(Part 3) Top products from r/animation

Hey, I'm a CG Lighting artist by trade, I'll let you know some good resources that have helped me.

As a lighter, your goal is things things, Setting the mood/atmosphere, Shaping (making sure you can make out forms of the scene), and Leading the eye (I feel like there is a fourth, but I can't think of it this morning lol)

Some good books to read:

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter

Light for Visual Artists (hard book to find, but worth finding a copy)

Digital Lighting and Rendering(new edition coming out soon)

Great resources to start and help train your eye, studying films is the next step. Picking apart scenes to understand how and why they lit the scene the way they did, studying photography is a great place to look as well.

Also if you can afford it, TD-U has a fantastic online course from a couple of great instructors to help you on your way of understanding CG Lighting. If you can afford the class it will be a great place to start. I took the class last year and it was an AMAZING resource, I didn't know anything beyond the technical understanding of lighting, this course really helped me understand the artistic side of lighting. The instructors are great and very helpful.

anyways, hope that helps, if you have any questions feel free to message me.

Hi, sorry for the late response

Maya is definitely the right place to start if your looking at 3d animation. (http://blog.animationmentor.com/5-reasons-why-3d-animators-should-know-autodesk-maya/)
Im sure you can find plenty of basic tutorials on using maya and getting familiar with its work space, though as an animator you'll only need a very rudimental knowledge of the software.
Learning other things like modeling, rigging texturing ect will make you more employable but mostly with smaller companies where you need a more generalist skill set. Bigger studios everyone will have very specialist roles so no one will care if your show reel has no lighting. Maya is a very powerful piece of software so just stick to learning one thing at a time.

Since you are just starting out i would recommend this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Cheat-Maya-2014-Techniques/dp/0415826594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451708861&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+cheat+in+maya

Its a great book to learn with as it keeps things simple with clear instructions so you can gain a basic understanding of the principles in animation whilst letting you get familiar with maya.
The 11 second club also has a lot of good resources such as these exercises if you want to get started right away
http://www.11secondclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=19776

The resources tab has a list of good free rigs as well though a full body rig would most certainly be very hard for a begginer to animate

Animation takes a lot of time to learn so feel free to post more questions. Good luck and have fun with it. If you find its something you want to pursue more then i would look at books like "The animators survival kit" or "acting for animators" and "timing for animation"

the animation field is very very competitive. and little by little, jobs are being cut out from the field. if you go for animation, you better have passion. without it, you may as well have no chance...

i wanted to be an animator ever since i was a kid, i love cartoons. animation is a wonderful medium.

Do you know who Richard Williams is? I hope you do. In his book, The Animator's Survival Kit, He talks about his journey into the world of animation. please read that section which is located in the very first pages of the book.

i watched your video SidMonqay, and i will tell you to forget about animating right now. No, i don't mean lose the passion to animate. What i mean is forget about the technical part, which is animation. First, learn how to draw. No, i don't mean learn how to draw cartoons, i mean really REALLY learn how to draw. Study classical drawing and painting...trust me...if you focus on this you will be able to draw ANYTHING:cartoons, anime, illustration, comics, etc. because this is the HARDEST and most DIFFICULT art there is. (Jason Manley from ConceptArt.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh37Mtex67w) you don't have to 'master' it, but learn from it. once you know you are ready, you are ready for animation.


I am 22, and studying classical drawing at a studio in Chicago under a very great and talented artist who i call my mentor. he has connections to some of the biggest studios of animation out there, and knows A LOT of well known artists. He teaches classical drawing and painting but also works as a storyboard artists and is grateful to make a living as an artist. He told me he has plans to grow the studio into a small 'academy' where he and other artists will teach classical/digital/animation. I am so happy i found this place. it beats all the art colleges i have gone to.
I now go to the studio and study mechanical design technology at a community college(as a back up, if animation doesn't work out..)

I will introduce you to Bargue drawings(intro to classical training)
http://ricardopontes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/34_plate_I_7_the_foot_of_the_gladiator.jpg

This book my mentor suggested me to read, which i did "Lessons in Classical Drawing: Essential Techniques from Inside the Atelier"
http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Classical-Drawing-Essential-Techniques/dp/082300659X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409106710&sr=8-2&keywords=classical+atelier

This artist who has great drawing/painting demos DVDs which i learned a lot from (Robert Liberace)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyC4sxFrr9w

An animation news website
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/

Calarts which is the best school(they say) for character animation
http://calarts.edu/

(but listen, you DO NOT need a degree for animation. you DO need a kick ass portfolio. and i mean it. kick ass...you get the job and recognition from your portfolio and skills, not the piece of paper.
I myself am not getting a degree in art or animation.)

here is my tumblr. i post my art there.
http://cigaretteclub.tumblr.com/

if anything SidMonqay, try art at a community college. it's cheaper than larger institutions. be careful of for-profit institutions and people that just want your money. that is where i messed up, and i lost all hope, until i found this studio. I highly recommend you go and find a studio or atelier and study drawing and painting there. there are also art workshops every year for illustration/animation/drawing/painting you can find each year around the U.S! like this one http://www.artconnectionacademy.com/SaturdayLectures.aspx

but, choose your own path! any questions, feel free to ask

[edit] of course! Richard Williams book on animation! http://www.amazon.com/The-Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles/dp/086547897X

Don't get me wrong, Richard Williams is great and if you're serious about animation you should definetly read it, but if you're an absolute beginner I'd recommend checking out Tony White's The Animator's Workbook first. It's what I started out with and it does a great job of breaking down animation principles for a beginner with easy exercises. Williams's book is intended for people who already have some sort of a knowledge base to go off of.

Also, while I love After Effects and it's pretty powerful, I wouldn't recommend it for starting to learn animation. Especially character animation. shudders as she recalls previous attempts at character animation in AE. I started out with loose leaf and sharpies, but I was fourteen and broke. (That method is great if you're doing some basic exercises, but it's hard to show to people because of the lines on the paper. Bare minimum upgrade to printer paper with a three hole punch.) If you're already paying for Creative Cloud I'd recommend Adobe Animate. Although it has a learning curve, it's closer to traditional animation than After Effects so you can get a better grasp of the principles.

If you want what amounts to a crash course, "Directing for Animation" by Disney veteran Tony Bancroft has a variety of good tips and advice for leading an animation production.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240818024

Most professional animators who've had industry experience or schooling will likely have a certain level of film-making experience as well; so they should be able to understand what you want in terms of film language without a litany of specific technical jargon.

However, even in light of your directing experience and with all due respect, you may want to consider hiring or promoting an Animation Supervisor to act as the point person between you and your animation team; especially if you have a crew larger than a handful of animators.

You've mentioned how knowing the exact technicalities of camera photography is not an issue when relaying your vision to an experienced DOP, but those ins-and-outs are exactly what make the DOP valuable as the point person between you and the rest of the Camera & Lighting department; same goes with an animation department. You may already have a qualified animator willing to step up and perform this role.

A good supervisor will have the 'ins-and-outs' knowledge to keep the team's engine running smoothly (and therefore motivated), while letting you know what is creatively achievable under your budget and time constraints. For instance, you don't want one animator making over-the-top promises the team will be unable to achieve consistently. Or you may have a decision to keep-or-cut a cool FX sequence that is questionably relevant to the story at best, and you are on-the-fence about it because the difficulty is unknown. An animation supervisor will help you make informed decisions that could save you and your team from painful problems further downstream.

All this doesn't mean you have to give up your creative control, or the ability to review shots with animators or the like. What it will give you is a strong production ally who can reasonably guarantee a consistent level of production quality that may difficult for your team to achieve if you are unsure of the particulars.

My two cents.

Luckily,you live now! Lots and lots of information for free on this here internetz.

John K has an online curriculum for drawing cartoons. If you go through all the links in order on that page, your skills will almost certainly improve a little!

But to be honest, it will only get you so far. If you really want to learn how to draw, I would recommend The Natural Way To Draw.

It's a book that contains about a years worth of a drawing course. It's more suited to life drawing, but the skills learned here will transfer into your imaginative work (hopefully!).

Much of the drawing techniques I learned at uni come straight from that book.

One important thing you need to get your head around now though; don't worry aboutmaking nice pictures. That isnt your aim now. Your aim now is just to learn how to train your hand to spit out exactly what is in your head. This takes time. Years, even.

So if you dont produce beautiful art straight away, don't worry. They say you got 10,000 shitty drawings to get through before you get to the good stuff, so just start working through those and have fun learning.

I would recommend thinking of your drawings as completely disposable right now. Its about learning the skill, not making beautiful art. I'd recommend the cheapest, nastiest paper (utterly disposable) and lots of it!

If you ever want critiques or some help, hit me up :D

Oh yeah, and if you really want to level up, be prepared to have your work seriously critiqued, you have to put your ego aside :)

C&C ahead, proceed if interested:


Nice start! But remember your physics. Unless there was a gust of wind mid shot, that marble would continue to bounce in place. "An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. " The only force you (presumably) have in this scene is gravity, so once your marble drops, every bounce is based on that trajectory and the angle of the previous bounce. All the right ideas are here, you just need some physics to ground it. This is an awesome book that sums it up pretty neatly, as well as a lot of other stuff about physics and animation, if you're interested. Keep it up!

Understanding traditional arts will always help you no matter what because it helps develop an analytically eye. I would try to find places around your location that offer figure drawing sessions for like $20. Doing figure drawing sessions will help you come to a greater understanding about shape, form, weight, pose; All of those are extremely important to understand in animation. You don't have to draw well by any means (if your doing 3d), just develop your eye.

If you're not coming from an art background, I recommend reading 'Drawn to Life', 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brian' or 'Understanding Comics' as these will help change the way you think about art. They have to do a lot with Art Philosophy.

Understanding Comics: (a vastly underrated book)
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Comics-Invisible-Scott-Mccloud/dp/006097625X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319966876&sr=8-1

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Drawing-Right-Side-Brain/dp/0874774195/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319966921&sr=8-1

Drawn to Life:
http://www.amazon.com/Drawn-Life-Classes-Stanchfield-Lectures/dp/0240810961/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319966942&sr=1-1

Ah yes, I've owned The Animator's Survival Kit for a few years now. Fantastic read, I've also been meaning to check out Acting for Animators. Sorry, I should've given more information about my level of understanding with animation. I had a mentor in high school that gave me a great headstart with animation. Thank you for the advice, very much appreciated.
Edit: Also, I just checked out your animation Circle Fury. You're very talented, bravo.

Amazing list! All of these are essential. These are also my favorites for animation:

Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators (Force Drawing Series)

Timing for Animation


Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life

Bridgman's was a must for me when it came to learning anatomy.

Thanks I'll keep looking :) I've been told to read this http://www.amazon.com/Maya-Studio-Projects-Texturing-Lighting/dp/0470903279
But I'd like to read some books (as you said) on actual live action lighting and the principals.

I really like having these around.

How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671530771/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_PXkBybWE11WY9

Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402766785/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_34kBybDYR7KZT

Dynamic Figure Drawing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0823015777/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_O5kByb1YEC48K

How to Draw Animals (Perigee) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0399508023/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_b7kBybRM8D7RC

You want this book.

To answer your question about the storyboards, you make a shot list up front as you would in film. The shots of course should show all of the props, costumes, camera angles, and lighting that you need. You'll also want to make it into an animatic to make sure The timing and camera moves make sense.

You're also leaving a lot of work in pre-production. Voice overs happen early in animation, because the animators need it for the timing. If you want to edit anything in later you are going to lose money. Also, if you are doing traditional 2d, you'll need to have the characters designed with turnarounds. If you are a bigger studio, it also helps to have macquettes for the animators. If you are doing puppet animation either 2d (flash style), stop motion, or 3d. You'll also have to build the characters and rig them to be animatable. You'll also have to build sets to put them in which may take a good deal of time though in 3d and 2d you can do proxy geometry that you replace afterward. In stop-motion, you'll either have to green screen everything which is generally a bad idea, or hire artisans to build sets. Also, you'll need your score decided here. If it is a musical, you'll need it recorded before sending it off. If it is not, the composer will work with the animatic to create appropriate music to intensify the mood but not overpower the acting. If that is the case, you'll add it in post-production.

You then send it to animation. There is a big multi step process here as well. During this time, you need to complete an proxy set up you used as well as finalize colors and what not. Depending on how your contract works with the studio, they may send you back a series of finished clips where they composited, lit, and rendered everything. The actors will also be in it.

You will then need to add in any sound effects that are necessary and edit it into the appropriate sequence and format.

"Designing with Pixar: 45 Activities to Create Your Own Characters, Worlds, and Stories" on the original list is described on Amazon as a 64-page colouring book aimed at children age 8-12. Is it the same book??

Speaking for myself, I'd also recommend Action Cartooning and Fantasy Cartooning by Ben Caldwell. Those jumpstarted my drawing back in high school. I know classical techniques and developing your own style are important, but there's genuinely a lot of solid advice for exaggerated posing, simplifying shapes and caricaturing the face to convey story, all of which apply to animation of all types.

If you're doing 2D, then look for Preston Blair's book. it's the defacto for lip sync. If you're doing 3D, I beg you to seek out Jason Osipa's Stop Staring. The chapter he has on lip sync completely changed the game. Instead of the nine or ten individual phonemes, it focuses much more on the pacing of the small mouth/large mouth shape and the wide mouth/narrow mouth shape. It is a must read for 3D animators.

This is a classic.

Look for Glenn Vilppu videos. He's a master draftsmen who is spent a large portion of his career teaching anatomy to animators. His master class videos used to be on torrent sites, having trouble finding it now.

I also like Proko's videos a lot. https://www.youtube.com/user/ProkoTV/videos


Walt Stanchfield is a Disney animator who taught drafting lessons to his fellow animators. He compiled his notes into books, 'Drawn to Life' Vol 1 and 2.

https://thinkinganimation.com/animation_resources__trashed/walt-stanchfield-handouts/

You can also check out Force's books, as they're aimed at animators.

https://www.amazon.com/FORCE-Drawing-Human-Anatomy-Force/dp/0415733979

You can also check out Andrew Loomis' books. https://www.alexhays.com/loomis/