Animation has a whole set of rules that drawing fundamentals is merely built upon. Not only do you have to know about how to draw things, but you also have to keep in mind how to move and frame things, which requires skills in timing and film. Despite being an artist and animation enthusiast, I can’t consider myself an expert in animation just yet. For this article, we’ll be learning together with the resources that I’ll put together below.

Basic Animation

Of course, we cannot start without learning basic animation. It takes patience and timing so it’s important to start as simple as possible and build your skill up from there.

Learn about Animation by James Baxter

James Baxter is a well-known and respected animator known for his smooth and lively animations.  He has animated all across the industry from Beauty and the Beast to Prince of Egypt to Steven Universe. In this video, he explains his animation process through flipbooks so you can follow along the video for cheap!

12 Principles of Animation (Official Full Series)

This video by Alan Becker is a great way to start small! It delves on twelve simple animation exercises in order to build your skill. Not only does it explain Squah and Stretch, the most basic principle but deals with staging and timing as well.

Storyboard

Before delving into any animation project, it is important to already have a structure. This is where storyboard comes in. It is rough frames that pinpoint where you want the story and illustrations to go. 

How to Storyboard Smarter

Toniko Pantoja is an animator who is transparent about his work and dedicates his YouTube channel towards his experience working in the industry, how he broke in and how he’s managing to survive. In this video, he emphasizes the importance of planning everything out before you storyboard as well as the different shots and angles that could be suited to whatever you are illustrating.

3 TIPS FOR BETTER STORYBOARDING

Ethan Becker is another channel that does animation tutorials with a humorous twist. In this video, he gives out useful tips for storyboarding such as incorporating 3D into your animation and integrating your character’s personal state into the scene.

Character Design

This is personally my favorite aspect of animation as it involves a lot of research into interesting facts that you can apply to your character based on personality and background. Not only are you growing your mental library, but you are getting to know your art baby along the way.

BaM Animation tackles a lot of animation topics but for this video featured, they tackle basic character design rules to keep in mind as well as developing a creative eye in order to give your characters spark.

How to Make a Character Design Portfolio

When it comes to creating portfolios, one of the pieces that comes into the mind of everyone is character designs. Jackie Droujko is an animator who specializes in character design. She has multiple videos delving into this topic such as portfolio reviews and tutorials.

Software

I personally believe that this is the hardest to master in my creative journey. For years, I was just used to putting photos together in a free movie making software such as Kinemaster in order to make it move. However, in order to get into the industry, I realized I had to start learning the software used in studios such as Adobe Animate and Clip Studio Paint. I had to learn the hard truth that not only were they come in all prices but how every program has its own way of animating that makes beginners easily frustrated.

My advice is that when you try a new software, especially as a beginner animator, you probably will have to take thrice the time you estimate to master a software. Just don’t blame yourself if it feels more difficult than you thought as it’s part of the learning process.

2D Animation Software (PAID AND FREE)

This video by kdssketch is a short summary of popular animation softwares available. She goes into the differences in prices for each of them, divided into three divisions: Industry Standard which are expensive due to being used by studios, Afforable which are still paid sofrwares but cheaper and finally, the Free options.

So you wanna be an Animator: Selecting a Software

This video by El Hombre Chorizo delves deeper into rating animation software that can best be suited for you. He emphasizes the point that no one can judge the right animation software better than you.  Software is difficult to master, and you can take hours just to train yourself to use an action.  Due to this, he creates an intricate system of judging animation software based on five aspects: Ease of Access, UI Readability, Versatility, Stability and finally, Ease of Use.