Ten Tips for beginning animators

Straight from a professional animator!

First off, I must tell you what animating is and some basic animating programs.

Animating is bringing an inanimate object to life. Whether it’s on computer, paper, it is considered animating. I have been animating on the computer for years now, and I will show you what I use to animate and how I started.

How I started

I started first animating on paper. By sitting in my room, drawing on paper, paper after paper, I created a flipnote. If you don’t know what a flipnote is, it’s when you draw a sequence of images on paper, a good example is on notebook paper, and you flip through the papers, and it looks like the image is moving. Of course, this requires a lot of time and usually quite a lot of paper. Just to create a simple sequence of someone standing up requires at least twenty sheets of paper. Don’t let this discourage you! Even though it may seem like a lot, it honestly isn’t. I thought that at first too!

What I use to animate

I use a program called Source FilmMaker. You may of heard of this program, you may of not. Don’t worry if you haven’t! Source FilmMaker is a program where you load in 3D Models, and you make them move by yourself. Sounds simple, right? Not even close. Even though this is considered the easiest 3D Model Animating program, there are many others I recommend before you move to 3D Model Animating. Also, I will show you a video I made in SFM at the very end of this presentation, just so you have a little taste.

Program I Recommend for Beginners

So, if it is your first ever time animating and you are wanting to try it out, I recommend trying out on paper or on a website called Scratch. I am sure you may of heard of Scratch, but if you haven’t, here is the website. (If that doesn’t work, type “ scratch.mid.edu “ into your browser URL box and press enter. This is a program that is free to use, and it shows you the basics of animating and coding. Coding is very much needed if you are going to get anywhere in animating. I recommend trying out Scratch for around two weeks or until you have made three functioning games/animations.

What about after Scratch, Kyle?

After you feel you have mastered Scratch and what there is to know about coding, then I would next recommend Source FilmMaker. ( www.Sourcefilmmaker.com ) Source FilmMaker requires quite a PC, since it doesn’t use a simple source engine like Scratch. If you don’t have a considered good PC, hardware-wise, I would wait until you upgrade your PC for this program.

How do I use Source FIlmmaker?

This is when YouTube comes into play. I have used Source Filmmaker for a total of 5,465 hours at the time of making this presentation, and I don’t even know half of what there is to know about the program. There are secrets everywhere in it! Simply look up “how to animate in source filmmaker” and there should be many tutorials. If I were to describe how to animate, it would take up more than ten slides. I don’t have the time for that, and I would be guessing you don’t neither.

What about after Source Filmmaker?!

After you feel as if you have mastered Source FilmMaker, which will take years (No discouragement intended! Animating is a hard job!), I would move on to Cinema 4D or After Effects. I do not know much about either, since all I have ever used is SFM and Blender (A 3D Model-making program, which I will not get into in this presentation). I must warn you now; if you do plan on getting Cinema 4D, it is going to cost a LOT of money. At this moment of making this presentation (February 15th, 2017), it costs $3,510. After Effects costs $14.95 a month, or $119.95 a year.

Whoa, why does it cost so much?!

Cinema 4D costs so much because of how much advanced material it has built into the program. If you are a big gamer, you would know that a lot of the good-looking intros out there for gaming channels are in fact made from Cinema 4D or After Effects. Don’t let this sadden you! Source FilmMaker intros can look just as good if you know how to make them! Anyways, now we are going on to what you came here for: Ten Tips to Help Beginning Animators.

Number one: Don’t Get Frustrated!

I know that at first you may be wondering what the heck you are doing, but you will quickly learn how to make what you want to make. What you plan in your head may look hard to do, but if you just try it out and try to make what is in your head, you might just surprise yourself. Getting frustrated is a major setback because not only can it cause you to possibly quit your session without saving, but it can cause you to potentially break something around you.

Number 2: Find out which program you like!

This is a big one. If you do not feel comfortable with Source FilmMaker, then you can easily stay with Scratch! I highly recommend that as well, considering that most Source FilmMaker users tend to get upset at what they are making, and it leads to them being stressed out and sometimes even depressed. Scratch is such a simple, easy, free-to-use program, that even I still use it to this day. I have recreated the whole FNaF (Five Nights at Freddy’s) franchise in Scratch, no harm done!

Number 3: Don’t let anyone discourage you!

This is another big one. If you plan on uploading your games and animations you make on Scratch to the website, there are going to be a couple of people who comment rude things about it, always finding something to complain about. This goes even bigger for Cinema 4D, After Effects, and Source FilmMaker. Since you have to upload AE, C4D, and SFM animations to YouTube, you already know the kind of comments you will be getting. Don’t let these discourage you! You make what YOU want to make. Don’t ever let anyone else tell you different. You are amazing in your own way!

Number 4: Animate what you WANT to animate.

This one is primarily for Source FilmMaker users. You see that most of the top-viewed SFM animations on YouTube are Five Nights at Freddy’s animations. Do not let this change what you want to animate. Animating FNaF is insanely difficult. I would know, it is what I animate! There are many other things you can animate. Granted, not as popular, but who cares? As long as you do what you like, no one can stop you! I recommend Team Fortress 2, Half-Life, or Left 4 Dead 2.

Number 5: Take breaks often!

Many animators often sit at their computer for way too long of sessions at once, and that causes many effects on their body and mind that you don’t want to hear about. I will just name a few of the many effects it can have: Depression, stress, more anger being built up, and sometimes even suicidal thoughts if you let it get far enough. If you ever feel any hint of anger while animating on ANY program, take a break IMMEDIATELY! I recommend 30-minute to 1-hour breaks every 2 hours or so.

Number 6: Have your family watch you!

I know, right? Your family watching you? Ha! Seems crazy! Actually, it is a great way to feel happy. They will be fascinated by what you do, and they will always want to be watching you. I do this often, and it always makes me warm inside because they appear so interested. You would be surprised at how much they seem to like objects moving on a screen.

Number 7: Don’t rush your animations!

I see this every single day I go on YouTube: Do. Not. Rush. Your. Animations. This is a huge problem in the SFM/C4D/AE/Scratch community, that it just keeps happening. If you rush your animations, they aren’t going to look good. Simple as that. No one is going to like if you just have a model moving its arms and nothing else happening on the screen. They are most likely going to post a bad comment, which yes, can be deleted, but it gives you that bad feeling deep down that no one wants. Take your time when animating, even if it takes months! You will be happy with the outcome.

Number 8: Always have a drink next to you.

This one might sound stupid, but think about it. What do you do when you die in a game? What do you do when you don’t get what you want after an hour long dungeon in a game? What do you do when you lose against a boss and have to start the level over? You most likely get frustrated. Same with animating. You should always have a cool drink beside you (I recommend water) because it helps you calm down quicker. You might not believe me, but try it and see what happens!

Number 9: Don’t let animating take all of your time!

I see this with every single animator out there: They let it take all of their time. So many people think that because they are sitting in front of their screen, that they have full control over what they do. What they don’t know is that it can lead to them staying up late at night on a school night, tiredness, and often frustration for the next day. Don’t let this happen to you. Keep an eye on the time and get off at a reasonable time. I recommend 8:30 P.M. - 10:30 P.M. at night. You need your sleep if you are going to do animating again the next day!

Number 10: Don’t let it take you over.

This is by far the most important one out of every single tip I have said so far. I have had friends in the past who have given me up for animating, all for popularity. When you start uploading your animations, and you start getting big on YouTube or Scratch, primarily YouTube, you are going to be popular, and often the thoughts you are better than everyone else around you. It sounds stupid, and that’s what I said as well, but not before I lost three of my closest life-long friends to YouTube popularity. All because of animations and popularity.

To sum everything up!

Animating is a very hard, annoying, painful, sometimes depressing, and stressful job. You take many risks when you start animating, including losing your friends, but if you are successful and you manage to stay strong and do everything the right way, you are a one of a kind, destined to be, animator. Keep up your dreams, and don’t let anyone stop you from being you.