Hello Dear Readers!
Up until now, we've mainly been focusing on 3D animation and software such as Autodesk Maya. However, there are different types of animation, such as conventional cartoon animation. Keeping with computer generated animation though, we'll be covering 2D computer animation in this post.
Now most people have seen an example of 3D animation, be it in Disney or Dreamworks movies, video games, commercials, etc. Not many people have heard of 2D Flash animation, though they have probably run across it. While 3D animation is quite popular among professionals using it for professional purposes, Flash animation is usually used by amateurs looking to have a little fun or create an artistic project. The following is an example of Flash animation that was created on the basis of a particular commenter's review.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/558516
Pretty nifty right? Especially considering a flash animation like that takes a fraction of the time a 3D animation of the same length would take to produce. Not only that, know those games on Facebook so many people seem to enjoy? Those are created through Flash and are actually quite fun and easy to produce with a little know-how, which we will gain as we go along.
So the next logical question is, how do I get started? Most Flash animation is done with Adobe Flash, for which you can find a free trial straight from the site. https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=flash
Once you have your free trial of Flash installed, you can proceed to these two great starting points. The first is Adobe's Flash Developer Center, which is like one large launch pad for beginning Flash developers. http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash.html
This second site is actually a great place to play some Flash games when you are looking to burn some time. However, that is not why we will be visiting it. Kongregate, aside from providing some quality games, also has an amazing series of tutorials that will help you develop a simple Flash game. The cool part? The tutorials themselves ARE simple games! Not only that, the tutorials are extremely detailed and will walk you through every step of the way. http://www.kongregate.com/labs
With all this newfound information you are now ready to begin your quest to learn Flash animation. Hope to hear from you soon! Have fun!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Getting Started Part I
Before making a big leap into purchasing software, the first thing to determine is how much you may enjoy animating, and if you have any aptitude for it. So we will now being going into finding those answers!
First thing is first, finding software. To be honest, other than Xtranormal, I can not think of many quality, free applications for animation. However, most animation products come with a free trial so you can try before you buy. Autodesk's Maya is no different. The following is a link to a free trial of Maya 2011.
Once downloaded and installed, you will have 30 days to tinker around with an industry leading program. Now I know the interface will seem daunting at first, but after a few hours of tinkering and some tutorials, you should start feeling quite comfortable with the program. Speaking of tutorials, the great thing about the Internet is the access to free information, and that includes Maya tutorials!
You can use this site to view some tutorials and familiarize yourself with Maya.
The site offers links to a number of tutorials covering all sorts of subjects. For instance, some tutorials cover something general, such as the fundamentals of Maya, while others are very specific, like modeling a sword or car.
Alternatively, you can also find a multitude of tutorials on sites such as YouTube. In fact, thanks to the content of YouTube being user generated and the some people's willingness to share their knowledge, you can find tutorials for just about anything. The other great thing is that most of the content keeps up with recent releases. So while most freely available tutorials will be for older versions of Maya (though they still work), YouTube is able to offer tutorials specifically made for Maya 2011.
Here's a link to some of those tutorials!
Hopefully you can start to get a real feel for creating and animating something from scratch.
Note: While this post may be newer, it makes for a much better starting off point than my previous post.
Note: While this post may be newer, it makes for a much better starting off point than my previous post.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Getting Started Part II
Say you've decided to really get into computer animation, but you don't know how to start. Well, look no further, for this post will cover some of the basics.
First off, you are going to need some software. There are a number of different animation programs to choose from and you can see a full list here: http://www.animationprograms.biz/top-animation-programs/ . However, one of the more popular ones as well as the one I used and studied was Autodesk's Maya, so we'll be going with that for the most part. Normally running close to a thousand dollars, students can get Maya for a fraction of the cost.
The link provided leads to a place to purchase a student software bundle including Maya and another popular program named 3DSMax. Note the hardware
http://www.studica.com/us/en/Autodesk/autodesk_education_suite_for_entertainment_creation_2011.html
Both are heavily used by the film and gaming industry respectively. A few years back when I was attending a school in Florida, Maya was the standard and I quickly learned why. It boasts a large number of helpful tools and is completely customizable so you can use it how you want to use it. Not only that, the rendered animation looks great! I had an old video file of my final project from an Animation Fundamentals class, but I can't seem to find it anymore. However, if you want to know more about Maya before making the jump, here is the product page from Autodesk's website: http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/ . It even includes a customer showcase which shows where and how Maya has been used. You may be surprised by some of the projects it helped create!
The following is a look to Maya's system requirements: http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/system-requirements/ . These are important to note because the requirements listed will decide whether you are good to go, need to upgrade your computer, or need a new computer entirely. In the event that you need a few upgrade parts or a new computer, two very good sites are http://www.newegg.com/ and http://www.tigerdirect.com/. I personally use Newegg for most, if not all of my computer hardware needs due to it's speedy delivery and low prices. Occasionally, http://www.amazon.com/ and Wal-Mart will offer competitive prices on some parts. Wal-Mart also happens to feature some pretty great deals at times when buying an actual desktop or laptop. Browsing around there and other places such as Fry's Electronics which will also help you get started on meeting and exceeding the software requirements. It may seem like a pretty big investment, and to a certain degree, it really is, but I personally feel that once you get to seeing your creations come to life, it is all worth it. Not only that, if you plan to get into other graphic intensive activities such as graphic design, upgrading makes the transition much smoother.
Once you have the software you may be wondering if you have to sign up for classes to learn how to use it or how to go about learning on your own. Given that I left the university in Florida not too long after I enrolled, I would personally opt to learn on my own. Learning on your own may sound hard, but I actually came across a great service for that as well. Digital Tutors is a great service that offers tutorials on a large number of entertainment programs from Adobe Photoshop to Maya. I've used it quite a bit and I actually think I learned more in a week of following the tutorials than I did from a semester in class. The only downside is that Digital Tutors does come at a cost.
http://www.digitaltutors.com/09/index.php
For the price of tuition for class, you can subscribe to a yearlong membership and receive unlimited access to all their tutorials. Students even get an extra 10% off, which really sweetens the deal. However, Digital Tutors is not the only solution for self learning, though it is my preferred method. There are plenty of free tutorials around the web which can teach you any number of things. For animation fledglings, there are also great community sites such as http://www.cgsociety.org/ which are dedicated to animation and have forums with really helpful people.
I had to learn a lot of this the hard way, so I hope the information I have shared with today will help someone start off their animation career or hobby on the right track.
Hope to hear from you guys soon!
SOFTWARE:
First off, you are going to need some software. There are a number of different animation programs to choose from and you can see a full list here: http://www.animationprograms.biz/top-animation-programs/ . However, one of the more popular ones as well as the one I used and studied was Autodesk's Maya, so we'll be going with that for the most part. Normally running close to a thousand dollars, students can get Maya for a fraction of the cost.
The link provided leads to a place to purchase a student software bundle including Maya and another popular program named 3DSMax. Note the hardware
http://www.studica.com/us/en/Autodesk/autodesk_education_suite_for_entertainment_creation_2011.html
Both are heavily used by the film and gaming industry respectively. A few years back when I was attending a school in Florida, Maya was the standard and I quickly learned why. It boasts a large number of helpful tools and is completely customizable so you can use it how you want to use it. Not only that, the rendered animation looks great! I had an old video file of my final project from an Animation Fundamentals class, but I can't seem to find it anymore. However, if you want to know more about Maya before making the jump, here is the product page from Autodesk's website: http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/ . It even includes a customer showcase which shows where and how Maya has been used. You may be surprised by some of the projects it helped create!
HARDWARE:
LEARNING:
Once you have the software you may be wondering if you have to sign up for classes to learn how to use it or how to go about learning on your own. Given that I left the university in Florida not too long after I enrolled, I would personally opt to learn on my own. Learning on your own may sound hard, but I actually came across a great service for that as well. Digital Tutors is a great service that offers tutorials on a large number of entertainment programs from Adobe Photoshop to Maya. I've used it quite a bit and I actually think I learned more in a week of following the tutorials than I did from a semester in class. The only downside is that Digital Tutors does come at a cost.
http://www.digitaltutors.com/09/index.php
For the price of tuition for class, you can subscribe to a yearlong membership and receive unlimited access to all their tutorials. Students even get an extra 10% off, which really sweetens the deal. However, Digital Tutors is not the only solution for self learning, though it is my preferred method. There are plenty of free tutorials around the web which can teach you any number of things. For animation fledglings, there are also great community sites such as http://www.cgsociety.org/ which are dedicated to animation and have forums with really helpful people.
I had to learn a lot of this the hard way, so I hope the information I have shared with today will help someone start off their animation career or hobby on the right track.
Hope to hear from you guys soon!
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