A lot of effort goes into creating animations. There are also essential tools that go into the work. With the right tools, however, it might be a little easier. Seeing that inspiration can be drawn from anywhere, you need to be able to create animations or get started on an idea immediately you have your eureka moment. Tools such as tablets for artists, can allow you to create amazing animations and document ideas on the go. A good one will allow additional manipulation of the drawings, using various software programs.
While it sounds easy, creating animations using the right tools can be much more challenging especially if you are a beginner. To guide you, below are a few tips.
1. Start Simple
Creating animated characters involves plenty of technology. However, your artistic skill ultimately drives everything. Developing primary skills and honing them to perfection is paramount.
Animation best begins with putting a pencil to paper, archaic as it may sound. This creates a foundation upon which to build your work. In animation, the natural movement remains the main goal. As such, you might need to begin with something as simple as the animation of a bouncing ball.
Creating such a movement takes the technique referred to as squash and stretch. With this technique, you go about creating that illusion of gravity, weight, and volume as your ball makes movements.
Numerous exercises in this technique give you masterly of those basic elements that feature the more complex character movements, where a body weight flies or walks.
2. Watch and Refer
Look at facial expressions, the crook of your finger; observe someone raising an eyebrow, or the smirk on a kid’s smile. You often pay little attention to these slight movements. However, the creation of natural movements in animation often features such little things.
Mastering small movements begins with paying close attention as a keen observer. Capture yourself on your tablet’s video or use wooden models and then make an animation out of them. You can also download photographs and videos and use them as your reference points.
Once these images are imprinted within your mind, they will naturally become your mental library. The result is the creation of a natural reality that creates such an engagement with your audience that they actually forget that your creation is an animation.
3. Animation Frames, Timing, and Rates
At its most basic, your animation is actually one pose after the other. Every individual frame consists of a drawing that you combine in a strip of film that eventually creates movement and tells a certain story.
Spacing, how frames are placed, and timing, the number of frames between poses, create an illusion of movement.
A sense of rhythm and the natural beat comes from finding the right balance.
Tablets might be a good choice for this type of situation, some tablets are made specifically for drawing comics and other animation.
4. Exaggeration and Strong Action
To convey energy and feeling, tap into exaggeration and a strong line of action. This depends on whatever style you hope to achieve. Higher exaggeration exudes cartoonish action while less exaggeration presents realistic action.
Since universal laws do not bind animations, exaggeration makes them exciting while adding drama and emotion.
Finally, don’t be harsh on yourself if you don’t get it right the first few times. As with pretty much everything else, you will master the art of animation with time. Your tendency, as you start out on animation, will be either too fast or too slow. This is normal, and the right balance will come out with experience.