Animation Tips to Become a Better Animator
Article by Richard Arroyo & iAnimate Team
Animation can get tricky at times. You can't be a great animator overnight! It would help if you gain animation tips from the pros and have the passion and discipline to become a great one.
To become a good animator, you might have to learn skills like sketching, cinematography, rigging, etc. However, the animation is not limited to these complex skills. You will have to pick up several soft skills, like being creative and having a sense of story.
While you start your animation journey, it can be intimidating as there are many things to learn. Therefore, breaking down the animation tips into different parts is essential and tackling each piece individually. With the help of iAnimate, you can accelerate your career and become a better animator and the one that gets hired!
There are different tools like podcasts and exciting workshops that can aid you in having a fulfilling animator journey. Now, let's look at some animation tips for beginners and how you can become a great animator!
Animation Tips #1: Keep the story clear and easy to believe in!
Starting the animation tips in becoming a great animator, you need to master the art of storytelling. You can begin by developing the story's core idea and then add the layers around the story. Once you have a concept in place, you will be able to tie all the pieces of the narration together. Also, before you start with your animation video, you should clearly define your target audience.
Only when you know what your target audience is expecting from your work will you be able to weave a story around it. Therefore, it would be best if you tried to understand the essence of your story.
As animators, it is your job to bring the characters to life. However, you can only do so if you have a good story. What drives your character and where you want to see them gives soul to your characters. Adding emotions to your characters can convey the story beautifully. Therefore, you should focus on the emotions that are driving your animation.
You should also identify the obstacles that can hamper your performance and then try to address all of those problems. All of these factors will decide a path for your character and the direction of your story.
The most important thing that you must keep in mind while creating stories is that you should never overdo things. It would help if you stuck to the principle of less is more and tried to keep it simple, silly, and fun for the viewers.
Animation Tips #2: Don't just copy the references; learn how to extract ideas from the reference and push the pose.
It’s one of the most common animation tips that several animators mistakenly make. So it is when they try to replicate the reference material. The animator tends to lose creativity when they get busy reproducing the reference material. It is essential to use the reference material to get an overall idea. As an animator, it is your job to reinvent. You must work on the high points and try innovating on the common issues to create animations that have an impact.
Also, adding emotions to all of your ideas is quite important as the audience can only relate to the characters that display any feelings. Therefore, you must try to push the emotion and change the line of actions according to the idea you want to pursue. You can also try some animation timing tips to drastically increase the animations' impact to change the actions and holds.
Several animators find one reference video, and they tend to stick to it. That is one of the biggest mistakes you can commit as an animator. When you use just one reference file to create your piece, there are chances of overlaps, and your work might look copy.
Therefore, you must take inspiration from multiple references to create the best piece. A mix and match of ideas will surely give you the best results. References can help you in providing direction to your character. The only formula that works here is that you should take multiple references to spot the character's essence and truth. Once you have all the information, you can look at what you have created with the references.
Animation Tips #3: Don’t let Netflix, YouTube, or Crunchyroll hold you back.
Among the animation tips, it’s the most popular for all walks of life. When it comes to animations, you should focus on your craft and building your skill first, and only then should you let in some distractions your way. After that, you can try to schedule your day to get enough time to put your creative hat on.
Several people refer to materials on platforms like Netflix, YouTube, etc., to draw inspiration. However, instead of getting any kind of references or new ideas, they get carried away with the content and start binge-watching. This can be highly destructive as you will not be able to devote any time to learning animations and other new skills used in animations.
The best way around the problem is to use a separate device if you cannot control your urges. You can also try to ad website blockers and solely focus on animation craft.
Conclusion
It's easy to move characters and call it animation, but it's harder to master the art of animation and character performance if you do not have the discipline. You can have many traditional animation tips before you, but you need to be organized and systemize everything. So again, it's doing the first thing right and avoiding the temptation of the environment as it has the potential to ruin your focus.
It would be best to avoid snappy animation tips and hindrances in your learning process. First, you must try to experience what the character feels. Then, you can act it out and then use references to validate your act. Finally, you can use a mix of references and your action to win the hearts of your audience.
Even if you think you've mastered the art of animation, keep in mind that learning never stops. You can now hone your talents from the comfort of your own home by learning from a team of specialists at iAnimate.
We connect artists like you with animation tips and tricks experts who have worked with some of the world's most prestigious firms, like Pixar, Sony Pictures Animation, and DreamWorks Animation. They give you animation tips and tricks and live feedback on your work. These sessions are also recorded so you may see them afterward.
Feel free to reach out to us.
You can now apply for our upcoming workshops to help you get a head start on your career.
