I'm still trying to learn how to animate myself :P
I'm no expert on the subject so I tend to look at people who ARE, as well as their work. If I ever get into a rut or want an example of how to do _____, I'll pop in an old Disney DVD or look up some Looney Tunes. There's also lots of books written by guys who really know what they're doing ("Illusion of Life" by Frank and Ollie, "Animator's Survial Kit" by Richard Williams, and there should be some by Preston Blair that are worth a look).
I'm a huge stickler for the "Principles of Animation" developed at Disney during the 1930s, which is basically a bag of tricks used by character animators in order to enhance performances and acting (I wrote this a while back and I cover the "big 5" of the 12 principles: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/animationprimer )
There's actually a lot of "rules" you can learn from art in general-- my favorite examples being the Hudson River School artists' ability to direct focus and attention and creating moods (ditto for all the Jesus paintings done around the Renaissance). I'm in my final year in college and I'm STILL learning stuff every day by looking at the old stuff
Acting classes definitely help too. Character animation is pretty much a very, VERY controlled way of acting.
I guess it also depends on what kind of animation you want to do too. I tend to focus a lot on character animation and animation isn't all character based- there's effects, lighting, etc. which have nothing to do with acting at all
6 comments:
Awesome!
What program do you use to animate?
I try not to put too much emphasis on programs itself, but I did this with Maya
Thank's.
Any tips on learning how to animate?
I'm still trying to learn how to animate myself :P
I'm no expert on the subject so I tend to look at people who ARE, as well as their work. If I ever get into a rut or want an example of how to do _____, I'll pop in an old Disney DVD or look up some Looney Tunes. There's also lots of books written by guys who really know what they're doing ("Illusion of Life" by Frank and Ollie, "Animator's Survial Kit" by Richard Williams, and there should be some by Preston Blair that are worth a look).
I'm a huge stickler for the "Principles of Animation" developed at Disney during the 1930s, which is basically a bag of tricks used by character animators in order to enhance performances and acting (I wrote this a while back and I cover the "big 5" of the 12 principles: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/animationprimer )
There's actually a lot of "rules" you can learn from art in general-- my favorite examples being the Hudson River School artists' ability to direct focus and attention and creating moods (ditto for all the Jesus paintings done around the Renaissance). I'm in my final year in college and I'm STILL learning stuff every day by looking at the old stuff
Acting classes definitely help too. Character animation is pretty much a very, VERY controlled way of acting.
I guess it also depends on what kind of animation you want to do too. I tend to focus a lot on character animation and animation isn't all character based- there's effects, lighting, etc. which have nothing to do with acting at all
Thanks :D
Oh also nothing beats good ol' fashioned observation skills (do a lot of people watching)
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