(Part 2) Best products from r/animation

2nd year Uni animation student here.

As for tablets, if you want one with a display:

XP-Pen is the best Wacom alternative (and one of the cheapest) as of now. I would suggest buying their Artist 15.6 PRO, Artist 22E Pro or, if you want an even cheaper one, Artist 12.

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Artist 15.6 Pro

Has a really good pen with tilt function, which needs charging, but last about forever on one charge. It's around 380-400$ US.

Amazon link

Official XP-Pen store on Aliexpress (bought from them 3 times, no problems at all) ALMOST EVERY PRODUCT IS CHEAPER HERE THAN ON AMAZON!!!

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Artist 22E Pro

If you want something bigger (and pricier), then the Artist 22E Pro is an amazing Graphic Display, comes with 2 pens and I can vouch for it, since both me and my girlfriend use it since last year, with no problems. No tilt function tho. Around 470-500$ USw.

Amazon link

Aliexpress link

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Artist 12

If you want something smaller and cheaper. Has a non-battery pen, small form factor and costs around 250$ US.

Amazon link

Aliexpress link

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Behind XP-Pen, Huion is a really close second best, so if non of these are to your liking, taking a look at their products is worth a shot as well.

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As for software. I'm assuming you are a relative beginner, so no need to get fancy. Professional grade animation software cost A LOT, like, a couple hundred dollars a month/ around a 1000$ up front lot. And they barely give any advantages to a beginner for that price.

You'll just need something to learn the basics with, and for that, pretty much any software will do.

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FREE

Krita is your best bet.

Although it lacks some functions, it is quickly improving and is constantly updated and worked on. it is also completely free to use and make works with.

Krita's Official Site

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PAID

Clip Studio Paint Ex is really good, if you are willing to pay some money.

It is constantly getting new animation functions, some Japanese studios use it and you can make pretty much professional grade stuff with it.

It's an illustration and comic software first and foremost (pretty much the best at that), so you're not only getting a good animation tool for your money, but also the best illustration and manga software money can buy. Many Japanese comic artist, DC, Marvel and Image Comics artists use it for their work.

It also has a material hub for all users, where you can get a lot of brushes, textures etc. that other users upload. Some of them are paid, but a good bunch of them are free, and really good.

Price

It costs 219$ at base price, but they have sales about 2-4 times a year (almost every season), when they have an AT LEAST 50% discount, so it's pretty easy to get it for 110$>. And getting a top notch illustration software with really good animation functions is a killer death for that price.

CPS Official Site

I also use Clip Studio for everything I do, with some very handy free add-ons to make it even simpler to use. Link to one of my things, fully animated in Clip Studio.

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!!DISCLAIMER!!

NEVER buy Clip Studio Paint PRO for animation! It limits your animation length to 24 frames per file, witch makes it useless for any real animation work!

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Blender also started somewhat focusing on 2D animation in their newest version (2.8, which is in Beta, as of now). It's very promising, but not good for real work or beginner practice yet. It's needlessly messy and complicated to learn and use, and lacks a lot of very basics 2D animation functions.

Since Blender is completely free, it's worth checking out, but don't bet on using it for anything major.

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You will also need video editing software, but there are tons of those. Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects and DaVinci Resovle are the best ones.

Adobe has a subscription system, meaning you'll have to pay monthly to use their software. The price changes depending on what you use, so it's best to check out their site.

Adobe's Pricing on their site

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DaVinci Resolve is completely free to use, but has a somewhat unusual, node based UI. It is every bit as powerful as Premiere Pro after learning it, though.

Davinci Resolve 15's site (The download button is on the very bottom of the loooong site.)

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Some other free options:

OpenShot

Natron

Shotcut

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Non of these free options are anywhere near as strong as DaVinci or Adobe's software, but are completely usable and have every basic (and some handy extra) functions you may need.

Hey there!

Glad to hear there is another potential animator/artist in the world :)
A lot of your question depends on your budget as tablets can get very expensive very quickly based on size and quality. For instance buying something that lets you draw directly on the screen is going to run you several hundred dollars for the lowest tier models (Wacom Cintiq's are currently considered the gold standard but their monitors and tablets start at over $1000 new so that is out of the question for most people and definitely not worth it for a beginner). So if she's just wanting to explore, a drawing app on a samsung galaxy tablet is a cheaper option that works great for beginners and allows them to work directly on screen. Plus is she loses interest you'll still have a tablet to use for other things.

However most people start with something like a Wacom Bamboo tablet. They are high quality, very responsive, and made by Wacom (the current industry leader) for a much more reasonable price. However you're drawing on a tablet placed on a desk while watching your work on a separate monitor and this can take some serious getting used to. Once you've got it figured out though they're great (they come in various sizes and are used by professionals throughout various industries)!

As for software consider these:
Art/Drawing - Sketchbook Pro

Animation - Anime Studio 10
keep in mind animation programs can be tough to learn so she'll definitely need to watch tutorials online. However this is an awesomely priced option with a lot of great features to make jumping-in easy



If she really catches the animation bug there are two books that are wonderful (although they are thick and may be better for when she is a little older? Up to you but they could make great future gifts):
Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams

and

The Illusion of Life by Ollie Johnson and Frank Thomas - Two of Disney's original master animators known as the Nine Old Men

Anyway that's a quick rundown of where equipment and resources stand. If I were you I'd probably go for the bamboo tablet and Sketchbook Pro to get started (for drawing) + Anime Studio 10 if animation is definitely something she wants to explore as all these items are an outstanding value for what they offer.

If things get super serious as she gets older prices begin to jump up very quickly (especially on the software side) but I believe the items listed above should suit her perfectly for at least through all her high school years. As she improves and explores you'll naturally learn what all the tools and options are on your own, as well as what her preferences are.

3D animation as a whole is a different beast that is very computer/technical heavy with a steeper learning curve. So if she wants to start trying that it becomes a whole different realm as you'll need a solid PC and a lot of time and patience when it comes to learning one of the various computer graphics programs out there.

Hope this helps at least a little! Good luck, and feel free to PM any time :)

Hey, I'm a CG Lighting artist by trade, I'll let you know some good resources that have helped me.

As a lighter, your goal is things things, Setting the mood/atmosphere, Shaping (making sure you can make out forms of the scene), and Leading the eye (I feel like there is a fourth, but I can't think of it this morning lol)

Some good books to read:

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter

Light for Visual Artists (hard book to find, but worth finding a copy)

Digital Lighting and Rendering(new edition coming out soon)

Great resources to start and help train your eye, studying films is the next step. Picking apart scenes to understand how and why they lit the scene the way they did, studying photography is a great place to look as well.

Also if you can afford it, TD-U has a fantastic online course from a couple of great instructors to help you on your way of understanding CG Lighting. If you can afford the class it will be a great place to start. I took the class last year and it was an AMAZING resource, I didn't know anything beyond the technical understanding of lighting, this course really helped me understand the artistic side of lighting. The instructors are great and very helpful.

anyways, hope that helps, if you have any questions feel free to message me.

First let me say, congratulations on finding this wonderful amazing industry. I casually stumbled into animation by taking a 3D animation class in college on a whim and I loved it ever since, however I have only gotten really serious (like life/educational commitment to it) about six months ago.

If you are a total 100% absolute beginner start with The Animators Survival Guide, and I would also recommend The Illusion of Life. These two books are amazing resources almost every animator should know.

Now I know this sub has a pretty good split of 2D and 3D animators so you gotta decide which you want to be, to most people this is a pretty clear and obvious choice.

Now all of this is specific to 3D animation from hence forth BUT that said much of it translates into a 2D environment.

Here is the next big key question, what kind of animator are you, feature, game, freelance, or just hobbyist? Some might scoff and say "Well whats the difference" and I thought so too so let me break down the difference for you.

Feature:

These are the animators working on the Incredible 2, Moana, Shrek's etc of the world. Feature animation is all about getting real emotions into characters and truly giving them the illusion of life. This educational track focuses heavily on proper posing, staging, and appeal. These animators also almost always "work to the camera" which means that the camera angel of the shot is chosen for you, this is great because it allows us to use the motto "If it looks right it is right." Animating to the camera is a blessing and a curse because you must carefully select your characters motions and think about how limbs will be obstructed in a shot so you need to think around that. However this can be a good thing, one of my mentors worked on the fantastic movie Coco and she worked on one particular shot where the main character is swimming in a big pool. Now during this shot the main characters feet actually clip through the bottom of the pool and go through the object several times, but because she was animating to the camera she did not have to worry about this at all.

Game:

I admit this is the one I have the least experience with, basically a game animator focuses on loops more than anything else. You are working on walk cycles, jump cycles, gun fire cycles, reloads etc. The real trick with game animation is that not only do you have to get the animation looking right you have to get it FEELING right. You have to make your animation have proper timing and appeal through out the whole thing to give the character personality. Game animators also really come into the problem of their animation having to look right from EVERY angle.

Freelancers:

I have personally never freelanced but I know from a few friends that have the work that you do is all over the place. Some have done everything from working on small to mid sized indie games, to making Youtube intro's, to making company advertising materials. You really need to be a well rounded type of animator for this. Many animators do not freelance to start but it is not impossible

Wow so that was kind of lot of information huh..... Well where the hell do you go from here. Well there are a few avenues but some things are set in stone

1. You need to find out what program your section of animation is using and get intimately familiar with it, like I'm talking second life partner familiar. For 3D animation this is going to be Autodesk Maya, for a 2D animator I am not entirly sure.
   
   If you are a student you can get a free license for Maya through Autodesks student site, it really is an amazing program which every 3D animator will probably learn in their course of education.
   
   The book I can personally recommend for this is Introducing: Autodesk Maya 2015, while I know it might seem like the book is all over the place I recommend you have at least a basic understand of all the concepts the book covers. I know there are newer version of this book for the newer versions of Maya that are out but I have no personal experience with them
   
   
2. Read The Animators Survival Guide, cover to cover, and then do it again, and once again for good measure, and then if you are bored maybe browse it again.
   
   This book really is an amazing resource, paired with The Illusion of Life you basically have an animation master class printed in your lap
   
   
3. If you are serious about formal education investigate universities or vocational schools for it. I am personally a bit anti-university but that's due to my old universities film program and art programs being horribly mismanaged to the point of myself dropping out.
   
   I can personally recommend Animation Mentor which is an online vocational school of sort for 3D animators. I am currently int he first class in it and in the first 8 weeks of the class I have learned far more than I ever did over the course of four formal classes at my university (again your university might be UCLA and have great animation programs, your millage might vary)
   
   I am sure there's a million things I didn't cover in this post and if you have any questions at all please feel free to ask them and I will do my best to answer them!

I'm in the same place as you (sorta), working successfully in a job outside of animation, but wanting to make the leap over. Here's what I've learned so far (in an obligatory wall of text):

A strong foundation is really important. Learning and practicing how to draw may take time, but luckily for both of us, there's an incredibly large number of resources both online and offline to take advantage of. Live drawing classes can help you figure out proper proportion and gesture. So can taking a sketchbook to a coffeeshop or zoo. This book in particular was very helpful in figuring sketching out:
http://www.drawingforce.com/

Learning to create strong compositions is important in any visual medium, animated or not. You could probably benefit from doing film studies, with a focus on understanding why characters are positioned a certain way within a frame. Failing to do this, you end up working uphill, trying to animate something that was flawed from the start. In this regard, this book is a great resource: http://www.amazon.com/Film-Directing-Shot-Visualizing-Productions/dp/0941188108

Finally, you'll probably have a lot of fun figuring out the tools synonymous with the animation industry. For 2D, Flash is still a big player, as is Harmony and TVPaint. Lots of resources online geared towards learning how to use these tools. At the core though, good animation hasn't really changed too much... make stuff until your stuff is believable. It's time consuming as hell, so I wouldn't invest in a huge, overly ambitious project from the start. Short, simple ideas that let you test your abilities would probably be a good idea.

Other than that, I don't know! Work hard, work smart.

the animation field is very very competitive. and little by little, jobs are being cut out from the field. if you go for animation, you better have passion. without it, you may as well have no chance...

i wanted to be an animator ever since i was a kid, i love cartoons. animation is a wonderful medium.

Do you know who Richard Williams is? I hope you do. In his book, The Animator's Survival Kit, He talks about his journey into the world of animation. please read that section which is located in the very first pages of the book.

i watched your video SidMonqay, and i will tell you to forget about animating right now. No, i don't mean lose the passion to animate. What i mean is forget about the technical part, which is animation. First, learn how to draw. No, i don't mean learn how to draw cartoons, i mean really REALLY learn how to draw. Study classical drawing and painting...trust me...if you focus on this you will be able to draw ANYTHING:cartoons, anime, illustration, comics, etc. because this is the HARDEST and most DIFFICULT art there is. (Jason Manley from ConceptArt.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh37Mtex67w) you don't have to 'master' it, but learn from it. once you know you are ready, you are ready for animation.


I am 22, and studying classical drawing at a studio in Chicago under a very great and talented artist who i call my mentor. he has connections to some of the biggest studios of animation out there, and knows A LOT of well known artists. He teaches classical drawing and painting but also works as a storyboard artists and is grateful to make a living as an artist. He told me he has plans to grow the studio into a small 'academy' where he and other artists will teach classical/digital/animation. I am so happy i found this place. it beats all the art colleges i have gone to.
I now go to the studio and study mechanical design technology at a community college(as a back up, if animation doesn't work out..)

I will introduce you to Bargue drawings(intro to classical training)
http://ricardopontes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/34_plate_I_7_the_foot_of_the_gladiator.jpg

This book my mentor suggested me to read, which i did "Lessons in Classical Drawing: Essential Techniques from Inside the Atelier"
http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Classical-Drawing-Essential-Techniques/dp/082300659X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409106710&sr=8-2&keywords=classical+atelier

This artist who has great drawing/painting demos DVDs which i learned a lot from (Robert Liberace)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyC4sxFrr9w

An animation news website
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/

Calarts which is the best school(they say) for character animation
http://calarts.edu/

(but listen, you DO NOT need a degree for animation. you DO need a kick ass portfolio. and i mean it. kick ass...you get the job and recognition from your portfolio and skills, not the piece of paper.
I myself am not getting a degree in art or animation.)

here is my tumblr. i post my art there.
http://cigaretteclub.tumblr.com/

if anything SidMonqay, try art at a community college. it's cheaper than larger institutions. be careful of for-profit institutions and people that just want your money. that is where i messed up, and i lost all hope, until i found this studio. I highly recommend you go and find a studio or atelier and study drawing and painting there. there are also art workshops every year for illustration/animation/drawing/painting you can find each year around the U.S! like this one http://www.artconnectionacademy.com/SaturdayLectures.aspx

but, choose your own path! any questions, feel free to ask

[edit] of course! Richard Williams book on animation! http://www.amazon.com/The-Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles/dp/086547897X

Yeah I could suggest a few.

[Blue Yeti] (http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418924712&sr=8-1&keywords=blue+yeti&pebp=1418924714123)
MXL 990 Condenser Mic
Audio Technica AT2035 I have owned all of these and they might be pricey for you, but any one of them are worth the investment. My favorite is the AT4040, but that is like $300. The AT2035 is a great alternative to that and it's what I use a secondary. Anyone of these are fine just read some reviews check out their manufacturer's webpage. It's important to get a good mic that is right for you. For example the Blue Yeti was nice, but I have a kinda high pitched voice and it was not picking up mid frequencies as well as I would have liked.

If you don't feel like spending that much a couple of good mics are:
Audio Technica ATR2500 $66 on Amazon.
and
MXL 770 $60 on Amazon

EDIT: Forgot to mention. We actually have pretty similar voices oddly enough as it is. Another thing I noticed was the amount of essing (the his sound while pronouncing s) and a little bit of pop on hard consonants. I would lean towards getting a mic with a good mid-range focus and a pop-filter.

Hey SunQueenKing!

I know Newgrounds has a lot of musicians who you can contact to work with and they'll let you use their projects: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/

Another thing you might consider is that a microphone now literally costs under $5 to start. http://www.amazon.com/Neewer-3-5mm-Hands-Computer-Microphone/dp/B005DJNRQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1416750152&sr=1-1&keywords=lav+mic It's obviously not going to be the GREATEST mic in the world, but it will get you started, and for less than the cost of a cheeseburger. Just something to consider!

I'd also highly recommend you give a go at some animation exercises, specifically ones dealing with the principals of animation. They aren't going to be quite as quick or exciting as animating characters, but you'll learn foundations that will allow you to take your character work SO much farther, and make it a ton better and more interesting to watch. Here's a list I made a few years back, if it's helpful: http://www.animatorisland.com/51-great-animation-exercises-to-master/

I do my best not to live with regrets, but one thing I do often wish I had done earlier was focus on these simple exercises before jumping into full character animation (limited as it was) with FredtheMonkey.com. It was fun to make those cartoons, but I'm so far behind now than where I'd like to be because I never did those foundational exercises. So it pays to start those first!

Have fun!

Oh man do I have a list for you!

Joe Murray's Creating Animated Cartoons with Character is an amazing read and he gives some information on the creation process for his shows.

Nancy Beiman's Prepare to Board! talks about story development and character creation, but she mostly covers storyboarding in the book. Beiman also has exercises included as you read, so it feels a bit more interactive.

Jean Ann Wright's Animation Writing and Development covers writing for TV animation. Wright talks mainly about how to land a job as a writer for an ongoing show, but he does cover character in the book.

Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino's Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Art of the Animated Series) talks a bit on character creation for the show and how the show kept evolving until they finally arrived at Avatar: The Last Airbender.

But you shouldn't just stay with finding books on how to create characters for animation. It shouldn't matter if they are animated or not, we need to believe in these characters!

Lajos Egri's The Art of Dramatic Writing
is my personal favorite on character development. Although this book is mainly about writing a play, Egri covers dialogue, characters, character motivation, and story development perfectly. I keep returning to this book everytime an idea pops into my head. I cannot express how much this book has helped me in creating believable characters and conflicts.

Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! is a book I have never gotten around to reading, but I feel it worth mentioning as most of my colleagues and friends keep recommending this book back to me.

And again, although you will learn many new things from these books and they will help you view stories and characters more analytically, you won't get better until you start to create more and more characters and stories. You may also start looking for interviews of your favorite creators and look for what they have to say about character.

Hope this helps!

How much are you looking to spend? There's a lovely Disney Snow White book that she may not have in the $20 range and a Sleeping Beauty one from France in the $100 range.

This would probably make her day. It's a flip book of the pencil drawings from some classic scenes. I know there's dinos from fantasia and elephants from Jungle Book in addition to the ones you see there. Each book is a baby hardcover.

Edit: Or if she prefers WB...

10/10 Recommend getting Creating Characters with Personality and Character Mentor. To be fair, I’m biased because my professor wrote them, but they’re great references and Tom is the best.

Tom Bancroft books are a good place to start: http://www.amazon.com/Character-Mentor-Example-Expressions-Characters/dp/0240820711 http://www.amazon.com/dp/0823023494/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_WQdTub1XMGW3X

Here's are some thing she might like.

Animation (Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Archive Series)

[Walt Disney's Nine Old Men: The Flipbooks]
(http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disneys-Nine-Old-Men/dp/1423151054/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0V3JJCGVRZ008Z17DS63)

The Art of the Disney Golden Books (Disney Editions Deluxe)

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation

• I think she might already have this.

Blue Yeti