Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire

David Shepstone 

MA 3D Animation

I am an animator with a passion for producing high-quality work for feature film, VFX, TV and the Gaming industry. With over 20 years of experience in the field, I am able to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the studios that I work with. For the majority of my professional career, I have worked as a character animator but I have also had the opportunity to work in a variety of different areas of the business, such as a character rigger, stereoscopic conversion work, Maya tool developer, Gameplay animator, and animation college instructor. I have animated on a wide variety of projects in both 3d and 2d animation with a variety of animation studios.

Musical Timing in Animation

Musical timing in animation production synchronizes a character’s movements to the music and sound effects created for a cartoon.

This research aims to document the methods and practices used in creating musical timing in animation and demonstrate the various techniques of this approach to timing through multiple examples. Musical timing in animation is not widely used today in the animation industry, and the actual process of animating in this manner has become a lost art. This video documents the history and provides a step-by-step guide on animating and directing with musical timing as the driving force. When we think about directors who pioneered these animation methods, we must look at Chuck Jones and Carl Stalling (musical director) and Walt Disney. These methods deserve to be revisited and brought into practice today.