Every Thursday we're opening the studio doors and answering all of your questions. Technical, industry, fandom or otherwise - drop your question in the comments below - and we'll hop to it. (We're fielding Q's on Facebook, Twitter and G+ too, if that's easier!)

Got any questions you'd like to ask us?

Last week Elaine O'Brien asked us Hi guys. My question is: how much does it cost to make an episode of Octonauts or Doc McStuffins?

I'm afraid Elaine we can't divulge figures but we put the question to our Producers and they replied with:

All we are allowed to say is that each episode needs a lot of time, creativity and teamwork!

We generally produce multiple episodes simultaneously for each series and it takes over a year to see one episode through from start to finish.

Next up we have John who asks: Hi Brown Bag Films, I am currently studying 3D animation withAnimSchool, and i was wondering when you are hiring is it better to be Specialised in Character Animation or Modelling and Rigging, or would it be more beneficial to be qualified for both the specialities as a generalist, and my other question would be will Brown Bag Films make feature films, is this in the pipeline? I hope to one day be lucky and good enough to work with you. Thanks, John.

For the first question we'd refer you back to the answers we had from a similar question last week:

Our Lead 3D Animator Ciaran Dempsey replied: Having some knowledge of modelling or rigging is really useful. It’s not a requirement, and you don’t need a great knowledge of either, but it can be really useful when it comes to identifying problems in for example a character rig rather than just soldiering on with something that could easily be fixed, saving time down the line. It’s also handy for when suggesting improvements by just knowing what kind of things are possible, and the knock on effect of requesting a change to a rig.

If you're just starting out in 3D though, it might be best to start more as a generalist until you find the area you enjoy most, then focus on that.

Our Lead Pre-Visualisation Artist Richard Keane replied: It’s definitely good to know a bit of everything at the start, particularly if you don’t know exactly what field you want to end up in. Major studios generally hire for specific roles so it's best to pick one area to specialise in and aim to become the best in that field. Sometimes you can get lucky and get hired as a generalist but if you want to become an animator normally these are hired specifically for that skill set and not expected to know rigging etc -  but obviously that’s a plus point on your CV when hiring.

And for the second question, yes we're currently working on developing our first feature film, we hope to have more news soon, so watch this space!

Next up from the comments below, Paula asked, What skills do you need to be an animator at Brown Bag? Is it classical animation background or computer based skills?

Hi Paula, we put the question to our Lead Animator Ciaran Dempsey who replied:

I’d say mainly computer animation skills since the majority of animators are using Autodesk Maya. You can download a free version of that for educational purposes and definitely should try learning the basics.

As an animator you don’t really need a very extensive knowledge of Maya, just being able to understand the timeline, graph editor, and understand how to use the character controls, setting keys and what not. It can take a while to get your head around, so no harm in starting now! You can learn a lot by just experimenting and messing around.

It’s never any harm to learn and practice some traditional animation too, I have never once lifted a pencil professionally here J but it’s definitely a great way to learn and understand the principals of animation and those skills are transferable then whatever medium you use. Hope that’s helpful!

Also from the comments below Denes asked Are you working with any outsider animator company? Do you have a group of freelancers?

Our Production Managers replied:

Hi Denes, yes we work with many external animation companies depending on the project and requirements of the studio at the time. We also hire freelancers for various roles dependant on production needs and these can cover a wide range of roles like storyboard artists for example. We are always on the lookout for talented and creative people to work on our productions and we advertise all roles on our website!

You can find all our current vacancies on our Jobs page!

That's a wrap on this weeks AMA session, thanks for all your questions and see you again next week!