Ddrama the Llama's First Video!

Ion Canon by Demonic Otter Toe is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

This is the first in the Ion Canon animation series. It features Ddrama the Llama, a cud-chewing camel cousin with more than a few issues. Ddrama will appear in upcoming animations, as well as other animal and human characters.

I looked at several photos and videos of llamas to get a sense of what they look like and how they walk. I then drew the characters in Adobe Illustrator. I used a clipart bird from Microsoft, which I customized and created a "dead" version.

The background image is a photo composite with multiple layers and applied filters created in Adobe Photoshop. The original image is of a field and trees in the Texas Hill Country.

I took the characters and background image into Adobe After Effects, animated them, and added video clips from my stock video library. I could have imported the AE files directly into Premiere, but to save Premiere rendering time, I exported the animations as AVI files in AE.

I used Adobe Premiere to edit the animation clips and add audio. I used Adobe Soundbooth for the music bed. The birdsong and nature sounds were recorded this past weekend in a Minneapolis suburban park. I created the Foley FX in my studio.

(NOTE: I just noticed one of Ddrama's legs is missing. It is actually there, but was masked out in AE when I was trying to solve a particular animation issue.)




Ion Canon is produced by Demonic Otter Toe, the animated digit of Totem Media, L.C. All characters, media, and designs are Copyright 2009 Totem Media, L.C. except where previous copyrights have been established. All Rights Reserved.

Texas Heat Causes a Potpourri of Sizzling Updates

It's hot outside! Highs in the mid 90s, with heat indices over 100! So I'm staying inside and updating you on the latest exciting news!

We got our final totals from the RushCon 8 Charity Auction, held July 9, 2008. We raised $3000 for the Daily Bread Food Bank of Toronto! :) This makes our eight-year total $48,750, all donated to charity!!

We are celebrating our fifth anniversary at Totem Media, L.C.! We've had a lot of fun producing videos, websites, promotional materials, conference booths, logos, digital presentations, and other multimedia marketing for our clients! If you haven't checked out our groovy anniversary video, take a minute (literally!) and visit our website home page, www.totem-media.com.

On the personal front, we continue to make our home a showcase of love and Texan practicality. The latest project is converting our old pantry to an elegant storage place for our pint glass collection. This 7'H x 2'W x 1'D built-in is too small for an effective pantry, but is perfect to display decorative glassware. Having just replaced our garage door, it's now time to repaint the outdoor trim and get the exterior ready for updated landscaping, coming this fall!

Take another few seconds and visit demonicottertoe.com. Decide if you are worthy (I hope you are!) and sign up for the D-O-T's newsletter. Demonic Otter Toe is our animation production company, so we're having a bit of fun. (Heck, how scary can a toe be? Especially an otter toe?!) D-O-T is a 'spam-free digit,' so we won't spam you, nor will we sell or give your info to a third-party.

We'll be posting introductory material for Demonic Otter Toe's first animation production as they are completed. It's animation combining several media styles - true multimedia! - which makes it unique. We'd appreciate your feedback!

Demonic Otter Toe Starts World Domination Caper!