Moho Forum

I have been interested in animation all my life. I have dabbled in drawing but nothing I can really be proud of. This being the case I have some questions on where to start.

It is my assumption that before any animation can be done an understanding of how to draw must be achieved. At least that is how I see it at the moment. So here are the questions:

Does one really need to know how to draw or is the software today designed to help you with character development?

If you do need to know how to draw; among the thousands of books\resources out there on drawing is there one in particular or a couple of them that was helpful in learning to draw?

Basically if you were a person who has very little drawing experience and wanted to get into animation as a hobbyist where would you begin?

Thanks for any help in this.

Everwolf wrote:Basically if you were a person who has very little drawing experience and wanted to get into animation as a hobbyist where would you begin?

Wow - that is a big question. There are many ways to animate, and not all of them require drawing ability (though it definitely helps). How are your model-making skills? You could try stop motion with clay figures, action figures or Lego 'mini-figs'. Have a look at Stop Motion Handbook -- should give you some ideas...

Hello Everolf!

Like jahnocli said, this is a huge topic.

My suggestion is, learn the classical way of 2d animation, 3D is way more technical.

Get some goos books, I still have some of the Preston Blair books I bought some 30 years ago, those are the bibles of classical animation.

Then get a pen and paper and start drawing.

Also, Anime Studio Pro (dunno about Debut), has some really easy to use drawing tools, where you basically lay down points on the "page" then tweak them until you get the results you want, then you can play with the line thickness then add colors etc.

Anime Studio Pro is by far the easiest 2D animation package I found that allows hobbyist to create professional looking animated cartoons, just look around on this forum, tons of newbies doing really good stuff.

But you still need to roll up your sleeves and work hard for pro results

If your goal is to make a hobby, then just enjoy yourself, put no pressure and have fun.

If you plan on becoming a pro animator, then you should setup goals and a reasonable timeline to achieve your goals and have fun doing it.

G

GCharb wrote:Hello Everolf!

My suggestion is, learn the classical way of 2d animation, 3D is way more technical.

Get some goos books, I still have some of the Preston Blair books I bought some 30 years ago, those are the bibles of classical animation.

Then get a pen and paper and start drawing.


But you still need to roll up your sleeves and work hard for pro results

If your goal is to make a hobby, then just enjoy yourself, put no pressure and have fun.

If you plan on becoming a pro animator, then you should setup goals and a reasonable timeline to achieve your goals and have fun doing it.

G

Good advice for me too! Thanks

udd

Hello again!

uddhava wrote:Good advice for me too! Thanks

You are quite welcome.

But let's not forget that there are plenty and an almost endless pool of styles out there, but to me, to learn the basics has always been a great asset and helped me greatly achieve different styles over the years.

I also believe that the fun part is the most important part of animation, if it's not fun to you, it is not worth pursuing.

G

Thank you for the advice. While I have a interest in 3D animation I am currently focusing on the 2D. I will look for the Preston Blair books if they are still around.

I guess my main concern is to have a good foundation of drawing prior to starting animation and getting Anime Studio Pro; which is why I was asking about books. I realize that there are many styles but regardless of style all styles use pretty much the same foundations. That was where I thought I should start.

Am I wrong in this thought?

Everwolf wrote:Am I wrong in this thought?

You are right, a good foundation will help you develop your own style.

The preston blair books are a good basis to learn how to draw cartoons, they treach the principles of cartoon animation, the laws of physics and should get you started real fast on 2D animation.

Preston Blair Books

G