Current Events > How long would it take to learn 2D animation?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Doesnt even need to be that good, just enough to get the job done.

Id even take Life & Times Of Tim level. I can at least draw as good or better than this already (which isnt that much of an accomplishment).

https://youtu.be/XmTkVLoGEzI


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You can learn it quick, but it takes some practice to be able to do it in a timely manner.

Hence why you see all these shortcuts with anime characters who only have moving mouths & nothing else, Disney reusing stock scenes & drawing over them, rotoscoping, so-bad-its-good style, integrating 3D as a crutch, etc etc

Would you say it takes months or years to get to at least this level?

Are there any good online programs to learn or would I need to take legit classes?

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EffectAndCause posted...

Would you say it takes months or years to get to at least this level?

Are there any good online programs to learn or would I need to take legit classes?

Like I said, if you know what youre doing you can just sit down and do this. Right now. Itll just take forever.

Google some tutorials, man, and poke around a bit until one clicks with you :)

it's less about how complicated it is to do
and more about how long it takes to do

trust me, no one enjoys spending years on a small project

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Theres a technique to learning techniques

isnt that weird?

Xethuminra posted...

Like I said, if you know what youre doing you can just sit down and do this. Right now. Itll just take forever.

Google some tutorials, man, and poke around a bit until one clicks with you :)

This is the least specific or helpful post in the history of questions ever answered, but I appreciate you taking the time to contribute.

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EffectAndCause posted...

This is the least specific or helpful post in the history of questions ever answered, but I appreciate you taking the time to contribute.

What did you want?

Me to explain storyboarding, proof of concept, outlining, and the like?

Sure, go for it.

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Thats gonna take awhile.

What are you trying to animate, exactly?? It gets complicated, dude. You gotta draw around key frames.... You gotta time everything. Why dont you just rotoscope some shit to start with, ok?

I have written a script for an 11 minute comedy short that id like to bring to life, similar to the video I posted. The animation doesnt even need to be any better than that.

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I mean,

Thats like asking how to Paint Like The Masters. you basically go for it and then you keep going for it and then you edit it and then you take it all from the ground up over and over and over again until its right. What a lot of people do (even for the all your favorite animations) is they draw over top of film. Its the equivalent to using a model or painting a portrait. So, you know... film yourself do the appropriate action, and then draw your thing on top of that in Flash or something similar.

Seriously

Thats how they get those beautiful realistic hand & hair animations to look like that. After awhile, you can cut the rails loose & just do it all by hand.... more or less.

Some people animate to a dub and other people basically animate the entire thing, maybe minus the mouths (depending) and then dub over top of it. Its not a one-size fits all artform. You can even do a combination of the two.

Then you got shows like Archer & South Park which basically have digital puppets. Kinda the evolution of the Sealab tech or whatever

South Park was originally paper cut outs they manipulated and swapped out