Teaching Yourself 2D Animation?

A craftsman makes things that people can consume and need (chairs, picture frames). An artist makes things people can consume but don't need (paintings, films, monster trucks). Just off the top of my head...

Arguably the quickest way to learn it is by making your own, as yogyog wrote. Just draw a bunch of cels, scan them in, and put them in sequence using Adobe After Effects or whatever.

i dont know what cels are what are they

C'mon dude, this is basic stuff. Do some research that doesn't involve asking other people to find your answers for you.

That's becoming more of a crutch, I think - there was a time when I too didn't know basic information like that but now I see it as basic as learning to spell correctly.

Hello.

Here are a few more websites you will find helpful in your quest...

www.awn.com/tooninstitute (My site with about dozen free animation lessons- that you have to be willing to do...about 65 pages worth if info)

www.karmatoons.com (Animator Doug Compton's website wherethere are 39 pages of info.)

www.fineart.sk (It has developed into a gamer anatomy refence site- but it still has several of the Andrew Loomis books- complete and free.)

That should keep you going.....

Thanks.

I dont think anyone has mentioned these yet, but Richard Williams' book The Animators Survival Kit [(ISBN: 0-571-20228-4) $30.00] and the Always lovely Frank Thoman and Ollie Joshnston's The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation [(ISBN: 0-7868-6070-7) $60.00] Lots of Animation info and Practical Techniques in these...they're like the animation bibles. You could probably find cheap ones on ebay or half.com or random bookstores. Hope this helps!

-Mole

Montreal,

The books that have been suggested to you are a good start, especially the Richard Williams book, as it is built more like a tutorial book.

I assume you are from Montreal (as am I). Finding a school in your proximity that can help you develop your talent and knowledge in animation will be tough. The best you will find in this neck of the woods in Concordia University, and they are shawdy at best. Ottawa (Algonquin College) has a very good animation program though, and it is government subsidized, so you will not pay an arm and a leg for it. If you are liking the idea of Vancouver, I would suggest that you look into Capilano college too, as they too have a good program. I am personally not a big fan of VFS... They are overproiced, and everyu portfolio I have seen from people applying for jobs from tehre is on the weak side.

As for all the people suggesting FLASH to you, Flash is fine, but may not give you the effect you are looking for. It is very limited, and there is a learning curve to the software... You can do some really cool stuff with it if you are a seasoned pro with it, but... It sounds to me like you want to do the classical stuff, and explore those horizons, so flipping drawings will satisfy that need probably for you. There are other VERY easy software packages out there that you can get your hands on for little money that will assemble all of your drawings for you and show your work.

Anyways... Hope this helps you out. If you need more info on anything, feel free to PM me.

Cheers

If your a computery person, I'd recomend you get yourself some animation software. Myself I started to teach myself animation when I got Flash. The film I first started is at www.yogyog.org/animation/mooncat.html though it is the 2nd I finneshed.

the more innate talent you'll need to start with. and i'm talking
even-your-enemies-think-you're-a-genius kinda talent rather than
my-friends-tell-me-i'm-good kinda thing.

then there's the whole discipline thing that a school can give you.
(mainly other people asking you if you've started practicing already.)
it's sometimes hard to have that by yourself unless you have
overwhelming passion and drive.

being deprived of contact will have a significant drawback.
mentoring and exposure to other people's work will account to
the other half of your improvement.

I think that last post was a little negative.
I admit that I was on a Fine Art degree at the time, so though I wasn't really taught animation, I was encouraged to do it. As a film-maker you might do best to make a film with a few animated sections to try stuff out with. I find learning by making short films much better than mearly trying out techneques. And we're all still learning, arn't we?

And we're all still learning, arn't we?

I'm not, my brain got full years ago. :(

:p

the more innate talent you'll need to start with. and i'm talking
even-your-enemies-think-you're-a-genius kinda talent rather than
my-friends-tell-me-i'm-good kinda thing.

then there's the whole discipline thing that a school can give you.
(mainly other people asking you if you've started practicing already.)
it's sometimes hard to have that by yourself unless you have
overwhelming passion and drive.

being deprived of contact will have a significant drawback.
mentoring and exposure to other people's work will account to
the other half of your improvement.

I agree these are the strong points of studying something in a classroom setting, but with the internet and places like AWN, you can get some of that interaction without attending a proper school, these days.

what are cels?

I can't tell if that was sarcastic.

Buy the following books:
The Animators Survival Kit, Richard Williams
Cartoon Animation, Preston Blair
Acting for Animators, Ed Hooks

Read those books multiple times, cover to cover and practice everyday.

I am a self taught animator and I learned from reading and practicing what I have read. Not a day goes by where I dont animate something, even if it's just for an hour or two. I recieved tons of help from my friends here and they have helped me to grow very quickly. Each time you animate something you should post it here. Everyone is extremly helpful and gives honest critiques.

Plus you get a free cookie every 50000 posts.

i dont know what cels are what are they

Defenetly try the Flash fully featured 30 day demo, you might want to borrow a wacom tablet unless your good drawing with a mouse, and do a google animators group search for tutorials and lessons, there's plenty out there.
And I totally agree you will learn the most by diving into it doing your own
original stuff, and don't give up so easilly animating is not a cake walk, but the experience can be highlly fullfilling and entertaining.

some good reads on the susbject: The animators Survival kit by Richard Williams, Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation(this used to be freely avilable to browse on line but I think the're redoing the site or something= http://www.freetoon.com/ )

sites where you can learn the craft:
http://www.animationcorner.com
http://acmeanimation.org
http://www.animationmeat.com
http://awn.com

Also try doing 3d animation (I personally switch back and forth all the time)
dowload this totally free and awesome! 3d modelling & animation software
is very well supported and has a great community. http://blender3d.org
:D

don't have any here.
taught myself until i became animation director for 21 years.
learned through the hard way-- by fire.

so i really am sort of anti-school-- as is common with self-taught people.
what? thousands of dollars for a year or so? that's a rip-off!

but then having met the people here-- both educators and students--
i learned to respect the academic route.

and come to think of it: saying i taught myself is really not completely
true and would even be downright inconsiderate and conceited.

a lot of american, canadian ex-pats supervised me. i was among a group
of passionately talented people and benefited from seeing their work
or just chatting with them.

which now comes to my diluted opinion.
have money? sure go ahead. mentorship and peer exposure. tops.
no money? that's my kid. load up on passion and drive for most of the
time it will be just the voices in your head.

if you can find a group, good.
if you can find a sweat shop, better.

as for me, no matter how good i was, i am indebted to those who helped me.

and if i have money and that sweat shop is closed, i'd go to school
and have the time of my life.

For some reason the word "craft" has an icky connotation to it...I wonder if it's becoming colloquial for "art."

Very strange, this morning while lying in bed I was thinking of the difference between a craftsman and an artist. I think a craftsman has mastered a skill and uses it well, while an artist tries to create new skills, or tries to push the limits of existing skills. Thats what my sleepy brain came up with anyway.