That crude, flickering ball? That is the first motion. That is the first soul. Walt Disney started there. Hayao Miyazaki started there. You start there. We animate because the static world isn't enough. We need to see the wind. We need to see the blush. We need to see the moment a monster turns into a friend.
You don’t need to be a draftsman to be an animator. You need to be an observer. You need to watch how a friend holds a coffee cup when they are exhausted. You need to notice that a dog wags its tail before it sees you, not after. You need to understand timing. That crude, flickering ball
Whether you are moving a bezier handle in After Effects or smearing charcoal on a sheet of celluloid, you are doing the same sacred act. You are dividing time into fragments (24 frames per second) and deciding what happens in the gaps. Walt Disney started there
Keep moving. Keep flipping. Keep animating. What is the first thing you ever animated? A clay blob? A stick figure fight? Let me know in the comments below. We animate because the static world isn't enough
All three are magic. Stop fighting. Start animating. I meet a lot of people who say, "I love animation, but I can’t draw a straight line."
Good. Straight lines are boring.
There is a specific moment in every animator’s career that changes them forever.