Begin Animation: Complete Course For The Complete Beginner

In this lesson we look at the three different types of animations. This is important to know and understand, because it will determine the direction you will go in.

In this lesson I go over some animation software available for both 2D and 3D animation.

I also share 4 things you need to consider before purchasing an animation software.

Below are links to the websites of all the software mentioned in this video.

In this lesson I quickly go over the gear you need to animate, and to create animation projects

In this lesson we learn about frame rates. This is crucial to understand now, because it plays a big part when timing your animation.

In this lesson I explain the term 'animating on one's and two's'

Now that you understand frame rates, it is time to move over to our animation software and look at keyframes. This is a fundamental part of animation.

To make great looking animations you need to understand blocking and inbetweens. In this lesson I explain these two terms.

Onion skinning is not something we use a lot today, but is still available in some animation software. So it is beneficial to understand it.

One thing you will work a lot with in 3D animation is graphs/curve editors. In this lesson I explain how you use it.

When you start creating your own characters and scenes for your 2D animations, the chances are that you will be working either with vector or raster.

The question is, what is it and what should you use?

In this lesson I explain the differences between the two and when to use them

In this video we look at character creation for both 2D and 3D animation. We also look at the two different methods you can create 3D characters.

Once your 2D or 3D character is created, it is time to set it up so you can animate it. This process is called rigging. It is important to rig your character correctly, otherwise you will struggle during the animation process.

In this lesson we look at Inverse Kinematics (IK) and Forward Kinematics (FK).

In this lesson we dive into physics and the importance of it.

In this lesson we look at creating backgrounds for 2D animation, but we specifically look at parallax backgrounds.

In this lesson we get a basic idea of how you can create and build your own scenes for your animation project.

It is important to note that if you want to create your very own custom scenes, you will have to know how to do 3D modeling.

When creating 3D scenes or props, you need to add textures or materials to objects and surfaces. In this lesson we look at the basics of textures.

In this lesson we look at lighting a scene in 3D animation.

Squash and stretch is a great way to show movement, as well as the hardness of an object.

Anticipation makes your animations more realistic and tells your audience what is about to happen next.

Staging is laying out your scene (composition), and making sure your scene flows the way it should. Helping the audience focus on the areas that is most important.

There are two different ways to do animation; straight ahead and pose to pose. In this lesson I show the difference and shares when to use them.

This principle helps create realism in movement. It shows whether an object is stiff or flexible.

Always animate movements with a "slow in, slow out". Meaning, an object starts moving slowly and picks up pace, and then also slows down before it stops.

Never animate movement in straight lines. Always animate it in arcs.

Secondary action is when you add to your main action to help tell your story better. This can really add a lot of life to your animations.

Poor timing can really destroy your animations. So it is important to get the timing correct.

To create interesting look animations, it always helps to exaggerate certain poses.

To create good looking animations you need to make sure that your perspectives are correct and everything is the correct size.

The last principle of animation is appeal. The purpose of this is to ensure that your animation looks interesting and appealing to the audience. You do this by using different shapes and sizes to create contrast.

The first step of the animation process is to use references to work from. You can either film yourself acting out the scenes, find videos on Youtube, or use a mirror to reference facial expressions. This is an important step to get realistic looking animations.

The second step in the animation process is blocking. We covered blocking in more detail back in Module 2.

The third stage of the animation process is timing. We covered timing in Module 5.

The fourth step is inbetweens. Again, we covered this earlier in the course. So make sure to watch that lesson again if needed.

The 5th step of my animation process is smoothing. To do this you will need to use the graph/curve editor. Make sure to go back to Module 2 if you want to rewatch the lesson regarding curve editors.

In the final step of the animation process you can add life to your animation. You do this by adding personality to your character, as well as incorporating the 12 principles of animation.

There are three stages when creating an animation project; pre-production, production, and post-production.

To create a good animation you need a good story. And this is where story development comes in.

You can download these 2 PDF files to help you get started.

Your story development is done and it is now time to write your script.

You can download KIT Scenarist below for free.

Creating concept art is crucial if you want consistency and a beautiful looking animation.

It is now time to create your characters and backgrounds for your animation.

Storyboarding is a crucial part of the animation pipeline.

The next step is to get in some voice actors and record your voice overs.

Your animatic is the backbone of your animation project. Spend extra time to get this part right.

This is the most fun part. It is time to animate.

Sound design is when you add all the sound FX as well as the background music.

It is now time to add all the finishing touches to your animation project in post-production.

The final step when creating a 3D animation is rendering. In this lesson I explain rendering and some rendering options.

As mentioned in the previous lesson, rendering can be extremely time consuming. But luckily there is something called realtime rendering. In this lesson I explain what it is and what the pro's and con's are.

Thank you so much for taking this online course. I truly hope that this is the beginning of you animation journey.

In this final lesson I share some steps you should follow from here on.

Here are the links to the recommended courses as well: