Animation Practice

[JustinWatkins]

I've always wanted to attempt at animating, and i intend on practicing for a while before actually making a full flash movie. I tried to animate my very first thing today and i don't think it's too awful.

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1265100937

Now, i know it's very rough and it's not very smooth. But this took me a good forty minutes considering it's the first thing i've ever really animated. Do you think i'm off to a good start? Any other feedback? I was also curious as to how most of you start your animations. Do you draw stick figures first? or maybe wireframe? I would like to know.

[Shmossy]

I've certainly seen worse for a first animation.
Try picking up a copy of The Animator's Survival Kit. It's an amazing book.
Even Dan Paladin (Artist of Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers, + many more) reccomends it.

If I'm doing a serious project, I sketch out character designs in pencil so that I can get the basic idea of what they'll eventually look like, plus this is a great way to improve your Flash drawing skills.

Then, I either animate a stickman/wireframe in Flash and then build up layers on top of that, or I just jump right in there and animate the basics, following the concept art I've done in pencil, & then add any extra details like a flapping cloak, or any weapons the character is carrying.

So basically, I build it up layer by layer when animating characters. The same goes for explosions and other effects.

Keep on practicing :)
Shmossy

[JoSilver]

Do this...

1. Stand up.
2. Act out the motion yourself.
3. Try to emulate your own movement.
4. Repeat step 3 and four till it's perfect.

Do that now!

[JustinWatkins]

Thank you! I'll definitely check out that book. :D Also, i did stand up and act out what it looks like. That's probably why it's not a complete piece of crap. :P Thank you for all the information.

[Mexifry]

At 2/3/10 09:27 PM, JustinWatkins wrote: Thank you! I'll definitely check out that book. :D Also, i did stand up and act out what it looks like. That's probably why it's not a complete piece of crap. :P Thank you for all the information.

That book is a magical piece of goodness that you will learn mountains of info from.
As for the animation, id suggest cleaning your lines up and adding more inbetweens, cause right now it looks abit awkward and choppy, but hey you gotta start somewhere.

[JustinWatkins]

I added quite a few in between frames, like you guys said and it looks a lot smoother.

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/f5ce c712931e4b75967d8cf7693090c0

[Mexifry]

At 2/4/10 01:24 AM, JustinWatkins wrote: I added quite a few in between frames, like you guys said and it looks a lot smoother.

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/f5ce c712931e4b75967d8cf7693090c0

Yes it looks smoother, but now you gotta work on the hard half of animation and try and make the movements realistic. Try acting out what you are trying to animate in front of a mirror first so you can pick up the little details that you miss going straight for it.

[JustinWatkins]

Hopefully i'll improve over time. (:

[DaveBlazer]

Practice, Practice, Practice..

Another great book is "Character Animation Crash Course" by Eric Goldberg. One of the well known animators out there.

Yes, looks good for a first animation. I remember my first attempt. Quite pitiful ha.

[JustinWatkins]

At 2/4/10 01:47 AM, DaveBlazer wrote: Practice, Practice, Practice..

Another great book is "Character Animation Crash Course" by Eric Goldberg. One of the well known animators out there.

Yes, looks good for a first animation. I remember my first attempt. Quite pitiful ha.

I plan on buying both. (:
Anyone else with any tips?

[Ani-x]

At 2/4/10 02:06 AM, JustinWatkins wrote:

At 2/4/10 01:47 AM, DaveBlazer wrote:

I plan on buying both. (:
Anyone else with any tips?

you can read all the books you want, and listen to all the top animators, But one of the most useful things to do, and something everyone from the Pro's to inspiring animators do is simple.

Just go outside, or look out your window,
Have a pad of paper, and a pen(or pencil) and just start drawling the world around you, People walking, Birds. wind blowing the grass, leafs falling from a tree.
Draw these in motion, start off at a decent pace, then slowly start to challenge your self, how fast you can do it with it still looking decent.
You will find your self not only getting better at pace, but also grabbing a great grasp on creating life out of motion. Then you can start to apply real world, to the magic that is animation just from with in your head.

[PBass]

At 2/4/10 04:57 PM, Ani-x wrote: Just go outside, or look out your window,

I agree. While the books listed are absolutely fantastic, any art book is meant to be applied, not simply read. Drawing from life is at the core of much animation. I would recommend trying to get into a life drawing class and make regular visits to the zoo. Dabbling in other mediums such as charcoal and gouache or oil paintings is also really helpful as it loosens you up and develop techniques.

And for solely animation, there's lots of different motion studies you can do. Walk and run cycles, dropping balls and apples and flour sacks, weight tests such as carrying and lifting, 360 degree turn-arounds, and dialogue tests.

If you have time to spare, time to kill, you have time to draw and animate. Keep practicing and work hard and you'll impress yourself on how much you improve!

[Fawx]

yes the animator's survival kit is helpful and very good, but in the first chapter if i recall it says before you can animate you need to be able to draw.

take some drawing classes or listen to the above and just draw things.

[JustinWatkins]

Thanks for all the suggestions. :D I decided i'm going to take my sketchbook to school and start drawing the teacher lecturing, or other things in the room since i have nothing better to do in there. :P Thank you for all the wonderful feedback and advice. Hopefully other people read this and learn from it. (: