What I have been learning....

You never really know how much work is involved in something until you do it yourself. Most individuals are aware that animation is no easy undertaking, but do you really know how challenging it is? After reading The Animator’s Survival Kit, I now know.

To break down what I have come to learn and understand, here is a simplistic explanation:

1)      There are teams for every area:

a.       Every single character has a separate team

b.      The background

c.       Lighting/shadowing

d.      Details

e.      Coloring

f.        Special effects

1)      You work in steps to create actions:

a.       Do one thing at a time

b.      Plan out

c.       Lay out the big drawings- the storytelling drawings- these are called the keys.

d.      Put in any other important drawings that have to be there- these are known as the extremes.

e.      Use the keys and extremes as guides for things and places we want to aim at.

f.        Play out the moves to check for accuracy.

g.       Add in breakdown positions

h.      Add/remove/change and play out again- repeat as needed.

i.         Details come last- hair, clothes, quirks of the character, etc.

Visually these steps are broken down to look like this: