Animation : My first animation project by Jeff Kirkland

Jeff Kirkland

My first animation project

Hi All, I'm a writer/director from Australia and I'm completely new to the world of animation so I'm looking forward to meeting and learning some of the community here. Right now I'm animating the last two pages of a sci-fi series pilot I wrote last year and having never animated anything before, it's been the most fun, frustrating, exciting, and tedious thing I've ever done. I think I'm hooked.

Martin Reese

Can't wait to see it!

Jeff Kirkland

Martin Reese Me too. Hopefully mid-year.:-)

Karen "Kay" Ross

LOL! I love that - yeah, even when it's frustrating if you're still at it, that's a good sign ;-) Have you considered hiring someone else to create the concept art/ elements, and then you just create the motion? Just as an initial animatic, this type of "flash animation" could be a way to go. Although, if you're doing 3D, you could also do something like Adobe Character Animate where you include all the assets and then have actor recognition "animate" it for you. Just in case you want other things to frustrate you ;-) Have fun, and keep us posted on your progress!

Jeff Kirkland

Karen "Kay" Ross Thanks for the reply. If I had a choice I'd get someone else to do the animation and I'd create the concept art - 'cause that's the easy bit - and I'd stick to writing and directing. Anyway, this is all 3D animated, which I'd never done before. it's been a learning curve but an enjoyable one. So much so, I've already started doodling around with some character design for the next animated short I have in mind once this is in the can.

Elaine Haygood

If I can make a suggestion. check out Trent Kaniuga on YouTube. He's the owner of Aquatic Moon which is a company that specializes in Concept/Character Design Art for the Gaming Industry.

While you might think, what that's got to do with you. consider that sometimes, we get some of our best learning through Interdisciplinary study.

Trent is great at going over all the basics from designing backgrounds\Characters that need to be rendered in a 3D environment. Covering everything from overall backdrops like cities\towns, landscapes to the finite details of everything from a single building to something as mundane as a pushcart or a piece of weaponry.

https://www.youtube.com/c/TrentKaniuga/featured

He has more in-depth tutorials on his Gumroad site but there are some simpler things on his channel that I have found helpful.

Bob Harper

Welcome to the world of animation, hope you enjoy suffering through the process.

Anthony Hand

Can't wait to see more! Hang in there... Animation is really tough and time consuming.

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