#11 Animation - 3 ESSENTIALS to live with before you start animating!

[zord189]

Do you want to build an awesome animation?

I Hope you remember this iconic scene taken from the animated featured movie 'Frozen' by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The song lyrics still ringing in my head,"do you want to build a snowman?". I know it can get pretty exciting when you're building your snowman(animation). After having a spark of an idea, and 'roughly' knowing how you want to animate your scene, you quickly fire up the animation software and off you go.

Though I love such enthusiasm and passion, I have to ask you to hold your horses before you do more disaster to the idea you love. we all need to properly equip ourselves so we can have the best result. Also to be satisfied with the final result.

Hence, I've come up with

3 Essentials before you start that animation

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Planning

This is probably the single most important tip that animators must always remember before starting an animation. As simple as it seems, thorough planning goes a long way to finalizing that perfect animation scene. I remember when I was attending an animation workshop by Disney, one of the lead animators told me

'If Disney ever has doubts about the story halfway through or even at its final stages, they would just throw the idea out and start over'.

IKR! There is a reason why Disney stories are always so likable and appealing to the crowd. There must be a reason! And that is because they spend countless days, weeks and months in planning. This may seem like an 'extra' step for you, but it will definitely save you a lot of time in the long run and your work will look so much more solid and professional.

Truth be told, there are times when I just want to start animating that shot, sometimes pride takes over and I 'think' I know what I'm doing. Trust me, it ends up with a mediocre set of work which I know I can do better if I plan better.

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Observation/Finding Insights

When I was talking about planning, You also need to know how to plan. This second essential tip is vital and it becomes better and better as you consistently practice this 'skill'.

This skill is called

Stalking

I'm just Kidding! :D Maybe..... Maybe not... But yea, stalking or not, animators need to have an eye for their surroundings. To Observe what the normal people wouldn't observe. You must first understand that observation is not simply looking at something casually when you're alone at a park.

'Observation is much more than 'seeing', it is 'studying' the world around us'

Basically, you need to observe every detail about that kid, mother, guy is doing. The actions, what causes that effect, what sends that ripple of consequences.

Let's take this short clip as an example. Yes, the little girl slipped and fell, and that is totally normal, everyone sees that. But an animator who observes this scene whether in real life or from video references, we must be trained to see much more than this. Like how the little girl on the right was jumping a little, and that was what caused her to fall. How she was also happily singing from her expression and lips. So with this information, she was probably dancing instead of 'just jumping'. The next thing is how the sister reacts to her falling. That shock expression, that eye dart, all comes down to how an animator observes and analyze a scene/situation.

All the strong exaggeration you give to animation or poses comes from observations. So you should train yourself to be more attentive to the little details and the overlapping actions. Through all these observation, you can probably remember them and when you're animating a scene, it will definitely add realism to your animation when you add that eye twitch when she's about to cry.

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Referencing

Lastly, what holds everything together and one of the easiest most effective way to help in planning is referencing. References can come from all sorts of form, from books, photographs, videos, movies, animations, and footages of yourself.

A lot of people might think this is 'copying' someone else's work. What I would say if it's a good reference, why change it? What is more important is finding the best references for the shots you are going to make. Anyways, artists 'copies' and finds 'inspiration' from other artists, just that they do it really well.

One of the best way to find really good pose references are from comic books or from an anime show. These shows usually have really dynamic key poses like how Goku charges up his 'Super Saiyan'.

Other than comic books and anime series, you can also find good references in live action or animated footages. Let me say this again ,'It is OKAY to follow good references'. When you feel that that particular pixar scene is what you're aiming to go for, then by all means, use it as your reference and try to follow it as closely as possible.

Lastly, if you do not have any references suitable, you can go ahead and video yourself the exact scene and how you imagine it to be. Shoot a few takes and choose the best one, or merge several clips together to get the right expression from the shots.

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Animation is not just something that you can do in a day, it takes lots of dedication, a lot of hard work and discipline to want to always learn and make it better. Although, there will be errors or challenges when your shot doesn't seem right after all the planning and going through the essentials, but that doesn't mean you can skip any of these 3. I hope that you've picked up something in this post and let's keep doing what we do best. :)

All GIFs are taken from www.giphy.com
All photos are free to use

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Thank You

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Comments

[jillustrations]

Yes, yes, yeeeeees! reference is EVERYTHIIIIII~~~NNG!
I'm so guilty of doing that. Having an idea and just steam roll right ahead without really honing it down first to what I actually want to do.
I then usually end up spending hours and days trying to do the thing and ending up scrapping it all and starting over because it just won't work due to lack of precise planning beforehand.
But at least it'll go faster the second time around, since by then I've figured out all the problems in the scene the hard way but omg! what a time waster!
I could save myself soooooo much paiiiiin with a little more planning!!
I mean it's idiotic too, I'm a frickin artist, just thumbnailing to work out my idea better would alraedy help hahaha
yeah.. I try not to do that anymore.. but the temptation is so strooong sometiiimes! XD
Great post, as always!

[zord189]

Hahaha, Thank you for sharing your 'pain'. :D

But yea, it can really save you a lot of time if the planning is good. You not only save your own time, but others who are working together with you because the pipeline involves everyone.
We all learn ey? :D

[jillustrations]

yeah absolutely. You never stop learning. Bur honestly, to me, it's one of the joys of the job. <3
I love learning new stuff! :D

[dxn]

If only I get a Steem dollar everytime I jumped into something before planning ahead....I'd be a whale by now lol

I mean the creative process is suppose to be spontaneous right? load up my favorite modeling software and start pushing polys!
So I ended up with alot of abandoned/unfinished 3D models in my personal projects folder....LMAO.

[crypto3d]

Totally agree, reference and observation is the key - those little things that really sell the image/animation.
Good info mate!

[zord189]

Yeaps yeaps!

[maxyong]

I've always been a fan of Pixar and their attention to detail! Animation has so much to offer! Definitely picked up a thing or two from this! thanks!

[zord189]

Glad you learned something! :)

[pennsif]

Wow, I never thought there was so much that goes into animation before you start animating! Sound advice for sure.

[zord189]

Ahh yes, this is just a tiny fraction of pre-production

[nanawawa]

Yes! Stalking is an essential skill for anyone in the animation industry!!

[penston]

That's all good advice, especially for 3D animation. However, I would like to create short animations with 2D 'toilet door' people. Would you have any different advice for me?

[zord189]

In any animation you want to do, always nail down your storyboard first. The angles, the composition etc etc.

[denion]

though I'm not an animator and not into animation, yea i still find this interesting! many years back I only did a simple live wallpaper just for fun.

[zord189]

Ah, glad you found this interesting. :D

[lidac]

Well it is more than meets the eye when working on a animation...you have to have a lot of talent also !! :)

[zord189]

Yeaps, talent is one thing, attitude is another. You need to have a good attitude to learn and be discipline.

[syedliaquat]

Nice one yep

[gtpjfoodbank]

Takes a lot of hard work to make a good animation.
Very impressive indeed!
Daily Bread Food Bank

[wdoutjah]

I have always been wanting to learn about animation but I still have not found the perfect time. Darn it! I really need to have an overview of it this 2018

[crypticalias]

Thank you for your advice. That was really helpful.

[sanjay2011s]

its a great advice, but i dont know animation . i am thinking i should learn it :)

[traciyork]

Thanks so much for today's ear worm, @zord189! Given how that song gets in my head, I'm gonna have Kristen Bell singing in my brain for a least a few days. 😃

These are all excellent suggestions - not just for animation, but for any kind of creative endeavor. Nicely stated!

[aschatria]

Besides 3d environment I didn't really try animation basics.