tutorials or stream?

A: Probably not, but I'll upload my animatics when I can, and I do stream, rarely! https://www.twitch.tv/terminalmontage 

Q: When did you start animating?

A: At the end of February 2012. 

 Q: Did you go to school for it?

A: No, I got bad grades in my art classes. I taught myself. 

Q: Can you do “Something about [insert game title here]”?

A: In addition to polls posted on patreon, I read youtube comments pretty regularly. If I notice an overwhelming number of requests for a game, I’ll try to add it to my list. (Sometimes I start projects and reach a roadblock, so I’ll put in on the backburner until something comes to me.) 

Q: There is an issue with my order on teespring, can you help?

A:It’s best to reach out to Teespring support for help with your purchase, since they can look up your order information. You can reach them at http://teespring.force.com/NewCase?l=en_US. (They usually respond within 24 hours) They also have their own FAQ here: http://answers.teespring.com/customer/en/portal/articles 

Q: I am a voice actor/animator/colorist/background artist/etc, can I send you my portfolio? 

A:Unfortunately, I do not usually have the chance to look through portfolios. ☹ I will post on twitter when I am looking for assistance on my next animation https://twitter.com/terminalmontage  

Q: I messaged you on social media but haven’t heard back!

A: I don't really respond on social media so if you need to contact me for business inquiries or to report reuploads of my work, please use: askterminalmontage@gmail.com     

Q: How can I support you? 

A: Share my videos and turn off AdBlock! 😊 Let me know when you see other people re-uploading my work (short 30s clips/gifs are okay) so I can REPORT IT! And become a Patron https://www.patreon.com/sidequests  and/or a Youtube Member! 

Q: Can I do a dub of your video in [insert language here]?

A. We do not allow reuploads of any kind (this includes dubs and reaction videos), but you are more than welcome to submit subtitles to the channel!

Q: What made you interested in doing animations?

A: I’ve always wanted to make movies and tell stories. Animation seemed like the most stream-lined way to do it because I can create everything – I don’t need to rely on other people, I don’t need to get additional expensive equipment, or build a set. 

When I first tried animating, it was time consuming and I hated it, but years later, I developed more patience and realized it takes time to learn.  Right now, I am making parodies, but it is through old projects and the Something Series that I learned more about animation, so one day I can bring my original stories to life. 

Here's a blog post about how TerminalMontage started  https://terminalmontageyt.tumblr.com/post/189500956780/woh-look-at-those-numbers-i-knew-the-channel-has 

And an interview over at HEAVY.com!

https://heavy.com/games/2019/08/terminalmontage-something-about-youtube/ 

Q: How long does it take you to make a Something video?

A: Between 2-6 weeks usually, it depends on the video and how long it is. In general I try to do about 1 minute per week while working on a project - but there outliers. Like, somehow I did Something About The Typing of the Dead in just 8 days.