If you are not the best animator or you are the best at it refrences can be awesome and helpful. We talked about using 3d as a reference but you can use an actual person as well.
Here are some videos talking about animating using references and still drawing as well.
Want to know how to make anime? Well check out how it is done. Watch it done here.
I remember back in the day when I first realized you could make your own animations on the computer and then upload them for everyone to see.
I thought this was one of the most amazing things since it was something I wanted to do as a child. I first discovered Newgrounds. I remember back then in the late 90s and early 2000s that you had a lot of limitations. We didn’t really have streaming back then as we do today. Artists had to be clever and creative to keep the file size down. Today those limitations are gone but I still have to remember some of the classics that were more than just a quick cartoon with a poop joke at the end.
Here are some of those early animations that inspired me to start doing online animation.
This was one of the early OGs of 2000.
Ninjai
Genryu’s Blade: This one started many creating their own episodes. I don’t know where this guy went. He became a legend and disappeared.
Sadly I wish both these creators and groups would have kept their momentum and continued creating as they did before because with the invention of youtube these guys would have been the early innovators and would probably be a big company like Rooster Teeth is today creating content. Timing is everything.
But thanks guys for the inspiration.
Watching this video reminds me of the time I started using Flash and that Ifinally had the ability to do what I always wanted to do and that was make animation.
Looks like I was not the only out there. Enjoy this little documentary about the Rise of Animation.
Here is part 1 by the way!
I was looking for videos about how to make anime and came across this.
Here is the making of video
Now I know what you are thinking. What can I learn from this? Actually you can learn 3 important things.
1. You want to make money out of your anime you have to reach an audience. Or if you simply want as many people to enjoy it you must find an audience. Notice how may hits this guy has. It is in Spanish. There are tons of fans in the world who love, love, love anime. Why not create something specific for some group especially if you are part of said group. Like this guy.
2. Get out and film live action shots and learn how to piece things together without having first sit down and animate. It will greatly increase your skills and who says your story has to be animated?
3. If you want it animated then try this…..film it in real life, then animate on top of it.
This reminded me of those Japanese, novels/games. Someone let me know the name. I have been enjoying this. I think he also uses a psuedo 3d method to create this animated series.
If you want to tell your story here is another way to do it.
I love 2d work very much. I love it even more when both 3d is used to bring an extra upgrade in quality. The other day I was checking out Mike Inel’s work. I found this little video where Mike uses a type of mocap, rotoscoping and then tracing over the 3d work. I’ll let you check out the process here below.
I noticed Otaking using a similiar process. I think this helps take his 2d to the next level.
This should help you in your endeavors especially if you are not the best artist. You could easily use Poser characters and trace over them in a 2d package. Daz is free and you could do the same thing. Go for it. Make your own anime today.
Yes you can make your anime in full 3d animation. I am here to tell you it is not as hard as you think. In fact it may be a little easier than 2d style and give you the full on animation. Remember I shared several different methods with you. Each method can be used to quickly and creatively produce a visual story.
I personally like 3d animation because once the assets are done the creation of animation can move so much more quickly. I will mention though that a few tricks you would use in 2d would not work as well. For example a common trick in anime is to pan a 2d picture and hold that one frame. In 3d you almost constantly have to be moving unless celshaded or if it is more 2d rendered in nature and even still it may look a little weird. Another drawback is creating all those assets. It is very difficult and takes a lot of time.
BUT….
Once you create those assets you can reuse them over and over again and in any angle and even change the entire style. And that is where you can really take off. A ton of lone animators work using 3d to speed up the pace but also to raise the quality level a bit that might not be achievable in 2d. 2d does have a certain warmth to it but for the visual storyteller 3d may be your best bet for speed and quality.
But then again I think this 3d rendering of Snoopy in 2d captures it really well and adds a depth I do not think possible in 2d full animation. It feels so warm and fuzzy.
So imagine the above if you have a 3d model. You can easily reposition it, move it around, animate and render it in any angle and have them do anything.
3d can give you a real advantage if you do not want to draw frame by frame and do not want limited animation or the 2d tween/puppet style animation.
M Dot strange was able to in the last 10 years create 3 FULL Length animated features using 3d.
Dave was able to make this in about 18 months I believe.
Jeff Lew made this full animated feature in 3 years.
The World Gone Mad was created in 5 months.
The point is that you can make a series or a full fledged movie and it will not takeyou an eternity to do it utilizing 3d. I would say if you use some shortcuts and tricks you would greatly speed up you work and could possibly get a good average of about 3-6 minutes of animation a month, maybe even more. All it really takes is the models that are rigged and ready to move. The quality really depends on you.
I made this in less than 3 hours.
I mean it is not a master piece by any means but it gives you the idea of the speed and quality that can be achieved using some shortcuts.
The question is “What if I don’t know how to 3d model?”
Well the answer is there are tons of resources out there that provide you with 3d models that you can “Kit Bash” or just find the right outfit.
Poser, Daz 3d, IClone, MMD (freeware Anime making software).
All of these can be used to make an animated series, cartoon, anime, etc.
People may laugh, especially in the CG/Special FX and 3d community for using pre-made models and a program that seems like a toy or digital Barbie doll but the tools are what you make of them. (That is another post all together)
Here is an example of Poser being used in Animation
Mac Wave Studios has some great work.
Could your movie look like that? YES! Using pre-built props and characters. I don’t want to make it sound so easy but basically the scene above looks like Victoria from Daz 3d, background looks like something StoneMason created which you can purchase at Daz3d.com and some Mocap files with some great rendering and lighting in Cinema 4d.
All those things are now available to you.
What? Even MOCAP. Yes. Mocap has gotten cheaper and easier to use.
http://ipisoft.com/ here is a link to cheap Mocap Sofware.
http://brekel.com/ here is a free Mocap Software.
IClone’s pro package has MOCAP built into it.
Both of these 2 software packages use a Kinect Camera connected to a computer. Go to Amazon.com and get one for 45-150 usd.
Or if you do not have Mocap you can do something like this.
Addressing the folks who may laugh at you for using Poser, Daz3d, IClone, or MMD please check out the animations below.
Rosa was made using what looks like Aiko 4 or 5. Definitely Daz characters. This animation was made in about 1 year by 1 person.
RWBY is now a very popular US made Anime series created by Monty Oum. He uses Poser to animate with more custom characters. He has some great making of videos and tutorials. You can glean a lot from watching others work.
One of my favorite up and coming artists uses FREEWARE MMD to create animated shows. Kel-Chan is featured here. She uses “Kit Bashing” which basically is using bits and pieces from one character to the next to make original characters.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/650267
The point is you can do some really cool stuff using 3d and you can get alot done. Add some imagination and creative thinking and you can create something worth watching.
Okay so when you think of telling a story visually, especially in animation you may be wondering what kind of animation can I make especially if I am a single person working on a project.
I wanted to show you the different styles you can work on and actually get things done. Here are some different types of animations you can make. Hopefully this gives you ideas on telling your stories visually.
1. Minimum animation.
This style is one of the easiest because it takes less drawings and less art and is yet still beautiful and fun to watch.
Here are some examples of the Minimum animation style.
D7 Peacemaker
Technical Dave
Broken Saints
Afterworld
Now I know these are not anime per se but the concept is still there. Could you tell your story in a minimalist style? Notice Afterworld which is about 13 hours long. If your story is good could you tell it with minimum animation? Could you concentrate on telling the story with great visuals doing it this way? Could you hire an artist who can draw just a few drawings and tell a whole story?
Anime incorporates a lot of pans and slides all the time. This is just a simpler form of that. I use the above examples because they are entertaining and tell a very big story which otherwise might not have been possible any other way.
What kind of story could you tell this way?
PS here is a nice version of that.
Less animation but still visually stunning. I think if you have limited time and money you could go this route and still tell an awesome story.
This is just an idea of what you can do with simple tools, a little time and ingenuity. Kel-Chan will be featured on this site quite often. Kel-Chan has been on the front page of Newgrounds.com several times with her various anime styled animations. One thing I love about Kel-Chan is she uses what she can at her disposal, has learned the art of kit bashing and can turn out work very quickly with great quality. Keep an eye out for Kel-Chan.
