Sara

Hello everybody,
I have always had this thought of making my own animation, and only few weeks ago I finally decided to fulfill this dream of mine. But as I have no particular knowledge in making an animation and my research over the internet failed me (such as searching for basic facts in wiki and googlin'), I decided to come here and ask a few questions to you guys. I hope that you do not mind.

What I would like to know is how to make a plain animation in two dimension? What are the technique going step by step? What program should I use? And also, if I want to make a cartoon in these days, that would look like an old school cartoon, THEN what program should I use? It could not be Maya, or could it be?

My goal is to make an old school animation, such as Pluto, Goofy, Mickey Mouse (Disney's) and Tom & Jerry. I really want to make a plain animation, something really simply, but at the same time I don't want my cartoon to be perfect like we have cartoons in these days.

Also, can somebody please explain to me the way old school cartoons such as Tom and Jerry was made back then (the technology)? I'm really interested in this particular process back in 1940/30, when computer programs, Matrox and other montage tools wasn't around.

Thanks for any kind of answers.

Blackearth09

I'm not quite sure about a good program, but I do know that Disney do their films by hand. I know some stuff about animation. I have a ton of art books on them. Before you can animate, you must know things such as anatomy and character design. Also, you must be able to draw your characters in any and every position(sides, front, back, angles, etc...). You also must have knowledge on movements of animals and people. For example, walk cycles. A walk cycle is the most difficult form af animation. There is also running, jumpin, talking(certain mouth movements), arm motion, leg motion, facial expressions motion, morphing, squishing, stretching, growing, shrinking, and object movements, such as spilling, dropping, throwing, and penetration. There are many techniques that must be known to animate as well.

Some of the steps I would use:
1-scetch and create your characters. You must create and reference all the character you plan on using before you can animate them.
2-Write a script. Write your story down in words. All the diologue and events, as though your writing the story.
3-Start storyboarding. You must create storyboards before the animation. Use boxes to scetch down the script and put down the story in a visual sense. When storyboarding, do not put each key frame down. You do that for the animation.
4-Create the backgrounds. If your looking to make a film, like Disney's Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear, or Universal's Balto, paintings are used for the backgrounds. It's important to find a background style suitable for the characters and concept of the story. For example, in Disney's Lilo & Stitch, they chose to use watercolor backgrounds. It helps with the atmosphere used in the characters and story concept. That also falls into the character designs. If you notice, the people and characters have a sense of chubbiness to them. It's just the technique used for this film. If you'r looking toward more action, then paints with heavy detail will work for you. For cartoons, the backgrounds are simple. Spongebob, for example, is painted, but if you notice, the skies, ground and rocks are generally the same in each episode. That's because there aren't much features to keep track of underwater. Ben 10 has simple backgrounds as well. Same for The Secret Saturdays and Phineas and Ferb.
5-Start your scetch animation. Use your background art as help. If you paint your art digitally, animate over it. Do not put it right on that layer in case of mess ups on the animation, plus, erasing will be required during it. If your backgrounds are paintings on a canvas, then get them onto the computer using a camera or scanner. You might have to paint them small enough to fit the whole image on a scanner. Once you have your background ready, scetch each frame. Use simple shapes and add details as you go. Do nothing more than just scetching. No contour lines yet. You use the background to help so that your animation doesn't look wierd. For example, if your character is walking down a path in the forest, you want it walking on the path, not the tree trunks or something. Get your whole cartoon episode or film done in this fashion.
6-Begin with the contour lineart. Use all the framed scetches and draw over them, creating the official animation. Once you are finnished, erase the scetcheed lines and leave the lineart.
7-Render your animation. Now you need to color the animation. Use the same colors for your character in each frame. Same goes for shading, shading techniques, and designs on shirts/fur.
8-Lastly, watch your animated cartoon/film to edit any mistakes and make sure your animation is accurate.
9-add in sound effect, music, and cast voices. Note: Cast voices must be recorded using the script first, then animations must be motioned to fit the words and voices.

Animations are very complicated, which is why you usually need a lot more than one, even three people working on it. Disney has a lot of people to work on films. Each person gets assigned with a film. Some people are animators, some are storyboard artists, some are producers, and others are character and concept art designers.

If you are looking into animation, but you are not professional, you are going to need training or practice. You can buy animation training videos from professional artist on art websites or at art stores. You could also email or contact real animators from Disney for tips or help on how to make an animated feature. I'm sure they would be happy to help an animator wannabe.

Sorry for the long read. If you want me to help you with more on animation, I could look into my art books. I have some on animation, even from disney. I even have some on Chuck Jone's cartoons, such as Tom & Jerry, and Looney Toons. Other books: How to desing character with personality; The Art of Lilo & Stitch, The Lion King, Atlantis, Treasure Planet; The Art of Silver(designed Kim Possible and Danny Phantom Characters); and some comic art books(DC and marvel comics). You can contact me at:
[email protected]
If you are unable to email, you can just private message me here at Balto Source. Or, if youve a DeviantART, you can also contact me there:
www.blackearth09.deviantart.com/
I'll be happy to help^^

~Blackearth09

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Last comments

Guest	January 04, 2009

I'm not quite sure about a good program, but I do know that Disney do their films by hand. I know some stuff about animation. I have a ton of art books on them. Before you can animate, you must know things such as anatomy and character design. Also, you must be able to draw your characters in any and every position(sides, front, back, angles, etc...). You also must have knowledge on movements of animals and people. For example, walk cycles. A walk cycle is the most difficult form af animation. There is also running, jumpin, talking(certain mouth movements), arm motion, leg motion, facial expressions motion, morphing, squishing, stretching, growing, shrinking, and object movements, such as spilling, dropping, throwing, and penetration. There are many techniques that must be known to animate as well. Some of the steps I would use: 1-scetch and create your characters. You must create and reference all the character you plan on using before you can animate them. 2-Write a script. Write your story down in words. All the diologue and events, as though your writing the story. 3-Start storyboarding. You must create storyboards before the animation. Use boxes to scetch down the script and put down the story in a visual sense. When storyboarding, do not put each key frame down. You do that for the animation. 4-Create the backgrounds. If your looking to make a film, like Disney's Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear, or Universal's Balto, paintings are used for the backgrounds. It's important to find a background style suitable for the characters and concept of the story. For example, in Disney's Lilo & Stitch, they chose to use watercolor backgrounds. It helps with the atmosphere used in the characters and story concept. That also falls into the character designs. If you notice, the people and characters have a sense of chubbiness to them. It's just the technique used for this film. If you'r looking toward more action, then paints with heavy detail will work for you. For cartoons, the backgrounds are simple. Spongebob, for example, is painted, but if you notice, the skies, ground and rocks are generally the same in each episode. That's because there aren't much features to keep track of underwater. Ben 10 has simple backgrounds as well. Same for The Secret Saturdays and Phineas and Ferb. 5-Start your scetch animation. Use your background art as help. If you paint your art digitally, animate over it. Do not put it right on that layer in case of mess ups on the animation, plus, erasing will be required during it. If your backgrounds are paintings on a canvas, then get them onto the computer using a camera or scanner. You might have to paint them small enough to fit the whole image on a scanner. Once you have your background ready, scetch each frame. Use simple shapes and add details as you go. Do nothing more than just scetching. No contour lines yet. You use the background to help so that your animation doesn't look wierd. For example, if your character is walking down a path in the forest, you want it walking on the path, not the tree trunks or something. Get your whole cartoon episode or film done in this fashion. 6-Begin with the contour lineart. Use all the framed scetches and draw over them, creating the official animation. Once you are finnished, erase the scetcheed lines and leave the lineart. 7-Render your animation. Now you need to color the animation. Use the same colors for your character in each frame. Same goes for shading, shading techniques, and designs on shirts/fur. 8-Lastly, watch your animated cartoon/film to edit any mistakes and make sure your animation is accurate. 9-add in sound effect, music, and cast voices. Note: Cast voices must be recorded using the script first, then animations must be motioned to fit the words and voices. Animations are very complicated, which is why you usually need a lot more than one, even three people working on it. Disney has a lot of people to work on films. Each person gets assigned with a film. Some people are animators, some are storyboard artists, some are producers, and others are character and concept art designers. If you are looking into animation, but you are not professional, you are going to need training or practice. You can buy animation training videos from professional artist on art websites or at art stores. You could also email or contact real animators from Disney for tips or help on how to make an animated feature. I'm sure they would be happy to help an animator wannabe. Sorry for the long read. If you want me to help you with more on animation, I could look into my art books. I have some on animation, even from disney. I even have some on Chuck Jone's cartoons, such as Tom & Jerry, and Looney Toons. Other books: How to desing character with personality; The Art of Lilo & Stitch, The Lion King, Atlantis, Treasure Planet; The Art of Silver(designed Kim Possible and Danny Phantom Characters); and some comic art books(DC and marvel comics). You can contact me at: [email protected] If you are unable to email, you can just private message me here at Balto Source. Or, if youve a DeviantART, you can also contact me there: www.blackearth09.deviantart.com/ I'll be happy to help^^ ~Blackearth09

Mighty	January 04, 2009
	Path of the Demon

You can use flash or photoshop. Old animations were done by hand. They drew each frame and transfured it to a clear cell and a artist painted it by hand.

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