I animated these VJ loops between 2017 and 2023. Most of the clean up (line work) is done by Brittany Penn.
The animation style in this video is: psychedelic 2D animation, psytrance, trippy, sci-fi, tunnels, dancing characters, FX, surreal, and much more.
I started learning how to animate when I was 19 in 2009. What started out as an experiment with flipbook animation quickly turned into an obsession. For the next 4 years I was living as a hermit in my parent’s basement when all my friends were off to college. I got Richard William’s “The Animator’s Survival Kit” and learned from other books and resources on the internet.
Being self-taught suited my shy nature. But the biggest problem was figuring out how to actually make money from animation. I knew I wanted to be an animator, I just didn’t know how to survive off the art form.
After dabbling with flipbooks for a few years, I got a Wacom drawing tablet and began animating digitally with software like TVPaint.
As an introvert, I’ve often found it hard to connect with people through language. It felt like I was always stuck inside my own head. I didn’t start talking until I was 3.
I learned that visual art allows us to get ideas out of our heads and into the world for others to experience.
Animation allows us to project dreams onto a surface for others to experience and connect with.
After a couple years of learning in isolation, I submitted an animation to a contest for The Flaming Lips, and this got my career started as a freelance animator, doing more music videos that would air on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, which opened the door to doing tour visuals for bands like Incubus and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
I make a minimum of 120 animated loops a year, because I have a Patreon where I post at least 9 loops every month for subscribers to use in their own videos.
I’ve taken this frame-by-frame animation work into the world of live visuals, providing animated loops for VJ’s, musicians, and creative professionals of all backgrounds to spice up their content through the timeless quality of 2D Animation.
I’m starting to learn Blender now, so there’s even a couple 3D loop experiments in this compilation. But 2D animation will always be my passion – the goal with 3D is ultimately to use it as a tool in service of the 2D aesthetic (using it for things like texture mapped backgrounds or vehicle animation).
I hope you enjoy watching!
- Micah Buzan
► Animated Loops for your Projects
