Now that we have covered the general basics, let’s go over the material of the portfolio. Usually, that involves individual pieces such as illustration and other sorta of art forms but for this lesson, I want to focus on your animation project. 

There are different ways to translate animation and to review your strengths, you must learn what type you are most effective in.

First, we have traditional animation, where you have draw frames for every scene to create a motion picture. This was often used in classic animated cartoons and the most common materials are pencils and acetate sheets, semi-transparent paper in order to translate frames well. This was mostly popular in large entertainment companies such as Disney and Hanna Barbera until the rise in popularity of 3D animation.

Another traditional animation technique is stop motion, a sequence of photographed frames of real objects. You will have to physically create models of settings and characters. The most common material for this is clay, specifically modeling or foam clay and you will have to adjust the models for every frame. You can then create a sequence in a video editing software.

Now we can move on the computer generated mediums, which currently dominate the industry.

2D animation is similar to traditional animation in that most of the work is hand drawn frame by frame. At other times though, vector images and character rigs by computer software are used to create motion graphics in order to move and pose characters more easily. Character rigs act as skeletons for the illustration which animators can customize digitally to mimic movements. The most popular applications to use this is Toonboom, Adobe Animate and Blender Grease Pencil.

3D animation is a completely computer generated method where artists will have to use rigs to create characters and scenery through a computer program. Though computer software is used, the skills of illustration and compositing still remain. The most polished applications are Unreal Engine and Blender.

Motion Graphics is where you animate text and shapes, which doesn’t require story and is more often used in commercials, logos, educational models for STEM fields and web development.

Now that we have the mediums out of the way, I’ll start with the basic tips tor your animated project. For your project, it is recommended that you first acquire skills in writing, illustration, animation as well as getting to know computer softwares depending on your chosen medium. You could also have a grasp on consuming media beforehand such as films, comics and cartoons. Comic one shots and short films are an excellent way to kickstart your portfolio. Also, make sure to get to know your equipment for a smooth process.

Also, patience is key. Remember that your projects won’t flourish overnight. It takes time, effort and a lot of thinking as well as a crew if you need to speed things up. Please also commit to the craft but also take notice of your budget, make sure you have enough to compensate everyone if you’re in a team.