Why Animators Choose Quality Over Quantity

Quality over Quantity

One common mistake made by student animators is to take on too much, to try to complete too much animation in too little time.  The golden rule is to choose quality over quantity.  Short films should be short, because long films take too long to execute, and the quality inevitably suffers. 

The same goes for animation: better to focus on a relatively short shot that delivers a great result, than be too ambitious and have to drop the quality.  The 11 Second Cub competition has a maximum of 11 seconds for this reason.  For the same reason, demo reels should be short. A student demo reel should generally be no more than a minute long.

Why Animators Need to Storyboard

Storyboard by Anastasia Gurova

One of the most common mistakes made by junior animators is to have too many cuts, and for relatively simple exercises to become overly complex with multiple cuts and camera moves.

The trick in the beginning is to keep it simple. If you do want to cut, or move the camera, it is important to do a rough storyboard first so that you figure out well in advance what the best shot structure is. 

Should you start with a close-up? Or a wide shot? sketch it out in advance, and figure out what the shot order should be.  Best of all - keep the camera still, and don't cut. 

 

Why Animators Should Keep it Short

One of the most common mistakes made by student animators is to bite off more than you can chew. When it comes to short films, or acting shots - or any piece of animation, it's very easy to be too ambitious. 

It is almost always much better to do a great job on a short piece of animation than to struggle to complete something long and complex.

Animation takes a long time to get right, so allow yourself the luxury of being able to add all the bells and whistles and still make your deadline. Keep it short and sweet.