5 Mistakes by Junior Animators (& How to Fix 'Em)

Leopard leap with live action reference by Daniel Amor

Below are five common mistakes beginner animators often make - and how to fix them.  Learning animation is an exciting journey – but it can also feel overwhelming. 

Beginners often run into the same issues. But the good news is this: once you know what to look for, you can fix errors quickly.  Below are five of the most common mistakes new animators make – and how to fix them.

How to Balance Studying Animation with a Day Job

Many aspiring animators study part-time while holding down a full-time job. It isn't easy, but it can be done. To master the craft of animation demands patience, creativity, and many hours of focused practice. 

Our course at Animation Apprentice is designed to fit around jobs, life and families. Take your time, study online, and you will get there in the end.

With the right strategy and mindset, it is possible to make real progress, even if your life is already very busy.

What I Learned Teaching at Cal Arts in the 1990s

In the late 1990s, while I was working at Warner Bros. Feature Animation on Quest for Camelot in Los Angeles, I had the chance to teach animation at CalArts — the California Institute of the Arts, the legendary training ground for animators, a school founded in part by Walt Disney himself in the early 1960s. 

Teaching at CalArts was an amazing experience - and also the start of my career teaching animation.  Here is some of what I learned. 

Should Animators Learn Blender, Maya, or Both?

Should Animators Learn Blender, Maya, or Both? If you’re just starting out in animation, one of the first big questions is: Which software should I learn? For most students, that means choosing between Autodesk Maya and Blender. Both are powerful, both are widely used, and both have strengths — but the right choice depends on your goals.

What I Learned Working on "Pocahontas"

"Their skin's a hellish red, they're only good when dead"

One of the best experiences of my animation career was working at the Disney Studio in Los Angeles in the summer of 1994 on "Pocahontas", animating the villainous Governor Ratcliffe supervised by lead animator Duncan Marjoribanks. 

Duncan was a generous mentor, and I learned a huge amount under his guidance, as well as learning from directors Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg. 

The Five Best Books To Learn Animation

The Animator's Survival Kit

What are the key books that animation students  should buy to learn the craft of animation?

Books may be a bit old school these days, but a good book is still a great place to start learning about and exploring the world of character animation.

The best books will teach you, immerse you - and inspire you to do your very best work. So, what are the top five books?

Seven Things I Learned From My Father

Seven Things I Learned From My Father. This is a recording of a slideshow I did for the animators at DNEG Redefine in Hyderabad last week on Dad's birthday - he was born on 19 March 1933. I was trying to think of a way to celebrate his birthday in a way that might be useful to the animation team. His book, the Animator's Survival Kit, is big in India - all the animators seemed to have a copy.  I came up with a list of seven lessons I learned from Dad in the course of becoming an animator.  Of course, I learned more than seven things from him - but these are the seven lessons that seemed important, and also a good number for a short talk.  Enjoy. 

How Long Does It Take To Learn Maya?

Many of our students at Animation Apprentice will never have opened Maya before.  Or, at least, they won't be very familiar with it.  Maya is a big, complex piece of software - the interface can look daunting at first.  But don't be discouraged, with time and practice - you will get there in the end. 

150 Animation Exercises to Boost Your Skill

150 Exercises to boost your skills

We're liking this list of 150 animation exercises created by independent animation artist David Mattock at his website Animator Artist Life. 

David Mattock has created a wide variety of exercises for any animator to tackle, from simple tasks like animating a vibrating telephone or a falling leaf, to complex character animation.  It's a great list, super useful for any animator who might need a little practice or inspiration for what to animate next. 

How to Fix a Floaty Animated Weight Lift

Weight lift from the Animator's Survival Kit

One of the hardest things to achieve in 3D animation is the creation a sense of weight. Weight is hard to simulate because our characters are just pixels - they have no intrinsic weight, so we have to create it from nothing. 

One of the more tricky exercises our students have to tackle is to animate a character lifting a heavy object, such as a box. The box is just a bunch of pixels - it has no weight. So the challenge is to make it appear heavy.

To get started, take a look at the thumbnail sketches on the left, taken from the book we recommend all our students buy - The Animator's Survival Kit. 

The thumbnails show how important it is for the character to get their feet right underneath the object they are going to lift. That way, the weight of the object falls directly over the character's heels - and the object feels heavy. 

Why Animators Need Stepped Curves

Stepped Curves in Maya

Why do animators need to work in Stepped Curves? Many animators resist using Stepped Curves when they first start learning animation. Spline Curves feel much more intuitive, because Maya does the interpolation for you.

However, for most character acting shots, and any shot which is basically pose-to-pose, Stepped Curves are a much more powerful tool, and one which it is very important for animators to master.

Creativity - Can it Be Taught?

Here at Animation Apprentice we believe that creativity can be taught. Creativity is like any muscle - it can be exercised and strengthened. Today, few schools teach creativity, preferring instead to concentrate on core subjects like maths and science - subjects in which there is almost always a correct answer.  But in the creative industries, there is no right answer, and the only way to succeed is to try things out, to take risks. Watch the short video above to find out more. 

What is Imposter Syndrome?

 

What is Imposter Syndrome? According to Wikipedia, Imposter Syndrome is "a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud".  Everyone starting out, learning a new skill, experiences a level of uncertainty and insecurity about their skills.

Animation Apprentice Autodesk Authorised

We are delighted to announce that Animation Apprentice has recently been confirmed by Autodesk as an Authorised School, meaning that our students can download their free education license for Maya. 

For newcomers to the animation industry, it's important to remember that Autodesk, who make the software Maya, offer an education copy of Maya for free, which can be downloaded from the official Autodesk site.

Autodesk Maya has been the dominant software package in 3D animation for over 20 years. I first used Maya 1.0 on "The Iron Giant", back in 1998.  And today it remains the most powerful package for the creation of 3D animation, widely used in industry.

Why Animators Need to Post at Facebook

Why do animators need Facebook? Because as a student animator, you need to be able and willing to show your work, and you need to learn not to mind about taking criticism.  We all tend to be shy about our work, especially when we are learning something new, and, when our work is criticised, that criticism can feel very personal. Learning to take criticism is one of the most important skills a student animator can learn.

How to Get Started in Animation

Animation Studio by Helen Piercy

One question I get asked often is this "My kid loves animation - what subject should they study at school?".

And also - "how can I teach my child animation?".

Parents tell me that their 13-year old is really into animation, but doesn't know what they should do to realise that goal.

Today, animation is a mix of art and technology.  So, art subjects, such as Art GCSE or Art A level, will help, as will tech subjects, such as IT or computer studies.

Escape Studios Free Summer School 8-10 Aug

This Summer Escape Studios in London is partnering with Access VFX, London SIGGRAPH, 3Dami, and and We Are Stripes to host a free Animation Summer School.

The event takes place over three days in August,  and is aimed at 11-16-year olds interested in a career in the animation industry.

Escape Studios will host a range of free workshops across 3 days on Thursday 8th August, Friday 9th August and Saturday 10th August.

BAFTA Guru Live Sat 14th September

Mark your calendars - BAFTA Guru Live is taking place in London on the weekend of Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September.

We strongly encourage our students to attend at least some of the workshops; tickets are very inexpensive (just £6 for each masterclass) and are aimed at students and rising talent.

Animator's Resource Kit

We're liking this handy blog - The Animator's Resource Kit, a useful one-stop-shop for lots of animation-related stuff.

It has plenty of information on subjects like links to animation forums, communities, animation competitions, Maya rigs, tools - and places to submit work.

Cheetah Rig from HighEnd3D - Handle with Care

Cheetah rig for Maya by Vikram Verma

It's hard to find a good cheetah rig for animation in Maya, which is a shame, as these big cats are beautiful animals, and there is plenty of excellent live action reference available for animating a cheetah run cycle.

The best rig we have found is the free Cheetah rig by Vikram Verma, available for download at Highend3D.com.