7 Most Common Mistakes Animators Make and How to Avoid Them | Become a Better Animator

hey guys this video is basically about the  cardinal sins that i see so many animators   making time and time again especially when i've  got interns coming in or junior animators or   even animators who've been in the industry for a  while these are just things that they sometimes   forget now obviously the worst mistake you can  make is forgetting the 12 basic principles of   animation but this video is not about that  because that's a whole other story although   some of the points that are raised here do touch  on those principles because obviously they are the   foundation of any good animation but these are  the other mistakes that animators still really   commonly make and ways to either avoid or fix  those mistakes without further ado let's get into   what you shouldn't be doing and what you should  be doing instead number one twinning twinning   is basically when your character is symmetrical  either in movement or in pose now the way to avoid   twinning is to put a slight delay on what could be  symmetrical actions for example check out the shot   here from frozen where kristoff has his arms up  on either side of him now this is a gesture that   is actually really commonly used and with less  experienced animators they'll often use twinning   but see how in this shot his shoulders are uneven  one is slightly more raised than the other and his   head is tilted slightly his body is tilted a bit  too his hands are not both rotated to the same   angle and then when he lowers his hands one moves  faster than the other that movement is offset   so symmetry and twinning is avoided here in a  myriad of little ways that all come together to   make a really expressive shot the same applies to  facial expressions if your character is blinking   offset the blanks if their eyebrows are raising  delay the one slightly and change the angle of it   you can also avoid twinning by having a slightly  different camera perspective or a character that   is not straight onto the camera it makes for  a far more interesting shot now turning is not   always bad it can be used in certain situations  intentionally for really great dramatic effect   but you have to know what you're doing and  in reality humans and creatures basically   anything organic is not symmetrical so for  a more believable and realistic shot you   should really try to avoid turning as much as  possible now the next huge mistake that a lot   of animators do is forgetting to offset their  movements so what you can do is remember that   it's actually a cascading effect you're not going  to have movements all happening at the same time   for instance if i'm sitting here typing on  my keyboard and somebody walks into the room   i'm not just going to turn with everything to  face that person all at once that's just not   believable it's not realistic what instead  will happen is that when i first register   my eyes will move to look and then my head will  follow and then my shoulders the rest of my body   and my arms will drag behind because your body is  made up of different limbs different parts it's   not all just one part they're all separate parts  that need to be communicated to by the brain so   the synapses are firing and some parts of the body  are going to get that message sooner than others   also some parts of the body can only move after  another part has already moved you need to keep   this in mind while you're animating because  otherwise your character is going to end up   just looking like a puppet being controlled by you  the animator rather than a thinking independent   character in its own right a great example of this  is in this scene and up where carl slumps down   first his eyebrows twitch then his eyes closed  in defeat his body starts to deflate and his   right shoulder slumps while his left arm is still  holding the door then his hand lets go of the door   and drops to his side and the rest of his body  follows the action you don't have all this going   on at the same time but it's all really subtle  when you watch it happen now another mistake that   i see a lot of animators making and i hope it's  a mistake and not just ego is not using breakfast keep a mirror at your desk take video recordings  of yourself doing the action or look online for   reference but please freaking use reference i  have seen a lot of animators completely foregoing   reference and to me it is just mind-boggling  that they think they can just animate a complex   movement that a person or an animal is doing  straight from their head even the animation grades   use reference don't feel like you're above it and  then i'll see these young animators now they'll   sit and they'll tweak and they'll fiddle for hours  wondering why it's still not looking right but as   soon as they have a reference to study they'll  see that they're completely off with the way the   face distorts or the anticipation and timing of  the movement check out these reference shots that   emishi an animator who worked on spider-man into  the spider-verse shade i've linked to the article   in the description so please do yourself a  favor and check them out i adore watching   reference footage and seeing the magic that these  animators were from their own reference footage   so much of being a good animator is just having  this innate talent for acting another mistake that   i see animators making pretty often is forgetting  about weight balance and weight shifts remember   that your character needs to balance now this is  especially common i've seen with 3d animators when   they forget that they're actually working with the  character in 3d space from the front view or where   you think your camera is going to be it might  look like your character's weight is distributed   properly but when you change the camera angle you  see that in reality they would be falling over   always be aware of where your character's center  of gravity is and how it is being supported by the   character's limbs you can imagine a plum line the  same as you would when drawing something weight   shifts go hand in hand with this your character  won't stand with their weight on both feet   distributed evenly throughout different movements  their weight will shift as their upper body moves   as they anticipate their next movement and as they  react to what's happening around them often the   lower body and weight shifts are forgotten about  when animators are focusing on the upper body   the arms and the facial movements another mistake  that animators sometimes make is forgetting that a   character or an object actually has weight or mass  the points i just mentioned obviously also play   into and affect this think about your character  or the object in terms of how much it actually   weighs how heavy it is animating a really big guy  will be very different to animating a little girl   she'll be quicker she'll be lighter on her feet  and movements will have more bounce he'll move   more heavily slowly with more momentum behind his  movements and more counter action there's a great   reference for this in the animated survival kit  by richard williams which i've mentioned before   in one of my other videos your character's weight  will be conveyed with their posture how they carry   themselves squash and stretch anticipation and  exaggeration of poses and movements i so often   see walk cycles from juniors or students where  it looks like their character is floating well   their feet are hitting the ground but there's no  impact behind their steps there's no bent at the   knees there's no follow through there's no power  when they're pushing off the ground and there's   very little thought put into the distribution of  the weight or the form of the character as they   carry themselves never forget that your character  has weight and mass and that will affect all of   their movements this is also why so many animation  students have to do a character picking up a box   because then they can think about the pace of  the action the anticipation the way the character   braces themselves and the weight of the object  that they're picking up so if you've ever been   there as an animation student and you've done that  exercise or even if you haven't if you haven't   done that exercise then you probably should so  that you can think about all these considerations   in conveying weight and mass realistically when  you're animating something the next thing you need   to avoid doing is isolating body parts remember  that organic creatures have skeletons and muscles   that are connected and affect the other parts of  the body this is obviously different if you're   animating a robot or a mechanical object but with  humans and creatures our muscles and bones are   connected the body needs to compensate for and  respond to what is happening in other parts of   the body if you lift your arm you'll see your  shoulder moving too your collarbone and your   scapula in this shot where honor is waving her arm  you can see it's not just her arm that is waving   the rest of her body is moving too countering the  movement even her head check out her other arm   even though it's not doing any major movement  itself it's still moving in reaction try to   remember that your character and its actions are  the sum of all its parts you're not going to have   just one thing moving with nothing else getting  affected it's just not possible on a natural body   the last thing i'm going to mention is that a lot  of animators seem to forget about the importance   of silhouette think about the pose that your  character is making and what they are conveying   and then try to imagine if you were just  looking at the silhouette of that character   it's the same message and the same emotions still  getting conveyed to the viewer the pose needs to   be clear and easily readable even if you can't  see all the small features and it needs to be   appealing to the viewer and the easiest way to  see if it is all of these things is by looking   at the silhouette and this stands true for even  just general drawing or illustration or painting   your silhouette is really important for a strong  shot you should be able to tell what the character   is feeling and doing and their personality  traits just from the silhouette for instance   a classic hero pose he's confident strong he's  feeling good and you can read that straight away   but what about this doesn't look so good you can't  really read what's going on here with this guy if   you have a pose where the character needs to have  their arms crossed in front of them for instance   turn it so some of the arms break the line of  the silhouette so you can read it more clearly   and bring in some negative space where you can mix  up the rhythm have the hips tilt at a different   angle to the shoulders avoid twinning use  interesting angles in the lines and you'll have   a much more interesting and dynamic silhouette  so these are some of the things you should be   avoiding if you really want to be a good animator  there are so many considerations that go into   creating a really amazing animation shot and these  are just a drop in the ocean but i guarantee that   if you use these pointers your animations will  come out a lot stronger and much more believable   if you found this video useful please hit the  like button subscribe and hit the notification   button so you don't miss out on any more  videos thanks for watching love ya bye

Channel: RobynO

Views: 14,371

Keywords: animation acting, animation mistakes, animation tips and tricks, animation tips for beginners, animation workflow, common animation mistakes, how to animate for beginners, how to fix animation, how to fix my animation, how to take your animation to the next level, most common animation mistakes, next level animation, best animation practices, most common mistakes animators make, how to improve your animation skills, how to be a better 3d animator, become a better animator

Id: TvmtszOQSJ8

Length: 10min 12sec (612 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 22 2020