Animation Source Forums

Alll right. I have an iddus with animations and I'd like to have some tips to better improve them.

Here are my problems:

-Consistancy. I can never keep everything the same size, no matter what techniques I use. Hopefully, someone who's made animations ([b]by hand) before can tell me something to help me along with this problem.

-Coloring. I use colored pencils, and just line-art animations are rather dull. BUT, in using colored pencils I won't be able to keep them the same color. I also don't have a computer program.

-Frame Time. I never am too sure on how long to make the movements, and I usually make them close together. If someone has a tip for this, please include a frame-by-frame example to help me out, if at all possible (so I know time/movement better).[/b]

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Some other little issues. :]

-Respecting the moderators. Will you please? I mean, seriously, you have no clue what all the staff does to make sure that you/your parents don't flip out from adulterated material. We help keep the site safe, and enjoyable. A "thank you" isn't in order, no matter how nice, but at least don't cuss us out when we do what we are instructed to do by the webmaster. We, too, have rules set. It's not like we just free-lance around doing whatever we see fit (then, the site would fall apart!). So, please.

-Art Theft. I have a zero-tolerancy of it, and I'm hoping Steet with gain that, as well. It's not right. And, as soon as you submit that picture without any citation, you've stolen it. Just putting I referenced this, to me, counts as citation. Even if you don't remember the originator's name, please put something to let people know you didn't draw it all by yourself, it's not that hard, and will save you from some enemies.

-My Website has changed. It is now The Hollow Productions, not ~Black Blood~ Productions (because I found that "Black Blood Productions" is rather common). So be sure to stay updated there. On the website, you can find different objects of amusement. Art, videos, etc. And also there are a lot of Cast and Crew membership openings, so you can apply for that, too. I also have a movie-in-progress that needs some more animations ("Pale | Aastik", see my "Asking My Own Favor >D [EDIT]" topic for further information). Anyone is free to submit entries, no matter how "good" or "bad" your art is.

-My Art is gainingly slow. Not only have I become a moderator, but I have also started school. Thus, homework is a major time consumer. Out of a seven to eight hour school day, I have time for one drawing. Also, drawings are taking more time to complete (five plus hours), so don't be depressed if you see a lot of doodles or requests/trades and whatnot are slower than usual. ;D I still take requests (I'll probably limit them now), and of course commissions (highly detailed, special requests you pay for).

aww cool now i can make the animation better for you

In this case before you draw the complete sheets, you need to draw the "structure" image. What is that? Lemme explain, it`s the ring or better said CIRCLE you draw before you start doodling the head. And I think from here ya get what I mean.
Like I said ya gotta start drawing the pose sketches for each frame (in case you use paper sheets/ hand drawn). Then you go for the full size body and stuff.. at last but not last.. the colouring.
I say drawing animations by hand is hard.. heh there aren`t many people who does that. I tried that once... but twas with 26 frames XD I can say it`s really hard. Digital animating (on Photoshop or Flash ) is easier for me, less time and better qualities!

Ya gotta try what I said.. I know I had this problem before too, but I figured how to fix it.

Good luck.

To keep things the same size a lightboard really helps, you don't have to go out and spend loads on one though, I use a piece of plastic with a lamp under it XD.

For the colouring I'm not sure...seeing as animations are moving pretty fast getting the exact colour won't be as important as still images, I'd say just try and get it as close as possible, it's really hard with traditional pencils but as long as you make sure you have 2-3 of each colour and a sharpener at the ready I'm sure you'll get there.

This is also really helpful for animating and explains how to make them smooth, it should help a lot