Ok, so you've probably read my first post, if you have'nt then i suggest you do. My posts are primarily geared towards those of us wanting to get into animations as a profession or hobby. So, if you a pro then bigups to you and kudos to all the nice jobs you've put out there. really fascinating.
Starting up for me was frustrating because the infrastructures to learn weren't in place. And up till date, i'ld say it has gone from bad to worse if you are considering fueling your generators, depending on PHCN for power blablabla "you'll understand what i'm talking about if you a Nigerian". But that was or is just a third of the problem. there were issues about one software been better than the other and what's industry standards, what softwares had the most helpful online communities for learning and mentoring and the list just goes on and on. Now up till this point, i'ld say just about 50 to 60% of the problem has been solved, the real problem is getting to animate and animate well. And in between that, you still have to learn how to rig your characters. ok, so rigging isnt much of a problem if you thinking of simple rigs or presets that ship with these animation softwares at least for now. matter of fact, I dare say, if any one can animate with this presets, you can animate almost anything. So yeah, go ahead with the presets if you can.
Having a mentor around me was my biggest challenge. I had to read like hell, animate for very long hours, a lot of the time making mistakes and thanks to Google once again, i get back on track. Now, i'm always opposed to the fact that people should start learning by watching videos. That my friend might not be the best approach, and just reading one strange tutorial might not be of help also. I always encourage beginners to read first or alongside watching the videos. The tutorial been the most important in my humble opinion.
So after all these in place, you still need a mentor, but it's not impossible for you to figure out how all the principles of animation works all by yourself though, but will probably take a lot more time than you necessary should. So why try re-inventing the wheel?
Alright, asides all these, animation has to reside in you or you should at least have a good eye for detail. Coming from a construction background, that was pretty easy for me. Because I was trained to fish out errors, to see the bads. This helped me a lot because no matter how much i read those principles, i just couldn't apply them. And everybody from where i came from had the same problem. To make matters worse Everybody started yelling "YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO DRAW, YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW DISNEY DRAWS", LORD HOKAGE SAMA!!! screaming like the leaf shinobis in NARUTO SHIPPUDEN. And that was a big problem for me at that time as well. But in time, i realized that, that wasn't even the main problem. the main problem was from going from point A through an in-between to point B, and blending between all three in such a way that would appeal to the eyes of the viewers and having them nod, giving the animation their approval. That was the problem.
Prior to learning animation, i was always reading about comparisons between softwares. How long it will take to master animation? how much it will cost to get an animation education etc. what these softawares are capable of, who is using what and a whole lot of questions like that. some of them made sense at the time, while the others didnt make any till this day. And people keep fighting about these things till date.
In Conclusion, I don't think animation requires anybody to know how to draw fancy figures or come from an art background because i've defied both and Jeff Lew is an Electrical engineer by training before picking up animation. You too with all determination can again defy whatever that seem to be a pre-requisite to learning animation and standing in your way as a barricade. Yeah, Lest i forget, i did know how to draw fairly well as a kid and i know a ton of other things as well that i put into practice when animating. But note that it could turn out to be a painful process and most likely an effort in futility. So when You start going through all of these, know that you are not alone, and People have walked that path before.
My last words? Still look for an animation school to learn animation . it's going to do you a lot of good, you'll be more confident of yourself as an animator and it's going to save you a lot of time and plenty of pain. yeah, because you don't want none of that.
Yeah, so you can either reach me here or mail me on chimatic@gmail.com or fredocheli@yahoo.com for any assistance or more information.
Yeah, please click to watch this blast from the past by my company http://youtu.be/opFjvErscKw
Also check this out http://youtu.be/sBAKHD4ZKC0
Cheers.
Starting up for me was frustrating because the infrastructures to learn weren't in place. And up till date, i'ld say it has gone from bad to worse if you are considering fueling your generators, depending on PHCN for power blablabla "you'll understand what i'm talking about if you a Nigerian". But that was or is just a third of the problem. there were issues about one software been better than the other and what's industry standards, what softwares had the most helpful online communities for learning and mentoring and the list just goes on and on. Now up till this point, i'ld say just about 50 to 60% of the problem has been solved, the real problem is getting to animate and animate well. And in between that, you still have to learn how to rig your characters. ok, so rigging isnt much of a problem if you thinking of simple rigs or presets that ship with these animation softwares at least for now. matter of fact, I dare say, if any one can animate with this presets, you can animate almost anything. So yeah, go ahead with the presets if you can.
Having a mentor around me was my biggest challenge. I had to read like hell, animate for very long hours, a lot of the time making mistakes and thanks to Google once again, i get back on track. Now, i'm always opposed to the fact that people should start learning by watching videos. That my friend might not be the best approach, and just reading one strange tutorial might not be of help also. I always encourage beginners to read first or alongside watching the videos. The tutorial been the most important in my humble opinion.
So after all these in place, you still need a mentor, but it's not impossible for you to figure out how all the principles of animation works all by yourself though, but will probably take a lot more time than you necessary should. So why try re-inventing the wheel?
Alright, asides all these, animation has to reside in you or you should at least have a good eye for detail. Coming from a construction background, that was pretty easy for me. Because I was trained to fish out errors, to see the bads. This helped me a lot because no matter how much i read those principles, i just couldn't apply them. And everybody from where i came from had the same problem. To make matters worse Everybody started yelling "YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO DRAW, YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW DISNEY DRAWS", LORD HOKAGE SAMA!!! screaming like the leaf shinobis in NARUTO SHIPPUDEN. And that was a big problem for me at that time as well. But in time, i realized that, that wasn't even the main problem. the main problem was from going from point A through an in-between to point B, and blending between all three in such a way that would appeal to the eyes of the viewers and having them nod, giving the animation their approval. That was the problem.
Prior to learning animation, i was always reading about comparisons between softwares. How long it will take to master animation? how much it will cost to get an animation education etc. what these softawares are capable of, who is using what and a whole lot of questions like that. some of them made sense at the time, while the others didnt make any till this day. And people keep fighting about these things till date.
In Conclusion, I don't think animation requires anybody to know how to draw fancy figures or come from an art background because i've defied both and Jeff Lew is an Electrical engineer by training before picking up animation. You too with all determination can again defy whatever that seem to be a pre-requisite to learning animation and standing in your way as a barricade. Yeah, Lest i forget, i did know how to draw fairly well as a kid and i know a ton of other things as well that i put into practice when animating. But note that it could turn out to be a painful process and most likely an effort in futility. So when You start going through all of these, know that you are not alone, and People have walked that path before.
My last words? Still look for an animation school to learn animation . it's going to do you a lot of good, you'll be more confident of yourself as an animator and it's going to save you a lot of time and plenty of pain. yeah, because you don't want none of that.
Yeah, so you can either reach me here or mail me on chimatic@gmail.com or fredocheli@yahoo.com for any assistance or more information.
Yeah, please click to watch this blast from the past by my company http://youtu.be/opFjvErscKw
Also check this out http://youtu.be/sBAKHD4ZKC0
Cheers.
Hi. Nice post. I am an aspiring animator as well and i must say, after reading your post as a matter of fact, pretty much all of them, i must say, it's quite a challenge trying to be an animator. i already have started experiencing some of this challenges and i know what you are talking about. please how can i reach you? thanks.
ReplyDeleteAhmed.
Sorry Man. I should have reached you before now but for some reasons that i don't know, i didn't.
ReplyDeleteWell you can reach me by sending a mail to chimatic@gmail.com
Cheers.