I got a few emails lately from people asking for advice (ooo, nice, people asking ME?.. for advice?... OK, it doesn't happen often, more like once every 20 years or so...), about how to get started with animation, what software to chose, stuff like that. And yesterday I got this email that I replied in more detail to, and thought I could post it on my blog as well. Beginners are always full of questions and there can never be enough answering on the whole internet... for their insatiable apetite for answers :D
Also, a good thing to know, I guess, is that my answers are not so... entirely original, but I believe they go along a similar line with the opinions of many animators who wrote about animation. I followed their advice, still follow it (I think... :/ ), and pass it on for others to read as well :]
So... here are the questions I got in this recent email [from a person with a very cryptic name... who I didn't ask for permission, so shall remain nameless for now]:
I wanted to ask you where did you learn all of these? What can I do in order to simplify the animation process? What software do you recommend to use for 2D? Just Flash? Toon boom? And for 3D why is Maya better than 3D Max? What books do you recommend me? What are good steps to create characters personalities?
I was a complete beginner too not so long ago and I understand the awe and confusion in front of something that seems so complex.
I think that you have to take things one at a time, start small and simple, and learn as much as you can from as many sources as you can find, that's how I learned at least :) Definitely start with a solid foundation in body mechanics before you go into acting. Look at what the Animation Mentor students do, I think it's a good example. Keep an open mind and open attitude towards learning. And sources.... there are many. I started by browsing forums, like cgtalk, and reading what people had to say, finding out about the major animation books and websites, etc. Here are some books to read, and then to study...
Richard Williams - The Animator's Survival Kit
John Halas, Harold Whitaker - Timing for Animation
Preston Blair - Cartoon Animation
Eric Goldberg - Character Animation Crash Course
Wayne Gilbert - Simplified Drawing for Planning Animation
Ed Hooks - Acting for Animators
Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston - The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation
Walt Stanchfield - Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 1&2: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures
Now, there are lots more books out there, but these here I found to be the best, most inspirational and most helpful, written by pros, by people who really know animation.
Another thing is that... unless you're lucky enough to get into a really good animation school, like Call Arts or Animation Mentor, Sheridan, Ringling, Gobelins... there are very few in the world, probably, you won't get a mentor that has real first hand experience with animation and who is also a very skilled animator, you'll learn from people who teach, and who don't animate. So... that's not good :) You'd get to learn some software, not how to animate. I saw this happening at the school where I studied and a lot of people write about this, so it's not just my opinion.
OK, so you can start to learn on your own, if you can't afford a good mentor, but a mentor is enormously helpful for an animator. You can learn from books, internet, forums, and you should definitely get feedback from people (on internet forums for instance, or from friends. Although don't get too upset when they don't know what they're saying :) A lot of time people give you feedback on the things they see, not on what you'd expect. Take notes when they talk, don't defend your work, let them talk, and use that information if it's helpful, or feel free to discard it).
And then you build your first demo reel (there is a TON of information out there on do-s and don't-s for an animation demo reel). And send it to studios, no matter if they are or are not hiring. Junior jobs are many times not advertised. And use job-listing websites of course, to look for openings (although I must admit I never did), there is a much better chance of getting hired if they actually... need people. So good timing is important (if you send the letter 2 weeks after they're full and done hiring... oops, too late).
And then you get a first job, if you can, and if you can't... try again, and again, and get better and try again, and you'll succeed... hopefully (there still is a need for animators in today's fast changing world but there's no way to really know what'll happen in 10 or 20 years... The fact is that the Animation Industry is growing and schools produce more and more animators per minute...). So, after you get your first job, that's where you really start learning, and hopefully find experienced animators who are also kind enough to give you advice, and let you look at their work and the way they work. I think it's enormously helpful for an animator to look at another animator working. Which is why I really recommend getting to see any Jason Ryan training videos. That was for me an eye opener and I think it's some of the best animation training you can find anywhere.
A few awesome animation websites btw (I'm sure you looked at the links on my website, and please do the same with any animator/animation website's links, they usually link to very cool blogs and other animation resources. I use Google Reader btw to quickly read or skim through my hundreds of blogs that I follow... when I find some time :P ):
http://splinedoctors.com/
http://animationtipsandtricks.com/
http://carlosbaena.com/
http://animationmeat.com/
Last thing, about that Maya vs Max issue... it doesn't matter.
In fact, if you want to learn animation, I'd start with a 2D animation software and draw 100001 bouncing balls of all kinds. That's the basis for understanding timing and spacing, right there, and it's very easy and fast to draw/animate a circle in a 2D software, and you also get to better understand what you're doing, because there is no automatic inbetweening from the computer. You are the inbetweener.
Some good 2D animation software are Flipbook, PAP, TVPaint, Toonboom, Flash... and any 2D software is more or less fast and easy to learn.
And if you really want a bit of advice on 3D apps, I'd say that, in my personal opinion, Max might be easier to learn and use, so is XSI and Lightwave, Maya is maybe a bit tougher to learn, and Houdini is probably the toughest. Choose one and focus on learning that one, not 2 or more, for the first year at least. If you need a job at a studio where they use XSI, if you already are comfortable with, say... Maya, it shouldn't take you long to learn the basics of XSI. And basics is all an animator needs in order to animate in a 3D software, honestly, although some people might disagree. You get to animate a rig, not create the rig. So you have to understand that rig's interface and controls, and how to navigate and use the 3D app at a basic level.
But I should also mention that... many animators out there learn/use Maya, and one of the reasons, I presume, is... because there are tons of good free rigs for Maya out there, to help you learn animation and animate on, which you probably won't find for any other app.
Back to animation, I'd say... it may take about 2-3 years to learn character animation up to a decent level, if you invest a lot of passion and time into it, and then, according to Shawn Kelly, you should be an experienced animator in about 10 years. But it totally depends on your efforts, your talent of course (there are people who are born actors... and people who couldn't convince a dog to bark), and your environment/the place where you work (meaning if your focus/your company's focus is on quality animation or not). And then, you keep learning and discovering for 100 more years, after which you can take a break and start learning something new. Yep, takes time, effort, involvement... but it's a lot of fun!
Last but not least, about personality... that's probably the hardest thing in animation. It's the 'character' in 'character animation' that's the bee's knees... and it's a long way up to reach the bee's knees :} Learn the basics first :}
Oh, and I almost forgot about the second question here, how do you simplify the animation process... short answer: do you? Haha, OK, short answer: through practice. And somewhat along the same line, there's an excellent, longer answer here, from Kevin Koch.
So have fun learning and have fun animating!