For over a decade I've been piecing together bits and pieces of everything I ever saw or read and I've compiled them in my mind. Not in a way of plagiarism, just concepts and story elements. I always loved a good story and looked for them in books, movies, and games. I always wanted a chance to share my ideas with others so I can entertain people. I've had a dream to create my own animation show from one of these ideas for quite some time now. Not some random 5 minute cartoon short. I'm talking about a detailed story driven show.

I don't want to get into it too much, but it will be about zombies. I hope to have a high level of detail throughout the show. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I consider my sketching to be above average. I think I can manage to make it look decent enough to not be an eye sore.

This is the plan:
Learn animation
Write a script
Draw up some assets
Animate a short trailer

I'm in a bit of a rut though. I'm brand new to animation and I'm using Opentoonz which is a bit overwhelming to a beginner. So, I'm asking a few questions here to help alleviate some of the hassle.


1: Does anyone know a way I can draw on my computer as if I was drawing with a pencil? I can't draw to my best ability with a mouse and I don't think my scanner is working at the moment. Does anyone have any suggestions for drawing in high detail on a PC? Is there some kind of device I can get that acts like a sketch pad?

Initially, I was going to use this flash game I found years ago called Hero Machine to get some concept art for characters and just redraw them, but now I'm thinking that I might be able to just use those as they are without redrawing them. I'm not sure the creator of it cares about using his assets, but I'm not sure. If anyone would look into it I would appreciate it. I'll look into it as well, but more eyes means better chances. If I take this route, I can probably do this faster.

2: Does anyone know a good program I can whip up some music for it? I'm not very musically gifted, so anything easy would be great. Or if you have another suggestion on how I can acquire some decent background music for free, I'd be appreciative.

3: Does anyone know a site where I can download free random and miscellaneous sound effects like gun shots, foot steps, wind, etc.?

If anyone has any tips, suggestions, answers, or questions then feel free to leave a reply. I'll take anything. Constructive criticism, tips, or even a "go to hell".