Animation Question /s/

[Gorp]

To know movement...to study movement that is all around us 24 hours a day in millions of variations...and being able to create unique movement by hand is a priceless talent many people overlook. I studied with some of the greatest animators the world has to offer and I can tell you that even they say movement and the study of it is a lifelong experience. You will never know everything you want to but the knowledge you aquire from your constant observations of movement will take you farther than your wildest dreams. Think about it man, to be able to animate anything your heart desires...that is the essence of what it means to animate..to breath life into an inanimate form with your own hands...this is where life begins. Where it goes from there is up to the object or life form you are animating.

Best reguards,

Gorp

[jHromika]

I think Gorp gave a great motivational response, but I'll list my 2 cents as well.

I'm just beginning my senior year in college but I try to learn as much as I can from books as well. I've heard of people that are self taught and can animate really well, but for me college was the next step. I'd still reccomend taking classes though as long as you find a school with professors who have industry experience. You'll learn loads from them.

I've only been doing 3D animation for a little less than a year, but I find that if I get in some solid hours each night I can do 10 seconds or so in a week. This of course depends on the motion though. If you read Keith Lango's tutorial on his site, he mentions a decent amount of character animation complete with lip sync is about 15-20 seconds in a 40 hour work week. For features it might be about half that though because the animation tends to be a lot more polished (nothing against non-feature work of course, its just the deadline thing there).

If you want to read about character rigging, I suggest Alias|Wavefront's Character Rigging and Animation book. It's a bit pricey, but it covers exactly how to build a good basic rig as well as speaking a bit on the technical side. I'm sure you could find it used somewhere for a good deal.

To me being able to entertain someone by making a bunch of polygons dance around is one of the best feelings in the world. It's also a great way for my introvert self to get out and have some fun :thumbsup:

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