How to improve

[Pantro]

Hi everybody, about 2 months ago I was in this forums asking for some tips on how to create an animation as I wanted to participate in a local short film contest. I received some very good suggestions from users in this forums that really helped to create my first short animation. I had made some exercises before but had never actually tried to tell a story through animation so there were a lot of "firsts" in this project for me.

After a month of hard work I was able to "finish" my animation (I actually had to rush it as my deadline was over).The theme of the contest was "water".
The problem is that I dont feel proud of my work, as I watch animations of other students of about my age on the web I feel that there are a lot of things that I'm missing, but I can´t actually pin point them.

So I wanted to know if people in this community could help me with suggestions on how to improve on my future projects in whatever areas you feel that I am lacking, I am open to any type of comments, criticisms and suggestions .

I really want to improve.

[Elodie]

Congratulations for the making of your first movie =)

Here are my little critics :
• the sound is staggered and doesn't always corresponds on what's happening (pick.... sound. Pick................................... sound)
• be careful, you sometimes let the rough animation (in blue) with the final animation
• I found the lines of your character a little too thin and to "pixelled"
• show the end credits ! =)

keep up the good work

[Paul Fierlinger]

Since this is your first film, I have a warning to give: don't fall into the bad habit of imitating what you see others do. You have your character running down a hill, yet you make him swing his arms as if he was striding along a sidewalk. That comes from all the textbooks that show how to make a walking cycle. Think more for yourself. Picture yourself dropping down the side of a sand dune with your legs half stuck in sand while gravity wants you to go faster. You fling your arms sideways, trying to keep yourself balanced. You lean backwards. Make the motion interesting (stay away from cycles) so that the viewer will get interested in every detail of your work. If you make it feel like real life motion, people will become interested and see you as someone different from all the others.

The same goes for the story -- moralistic stories are less interesting than stories coming from real life. We all know that good is better than bad and that water is better than gold (at least in the hot desert). But did your character look and act hot so we felt relief too when he discovered water?

Don't be afraid to experiment with new ideas and clever shortcuts. If splashing water seemed too difficult for you because it would require everything to be in motion, see what you can do with making the character take a bird bath, by which I mean the way little birds take a bath in a puddle -- quick and short and very messy. They turn the water into disarray, throwing droplets (rough, messy, sketchy lines) everywhere and then stop as quickly as they had started.

Experimenting with such ideas will set you free because you will discover that creating the unexpected can be very rewarding. Don't be afraid to draw with a light and sketchy touch. Find out with little experiments how lines don't have to be carefully traced. The history of animation arts is very short -- only one hundred years old. Look up some of the very first films and you will find that artists experimented with the most daring ideas because the medium was new to everyone and everyone was just trying things out. Put your mind and heart into that kind of creative mood because you are right where those first artists were -- at the very beginning, trying out ideas. Only you have it much harder than they did because they were not yet spoiled by mass production.

The best way to get into this frame of mind is to read a lot of good (old and very new) original books and learn to think with a mind cleansed of the ordinary.

EDIT: One more thing: You did the right thing to leave the film without credits. It shows modesty and signals to others that you understand this is not yet a real, finished piece but just baby steps of someone who wants to grow. You said that in your post and you confirmed this to be true by not putting credits at the end and thanking your parents, brothers and sisters and your little dog, and for that I thank you -- it is rare and a valuable characteristic of your approach to art.

[Pantro]

@Elodie: Yep, the sound is really badly done and it is not synchronized with the animation. I made the soundtrack using my animatic as a base, but in some point I messed the timing in my animation (maybe I added or substracted some frames when animating or cleaning the animation) and had no more time to fix this in time, this is one of the things that I am going to fix. In some of the scenes I forgot to make the rought layers invisible, but in the actual video I rerendered thoses scenes.
About the lines of the character, i dont know if you could give me some advices for the settings of a "clean-up" brush; I used a 1pixel brush with AA I think.
I added the credits of the animation and music in the video that I sent to the contest because it was a requirement in the convocatory, but in this video I took them down because I really dont think this animation is finished or good enough to add credits, once I feel it is finished and Im satisfied with it I'll add them.


@Paul Fierlinger: Your comments really gave me an idea of what type of mindset I must have while animating, I´ll keep them in mind when working in future projects, In the school in which I am studying right now there are some lacks in the animation department so your comment was like fresh water in the desert lol. Do you know of any good resources to learn more about animation on the web or books.
The story is a very weak point in me right now, I have always focused more on the art department than in the story (I think that I spent more time on the backgrounds than on the story -_-()...), but I do realise that the story should be as important as the art, but I don´t know how to improve on this.

I'll be making some exercises and then I'll give it another shot to make something more personal. Thank you for taking the time to watch my short and writing those comments.

[Paul Fierlinger]

There is nothing more important in any of the presentation arts than story telling. If you can't take a class in creative writing (this should be a requirement in any animation school but never is) than find good books to read -- maybe start with collections of short stories. The British literary journal, Granta, is a good place to start. Draw real humans and tell real stories that happened to you. Stories happen only to people with imagination; don't be afraid to embellish any of these small, true life stories -- let your imagination carry the story, you are not writing a police report. Which country do you live in?

[Pantro]

I live in Mexico, the animation industry here is still in an embryonary stage in aspects like education. Some of the problems that I feel we have are not concentrating on the story, life drawing programs or thinking about animation as an artform and rather, focusing more on the technical aspects like software mastery, so I am trying to fill the areas that I feel I am lacking with the internet. Watching all the shorts created by students from schools around the globe like the ones from Gobelins and CalArts to name a few, is a terryfing but at the same time very inspiring experience. If I ever get half as good as them I think I'll feel very happy about myself.

About the story, you are right, from now on Ill focus my attention on the story telling stages of animation and try to get rid of all the bad habits that I have (most of my stories are in the same tone as this one, so still I have a long road to walk).

[Paul Fierlinger]

Don't feel handicapped by the lack of good animation schools because those have really not been around that long. I certainly never went to anything close to an animation school (living in Czechoslovakia when young). I'm not sure about the history of animation schools and it would be nice to hear from someone who does know the subject.

Actually the most important thing a school can teach you is software -- after that it can be pretty good to stay away from schools too, the advantage being that in my view most of them teach the wrong things. They prepare students more for studio work, which has almost disappeared but for a handful of tiny outfits which hire animators from project to project like theaters would hire actors. The schools teach next to nothing about how to thrive as an independent freelancer -- which is what you need to know.

This you can, or has to be, learned on your own because, as I said, schools don't teach that anyway. To get started you need to find out what to teach yourself and you are already doing that now and even more importantly, you are willing to try what someone experienced in independent film making has to say . Don't try to find books that teach story telling for animation because all the ones I've heard of again teach how to write for studios. Just concentrate on learning how good stories are told by finding good short stories. If you want more guidance in that direction, contact me privately and I can come up with a few to start with. But read as much of the threads here -- a lot has been discussed and argued over right here that can teach you a lot about both the software and why people make the films they do -- not that all of them are always that good but why not learn from the mistakes we all make and learn from?

[User767]

Some learning resources:

http://www.animationmeat.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.animationcorner.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.awn.com/tooninstitute/lesson ... on.htm#top" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.animationarena.com/2d-animat ... icles.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.shaunfreeman.com/animating_tips/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Richard Williams' book: The Animator's Survival Kit is probably the most recommended animation book out there.

School is for networking and making professional connections. Learn to take advantage of that aspect of it. I suppose it also 'forces' you into working and thinking. If you're self-motivated enough, you'll do better learning on your own. School usually gets you some sort of show reel at the end as well.

Not really what you were asking for, but sort of related to your internet search for information. good luck.

[Paul Fierlinger]

And now you have been introduced to both sides of the same coin. Richard Williams teaches well what he has set out to teach, which is formulaic animation; all the golden rules of studio animation, which he himself learned by hiring the best of the last great Disney animators. The sad aspect of that is that he made much better films before he decided to step off the moving planet.

His early TV commercials were fantastic in their freshness and creativity. Then came a point in his career where he decided that he has to become even better and perfect his skills by reverting to the good old school and the perfectionists of the past before they die out. He achieved that goal and his films failed, so at least he made some good money by condensing everything he had learned from the masters and created an extremely well thought out book to share with others what he had learned, therefore perpetuating the myth that there is no better way than the old and true way. He would have been better off if he hadn't done any of that.

But I do agree that it is a very useful book to help you get an idea where it all came from as long as you maintain an open mind toward individualism, which in today's world of the WWW will get you somewhere, whereas the old formulaic method will not.

[Mads Juul]

@Paul really inspiring comments. thank you for sharing your thoughts , knowledge and wisdom.

[Paul Fierlinger]

Thanks, Mads. You are a storyboard artist as well as an animator working in a studio in Denmark which makes TV cartoon series, User767 I believe is a very experienced animator also working in a studio in the US. Neither of you have disagreed with my views of the viability of making a living over the Internet... this is a field of discussion that always excites me because it is where my sights are currently and firmly set. It is also what I teach at Penn, having abandoned the formulaic method of teaching useless subjects such as Character Development or that every story must follow only one principle only, which is the classical arch of Setting up a conflict, The Conflict, and the Resolution of the Conflict, and that the main hero must be a character that the audience will sympathize with.

[Pantro]

@User767: Thank you for your links, they went straight to my bookmarks . I have been searching for a while on the internet, but I had never stumbled with some of those links, a real wealth of information (I am not sure of this expression lol).

@Paul Fierlinger: I always had in great regard what disney's animators achieved and thought of them as the ultimate thruth, but I think that you are right, if you want to succed as an independent animator you have to offer something that nobody else can. It must be very interesting to be a freelancer, having all those different projects, adapting to each challenge as they come, etc. But at the same time, it must be sometimes hard to not know when your next project will come.

[Paul Fierlinger]

I've been a freelancer my entire career which spans over five decades and I must confirm that I've been driven over all those years by the incessant fear of not knowing where the next job will come from. I remember one particular time, many years ago, when I had 25 films in the works (small ones, for Sesame Street) and I still could not rid myself of that fear, because I naturally had to worry about what I'm going to live on after those 25 films are finished. But times have changed and I am convinced that freelance animators can finally produce art unburdened by such fears, once they establish a connection over the Internet with a niche audience of their own choosing . But that's a whole separate topic and conversation.

Just keep in mind that there is no guarantee of security even under employment anymore either. It used to be said that freelancers have freedom and employees have security -- not so anymore. If you start off with ambitions to freelance, you will gradually learn the survival ropes and how to keep the audiences of your choice coming back for more -- this you can't do so well when you start off making yourself dependent on employment. And BTW, I do agree with User767 that going to school creates future connections and teaches students many useful things such as social skills and the survival skills of falling in and out of love and much more.

[User767]

Something about the Williams book: About half of it is walk cycles. I hardly ever do cycles. When I have a moment, I'll probably post a tirade about some recent interviews (elsewhere). Please don't get hung up on walks and cycles. Hopefully, you can use some technical information, and ignore the rest.

You could seek out Preston Blair's book too. It's online, and free: http://onanimation.com/downloads/pdf/pr ... mation.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think there might be another called "Cartoon Animation". Could be the same thing with a different title. I don't remember. google may clarify for you.

I learned animation in the 70's. I did it without the internet, or school. I think I had Blair's book, and never ending experimentation. The folks at Cartoon Colour (animation supply store) were helpful, and supportive (and local for me). They offered the opportunity to connect with and harass real animators. It's incredibly fortunate that you can do the same over the internet now. I think it's great that animators are still a generally open, sharing group of people. Make the most of it.

John K's blog offers some good stuff from time to time. http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Incidentally, I've been freelance since the early 80's. I've worked on a few 'big' shows, but mostly just do my own projects. Work has varied from very lucrative to just getting by, but there's always been work. I agree with Paul's comments and sentiments. A few years ago, Disney purged 2D animation. That made for a lot of animators with no job security. Freelance is looking like it might be the future of many different industries anyway.

-dennis

oh, draw a lot. Draw everything you see. Draw every day. That's an important thing to do.

[slowtiger]

The thing with Williams and Blair and the like is: they all cover the same field in terms of animation style. Even John Kricfalusi fits into that, albeit on the very extreme end. This is all fine and certainly their books are full of valuable knowledge.

However, there is no book I'm aware of which deals with non-Disney animation the same way, in depth and full of technical detail. There's a whole bunch of coffeetable books about animation art from every corner of the world (sans South America), as well as books about history, studios, directors, and characters. But there's no book about those animation techniques outside of Disney style, and there isn't even a vocabulary for them.

I've seen lots of films by animators as Jan Švankmajer, Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk, lots of what's called the "Zagreb School", and even more from any other place of the world; interesting stuff, experimental stuff - definitely not the smooth Disney kind of animation. And I like this kind of animation, with its fast changes, frame-to-frame madness, use of any odd object, eclectic mix of techniques. But there's no book about that on the same technical level as Richard Williams' or Preston Blair's. It's as if that whole field gets stuffed into a box labelled "experimental" and then put away, so each new animator has to develop the same knowledge by himself again.