I’ve created a series of short movies about my transition to KRITA from Photoshop. Krita is free, and like Photoshop has an animation timeline built in. Krita’s animation features are much stronger than Photoshops, so if you’re looking to liberate yourself from a monthly subscription fee, this might be a good option. I’ll be doing…
I’ve created a 30-minute course on how to draw and color characters in Photoshop. Links to the individual movies if you lose track of youtube’s wonky playlist: 1: INTRODUCTION An overview of the software and process of drawing. 2: DRAWING The gesture line is tied down, then cleaned up. 3: COLORING Using masks to…
Via animationmeat.com, another old technical manual from the Don Bluth Dublin studio, ‘The Perfect Pan’. (PDF) I still have my own copy, which I ran off the studio xerox machine – I don’t think animationmeat will mind me mirroring theirs instead of me re-shooting it! Unlike the film department’s cheeky ‘Exposing Fievel’ which is mostly…
Watching these Dragon’s Lair videos brought back a memory! I worked in Bluth’s Dublin studio in the late 80s/early 90s. I had just been promoted to the animation department and was at my desk on the 6th floor. Someone peeped in and said that the guys from the film lab had dug up the 35mm…
I’ve compiled my classes into a single unified list of my Linkedin Learning tutorials. They’re organised to help you find the topics most relevant to your needs. I’ve added classes on FX (water, fire, smoke, etc), as well as secondary courses on each of the 21 Foundations of Animation. If you need to become a…
Movies from my LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering cartoon physics & exaggeration, assembled into a virtual course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there! CARTOON PHYSICS 1: CENTER OF MASS Just because we call it ‘cartoon physics’ doesn’t mean it doesn’t have rules! Objects still…
Movies in my LYNDA/LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering anticipation, overshoot & settle, assembled into a virtual course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there! 1: INTRODUCTION TO ANTICIPATION Before moving right we anticipate the action by moving slightly left for a few frames. On the…
Movies in my LYNDA/LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering silhouettes & reversals, assembled into a ‘virtual’ course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there! 1: PANTOMIME Most classically trained animators lean towards pose to pose, as this allows them to block in the scene, starting from the…
Movies in my LYNDA/LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering straight ahead vs. pose-to-pose animation, assembled into a virtual course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there! 1: STRAIGHT AHEAD Straight ahead is the loosest way to animate, as you move from key to key forward…
Movies in my LYNDA/LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering secondary action (drag), assembled into a ‘virtual’ course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there! NOTE: some people like to use ‘secondary’ action to refer to background action or characters not in the foreground. All well and…
Movies in my LYNDA/LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering timing, spacing & easing, assembled into a virtual course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there! 1: TIMING & SPACING BASIC Timing and spacing are not the same thing! By changing the timing charts or tween settings…
Movies in my LYNDA/LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering squash & stretch, assembled into a ‘virtual’ course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there! 1: SQUASH & STRETCH Basic intro to squash & stretch – the degree of squash and stretch has a direct effect on…
Movies in my LYNDA/LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering opposing action & overlap, assembled into a virtual course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there! OPPOSING ACTION 1: OPPOSING ACTION: BASIC A very simple foundation of animation is the opposing action. You’re likely to create it…
Movies in my LYNDA/LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering counterpose & leading actions assembled into a virtual course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there! COUNTERPOSE / TORQUE 1: RENAISSANCE Artists have known for centuries that by rotation the hips and shoulders relative to one another,…
Via inked-dreams, the well known 22 shortcuts by comic artist Wally Wood (a frequent contributor to ‘Mad Magazine‘). Wally hated to work needlessly, so developed many cheats and shortcuts to get the job done efficiently. David Apatoff has a great series of essays about Wally Wood, well worth reading. WW was a deeply unhappy man,…
Movies in my LYNDA/LINKEDIN-LEARNING ‘Tips & Tricks’ series covering arcs, assembled into a ‘virtual’ course. BTW, check out my patreon, there’s going to be a lot of animation resources posted there. 1: BOUNCING BALL Basic and boring, but let’s start with it anyway. The bouncing ball teaches us timing, spacing, squash and stretch, and more…