Animation Timing and Spacing Problem
This post comes from Shekhar and he shared his animation timing and spacing problem with me over the email. I split the questions into two parts for a better understanding. 1. Timing and Spacing Problem 1. Hi, I'am a beginner in animation. In this early stage I'am facing problem of timing and spacing in my animation. When I block the main poses I feel "yes, the timing okay! I can move on, for in-betweens" but when I'am done with inbetweens most of the time I realize "this pirticular part should have been much more quicker or not so quicker!" This is a very common animation timing and spacing problem faced by new animators. Here are my advise for him: Yes, in blocking phase, it is usually not as accurate as the final animation. Blocking phase is mainly to allow animators and directors to review if the story telling element is flowing smoothly. Experienced animators could have grasp a better timing during blocking phase. As an artist, we always strive to look for improvement. I think it is good that you have this attitude to continue to refine and improve your existing animation. One tip that could help to improve the blocking timing would be to compare it with a reference video. This video could be from YouTube or most of the time, animators will act out the scene themselves for their own references. Do use play blast to watch your animation and the reference video side by side and compare for any differences. You can also download my Animation Cheat Sheet for Beginners to help you do a check on your progress during your...
4 Free Animation Software For Mac
Animation software isn't cheap if you are planning to learn it. However, you can always practice with some free software that comes with drawing and animating capability. I've searched on the internet for free software for Mac's Maverick OS that you can consider if you wish to learn to create your own cartoon video. Free And Usable 2D Software Digicel Flipbook is absolutely free for you to download and usable on Mac OS Maverick. It is easy to get started on animation and the interface is simple. I can start to draw on the canvas and use the Xsheet panel for frame selection. Flipbook comes with a light box function which I fin helpful in the animation process. This is similar to the traditional development where the artist uses light box to see through tracing paper for drawing reference. The final animation video will have a Digicel logo watermark for this trial version until you buy the full version at USD$58. Free 2D Software But For Trial Period Animation-ish is not a free animation software, but it has a 15-day free trial for you to explore. Its interface is filled with hand drawn graphic, giving a fun cartoon atmosphere and generally easy to learn. This software makes use of the traditional frame by frame approach to create animation digitally. It guides you on drawing and tracing and create interesting animation using the timeline. This software comes with pre-drawn animation which you can easily insert into your canvas and learn from them. If you like to draw and learn animation, Animation-ish could be great affordable animation software to...
How to create Good animation, for beginners! Animation Cheat Sheet included!
What makes a good animation? The word, good, itself is too vague to begin with. As a beginner, although we are happy to see that we can make something move, that is not what we want and definitely not where we end. We want our animation to look good, look great or even WOW! So let us start with understanding our definition of the word good. Great animation has several contributing factors. As a beginner, maybe 12 principle of animation is too much to digest, so let us take baby steps and look at a non organic animation such as bouncing ball. How do we consider an animation to be wow for a bouncing ball? It has to bounce realistically and moves like a real ball. However, your perception and my perception of the word, realistic, might not differ quite a bit. You might say a realistic ball will look like a basketball bouncing while I will say that a tennis ball bounces more realistically. No matter which kind of ball, identifying the ball is probably the first step before you even animate. Set yourself a target by deciding your subject and its action. Once we have our target, then we will need to know how realistic the motion should be. I do not think we can describe the realism of a motion well enough, so the fastest way is to search on YouTube and look for a recording of a real ball bouncing. By looking at the video, we can be sure that we are on the same page for our realistic perception. Animation can...
Learn To Animate with Observation eBook
Learn to Animate with Observation eBook is a fundamental learning about creating your animation to Life. The purpose of this ebook is to guide you in your observation skill and identify what is good and what needs improvement in your animation. Why the creation of Learn to Animate with Observation eBook? When I first started learning animation in 2002, I faced the same problem as beginners like you who are unable to tell what is a good animation. Colleagues or friends provided comments such as not nice, unnatural, etc., but most importantly, they will never tell me how to improve my animation. For very obvious reasons for their reply, they are not animation trained and I do not blame them but rather, I blame myself for not being able to 'see' what is wrong. For the past few years in my educational career, I've taught many students in 2D and 3D animation and I come to realize the catalyst to creating a great animation. The key lies in our observation skill. We all have the observation skill within us except we have yet to develop it and apply to our animation. With good observation skill, it does not matter which platform you are creating your animation on, you will know exactly what you want in your animation and from here, you can find the right tool for the right task. This skill is not inborn but it can be trained. We can train ourselves just like a baby who learns to crawl, stand, walk and eventually until now, we are still walking because we apply...Useful Resources
About Nash Lin
Nash is a self taught animator, a fanatic gamer and a digital media coach. He has created many types of 2D and 3D animation. You will get to learn effective animation skills and tips with Nash. Continue reading...
