A new edition of Bloop Animationâs popular animation guidebook packed with the latest recommendations and insights on how to turn your artistic passion into a professional film career!
If you are an aspiring animator considering a career in film production or are curious about what it takes to make animated shorts, this is the book for you! Animation for Beginners is a comprehensive and modern introduction to the art and business of 3D animation from Bloop Animation founder, filmmaker, graphic novel author, and teacher Morr Meroz.
A new edition of Bloop Animationâs popular animation guidebook packed with the latest recommendations and insights on how to turn your artistic passion into a professional film career!
If you are an aspiring animator considering a career in film production or are curious about what it takes to make animated shorts, this is the book for you! Animation for Beginners is a comprehensive and modern introduction to the art and business of 3D animation from Bloop Animation founder, filmmaker, graphic novel author, and teacher Morr Meroz.
People have all kinds of different associations when they hear the word âanimation.â Some might think of a famous studio, like Disney or Pixar. Others will think of a movie or a TV series, like Shrek or The Simpsons. Consulting the dictionary definition wonât help much, as it gets rather technical: âa way of making a movie by using a series of drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of objects (such as puppets or models) that are slightly different from one another and that when viewed quickly one after another create the appearance of movementâ (Websterâs Dictionary).
I prefer this definition: Animation is the art of creating life.
I believe it does a better job of capturing an animatorâs true goal, which is bringing things to life. Bringing things to life can happen by making inanimate objects feel like theyâre alive, or by humanizing otherwise non-human living creatures.
Examples of the first way (giving life to inanimate objects) are Wall-E the robot, the flying carpet from Aladdin, or the ball and a cube in my own animated short film âLift Up.â Examples of the second way (humanizing non-human creatures) are Bambi, Donkey from Shrek, or Sid the sloth from Ice Age. When we see these animals in their movies, the animators are doing their best to humanize the animal, making it act more like a person.
Thus, animation is the process of bringing something to life, humanizing it, and by doing so making it relatable to the viewers. When we can feel what the character feels, understand what motivates them, and see the emotional change they go through, the animators did their job.
You Donât Need to Know How to Draw to Be an Animator
Letâs take a quick break at this point and break a very common myth: No, you donât need to know how to draw to be an animator. I clearly remember the moment I found out what 3D animation is all about, and how even someone like me with basic drawing skills can become an animator. But before we get into that story, letâs look at why people mistakenly believe this myth.
When animation first started, and especially when it was popularized by the Walt Disney Studios, the common (and correct) notion was that you have to be an amazing artist to work in animation. The founding fathers of the Disney animation style (known as the Nine Old Men) were all incredible draftsmen, with superb drawing skills. These artists had to draw every single frame of animation by hand, requiring deep understanding of anatomy, perspective, and composition. But things changed when computer animation came along. Drawing skills are always a great skill for any kind of animator, but itâs important to know that there are no drawing skills required to do 3D computer animation. Hereâs how I came to find that out.
I was never great at drawing. Yes, I went to art school for four years and enjoyed drawing from a very young age, but I was never a prodigy. Even at my best, Iâm not half as good as Iâd need to be to do any industry-level 2D animation. I simply donât have that gift. As a kid, I watched animated movies religiously. They made me want to get into animation. But as I got older, I realized that Iâll never be able to reach that level of craftsmanship, as hard as I might try to. Few people do.
So I pushed that dream aside and picked a different path. Even to this day I find it hard to believe it, but when I first enrolled into art school, it was for an advertising major. I figured it was creative enough to enjoy but wouldnât require amazing drawing skills. Plus, thereâs more than enough money in it to get by. But during my first year of school, while taking a class at the Computer Arts department, something happened. I stumbled into 3D animation.
I learned that the process of 3D animation was completely different from 2D animation. Instead of drawing the characters the animators simply move its parts around in 3D space, like a puppet. I could do that, I thought.
I dropped out of advertising and switched majors after one semester. 3D computer animation gave me the freedom to do what I always dreamt of doing. Finally, I could animate. With the technical obstacle of drawing out of the way, I could focus on the characters and experiment with what I could get out of them. As I said before, animating is about creating lifeâand drawing is not the only way of doing that.
Did I get you all excited about animation? I hope so! But I also donât want you to think Iâve cheapened the process of 3D animation. Itâs a craft like any other, and requires years to master. I still believe drawing skills are a huge plus, and a solid understanding of figures and body mechanics is crucial. During my years in art schools I took many life drawing classes, and while I wasnât the most talented participant, I got better at depicting and understanding human anatomy. Composition skills are also incredibly important. As an animator youâll need to pose and place a character in a compelling way, and that takes learning and practice. And lastly, if you can work on your drawing skills, regardless of the type of animator youâd like to be, that will go a long way into making you a better animator.
But with the myth of brilliant drawing busted, I hope you are feeling more empowered to pursue a career in animation, regardless of your artistic skills, or at the very least to keep reading this book. We have a lot to cover!
We all know what animation is, in a general sense. But that kind of knowledge is rudimentary. When we talk about the animation industry today, weâre talking of something far removed from all that! We are talking about a complex, sophisticated field thatâs at a confluence of multiple high-tech disciplines and skills. For example, physics contributes knowledge on mechanics, optics, etc. Knowledge about pics, backgrounds, and shapes comes from art. Story writers write the story and dialogues. We also have contributions from music, electronics, and some allied disciplines. These form the tool palette for the animator. With the animator at the center of production, digital computers composite processed parts to produce visuals and movies. Animation for Beginners by Morr Meroz is a well-rounded introduction for everyone who has the itch but canât tell for sure whether the animation industry will be a successful career destination for them. After reading it, no doubts will remain and youâll surely be able to tell whether or not you fit the bill!
This book is a boon for young people worldwide who are yet to make a career choice and wonder whether Animation is their niche. Iâm not an expert and canât say for sure, but if the following lines describe you (at least partly), this book might be the clincher that makes you finally take the plunge: Youâre convinced you donât fit traditional career roles in teaching, medicine, law, etc., but have an innate feeling that you could be a great communicator, given the right environment and support; you have oodles of latent energy; will work hard if passionately drawn to something; already have one proven communication skill, i.e., sketching, drawing, writing, etc., and you understand the power of subliminal communication.
Major applications of animation are in advertising, education, and entertainment. According to sources on the Internet, the global animation market was around $270 billion in 2020 and itâs growing at a CAGR of 11.5% (this forecast is till 2026). Animators are in high demand today and one can expect to see a steady rise in demand for animators worldwide in the future, too.
This book is nicely written and thereâs nothing I disliked about it except the small-size font used which might strain the eyes a bit. Slightly larger font size will correct the problem.
I recommend this valuable guidebook for beginners to all who are curious about Animation. However, let me caution you in advance that itâs highly technical and focused, so casual readers must steer clear of it. If youâre a STEM student, this book will suit you well. Even if you donât have a STEM background, but are tech-savvy and have strong reasoning and deductive skills, this book will work for you. If youâre neither, then please keep away from it to avoid getting disappointed!