Animatorssurvivalkit

In order to become a better visual storyteller and 3D animator you need to spend some time studying some other areas between your renderings. If you want to be a really good 3D person you should be taking classes, reading books and learning as much as you can about the following subjects:

Figure Drawing

If you do not know how to draw really well you will have a rough time as a professional animator these days. You use to be able to get by not knowing how to draw but that is changing fast. Draw as much as possible. Try to fit in at least 9 hours a week of figure drawing off a nude model. Concentrate on getting the energy of the pose quickly with short gesture drawings. Check local art schools for life drawing classes and open studios. You have to be able to draw to communicate your ideas, storyboard and understand light, composition, color and values. Life drawing also keeps your eye finely tuned to the nuances of how to really see things like shadows and light. Most places you apply for animation jobs.

2D Animation

Most really good 3D character animators have spent time doing 2D animations drawing moving characters at 24 frames per second. Read the Illusion of Life and The Animator’s Workbook. Study the Principles of Animation in the Illusion of Life. See how much squash and stretch, anticipation, staging, follow through, overlapping action, ease in/out, arcs, secondary action, timing, exaggeration and appeal you can add to your next 3D project. Set up a pencil tester with a cheap video camera and start trying to hand draw animated bouncing balls, walking sacks of flour and simple characters doing things. Develop a sense of timing for movement. Learn how to put some personality into a character’s walk cycle. Get a VCR or DVD with a clean freeze frame and go through step by step each frame of cartoons. Try to copy what works and learn what does not. 3D animators usually continue to do some 2D animation to keep their traditional skills fresh. If you are just getting into 3D animation and are serious about becoming a character animator as a career, you may want to go to Cal Arts or Sheridan College to study 2D animation first.

Graphic Design, Typography, Sacred Geometry

Good animation requires good design sense.Understanding how colors work together, type, layout and visual communication will improve the way you design your characters and shots. Take a graphic design course or practice copying designs that appeal to your sense of style. You will gain a greater understanding of about how important dramatic lighting can be to a 3D scene. Take a figure sculpture class with clay to help make little models of 3D characters you may want to animate one day. «The Artist’s Way» is great artistic survival book for people embarking on creative careers and will also help you think of yourself more as an artist if you feel weak in this area.

Photography

Carry a good camera with you at all times to take pictures of rusted walls, strange pets, graffiti, interesting looking people, architecture and sunsets. Start your own clip media libraryof 3D texture maps and reference shots for brainstorming. Commercial clip media textures are often overused and easy to spot. Photography helps develop your eye to compose better moving camera shots once you master the still frame. You may be wondering how you are going to have time to do any 3D animation at all if you have to know all of these other things. This is why you need to start now. The best animators usually have some training in several of the fields mentioned above if not all. Being a 3D animator is one of the most challenging careers around but at least you will never have to worry about being bored!

Story Concept Process

You are about to embark on a story telling journey. The ideas presented in these first three Chapters were developed to help even people who have never told a story before formulate a good solid idea for a short (2-10 minutes) 3D animated film. This is a step by step process that continues on through out the book. A sample story called «Media Man In the Net» The first step to showing off a really great 3D animated character is coming up with a good story that you can then mold into a deeply satisfying emotional ride.

Steps To Formulating A Basic 3D Story

1) Research story ideas

2) Brainstorm specific ideas good for 3D & Maya

3) Create a story concept sentence

4) Fill in three act structure points

5) Flush out story to one page draft

6) Create some rough thumbnail drawings

7) Evaluate using 3D Story Concept Criteria Checklist

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