Why Animators Need to Be Art Directors

Sometimes, animators need to be art directors. When working on an animated scene, animators need to consider the environment the character is inhabiting.  

One of the most common mistakes made by student animators is to combine a realistic character (say, a dinosaur or dragon) with a cartoony environment. The character and the set come from different worlds, and they don't always work well together.

Consistent Visual Style

When animators download free sets from sites like Turbosquid or tf3dm.com, it's important to be consistent in the overall style of the shot. 

Of course, in a studio environment the set design will be done by  someone else, but it's a different story when you are working from home and building a demo reel - you have to build your own environments and make your own visual choices.

Realistic -v- Cartoony

The trick is to ask yourself - does the character and the environment inhabit the same world? A very cartoony character like "Monty" works well in a cartoony set (see image to the right by Neil Whitman). 

A realistic character, such as many of the photorealistic animals created by Truong CG, work best in a realistic set. 

Try to keep character and environment harmonious, so that the overall style has a consistent flavour. 

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our November 5th classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.