Tips and Tools for Your animations, Education, and Career.
By Adrien-Luc Sanders, About.com Guide to Animation
It doesn't matter if you're a traditional animator or a digital animator; over the course of your animation career, you'll accumulate a wealth of tips and tricks to help you save time, save money, and safely cut corners to produce the best product most efficiently. You'll also build up a storehouse of education and career know-how, until you're a veteran in the animation industry. Try these tips on for size - or write in and contribute a few of your own.
- Basic Animation Tips
- Flash Tips and Tricks
- Money-Saving and Shopping Tips for Animators
- Education Tips
- Career Tips
Basic Animation Tips
These tips cover helpful tools and processes for animation, as well as troubleshooting problems that you might run across while working with computer animation.
- Storyboarding
- Printable Drawing Template for 4:3 Ratio Animation
- Building an Animation-Ready Character
- Animation Character Sheet Breakdown
- Tools of the Trade: Light Tables
- Saving Your Files While Saving Computer Space
- Cutting Your Test Render Time
- Avoiding the System Resource Bog
- Optimizing Animated Video Files for the Web: Codecs
Flash Tips and Tricks
Flash is a complicated program, but you can easily avoid getting bogged down and save time with some basic tips.
- 10 Stupid Flash Tricks...and Why You Shouldn't Use Them
- Five Basic ActionScripting Mistakes and How to Fix Them
- Flash Keyboard Shortcuts
- Alternate Website for Non-Flash Users
- Drawing in Flash with a Graphics Tablet
Money-Saving and Shopping Tips for Animators
Animation programs are expensive; so are the various tools and supplies that we use every day. Here are some ways to save money - and a few guides on what to get for the special animator in your life who might be a little strapped for cash.
- Free and Trial Animation Programs
- Royalty Music and Sound Effects Resources
- Five Inexpensive Animation Solutions for the Mac
- Keeping Up With The Studios: Breaking Into Animation Without Breaking the Bank
- 10 Essential Animation Supplies
- From Gouache to Gadgets: Shopping for the Animator on Your Holiday Gift List
Education Tips
There are many things to learn about being an animator, and the learning process never ends. Looking for a good school? Ready to graduate, and putting together your portfolio? Try these helpful guides.
- Magna Cum Pixel: An Education in Computer Animation
- Preparing a Professional Demo Reel
- Demo Reel Faux Paus
- Producing a Professional Printed Portfolio
- The Total Package: Presenting Your Credentias in a Visually Impressive Fashion
- Leave-Behinds: Small Wonders
Career Tips
If you're looking for a job in animation, or even if you already work in the field and need a little refresher, these tips should help you keep your animation career on track.
