Use of a sketch book

Most of the animators have their own personal book, that is a sketch book. There will be no difference than a normal book, instead many scribblings and quick sketches were done.

The sketch book is usually carried with the animator when travelling and moving to regular private places ( means some places the animator goes and sit down to relax or watch something happening around ).

It helps him/her a lot in copying the actions of people or animals or vehicles something he/she likes to draw mostly. Many animators and artists even publish their books and most of them contains some pages represented. I do have a sketch book but it doesn't look like a book. I scribble a lot in separate pages then and there,so mostly we can call it a collection of pages rather than a book.

The best practise is to have a small plain paged book which will be either spiral or bounded that can be easily carried in a bag or in hand. It helped me a lot, i used to take it wherever i go mostly a vacation or distant areas. I try to copy the situations around me in quick drawings (mostly called 1 minute sketches). 

It is a good practices to have one. By learning the actions of people around we can easily get ideas in animating a character. To start with there is no need to hurry and fill the pages. Once you are in a mood to enjoy drawing ( you should be if u are passionate), start drawing the things you see around. May be a small tree,  children playing a cup , table peoples actions etc. It should not be a proper cleaned sketch. A rough sketch will do and has its own beauty. So start scribbling..

 

If you ask me why i like animation?

If you ask me why i like animation? I reply that its because its fun from the beginning and the fun never ends.

The major advantage in doing your own animation is that it gives you power to create an new character and introduce him/her to this world. ( Yes You are promoted to ” CREATOR ” ). You can make him tell a story or act in the story or make a brand out of a character. Once people like your cartoon character, thats it you did a good job.

How can i say that? because your work not only satisfies you but also entertains and inspires every others.

Anyone can start his own animation, like practicing music, dance as hobbies. Thanks to free blogs and video upload sites, you can now present your ” Show ” to the world from wherever and whenever you can.

U may realise that its a new world and its your own world, create your own ( this and that ) character.

I am not the only one!

When i was into animation i thought i could make it easier. But then the climate was different at the animation studio like , i thought i would be designing and creating a character myself and i will be the " whole thing animator "

Then i realized was i was not only the person who dream t like that. I am not alone and not the only one. Every person working for an animated movie or a promotional ad in 2d or 3d animation will have his/her own responsibility i.e a specific plot of work is allotted.

The making of an animated movie involves many people and seniors and juniors in the industry. Usually the job is split into various part ( small works - even it is a big work ) and everyone who specializes in that part will be assigned his role.

The studios usually have recruited director(s) , storyboard artist(s) , animation director(s) , senior animators , animators , keying animators , clean up guys , background artists and more.

When learning animation ( i am still learning) the exposure to actual animation production is very less. But when we breakdrown the total animated movie into seconds or even milliseconds, we may realise how much work has benn done in each and every frame in the movie.

Guess the production process of " The princess of the Egypt " , " The lion king " , " Alladin "

Take a breath! More later! Comments are Welcome!

Step 1 is Dreaming!

Can anybody remember the names of the cartoon character and/ or count how many of them were seen on TV , Movies, posters, books etc. Even if we cant name or count the exact number, we are sure there are lots and lots. They are like human being and much better than them. how can we say that?

Ya we always dream about becoming ” Superman ” one day. The cartoons have their own special features and skills which are absent in human beings. thats why there are always entertaining to us and are heroes! right.

But in the mean time we will stop dreaming and start doing things! Let start from the basics and look into how they are actually made. We have seen them, we have enjoyed them, we are grown with them. Do we create them or do we create our own character ( inside ) and make him / her act in a film or make them entertain others. Now thats a great idea!.

In my blog i would present some of my works and tips on making animation.

In my later posts almost all the steps to create a complete animation will be covered.

Lets go on to step (1) Its dreaming! lets dream about a character which we want ot create and introduce to this world. Dreaming tickles your creativity and gives an outline ( technically called ” Brainstorming ” ).

Remember the step one is Dreaming.

Making it realistic & interesting!

What's his attitude? How to react to situations?

The face study is a vital part in animation, i'm here mentioning only the importance of each steps and not the step by step procedure as it will be presented later. Try to draw maximum face reactions that your character will make and how he / she reacts to any given situation.

Expressions can be achieved by moving eyes , eye brows , mouth mostly. Each part of a face should be handled with key interest and importance so as to achieve a natural act.

for example if the situation is like " everybody likes me " , then the eyes will be bigger and eyebrows high up and mouth with a smile. these concepts are an easier to visualise or can be studied from a real persion.

Animating the facial expresssions giving finer details will make the animation really interesting! .

Dont forget the bacics exaggeration, anticipation, follow through etc.

Softwares used in 2d character animation.

Softwares used in animation.

Mostly i use these softwares

Adobe Flash , Adobe Photoshop , Adobe Illustrator , Toon boom.

There are plenty of software there to start and experiment with, from low end to high end to create mind blowing animation & special effects.

Even a decent and professional results can be achieved using Adobe Flash software. Many of the studios developing TV / web series or web animation highly depend on this Great software.

In later posts the cartoon series production using flash ( mostly a video training ) will be uploaded for more exposure in real time production.

There will be always worth waiting!.

5 steps in making your character act

There are of course many steps in 2d animation ( don't look at me like that ). I'm just mentioned about animating the character (i.e) making it him/her act from drawing. We may wonder people saying that its a longer process and takes more time and human resources. Yes it is!.

But break down only the animation process.. Let me make it clear for you.

Here it is !

1) drawing your character on paper ( from your mind ).
2) tracing the character ( again and again) to make the character intimate for you so that u can imagine the character actions ( easier to imagine = easier to draw = easier to act ).
3) completing character turn around. ( drawing the character in various rotation angles, usually front, 3/4 front , side, back , 3/4 back )
4) Scanning the character to flash software.
5) Breakdown of character into symbols in flash software.

after that is the process of making the character act according to your command.