While animation is a complex art that can require years of schooling to perfect, for the hobbyist - and even for some self-taught professionals - it’s surprisingly easy to get started from the comfort of your own home and begin producing animations from scratch with just a little studying, hard work, and practice. Animation is an extremely progressive career option and the scope of animation is wider than ever keeping in mind how the animation industry is expanding at such a rapid rate. For learning animation first of all get familiar with the concept of animation. What is animation is the first question you should be asking yourself.

1. A Basic Guide For An Animation Student
While animation is a complex art that can require years of schooling to perfect, for the hobbyist - and
even for some self-taught professionals - it’s surprisingly easy to get started from the comfort of your
own home and begin producing animations from scratch with just a little studying, hard work, and
practice. Animation is an extremely progressive career option and the scope of animation is wider than
ever keeping in mind how the animation industry is expanding at such a rapid rate. For learning
animation first of all get familiar with the concept of animation. What is animation is the first question
you should be asking yourself.
Learn the basics first and in that way you will be able to get all further detailed points. Animation is a
very broad concept and you must have your roots strong by knowing all the basics so as to become
strong in all the modules that there are in animation.
Understand the basic principles, the terminology, the techniques - what frame rate is, the importance of
key frames, how traditional animation works, what in-between is, the various methods of animation,
why aspect ratios make a difference. Do your research, learn the lingo, and build your foundation, until
you understand character design, understand how a sequence of drawings can become a moving
picture, and understand that it’s a time-consuming process that requires a great deal of patience. Try
sketching a few walk cycles.
Make a flip book. Draw a few character sheets. Learn about principles like squash and stretch. You can
find numerous lessons online, but there are also hundreds of books that can be invaluable when it
comes to learning the principles of animation. Heck, just watch animations as much as you can. These
were just some of the key elements that you will be requiring in order to complete an animation course.
To learn the complete dynamics of animation make it a point to enroll you through both 2D and 3D
techniques. The demand for 3D is surely escalating in the market but that simply doesn’t mean that you
will forget the importance of 2D animation. Every 3D animated movie that you watch was first made in
2D. Advertisements and cartoons are still shot in 2D. Keep your options open all the time. Be firm about
what you want to pursue in the future. Do you want to be a traditional animator or a digital animator?
Are you interested in cel animation or stop-motion, 2D or 3D animation?
Some people focus on only one discipline, while others go the "jack of all trades" route. Knowing what
you want to specialize in will help you take the next path. Get to know a working knowledge of all the
software and tools which you will be using whilst your animation course. Flash Animation CC, Toon
Boon harmony, After Effects and TV Paint are some of the major tools that are used to create animated
content.
Other than this there are a couple of other key concepts that you will need to know. You can start small
and simple and slowly develop your skills and unique style. You don’t even need to know how to draw
well. Animation is something that is developed over time and you will get the hold of it by practice. No,
seriously. Practice. Practice a lot. Practice until you’re getting carpal tunnel syndrome from cramping
your fingers around a pencil or clutching a mouse, and then keep practicing.

2. And when you’re not practicing, observe. Study life around you, study the way objects interact with
each other, study the way things move, and learn how to translate that into your animation medium.
Experiment. Find the methods, tools, and medium those work best for you, and then practice even
more.
Animators never stop learning, ever. There’s always a new way to do things, or simply something we
haven’t tried before - and animation isn’t easy. But with practice you’ll keep getting better and better,
and keep expanding until you’re producing the visions that made you want to become an animator in
the first place.
Now that you have come this far know that the scope of animation is endless. If you are passionate then
the sky is the limit. The scope of animation tends to expand over time making the jobs more popular and
happening. The demand of animation in entertainment industry is highly increasing and that makes the
bandwidth of animation very important. Other than this, you must know that animation is not limited to
a single job portfolio. There are many job roles that you can choose from.
Aside from the practical elements, you will also be taught the theory. This is where you must know the
12 principles of animation. In this article we won’t be discussing the 12 principles and what are their
functions but we surely would like to emphasize on their importance. These principles are the ground
level basic rules which will apply to all the animated content that you will make in the future.
As a starter it is always expected of you to first learn how to use the tools properly and then apply them
in order to make anything. If you directly jump into creating content without knowing how to use all the
tools then at some point your creativity will get stuck. Therefore it is essential that you get completely
equipped with the all the software that will be required and then explore the creativity with your further
work. Keep in mind to always emphasize on the thumb rules and your animation career is good to go.