The 5 Most Effective Ways to Learn Animation
The SECRET to get good at anything! Simple, but not easy.
I tried many things before I finally could improve my animation skills significantly.
I wanted to share them with you, so you might not stumble aimlessly for years before you can advance your creative journey!
Here are my tried-and-true methods of how I finally became successful in leveling up my animation skills. ⏬
1️⃣ Create A Habit
The number one way to achieve anything is consistency.
It is the same way with animation. If you want to see an improvement you will need to put the continuous effort into deliberate practice.
How to create a habit, is its own larger topic. And I will share the things that worked for me in the future (something to look forward to 😉)!
WHAT to practice is another important question and that directly leads me to the second point…
2️⃣ Learn the Basics
Okay, hold on! This might sound like reeeeally boring, old white man advice… should I just do, bouncing balls and flower sacks for years and years before I can do ANYTHING else?
The inconvenient truth is: You won’t have much fun if you start directly into animating a 20min cartoon episode, or a feature film.
You, most likely will crash and burn out. I know I did, MANY times.
I started BIG projects and was absolutely frustrated and gave up after just a couple of days of banging my head against the walls with an insurmountable amount of work and new problems in front of me.
Learning the basic principles behind movement will open up new worlds, new paths, and new possibilities for you that you have not seen before.
Built up your foundation and toolbelt and you will be able to tackle problems of increasing difficulty.
But it doesn’t have to be boring…
3️⃣ Make it Fun!
I don’t think learning the basics has to be dry and boring, I believe you can always spice it up.
Find, or invent exercises that train one of the 12 principles of animation. There are infinite possibilities.
You can even do the standard ones that are found in almost any traditional animation curriculum, but spice it up with your own touch, by experimenting with COLOR, SHAPES, or STORYTELLING.
My course, the 30DayAnimator, tries exactly that, giving you fun exercises to practice the principles in a FUN and inventive way.
Don’t overwhelm yourself, but it is a nice thing to combine a thing that you are already good at, with a new concept that you are just learning or practicing.
4️⃣ Learn to LEARN
This is quite the meta-skill that will make you excel at everything in life.
It’s the teach a person how to teach a person how to teach a person… how to fish — skill. But the person is YOU.
It’s about you finding out the best way to learn. You might have noticed in school or university that certain learning techniques work well for others but not for you.
You vibe with certain ways to learn and are completely stuck with other approaches.
“Know Thyself!”
There are not many shortcuts to learning, but there is a way to BOOST what you learn…
5️⃣ Get Professional Feedback
Whatever you’re learning, getting feedback from the right person can accelerate it by a multitude.
No doubt it is possible to learn everything yourself, but there are always blind spots that you are not aware of. A good mentor will be able to spot them and point them out to you!
But getting feedback is also not a one-way street. Getting good feedback requires you to ask the right questions.
Just saying “give me feedback” is not enough. It can result in general feedback that can be ineffective.
It’s better to ask for specific feedback.
Better examples would be:
- “Give me feedback on the timing.”
- “I am not able to make the rock look heavy enough, how can I improve it”
- “The run feels too slow and stiff, how can I make it more dynamic”
In these cases, it will be much easier to provide you with the specific feedback you need.
So let’s summarize these points:
🔖 The Most Effective Way To Learn Animation!
1️⃣ Create a HABIT of deliberate practice
2️⃣ Learn the BASIC PRINCIPLES
3️⃣ Make it FUN
4️⃣ Learn to LEARN
5️⃣ Get professional FEEDBACK
If you are looking to embark on this journey of improving your animation, keep those in mind. You will find your way if you persevere! It’s not always easy.
If you are looking for the right way to start. The 30DayAnimator is a course I designed based on these very principles. It supports you in creating a habit and provides you with fun exercises that teach you the basic principles.
Learn more about the 30DayAnimator
I want to support you on your journey to becoming a great animator either way. It’s an individual path full of twists and turns, and interesting discoveries along the way.
See you next time, when I share more advice on how to level up your animations! 😉
