Teach Yourself Animation at Home for Free | Self Teach Animation Curriculum + Resources

Summary

This video script offers a comprehensive guide to learning animation at home for free, emphasizing the importance of dedication and determination. It outlines a structured curriculum, including foundational skills like gesture drawing and color theory, and progresses to animation principles and character animation. The speaker, an experienced animator, shares insights on using free software, practicing with simple objects, and understanding body mechanics and acting. The script also suggests resources like books and online tutorials, and encourages seeking feedback from animation communities.

Takeaways

• 🎓 **Self-Learning Path**: You can learn animation for free with dedication, using online resources and a structured approach.
• 👨‍🎓 **Educational Background**: The speaker's college experience and over a decade of industry experience shape their advice on what to learn.
• 💪 **Dedication Essential**: Consistent practice and a strong work ethic are crucial for anyone aspiring to be a professional animator.
• 🎨 **Basic Art Skills**: Strengthening foundational art skills like gesture drawing, color theory, and perspective is recommended before diving into animation.
• 📚 **Recommended Reading**: Books like 'The Animator's Survival Kit' and 'The Illusion of Life' are invaluable resources for understanding animation principles.
• 🔥 **12 Principles of Animation**: Mastery of the 12 principles is fundamental, and practicing them with simple objects like balls and bricks is advised.
• 🤔 **Concept Understanding**: Concepts like weight, timing, and shot clarity are critical for creating believable and engaging animations.
• 🆓 **Free Software Tools**: Utilize free software like OpenToonz for 2D and Blender for 3D animation to practice and develop skills without high costs.
• 👥 **Social Media for Feedback**: Leverage social media platforms and online communities for feedback and to learn from other animators.
• 🚀 **Progression to Advanced Topics**: Start with simple exercises and gradually progress to complex topics like body mechanics, acting, and character interaction.

Q & A

What does the speaker suggest is essential for learning animation, regardless of the learning method?

The speaker emphasizes that dedication and determination are essential for learning animation, whether through self-study or an accredited course.

What is the purpose of the video mentioned in the script?

The purpose of the video is to provide a structured guideline on the curriculum one should follow to become a professional animator for free at home.

What is the first skill the speaker recommends practicing to build a foundation in animation?

The first skill recommended is gesture drawing, which helps in understanding how bodies work, realistic poses, body mechanics, weight balance, line of action, perspective, and 3D volume.

What online resource does the speaker suggest for practicing gesture drawing?

The speaker suggests using lineofaction.com for practicing gesture drawing, as it offers various models and session options.

What are some of the foundational art concepts the speaker recommends learning for animation?

The foundational art concepts include color theory, line and form, perspective, and shape language, which are essential for creating appealing and convincing animations.

Which book is considered a 'Bible' for animators according to the speaker?

The book considered a 'Bible' for animators is 'The Animator's Survival Kit' by Richard Williams.

What are the 12 principles of animation that the speaker advises learning?

The speaker advises learning the 12 principles of animation, which are fundamental to creating appealing and dynamic animations.

What is the importance of shot clarity in animation according to the script?

Shot clarity is important in animation as it ensures readability in the scene, allowing viewers to understand what is happening and making the animation more engaging.

What software does the speaker recommend for learning 2D and 3D animation without spending money?

For 2D animation, the speaker recommends OpenToonz, and for 3D animation, Blender is suggested as free software options.

What is the process the speaker outlines for planning and animating a scene?

The process outlined includes thumbnailing, storyboarding, animatic creation, shooting reference video, key posing, blocking, splining, and polishing the animation.

How does the speaker suggest using social media to aid in the learning process?

The speaker suggests using social media platforms like Discord channels, animation subreddits, and Facebook groups to post work and receive feedback from professionals and peers.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Learning Animation: Foundations and Structure

The paragraph emphasizes the importance of dedication and determination in learning animation, regardless of whether one is taking a paid course or learning independently. The speaker shares insights from their experience in the animation industry and proposes a structured approach to learning animation at home. This includes strengthening foundational skills like gesture drawing, understanding color theory, and learning about line, form, perspective, and shape language. The speaker also recommends books such as 'The Animator's Survival Kit' by Richard Williams and 'The Illusion of Life' by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, which are valuable resources for aspiring animators.

05:03

🎓 Mastering the 12 Principles of Animation

This section focuses on the 12 principles of animation as fundamental to becoming a skilled animator. The speaker suggests studying these principles through video tutorials and practicing them using simple objects like a ball and a brick. The paragraph highlights the importance of understanding concepts like squash and stretch, anticipation, staging, and timing. The speaker also underscores the significance of personality in animation, the importance of spacing and timing, and the necessity of conveying weight, mass, and gravity effectively. Resources like YouTube tutorials and books are recommended for in-depth learning.

10:05

🚀 Animation Process and Software Recommendations

The speaker outlines the process of animating, starting from planning with thumbnailing and storyboarding to animating key poses and refining through blocking and splining. The importance of using reference videos for realistic animation is stressed. The paragraph also addresses the concern of not having expensive animation software by recommending free alternatives like OpenToonz for 2D and Blender for 3D animation. The speaker encourages starting with 2D animation to grasp the concepts before moving on to 3D.

15:06

🤸‍♂️ Advancing to Character Animation and Mechanics

The paragraph discusses the transition from simple object animation to character animation, suggesting starting with isolated body parts like the head and neck. It emphasizes the importance of arcs, slow in and slow out, and exaggeration for conveying personality and emotion. The speaker advises practicing simple actions like blinking and pressing a light switch to imbue personality into the animation. The paragraph also touches on the importance of body mechanics and the difference between inverse and forward kinematics, recommending further research and practice on these topics.

20:08

🌟 Perfecting Animation Through Acting and Emotional Expression

The final paragraph delves into the importance of acting in animation, suggesting that animators should focus on body language and pantomime to convey emotions effectively. The speaker recommends practicing facial animation and lip syncing, as well as understanding phonemes for accurate speech animation. The paragraph advises against multitasking in learning and emphasizes the importance of focusing on one aspect at a time for mastery. The speaker also suggests using live-action footage for reference and practicing complex scenes with multiple characters once a strong foundation in animation is established.

Keywords

💡Animation

Animation refers to the process of creating the illusion of motion and life in inanimate objects or characters through a sequence of images. In the context of the video, animation is the main theme, with the speaker providing guidance on how to learn and excel in this field without formal education. The video emphasizes the importance of dedication and practice in becoming a professional animator.

💡Dedication

Dedication is the commitment and persistent effort required to achieve mastery in a skill or field. The video underscores the necessity of dedication for anyone aspiring to learn animation, suggesting that it is as crucial as any formal education. The speaker implies that without dedication, the journey to becoming a proficient animator would be challenging.

💡Gesture Drawing

Gesture drawing is a quick sketching technique used to capture the essence of a subject's movement and form. The video recommends practicing gesture drawing to enhance observational skills, which is vital for understanding body mechanics and realistic poses in animation. It serves as a foundational skill, helping animators to capture the dynamic aspects of movement.

💡Color Theory

Color theory is the study of how colors interact and the psychological effects they have on viewers. In animation, a strong grasp of color theory is essential for creating visually appealing and emotionally evocative scenes. The video mentions color theory as one of the foundational aspects of art and animation that can support storytelling and enhance the overall aesthetic appeal.

💡12 Principles of Animation

The 12 principles of animation are a set of fundamental guidelines for creating believable and appealing motion in animation. These principles, introduced by Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, include squash and stretch, anticipation, staging, and more. The video emphasizes the importance of these principles, suggesting that they are the core of what makes animation engaging and professional.

💡Squash and Stretch

Squash and stretch is one of the 12 principles of animation that gives objects a sense of volume and weight by exaggerating their shape when applying force. The video uses bouncing balls of different materials as an example to illustrate how squash and stretch can be practiced and incorporated into animations to make them more dynamic and lifelike.

💡Storyboarding

Storyboarding is the process of planning out a sequence of images to tell a story, often used in film and animation to visualize the narrative before production. The video mentions storyboarding as a crucial step in the animation process, helping animators to plan their timing, poses, and sequences in a more organized and detailed manner.

💡Character Animation

Character animation is the process of giving life to characters through movement and expressions in animation. The video discusses the importance of starting simple, like animating a head turn or a blink, before moving on to more complex body mechanics. It highlights the need to convey personality and emotions through these simple animations to make characters relatable and engaging.

💡Body Mechanics

Body mechanics refer to the way the human body moves and functions, including the interaction of muscles, bones, and joints. In the video, body mechanics is presented as an advanced topic in animation, where understanding how the body works together is essential for creating believable character movements. The video suggests practicing with live-action references to improve this aspect of animation.

💡Acting

In the context of animation, acting involves conveying emotions, intentions, and stories through character movements and expressions. The video advises that once a solid understanding of body mechanics is achieved, animators should focus on acting to make their characters more believable and emotionally engaging. It suggests starting with single-character scenes to master the nuances of character performance.

Highlights

You can learn animation for free with dedication and determination.

A structured approach is necessary for a well-rounded education in animation.

Gesture drawing is crucial for understanding body mechanics and realistic poses.

Color theory, line, form, perspective, and shape language are foundational for good art and animation.

The book 'The Animator's Survival Kit' by Richard Williams is highly recommended for animators.

Study the 12 principles of animation using simple objects like a ball and a brick.

Practice animating with personality and emotions to give life to your characters.

Free software like OpenToonz for 2D and Blender for 3D can be used for learning animation.

Thumbnailing and storyboarding are essential steps in planning your animation.

Reference videos are important for understanding and animating realistic actions.

Key poses, blocking, and splining are part of the animation process to create smooth movements.

Use social media and online communities to get feedback on your animation work.

Body mechanics is about how the body parts work together to create believable movement.

Acting in animation is about conveying emotions and information through character movements.

Focus on one aspect of animation at a time to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

Pantomime and facial animation are key to conveying emotions without speech.

Plan your animation shots with clarity, context, and cohesiveness in mind.

Transcripts

yes you can learn animation for free at home  online all by your damn self it just takes  

some dedication and determination but then  again anything to do with doing animation  

takes dedication and determination even if you  were doing an accredited paid for course so if  

you don't have that dedication and determination  then good luck because you're gonna need it I'm  

going to show you guys how to structure your  learning and what you actually need to learn  

in the order you need to learn it in so that you  can have a well-rounded education in animation  

and become a professional level animator  by yourself this video isn't to teach you  

about these things but to give you a structured  guideline on what sort of curriculum you should  

follow in your learning so that you can become  a professional level animator for free at home  

I did go to college for animation so I'm drawing  on my own experience of the curriculum that we  

followed there as well as the areas that I feel  like maybe the curriculum lacked now that I've  

got over 11 years of experience in this industry  in various sectors I know what people need to know  

to become good professional animators I'm in a  senior position I hire other animators and if  

you follow these guidelines lines with dedication  and practice you will become a good animator I'll  

provide a summary of this video on my patreon  so you can go ahead and download that document  

so you can have something to refer back to with  the links that I mentioned here in this video  

for all the resources that you'll need and then  you can go and do further in-depth research for  

yourself on the things that I speak about here  first things first there are certain skills or  

exercises that you need to do and learn to provide  a good foundation for your animation skills now I  

know you're probably chomping at the bit to start  with the animation stuff that's what you're here  

for right but I do strongly suggest strengthening  your skills in these areas first because they're  

going to improve your observational and your  animation skills in the long run I recommend  

practicing your gesture drawing which will  help you understand better how bodies work  

what realistic poses and body mechanics look like  and Concepts like weight balance line of action  

perspective and 3D Volume if you're not able  to attend live gesture drawing classes a really  

great website you can use is lineofaction.com  where you have several options to pick what  

kind of model you want to use and the session  and a bunch of other options if you're going to  

be animating characters you need to know how the  human body works and moves you'll need to be able  

to observe how they function how they balance  their weight and how joints operate and you'll  

need to be able to translate that observation into  your animation and that's why gesture drawing is  

important even if you're going to be 3D animating  I also recommend you learn about color theory  

line and form perspective and shape language  as these are the foundations to good art and  

animation if you're wanting to be a 2d animator  then this would all hopefully go without saying  

but even if you want to be a 3D animator you need  to understand these theories to create the most  

appealing and convincing staging poses be able to  utilize things like color to support your scenes  

and the subjects behind them shape language  to support your key poses and Silhouettes and  

layout and really understand how our characters  and Creations actually work in 3D and 2D space  

the concepts you'll learn here will help you  in training your eye and your mind in creating  

really good shots and telling a good story in the  clearest way possible and help your animations  

look better and more professional and appealing  and appeal is really important in animation now  

there are some books that will help you immensely  in your journey to becoming a good animator and  

while these are not free they're a hell of a lot  cheaper than paying for a course you can keep them  

forever and they will always be useful to you a  really really great book that is basically our  

Bible is the animators survival kit by Richard  Williams I've spoken about it quite a few times  

before I've had this book for about 14 years now  and I still refer back to it it seriously is so  

chock-a-block full of really really valuable  information that you'll always need to know as  

an animator you'll learn about really important  stuff like frame rates animating on ones and twos  

extremes in-betweens and breakdowns and tons of  other animation Concepts this book covers stuff  

about using X sheets spacing walks and runs and  jumps dialogue and acting animal animation body  

language directing that's just the surface you  won't find another book that'll teach you as  

much as this one will and I highly suggest you  start at the beginning and work your way through  

read everything another really great book which  I also have myself is is the illusion of Lies  

by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston who are two  OG Disney animators where you can learn about  

the 12 principles of Animation this is where they  first debuted in this book things like appeal and  

Dynamics character development acting and tons  of other really interesting and pertinent stuff  

to becoming a good animator another really  informative book is animated storytelling  

simple steps for creating animation and Motion  Graphics by Liz Blazer this works really well in  

combination with the animated survival kit and  the illusion of life because while those books  

cover the nitty-gritty of the animations and their  mechanics this book focuses on story structures  

communicating your ideas and utilizing design  in a way that supports your animations which is  

great for increasing the appeal and Clarity  of your work and supporting your filmmaking  

I'll link to where you can find these books on  Amazon in the description of this video Once  

you understand these Concepts and practices which  form the foundation of Animation you need to learn  

about the animation fundamentals no you can't just  jump into animating a really sick fight scene what  

were you thinking start with the core principles  the 12 principles of animation Nation there are  

tons of resources out there on the 12 principles  of Animation but one of the best in my opinion is  

the video series right here on good old YouTube by  Ellen Baker tutorials and I'll link to that series  

down below study this like your life depends on it  because if you want to be a good animator it does  

so you're going to want to become very familiar  with these 12 basic principles and you're not just  

going to watch videos and read articles about them  you're going to practice them a lot and not with  

the character with Limbs and all these extraneous  bits and Bobs to distract you oh no oh no no no  

no no you're gonna learn about these principles  with the most simple objects a ball and a brick  

Wally Mac Bolson and brick brick Annapolis they  will be more than enough to practice squash and  

stretch anticipation staging Straight Ahead action  and post to pose follow through and overlapping  

action slow win and slow out arcs secondary action  timing exaggeration solid drawing and appeal you  

might be at a loss on how to portray follow  through and overlapping action or secondary  

action with just a brick and a ball for instance  but you can make your break a little more floppy  

to illustrate follow-through for example or add  a tail to your ball use creative license that's  

a huge part of being an animator but start with  just one concept like with squash and stretch an  

animator ball bouncing up and down squashing and  stretching then animate a heavier ball made out  

of a different material bouncing up and down the  way it squashes and stretches will be different  

depending on the weight and mass and material of  the bowl and keep on like that through all the  

principles animating them in as many different  ways with just a bowl and a brick as you can  

possibly think of there are tons of tutorials  out there for example on how to animate a ball  

bouncing so once you've got squash and stretched  down you can animate it bouncing across the screen  

to practice arcs you can animate it getting pushed  off the edge of a hill to practice slow in and  

slow out there are so many different ways to use  your bowl to practice these 12 principles and once  

you've got the ball done you can start using our  old friend Rick brick Annapolis to also practice  

these principles make him different materials  make him a really solid rigid heavy brick in  

one thing and make him really bouncy and bendy  in another it's the shape that you're using to  

convey these principles and practice them until  you're really really familiar with them I made a  

video on animation exercises for beginners so  if you do want to to check that out I'll link  

to it in the corner of the screen and in the  description of this video for more ideas on  

exercises for beginners check out these 51 great  animation exercises from animator Island and this  

list of exercises from animatorartistlife.com so  practice these beginner exercises as much as you  

possibly can first going through them one by one  and focusing on each one separately and then once  

you are comfortable and confident with them start  combining them into an animation practice using  

arcs and squash and stretch and follow through  and all the different principles in one animation  

as much as you possibly can give your animation  some personality and have fun with it there are  

also some core principles to animation that go  hand in hand with the 12 principles but are not  

always expressly spoken about which I want to  highlight for you guys this personality which  

is very important you need to remember that  your characters are supposed to come across  

convincingly as whole fully realized people  with Rich emotions and lives not flat puppets  

being manipulated on the screen and their unique  personalities need to be apparent this is what's  

going to make your audience feel invested in  your characters and your stories another really  

important aspect is spacing which ties in with the  principle of timing spacing is just as important  

as timing and needs to be considered at all times  it also ties in with the principle of slow in and  

slow out so while you're learning about timing  a lot of sources might mention spacing but if  

they don't please keep that in mind and make sure  that you're focusing on that I do have a video on  

timing and spacing which you can find right here  where it'll pop up in the corner of the screen  

or in a link in the description you also need  to focus on weight mass and gravity and how to  

convey that effectively in your animations without  knowledge of these Concepts your work will look  

very floaty and maturish and ungrounded in reality  everything in animation has some sort of weight  

and mass and gravity affects everything so this  is really important for believable animation do  

a lot of exercises where weight and mass is at the  Forefront animate objects of different weights and  

masses falling down being thrown compare them  to each other and see how differently you can  

animate them to accurately convey the weight that  they have for instance you could animate a tennis  

ball and a bowling ball both falling down from  the same height or a leaf and a feather and a  

sack of rocks compare their weights and see how  you can convey the difference in their weights  

and masses another important concept that doesn't  always get mentioned when you're trying to watch  

videos and learn about animation is shot Clarity  I think because it falls under directing more than  

strictly animation but it's still really really  important to have a good animation shot this goes  

along with staging having clear Silhouettes  for your characters and making sure there's  

readability in your scene so that nothing is  Muddy this is really important for your viewers  

to actually pick up on what's going on in your  scene and you can watch videos or read articles  

about directing and the books I mentioned before  also touch on this in some areas and I've also  

done a video on how to improve Clarity in your  shot so you can check that out as well now you  

might be asking yourself how am I supposed to  learn and practice this shit if I can't afford  

the very expensive software that animators use I'm  not about that flipbook Live Well if you want to  

learn 2D animation you can use free software like  open tunes and for 3D just use blender I use both  

of these apps myself and they are really great  I'll put links to them in the description of  

the video I I do suggest starting out in 2D  animation just to wrap your head around the  

concepts because it can be a little overwhelming  trying to jump straight into 3D and doing it in  

2D also gives you a really good grasp and practice  in conceptualizing the 3D and 2D space that your  

characters are moving in without having the 3D  app to do that for you so once you've got the  

core principles done and you're comfortable  animating your balls and your bricks and your  

other inanimate objects then you can start on  your character animation but don't dive into  

the greater body mechanics just yet you're still  trying to keep it simple so you're going to start  

for instance with just animating a very simple  head tone just isolate the head and the neck don't  

worry about what the rest of the body is doing and  remember to incorporate your 12 principles now on  

whatever you're animating on your character keep  in mind arcs when you turn your head it doesn't  

just go straight it's going to Arc down because of  the concept of arcs you're going to have your slow  

in and your slow out you might have some squash  and stretch if it's a really fast head turn you  

can really exaggerate that squash and stretch  and there again is another principle which is  

exaggeration do a haircut in as many different  ways as you possibly can imagine do a fast one  

do a slow one do a happy one do a sad one do a  surprised one try and convey as much personality  

and emotions in these very simple movements as  you possibly can because that's what animation  

really is all about then you can move on to doing  a character blinking you might think a blink is  

very simple and straightforward but there are some  things you still need to consider there I've done  

a video on blinking if you want to check that  out so practice really simple things like that  

then you can move on to animating an arm just  lifting and pressing a light switch again try  

and convey as much personality and emotion in  these actions as you possibly can Amper change  

just kidding I actually had to stop filming that  video Midway through something came up and now it  

is a new day new outfit but anyway to Carry On  from where we lived off you are still keeping  

things simple at this point you're not going to  go into the greater body mechanics yet you're  

still getting used to the way each Loom works and  how the different parts function isolated from  

everything else before you go and focus on how the  rest of the body works all together now when you  

animate there is a process that you need to follow  you don't just start all willy-nilly and hope for  

the rest the best is not gonna happen that way you  don't just start animating without any forethought  

or structure or planning this process is also just  a good way to break it down into bite-sized chunks  

so that you have a way to approach it without  getting too overwhelmed by everything that you  

have to consider when you're animating something  so this is a very high level process that I'm  

going to talk about now it's up to you to go and  take each part that I mentioned and do further  

research on it so that you fully understand  each thing that I'm talking about the first  

step in this process is to roughly plan out your  animation with something that we call thumbnailing  

so this is where way you go and you rough out your  poses and your actions just quickly getting your  

thoughts down on the paper to see what works and  what doesn't without putting too much thought into  

each pose then you'll move on to storyboarding  where you refine what you've thumbnail plan out  

your animation in sequential pictures in more  detail plan out your timing for your sequences  

and shots and break down the key poses a bit  more than the thumbnails if you want to learn  

more about storyboarding you can check out the  video that I'm linking to in the corner of the  

screen it'll be in the description too about how  to storyboard for animation there's also this free  

short two-hour course from toon boom which will  walk you through the animation pipeline an intro  

to storyboarding and the language of storyboards  and this very cool free course from storyboard  

artist teacher and animation director Sergio  Paez this course is apparently free only for  

a limited time I'm not sure how limited that time  is but check it out once you've plotted out your  

animation and you have a storyboard you'd usually  go into the animatic stage which is taking your  

storyboard and laying it out on a timeline so it  plays out with the timing and key poses you need  

for each shot which you can then use as timing  and pose reference when animating then you need  

to shoot reference video this is very important  even the most seasoned professional animators use  

reference just set up your camera try to match the  angle that you'll be using in your animation and  

record yourself doing the action that you want to  animate it can also be useful to use other angles  

like from the side or from a three-quarter pose  just to see how your body's moving in 3D space so  

that you can fully understand the action and how  you need animated happening now you can start with  

the animation but hold your horses because we're  still taking baby steps here you first need to  

plot out your key poses you don't just jump right  in and start animating straight away after you've  

got your key poses down then you'll start doing  the blocking which is adding in the breakdowns  

between the key poses the animation is still very  rigid and simple at this point and you'll be using  

stepped tangents you're not using splines or  smooth curves and smooth movements there's a  

really good video from animator and YouTubers  so wait neistat called animation blocking plus  

finding key poses with reference which explains  to you really nicely as well as an article I'll  

link to in my description from Animation Mentor  called five key steps for Effective blocking  

but obviously try and do a little more research  yourself on each of these stages so that you can  

fully grasp them after the blocking when you're  happy with your key poses and your timing that's  

when you'll do splining if you're working with a  rigged character either in 3D or in 2D splining  

is when you convert the interpolation of the  step keys in your blocking phase to smooth  

curves please make sure you look into the curve  or graph editor and understand how to adjust your  

curves to improve your spacing and work on your  slow in and out the graph editor or Cove editor  

depending on your software is extremely necessary  and you need to understand how to use it you'll  

need to research that for whatever your software  is if you're working in 2D frame by frame this  

is the place where you'll be further refining  your in-betweens then you'll start polishing  

your animation and incorporating all the little  things like your offset and your follow through  

and your secondary animation incorporating the  12 principles that you should know really really  

well by now while you're working on an animation  shot I do recommend focusing on the body movements  

and your timing first before you go into face  animation you can use key poses for your facials  

but don't go in and refine it until you've got  your actions and your timing done really well  

because your facial animation depends on what your  body is doing so if you need to make changes to  

the body or the timing your facial is still going  to change so leave that until the end I recommend  

using social media to get feedback on your work  because obviously if you're watching this video  

you don't have the benefit of a lecturer or a  mentor to give you guidance and constructive  

criticism there are Discord channels out there  that you can use animation subreddits Facebook  

groups anything like that where you can post  your work and ask for feedback and there are  

often professionals on there who are more than  happy to give you some guidance so once you're  

happy with the 12 principles and you've done  all these beginner exercises and you start to  

get comfortable with animating the body and its  various parts then you can move on to learning  

about body mechanics this is character animation  in terms of the way the Body Works the way the  

limbs and muscles and parts of the body work  together to make a character move in a believable  

way like how when you wave at somebody it's not  just your isolated hand moving back and forth this  

is a lot going on in the whole rest of the body  your weight will subtly shift your shoulders  

will tilt as your elbow and your shoulder  work together to bring your hand up and even  

as I'm waving now you can see there's slight  movement in my body in my head in everything  

everything is connected in some way and that  is what body mechanics is there are a lot of  

videos and articles out there on body mechanics  a good one is the basics of body mechanics from  

Major's Institute and this video from Alessandro  comparotta on a classic mistake new animators make  

with their body mechanics will also be helpful  and this video from animation Career Pro on body  

mechanics talk and power but apart from these  do as much research and exercises as you can on  

how to accurately portray body mechanics and how  the Body Works another great way to practice this  

is to actually use live action footage either  recording yourself or taking something from a  

movie and try to replicate that in an animation as  closely as possible pay attention to every little  

detail that you possibly can in the entire body if  you're going to be animating with rigs either 2D  

or 3D you are also going to know about inverse  kinematics and forward kinematics otherwise  

referred to as ik and FK I've done a video on  ik and FK so check that out when you come to  

the body mechanics stage the link will be in the  description you're going to start with the basics  

so you've got walk Cycles Run cycles characters  jumping or skipping a character picking something  

up really heavy or getting up from a chair and  you can find suggestions for these exercises on  

those websites that I already mentioned before  where you can give those animation exercises  

you're also going to want to start to focus on  things that make your shot stronger like staging  

and composition and I have done videos on these  before which I'll also link to in the description  

really focus on sequence of movement action  and reaction as well as incorporating all the  

stuff you would have learned before that I already  mentioned the 12 principles as well as weight Mass  

gravity spacing and shot clarity as well as your  character's line of action that's an important one  

after you're feeling really comfortable with body  mechanics and you feel like you truly understand  

how the body works all together as a system then  you can move on to acting because really that's  

what animation is all about you're acting through  your character and it needs to be believable don't  

suggest trying to learn body mechanics and act at  the same time because with animation you really  

need to focus on one thing at a time so that  you can fully grasp and understand it to bring  

it out in your work otherwise you're just going  to get really overwhelmed and it's going to be a  

situation of Jack of all trades but master of none  because you've sort of touched on all of them but  

didn't really give each of them the attention  that they deserved to really understand them so  

when you get to learning about acting you need to  focus on body language which is different to body  

mechanics because while mechanics are the ways  that various different parts of the body work  

together to execute actions body language is  how we convey certain emotions and information  

through poses and movements utilizing things  like subtext and this is where the principle  

of secondary animation which you should be well  aware of when you get to this point also really  

shines because it helps to support the subtext  and the acting some great tutorials on acting for  

animation are acting tips for animators from anim  school and animation lessons from a DreamWorks  

animator from Sir Wade neistat as well as acting  for animators become your character with Sarah  

arduini from nomon workshop and this article from  Animation Mentor you'll want to work on exercise  

sizes that focus on pantomime which is conveying  emotions and information without speaking this is  

vital to animation and supporting the story along  with the art of pantomime you're going to want to  

focus on facial animation and lip syncing and  along with lip syncing goes phonemes these are  

specific shapes I'm about to make and what the  most common ones are for each sound Mount to make  

when speaking the body language and pantomime that  you learn will go towards supporting any acting  

that you have when you start learning acting and  practicing it don't get ahead of yourself and go  

straight into doing scenes with more than one  character in it focus on one character at first  

until you feel truly confident to move on to more  complex shots where more than one character will  

be interacting and where you'll have to know how  to balance the shot between the characters and hit  

all the Beats while maintaining Clarity this is  where my video on planning your animation shots  

will come in handy because I address things like  Clarity context and cohesiveness in your shots  

acting and emotional beats and camera work  once you've gone through all these aspects  

of animation and practiced the various techniques  and disciplines and feel like you have a really  

good grasp of it you will be well on your way  to becoming a good animator don't forget to go  

and download their curricular document over on  my patreon it's free it's open for anybody to  

download and it's got all the stuff that I've  talked about here in this video so you can  

remember to go and research all that stuff and  not forget anything that's going to be crucial  

to your animation progress I have a playlist  called animation workflow that I do recommend  

you go through as you're learning as it does  address a lot of what I've spoken about here in  

this video you'll obviously need to flash out your  learning with other resources as well so you have  

a well-rounded education that could be as good as  a paid for animation course you should also check  

out my playlist of animation and Industry tips  which will give you more guidance and insight  

on the industry itself as well as how to improve  your animations with common mistakes animators  

make and how to fix them how to improve Clarity  in your animations when to animate with pose to  

pose or straight ahead action and a bunch  of other stuff that you'll find useful on  

your animation education journey I hope this  was helpful and please feel free to comment  

below on any other animation education resources  that you think will be helpful for other people  

watching this video thank you to my patrons as  always I really appreciate the support and it's  

a big motivator in keeping this channel going  subscribe if you want to keep up to date with  

my other videos give this video a like to help  with algorithm and thanks for watching bye [Music]