AnimationMentor TipsTricks EveryAnimator PDF

What Type of Animator Should I Be?
By: Erik Morgansen

3
Why I Learned Cartoony Animation
By Felipe Almeida
11
Are You Meant to Be a Game Animator?
By: Justin Owens
15
Why I Learned Game Animation
By: Ben Boyle
20
Meet the Award-Nominated Horizon Zero
Dawn Animators from Animation Mentor
By: Peer Lemmers and Richard Oud
27
What Separates a Good Animator
from a Bad Animator?
By: Dana Boadway-Masson
37
How to Maximize Your Productivity
By: David Tart
40
I’ll Never Be as Good an Animator as So and So...
By: Shawn Kelly
49
The 12 Basic Principles of Animation
By: Various Animation Mentor Mentors
54
Animation Mentor Courses and Workshops 56
Copyright 2018 © by Animation Mentor. All rights reserved. This ebook may not be reprinted or distributed in electronic, print, web, or
other format without express written permission. For education purposes only. 2
Erik Morgansen is a mentor and ANIMATION MENTOR: What
Industrial Light & Magic animator who kind of work do you need
has worked on films like Ant-Man, when submitting your demo
Jurassic World, Avatar, and more! reel to the various types of
studios?
This webinar was so inspiring that we
decided to catch up with him right ERIK: With all of these, the answer
after for some additional questions is similar in the sense that you want
we thought would be applicable to to customize your real at least for the
all students and aspiring animators studio, and at best for the specific project
out there, no matter what part of the that you’d be staffed on (sometimes it’s
animation journey you’re at. You’ll soon not possible to know this, but if you can,
find that in whichever track you decide find out!). In other words, if you were
to pursue, anything is possible in the applying to DreamWorks for a sequel to
world of animation! How to Train Your Dragon, you’d want
to include some creature animation on
So, without further ado, read on and your reel that shows you can do weight/
become inspired. physics/and character performances.
You’d also want to show some human-
type acting and action performances. If you are doing cinematics, same
concept applies, you just may want to
What if you don’t have any of those show less cycles and more complete
specific things to show? You can begin shots with multiple characters, action,
to get a little creative with your reel and acting.
submission. Maybe you’ve got some bird
animations that show you can do flight ANIMATION STUDIO:
patterns or wing cycles? Maybe you’ve For feature animation work, showing
got some very cartoony pantomime stuff that you can do acting performances
with a very stylized human character? will likely be the most helpful. These
films are all about telling stories.
At some point you’ll need to consider Characters emoting in both subtle
what is your most relevant work and and broad ways (both comedic and
what is your best work. Ideally you dramatic) are typically what make up
will show the work that you consider the majority of the footage of these
to be your best. If you have a shot that films. There’s always a ton of other stuff
specifically applies to a show that you (fights, chases, slapstick or pantomime),
want to get staffed-on, and you think it’s but these movies always are centered
not the best representation of your skills, around moving a narrative forward by
you may need to make a judgement call characters saying and doing things, so
about including it. I’d focus there first.
As for the specific types of studios Another thought to consider is that

you may be applying to, here are some ‘family’ movies are often times being
thoughts: produced at these types of studios. It’s
best to leave crude jokes and profanity
GAMES: out of your reel when submitting here.
For in-game animation, cycles are I’ve seen this really work against people
definitely good. Again you want to in the past.
consider the type of game, is it Halo or
Mario Bros? If it’s a realistic looking VFX STUDIO:
game, having realistic human characters Realistic looking motion with a lot of
doing naturalistic human action is detail is the key here. You do have a
going to be most helpful to show. For bit of range as well (depending on the
a cartoon style game, obviously more type of film you are applying to work
stylized squash-and-stretch motion is on). You may be working specifically
best. Copyright 2018 © by Animation Mentor. All rights reserved. This ebook may not be reprinted or distributed in electronic, print, web, or
on aerial or space battles with flying ERIK: Yes! Those are all good
vehicles, horses crossing a deep suggestions. Getting mentorship of
river, digital-doubles running from some kind is really important as well
explosions, or robots fighting. In each (either in this program or by some
case you’ll want to show very realistic other means). A big part of what you
weight and physics and have some ‘dirt’ are doing when you develop your skills
(or realistic/organic looking detail). as an animator is developing your ‘eye’,
or your critical sensibility surrounding
BOUTIQUE STUDIO: your effectiveness in expressing yourself
This is a place where you can thrive through this medium. Jeez, did I just
more as a generalist, sometimes even type that? In any case, I think you know
between disciples. You are also likely to what I mean. When you look at a shot
work on different styles of animation as in progress, can you see the problem
well. You should be able to get away with areas with timing and spacing? Are
showing a more varied reel here (a mix there places where you can see that the
of stylized and more realistic work). You attitude can be stronger or that you need
may even benefit from showing rigging, more texture or energy?
modeling, simulation, and texturing and
lighting skills. You can get a huge jump on this by
watching other really experienced
Again, as with all of these types animators critique your work. I
of studios, you’ll want to find out remember the first time a really
specifically the type of project or role accomplished anim supervisor with a 2d
they are hiring for and design your reel background stepped through one of my
around that as much as you possibly shots and drew-over my work on 1’s, I
can. was completely floored. At that point, I
had no idea that people scrutinized their
ANIMATION MENTOR: You work to that level of detail. It completely
had suggested to try every changed the way that I’ve approached
my work ever since. I’ve had countless
type of animation and find
other experiences like that in my career
what type of animator you
as I’ve learned this craft from other
could be. How should one people. I really doubt that I could have
get started? (ex. Short film, ever arrived at any of these lessons if
taking courses, tutorials, I’d simply looked at books, or online
etc.) tutorials, or studied other people’s work.
ANIMATION MENTOR: You shots in on time, or let production know
highlighted that mentorship ahead of time if there’s going to be a
is crucial in really grasping delay?
and understanding the art
There aren’t necessarily any right or
of animation – what kind of
wrong answers when it comes to doing
mentor are you and what is the assignments in AM, but there
your teaching philosophy? are ways that are going to fulfill the
requirements of being a professional
ERIK: My main approach to mentoring
animator better than others. I’m
is to try to give students a clear picture
either trying to steer students in that
of what it’s like to work in this industry.
direction, or making it clear that they
This is what I feel like I didn’t have
have a choice, but one way will make
access to when I was first learning how
for a better presentation when they are
to animate, and what proved to be
looking for a job.
most valuable when I did finally begin
working with people who had a lot of
Beyond that, unless a student is really
experience.
stuck and asking for a lot of help with
their story, I’m really hands-off. I want
I make a point of always relating the
students to feel like they own their shots,
assignments to the kinds of expectations
and I’m just here for guidance. People do
you’ll face when you are working
better work in that kind of scenario. The
professionally. When I do critiques, I
best directors and animation supervisors
look at the work from this perspective as
that I’ve worked with all do this.
well. Directors have specific things that
they expect from us as storytellers, so I
steer students in a direction that would ANIMATION MENTOR: In
best demonstrate these. Animation your opinion, what are the
supervisors have specific things they most common mistakes that
want to see in our work (weight, students consistently do?
timing, etc), but they also have specific What is your advice on how
expectations about how we work. Do we to counteract them?
show our blocking early? Do we include
all of our ideas in the rough passes? Do ERIK: From a technical standpoint,
we ask the right kinds of questions? students are usually struggling with
Show up to dailies on time? Get our getting enough variation in the timing
of the various parts of the body. It’s
common to see the hip and chest and information about what your character’s
arms all moving as one unit for at least intention is. I find that I’m usually giving
part of a shot. I often see action that students notes on eye-direction up to
either starts or stops without enough the end of the assignment.
anticipation or follow-through. Parts
of the body sticking in space for many For this it’s really important to know
frames is really common too. your character and understand the
To solve this, It’s helpful to think about situation that they are in. You need to
the hierarchy of the muscle systems approach this part of your work the
in the body. Big muscles more slower same way that an actor would and really
than small ones. Eyes and eyelids have get in the skin of your character. Know
tiny muscles that move really fast. The what they want and how they relate
muscles around the hip are much bigger, to the people or environment around
move more slowly, take longer to get them. Know why they are doing or
going and to stop moving. You just need saying something. Know the point of the
to make a decision about what will be shot. This is really a specific case-by-case
driving your action and then plan ahead problem.
so that it feels like the whole body is
involved, and each part is moving at ANIMATION MENTOR: What
it’s own speed. It may sound like I’m is the most gratifying aspect
oversimplifying it, but that’s really the of being a mentor? Do you
key. learn from the students?
The proportion of energy is important ERIK: Yes, I absolutely learn from
as well. If an action is broad and violent, students and from the process of being a
it will need a bigger anticipation than Mentor.
one that is contained and casual. Again,
sounds simple but you can really boil The previous question about common
it down to these couple of things and mistakes is a good example. I’ve found
mechanically your motion will look that it’s much easier for me to anticipate
good. the kinds of mistakes I’ll make in my
own shots after watching students
From a storytelling standpoint, getting struggle with them a thousand times. It’s
the eye-direction working seems also really easy for me to fix them after
to be the biggest one. It’s one of the giving similar direction to students so
clearest things that gives the audience many times.
Mentoring has made it much easier to ERIK: Yes, humility is an important
communicate my ideas as an animator aspect. There are a few points to this.
(and really in all other aspects of my Learning to do animation can be brutal
life to a certain degree as well). It’s kind in a lot of ways. It’s extremely time
of incredible, I don’t really get stressed consuming, it requires many different
about giving presentations to groups kinds of thinking (sometimes almost
of people now. I used to really struggle simultaneously), and it requires a
with that, but it really is another thing massive amount of knowledge about a
that you can practice and become more lot of different disciplines. At the same
skilled at. That’s been a nice surprise. time, the results are always right in
front of you on the screen, and you are
It’s also a really satisfying and kind of constantly being critiqued. That’s a lot of
a thrilling feeling to look at a students pressure. Having a healthy relationship
work and know that I can really help with your pride, and being honest with
people to improve a lot just by making a yourself about your abilities is the best
few changes. It’s exciting for me because way to survive and ultimately thrive in
I can see how close people are to getting this situation.
a good result, even when they aren’t able
to see it yet. It feels like it wasn’t that This is a collaborative craft. It’s really
long ago that I was learning the same necessary to be about communication
things. and work as a member of a team to be
effective as an animator. You need to be
Most of all, mentoring really keeps able to step back and be as critical about
me excited and interested in doing your work and your abilities as the rest
animation. Seeing people at the of the people on your team. You also
beginning of their careers, and seeing need to understand that everybody is
the kinds of potential they have, makes at a different place in their career as an
me feel really fortunate to be able to help animator. It’s okay to not know all the
them continue on their path. That really answers. Don’t be too proud and scared
helps keep me energized in doing my to ask questions. It’s the best way to
own work. improve.
ANIMATION MENTOR: We One last thought, it really is important

hear that humility is a great to balance humility with a certain
trait to have as an animator, amount of confidence. Show up to
can you tell us why? dailies with something that you feel is
strong, and then don’t be afraid to tear it to pieces. You do want people to have faith
in your ability to follow-through, be resilient, and ultimately turn in some really cool
looking work.
You can be fearless and humble at the same time.
ANIMATION MENTOR: Any closing thoughts?
ERIK: The main take-away from all this is to be an animator first. Get as strong
base with all the fundamentals. The same ones really to apply to all types of
animation.
Your career path really is your own. It’s up to you to decide what makes you most
excited about doing this kind of work. Animation demands so much of your time
and energy, and you do need to find a sense of meaning in this work if you want
to do it long-term. It’s also important to remember that doing a specific kind of
animation may seem interesting or rewarding now, but may not feel that way in a
few years.
Remember to be yourself and have fun as well. If you are enjoying your work, the
audience is bound to enjoy it too. v
2D Goofy Master Study done by Felipe
Felipe shares with us his experience and ANIMATION MENTOR:

key takeaway moments during his time in Where are you from and
the Cartoony Animation Workshop with how long have you been
former Pixar Animator Mark Oftedal. It’s
animating?
no secret that when you’re in the cartoony
animation mindset, the phrase “you can’t FELIPE: I’m from Rio de Janerio,
do that” goes right out the door. See how Brazil and I’ve been working in
Felipe was adopted the cartoony mindset animation for 4 years.
into his work as a 3D animator. Read
along, check out the cool shots he walked
away with and be inspired to embark on
this journey!
ANIMATION MENTOR: different. And also, I always had the
Where do you currently dream to become a Disney animator
work and what are some someday, and I thought that the
projects you’re currently Cartoony Workshop could help me
working on? gain a strong base to build my cartoony
workflow and in hopes of elevating my
FELIPE: I`m currently working in the skills as an animator. Additionally, my
Combo Estudio. I’m part of a super cool girlfriend who is currently in Advanced
project for YouTube called Any Malu, Acting (class 5) at Animation Mentor,
who is the first animated YouTuber in had recommended Animation Mentor
the world! to me.
ANIMATION MENTOR: Why ANIMATION MENTOR:

did you decide to take the What did you learn from the
Cartoony Workshop? workshop?
FELIPE: I decided to take Cartoony FELIPE: The most amazing thing

because I’m always trying to improve about the workshop was learning how
my animation and learn something to analyze classics like Donald Duck or
Ichabod Crane, for example. Then from
there, I would recreate that animation foot forward. All in all, the Cartoony
and workflow on a 3D character. Above Workshop was amazing, Mark was
all, getting the opportunity to study with amazing and Animation Mentor is
Mark was other amazing experience. amazing. To anyone on the fence, don’t
He is such a wonderful person and an miss out on the chance to learn many
AMAZINGLY talented teacher. Having things about animation, make friends
the privilege to be one of his students and have a great experience! v
along with the time I spent in his class
and all that I learned will be part of my
workflow forever.
ANIMATION MENTOR:
Finally, what advice would
you give to students after
taking this workshop?
FELIPE: STUDY STUDY STUDY!! I

can’t emphasize how important this is.
Always try your best and put your best
There are so many different types of example of that is a game character may
games out there today across a wide anticipate down before a jump, but that
range of delivery platforms and styles. anticipation will be so much subtler than
From exploration and adventure games what you might expect to see in feature
like Uncharted or Tomb Raider, to animation. The player expects a certain
action and first person games such as level of responsiveness when they press
Call of Duty or The Division, to mobile a button. Too much exaggeration in
titles like Clash of Clan or Angry Birds, that instance would make it feel like the
they all have something in common: character wasn’t reacting to the player’s
animation. Animators work to help bring input.
these games to life with their passion
and artistry. Justin Owens, Animation Stylistically game animation also
Mentor’s Curriculum Director, talks us tends to exaggerate physicality and
through the differences – awesome! body mechanics. Feature animation
pushes the exaggeration into a more
Who knows, game animation may be stylistic and cartoony arena, while the
right for you. exaggeration found in VFX work is
much more subtle and realistic.
How Game Animation
Exaggeration of style and the animation
Differs from Feature
principles are present in each, but how
and VFX Animation they are used changes and gives each
their own unique feel.
The basic fundamentals and underlying
principles used by animators in games,
feature animation, or vfx work is really Differences in
the same. Timing, spacing, arcs, and Audience Reaction
weight are all crucial to any form of
animation. One of the other big differences between
game animation or feature animation
and VFX is how the audience, or player,
Differences in
interacts with the final result. In both
Exaggeration feature animation and VFX the audience
passively watches the final result
One of the areas that differs are how
(film). The animators try and elicit an
those basic animation principles are
emotional response from the audience,
exaggerated and/or toned down. One
but there isn’t any direct interaction
Riot Games Animator Skylar Surra’s demo reel. A nice example of game animation cycles
or participation from the

audience. Animators are
also provided with a camera
for their shots and they
make sure their poses and
emotional beats read from
that viewpoint. That means
at times they can “cheat” a
pose so that it looks good
from that main camera,
but could feel off balance if
viewed from another angle. An example of VFX animation – ILM motion test for Jurassic World
That’s not something that reads from all angles, as both the player character
can be done in games. and camera can be freely moved about. It’s also a
Instead game animators given that the player will be directly controlling the
have to constantly make character and interacting with the environment. This
sure their animation is where animators become an integral part of the
A nice example from Zootopia pushing the exaggeration
game design team to help shape those personal flair. In comparison the games
interactions. By animating from every animator can have much more impact
angle game animators become adept at on a character, typically following that
making the characters feel completely character through production and
integrated within the environment. It’s a greatly influencing the behaviors, quirks,
rewarding feeling when you can see your and overall personality.
animation in game and the characters
feel like a living breathing part of that The Game Engine and
world. Animation Workflow
Differences in Influence Animation is still done within a 3D
package such as Autodesk’s Maya, and is
One of the most exciting differences then exported and brought into a game
is the impact and influence the game engine such as Unity or Unreal Engine
animator has on the final result. Within 4. Rather than animating a full shot as
feature and vfx animation, an animator you would on a feature, animators create
is heavily directed and looks for smaller a whole series of animation cycles that
moments where they can add their
are then pieced together in the game There are a couple reasons you should
engine. consider giving games animation a try.
For one, it’s important when learning
It’s not uncommon for an animator to animation that you explore all styles
be assigned to a specific character, and and career paths available to you. This
then to follow that character through will help you to have a well rounded
the entirety of game production. In that skill set, but will also allow you to find
way the games animator can have more where your passion within animation
influence on the final look and feel for a lies. We’ve heard from mentors and
character, than they might in features or alumni alike who have stumbled into
VFX. It’s a collaborative effort between games animation and found it to be an
the animators, game designers, concept incredibly fulfilling career path.
artists, and more, when bringing these
characters to life within a game. There’s something very satisfying when
you can take your animation from
The Industry Need and within Maya and then interact with it
in a game. Seeing how your animation
Benefits of Being a
choices directly influence the look and
Game Animator feel of the character is really inspiring.
It also allows for quick iteration as you
The games industry needs talented
can see your animation from a new
animators that are ready to bring their
and fresh perspective. We invite you to
voice and passion to the table. Explore
try it yourself and check out our Game
this style of animation and increase your
Animation Fundamentals workshop.
skills while also broadening your job
v
opportunities.
Be part of the collaborative process

that is found game animation, and help
bring your ideas to life. There’s nothing
more satisfying than helping to create
something bigger than yourself and
seeing where your contributions helped
improve the end result. We invite you to
try it yourself and check out our Game
Animation Fundamentals workshop.
I love watching feature films, but there’s Having Matt Garward as a mentor in
something about interactive media Body Mechanics just made me want
that draws me in deeper. So, when to know more about it, and when
Animation Mentor offered the Game Animation Mentor offered the Game
Animation Fundamentals Workshop, Animation Fundamentals Workshop,
I knew that was the next step for me! I knew that was the next step for me!
Then the Game Animation Combat Then the Game Animation Combat
Attacks Workshop came out so I took Attacks Workshop came out so I took
that too! Here’s an insider’s view on that too!
these workshops and what to expect.
Getting to test my
I started studying at Animation animations out with
Mentor to fulfill an old dream of mine a controller was
— I started studying 2D animation
in college in 1994 but switched to
amazing, I had so
study multimedia and became a web much fun running
developer. No regrets there, but as soon around jumping and
as I saw I could learn animation online
with mentors from top studios, I was
punching stuff
sold!
What to Expect in
a Game Animation
Workshop
Shahbaaz Shah was my

mentor in both workshops
and great with feedback
and explaining how a
games engine assembles
all the animation assets
to bring a character to life
and the different clips an
animator would create to In other classes I often lost time on staging and
bring a character to life. tracking characters moving through space. When
You get a decent bite at animating a character in a game, the game tracks
that in the workshops, but where they are in 3D space and plays the right cycles.
there’s evidently a lot more When animating, you can focus on making a really
depth to it in many games! awesome jump and not worry about where they go
and land. It’s kind of like the COG is done for you—
Workshops are six weeks not exactly though. Then all the fun detail that makes
and you submit work for it interesting to watch (and play!), that’s what you
the first five weeks. It’s not animate!
a lot of time so you need
to jump right in! One Exporting clips from Maya and importing them into
thing I really loved about Unreal was neat. Getting to test my animations out
the assignments was the
animation was based on I highly recommend the
short clips and cycles —
idle, running, jumping, and games workshops. They’re a
combat moves. It felt a lot great opportunity to practice
easier to manage than some body mechanics and really
of the longer acting/action
shots, and it really helped focus on communicating
me focus and find more clearly with every short clip.
time for polish.
Shahbaaz had lots of great
feedback on my body mechanics
and good info on how game
animation works. I’d love to get
deeper into using breakers to
add more variety to cycles and
configuring a state machine
myself.
Yeah, it was kinda geek heaven for

me with animation, interaction,
user-interface, and programming
mixed in there. The workshops
focus on animation, of course, but
I couldn’t help poking around in
Unreal.
I definitely have a much better

understanding of game animation
workflow now. I know how to
work on small clips, take them
back and forth between Maya and
Unreal. It was really interesting
Ben Boyle as the Animation Mentor Stewart Rig! learning how the game engine
blends animation together. Like
if you are making your character
with a controller was amazing, I had so much
move forward but not at top speed,
fun running around jumping and punching
should they walk or run?
stuff
You can create a walk cycle and
What I Learned a run cycle and the game engine
The format is very similar to other AM will create a half-walk/half-run
classes—new lectures each week (including by blending the two together. It’s
some technical add-ons that explain more pretty cool! Of course, a half-walk/
about how game engines work), a weekly half-run should probably look
Q&A, and assignments with critiques. more like a jog and it isn’t really
a blend of walking and
running. So you can
also create a jog cycle
and put that in there,
then configure the game
engine to blend between
walk-jog and jog-run.
It’s fantastic for learning
more about body
mechanics.
Connecting With
Your Audience
As an animator… well
everyone gushes about Working hard.
animation in feature
films—and, I know, it is feedback to know that it’s working.
awesome. Sometimes I
think game animation If it looks cool and powerful, then the player will feel
flies under the radar. But cool and powerful. It’s potentially a lot more intimate.
think about it… if you’re If you’re sneaking around and an enemy reacts,
playing a game for hours you’re aware of that from the body language. That’s
and hours, you are going animation that someone had to create. It all works
to get really familiar
with the character’s If you’re interested in any
run/walk/climb/fall
form of interaction with the
animations. Everything
needs to read clear and audience then this is a great
super-fast so the player introduction to the workflow
can react and make
— how to build pieces of
decisions and enjoy the
game—if you tell Link animation, how a game engine
to roll sideways to dodge blends them together.
an arrow, that rolling
animation gives you the
Jumping, Falling, and Landing with State Machine
together amazingly well when

I play games, I’m excited to
learn more about making that
happen.
I highly recommend the games

workshops. They’re a great
opportunity to practice body
mechanics and really focus on
communicating clearly with
every short clip. The workshops
dropping them in, but you also get the chance to
come with a game world setup
see how it all fits together.
and most of the configuration is
already done. You can focus on
doing awesome animation and
If you’re interested in any form of interaction with the audience then this is a great
introduction to the workflow — how to build pieces of animation, how a game
engine blends them together. It’s like building a big pose library of animations which
can then be played at the right time. Jump in the game and just play… when you
forget you’re watching your animation and just enjoy running around, you know
that hard work is paying off! v
Horizon Zero Dawn is one of our communicate, and animation is our
favorite games! So, we were ecstatic means of doing so. The idea of being
when we heard that three Animation typecast or stylecast or genrecast sort of
Mentor alumni were nominated for bothers me, because I feel animation is
Annie Awards for working on the game! about being creative and about coming
We’d already caught up with rock star up with ideas. I feel the best way to stay
Guerrilla Games animator Niek fresh is to tackle lots of different styles
Neervens, so this time chatted with Peer and genres because each time it forces
Lemmers and Richard Oud to learn more me to rethink what I thought I already
about their experiences. Without further knew.
ado, meet some of the incredible Annie-
nominated animators behind Horizon My journey after AM shows that, I
Zero Dawn! think. I’ve worked in all corners of this
industry at this point—from lonely
Animation Mentor: Were remote freelancer to boutique shop
you both always interested to a giant corporate studio with 3,000
in game animation? Tell us a employees.
little bit about your journeys
Richard Oud: I got into this
after Animation Mentor.
industry graduating from art school
Peer Lemmers: I think overall I’ve with a mindset of wanting to work
always just wanted to be an animator. on feature films. I did my internship
I’ve never had a specific goal for the at DNA productions while they were
type of animation, because I feel that as working on The Ant Bully, and I knew
an animator our main goal is to create that was what I wanted to do as an
believable worlds and characters no animator.
matter the situation—or in this case
which genre. After graduating with my bachelor’s
degree in computer animation, I knew
I don’t think, “Hey, I’m animating a my skillset was not up to the standards
robot for a game.” I think, “What does for feature film, so I applied for
this robot think and how does it react in Animation Mentor to further develop
a way that’s relatable to human beings?” my skills as an animator. Of course to
What makes the player go, “Dang that be able to pay for the course I needed to
was intense!” or “That was really cool!”? have a job, but the industry was not that
I think our business is to entertain and big in the Netherlands, besides Guerrilla
Games being the only AAA studio in AM: Richard, as an animator,
my hometown of Amsterdam. I figured I what compels you about
would at least drop my demo reel that I video games vs. other
had from art school to see if they would
mediums like feature film or
be interested, never thinking I would
TV?
actually make a change. Crazy enough
they asked me in for a job interview Richard: I love the process of creating
since they were looking for a junior the interactive experiences you get
animator, and I got hired the week after. when playing games. I like the idea of
making something where people get to
My plan at that point was to get at least spend hours and hours in a world that
some industry experience while doing you helped create. There is such a nice
Animation Mentor in the evenings and satisfaction when making hundreds
weekends so I could make the switch to of animations for a character, and
feature film after 2 or 3 years. However, when you pick up a controller, you are
when I started working on games I actually able to play and walk around
instantly fell in love with the process and as that character or in my case fight the
ended up never leaving Guerrilla. characters.
In addition, the process of actually Sometimes I run into animators where
making games is very compelling to they say they don’t want to work in
me. Instead of working on a shot for games or tv—they only want feature
a couple of days/weeks until you are film or vfx or they only ever want to
completely done, we get to work on a work in games etc. I think this is a bit
character for months or even years in of a simplistic look, to be honest. When
this case building it step-by-step. It is a I worked in TV, it totally kicked my
very iterative process where you focus butt and I had just come from 5 years
on basic animations, first trying to build of film. Then I had to be super quick in
systems around it, and then polishing my decision making and find a new skill
those animations on a much later stage set and workflow that gave me time to
when the game is much more balanced. still make it look decent. I had to juggle
It’s all about the gameplay, and we have 900 frames a week for myself plus lead a
to make sure the players have a fun team of upcoming animators who had to
experience while immersing themselves double that.
into a world that is filled with believable
characters. TV is hard work, but then to say that
film is easy because 200 frames per
AM: Peer, you’ve worked week must be easy? No. Film requires
on live action films, fully a more elaborate idea and such refined
animated feature films, TV performance and polish that it is
actually quite intense.
series, and video games.
What compels you the most
And games? Games are pretty humbling,
about each? Do you have a because most of your work is creating
favorite to work within? smaller transition animations such as
turning left, turning right, or jumps,
Peer: This is tough to decide because
etc. The fancy combat moves are not
I think each of these requires a certain
the largest part of the work. Games are
skill set all on its own. I do know that
sort of special as everything has to be
by having done all of them has greatly
created, more so than in feature film. In
influenced my workflow and my
games your animation becomes part of
appreciation for lots of—in this case—
an interactive system with AI. So when
unknown artists who simply have a
you have an idea for a new animation,
passion to create and keep pushing no
it ripples across to many other people
matter where they are.
and other departments that you cannot
simply add or change things at random, did you get to do a bit of
which leads me to VFX .VFX, I feel, everything?
is a combination of all three of the
previous—it’s hard work, it’s humbling, Peer: I came in a bit later and most of
shots get changed all the time so you the creatures had already been blocked
must have a flexible mindset. VFX in, so the game was already up and
requires exceptional body mechanics running. My job was mainly to polish
but also an understanding of characters up existing animations or to create new
and performance. versions within that template that the
blocking stage had already provided. So
Your blocking needs to be much more I pretty much touched every robot in the
refined in VFX vs. feature animation, game with exception of two or three.
as you’re working with live background
plates with real spacing and timing— There was really only one robot that
and usually live action directors who do had not been done yet, which was the
not necessarily know how to interpret Deathbringer, or old school war robot,
stepped mode blocking. So there’s a on six legs. It went through heaps of
necessity for speed as well. changes even as I was working on it
and took up quite a bit of my time,
I think overall for all of these, the bar is especially with it being omni directional
being raised in production quality and and having six legs. In the end, it mostly
animators now have to have a better walks around and shoots stuff at players
skill set than what I had 10 years ago. but there were lots of attempts to have
So if you don’t land your dream studio him do more crazy things—they simply
or genre job right away—and if you never felt true to the character, so most
want to be a good strong animator with of it didn’t make it into the game.
the ability to last for the long run—just
animate as much as you can on whatever The other character I really enjoyed was
you can. There’s fun to be had in all the croc, Snapmaw! I had a lot of fun
genres. In the end my fondest memories animating that one, as his build and
are of the people I’ve worked with. silhouette with the long tail and long
beak allowed for some fun animation
AM: What kinds of shots/ stuff.
characters/creatures did
you guys focus on for Richard: After finishing Killzone
3, I was part of a small group within
Horizon: Zero Dawn? Or
Deathbringer © Guerrilla Games
Guerrilla that started to develop

Horizon Zero Dawn while the
rest of the studio was working on
Killzone: Shadow Fall.
From the start, I was assigned to

flesh out the animalistic robot
creatures of the world, and I kept
working full time on all of them
until we finished the project.
So instead of focusing on one working on Horizon Zero Dawn?
character, I worked on all 25
robots in the game, including Peer: I had a lot of fun with creating attacks
cinematics and commercials and testing them in the game environment.
every once in a while. It was really cool to take your animation and
then use Aloy, the main character, to shoot
AM: What were your at them and watch how your animation on
favorite parts about the robot would become interactive. Your
character or creature starts to get a personality
Snapmaw © Guerrilla Games
through the combination of

all that separate animation
now coming together. Also
the team generally has a good
sense of humor, which makes
long days go faster .
Richard: The amount of

diversity in the robot creatures
that we got to work on,
trying to give each their own
personality and feel as you Also, since the Killzone franchise was pretty
engage with them. It was also much established when I joined Guerrilla 10
a lot of fun to come up with a years ago, it was such a great experience to be
mix of animals we wanted to creating something new from the ground up
incorporate into each robots, that we had not done before. That made the
seeing what would work well game super exciting and motivating to work on.
on the design of a robot.
AM: Is it fun to play the games you’ve worked on, or do
you just find yourselves thinking too much about all the
behind-the-scenes stuff?
Peer: Well in this case I’m not skilled enough to play Horizon Zero Dawn. Haha.
I’m too much of a strategy, turn-based game player, I guess. I tend to run and hack
my way through, which only lets you get so far. The best part for me is always when I
can share my work with my family and watch them play and watch how they react to
it. If they smile and enjoy it, it makes me happy.
Richard: The weird thing is that you’re so busy developing your part of the game
(in my case the robot creatures) that you don’t see a lot of things of the entire world
being created until the game actually ships.
Since the world of Horizon Zero Dawn is so big, it’s almost impossible to keep
playing the game while having to Peer: Without AM I would really
animate all the creatures at the same never have done any of these things.
time. So getting to play Horizon after it In Holland there is nothing that can
shipped was kind of like my first time prepare you for working in character-
fully exploring the world as well, which and performance-driven animation.
was really nice to see everything come I remember starting AM and just
together after you’ve been working on it wanting to soak it all up as much as I
for so long. could. I watched every lecture two or
three times and spend as much time as
Of course I always see animation on the I could trying to learn this craft. I feel
robots where I think, “That could be a the mentors and community it provided
whole lot better,” but I don’t think there’s me back then were invaluable, and I’ve
an animator out there that doesn’t feel actually ended up working with a lot of
like that about their own work. them and still have contact with quite a
few.
AM: How did Animation
Mentor help prepare you for Richard: The character course
your careers? really helped me to shape up in terms
of foundations. It’s one of the things
we’re pretty focused on in within the times that you have to fall back on your
animation department, making sure the knowledge of the fundamentals, both
right timing/spacing/rhythm and weight in the animation principles and body
is on each animation. It really helped me mechanics.
develop my eye for good animation.
Also try to stay away from the obvious
The Creature Animation Workshops solutions or references and approach
came at the right time as well. I had your work from a fresh new angle. This
never animated a quadruped in my life helps your work stand out and trains
when I started to work on Horizon, and you in your workflow to keep doing
at the same time Animation Mentor something original.
started the Creatures Workshops, which
were a perfect fit and helped me get Last but not least, keep learning and
those fundamentals needed to animated stay inspired. Whether it be with a good
the robots. book, a documentary, a great movie or
just by going outside and taking a walk
AM: What advice do you watching the world around you. It’s so
have for students interested important to stay fresh and motivated,
in going into video game so figure out what works for you and
remind yourself to stay inspired.
animation?
Peer: Animate as much as you can Be sure to check out our Q&A with Niek
and keep an open mind. We all go Neervens, another Annie-nominated AM
through the same learning struggles as alumnus who worked on Horizon Zero
animators, it’s the people who stick with Dawn! v
it that you end up reading about and
working with later on.
Richard: Work very hard and focus

on the fundamentals. A lot of our work
is based on having a great understanding
of body mechanics, creatures or
humans. It’s bound to happen—you’re
going to have to animate something
that you don’t have reference for, or
are not able to record. Those are the
What separates a good A good animator will
animator from a bad one?
While the answer might
put the work in, not only
be somewhat subjective, to make the movement
animation supervisors have work, but to make the
a very clear idea of what
they’re looking for! Learn more
poses interesting, visually
about how to be on the good appealing, and to connect
end of the spectrum from all- those poses to the
around pro Dana Boadway
Masson, owner/director at
character’s acting and
Killerjellybean Animation. emotion.
I would say, from a separate good animation from bad. One element
supervisor’s point of view, is shoulder movement. Bad animators will not
that a good animator is one use the shoulders very much in their animation,
who shows great attention when in reality, shoulders have a huge amount
to detail and won’t hand in of articulation and really connect the arm
work that is clearly mediocre movement into the torso movement. I’ve seen lots
or worse, accompanied by of stiff or non-existent shoulder movement in bad
a myriad of excuses. They animation.
are aware of the thought
processes of the characters Good hand poses are another element that take
they are animating, and are good animation to the next level. Hands are
conscious of communicating incredibly emotive and communicative, but it
that to the audience. is also painstaking to animate all those digits. A
good animator will put the work in, not only to
A good animator creates make the movement work, but to make the poses
interesting rhythm in their interesting, visually appealing, and to connect
shot, and isn’t afraid of using those poses to the character’s acting and emotion.
moments of stillness to accent
both the rhythm and the Other than those particular things, it’s just a
communication. mastery of the principals of animation—paying
attention to all of the elements that make a great
There are also some elements shot! Great posing, great timing, body mechanics,
of detail that I find really great character acting (and this is something
I’ve seen lots of stiff or non-existent shoulder
movement in bad animation.
that is very difficult—mastering the body language and personality of a particular

character versus just moving a character around generically).
Something I can’t emphasize enough is the importance of having strong body

mechanics. Whether you’re going more realistic or more cartoony, if the body
mechanics aren’t “buyable” the character will never really take on life.
A good animator creates interesting rhythm

in their shot, and isn’t afraid of using moments
of stillness to accent both the rhythm and the
communication.
If they don’t have that illusion of life, that makes it very difficult for the audience to
empathize with them, and it will be much much harder to draw the audience into
the story and maintain the suspension of disbelief. v
Read more of Dana’s wisdom:

Choosing the Best Poses for Your Acting Shot
Exaggeration: The 12 Basic Principles of Animation
Facial Animation 101
Animation is a time-consuming art quality animation?
form—there’s just no way around it.
Something that many people don’t Below I’ll list some ideas and tips that
understand when they first get into I’ve personally found incredibly helpful.
animation is that the quality of a shot
is directly related to available time. So Creating Focus, or
what do you do when time is limited? Flow
How do you squeeze the most productive
time out of your week? Learn top time The psychological state of “focus”, or
management tips from David Tart, “flow”, is a time where you are incredibly
animator for Toy Story, Monster’s Inc., focused on your tasks and able to get a
and Finding Nemo! maximum amount of great work done.
When you achieve this level of focus,
The level of detail, the amount of time is no longer relevant. You may
planning, and the implementation in have experienced this state yourself – it’s
a complex program like Maya all take when you’re working on a specific task.
time, especially if you want to create You look up at the clock and an hour
great-looking work. or two has passed, but it felt like only
10 or 15 minutes. Psychologists have
Something that many people don’t researched this state of mind thoroughly
understand when they first get into and identified it as one where we are
animation is that the quality of an at our peak level of productivity. Our
animated shot is directly related to ability to create, to problem-solve, and
available time. For instance, an animator crank out good work is at it’s maximum
who’s responsible for finishing 4 seconds potential.
of animation per 50 hour week is going
to create much better looking animation Research shows that it can take between
than an animator who’s responsible for 10 and 15 minutes to achieve the flow-
finishing 40 seconds per week, even if state, while it can take only a minute
they have essentially the same level of to end it. This means that you want to
skill. plan your work time so that you have
minimal interruptions, because these
So time, and how you use that time, will interruptions terminate flow.
be directly related to the quality of your
finished shots. So how can you squeeze For instance, if you set aside 3 hours
more time out of a week to create better to work on your animation but stop
working to check your email, Mentor requires anywhere from 10 to 40
make a facebook post, shop hours per week. Take a good hard look at that
online, talk to a friend, get some calendar, then block out sustained chunks
coffee, etc. eight times during of no less that two-hours each. Let friends
that 180-minute period, you will and family know that you won’t be available
have spent 80 to 120 minutes during those periods.
of potential flow-state in less-
than-productive conditions.
Sure, you’ll still get stuff done
but nowhere near as much you
would have without those breaks.
Creating the Space

to Do the Work
At the beginning of each week
you should sit down and take a
realistic look at your calendar.
Doing good work at Animation
When those two-hour periods arrive, to block or animate a shot that you have
put your phone on silent mode. Close not fully planned.
your facebook browser. In fact, close all
other applications on your computer. I’ll say that again: there is no bigger
There is no need to do anything other waste of time than starting into blocking
than animate. Make sure you have or animating a shot you have not fully
something to drink. Feed the dog. Put planned.
your pet bird to bed. Basically make
sure to weed out any and all possible There are many reasons for this, but the
distractions. You can listen to music, but biggest reason is that maya is really just
make sure it’s something that you won’t a drawing tool, when it comes down
want to pay attention to. to it. It’s not at all good for “trying
things out” because of the complexity
Planning and time-consuming interface. When
you begin your blocking, you should
We all hear it from our mentors, understand every detail of the animated
week after week. Planning, planning, performance you are about to create.
planning! So you already know it’s This means you understand the
important. But as it relates to your physicality, silhouette value, balance,
productivity, it may be even more and appeal of every single key pose
important than you think! In fact, there from the fingers down to the toes (this
is no bigger waste of time than starting should be present in your thumbnail
drawings).
Playblast n’ Tweak
This means you understand when and
where you’ll implement anticipations. Many people ascribe to the “playblast
You understanding the timing for each n’ tweak” method of animation, which
action—how long it takes to move basically means trying to fix something
from one pose to another because you without really having figured out what
already timed it out with a stopwatch. the problem is, then playblasting to see
You have a good understanding of whether or not it worked. While you
what type of in-betweens you’ll create. may feel like you’re working, actually
You know when and where you’ll the computer is working, and more
implement squash and stretch frames, importantly, you are breaking your
where overlaps will occur, when to use hard-earned state of flow. Don’t playblast
overshoot and settle . . . and so forth and until you’ve completed your to-do or fix
so on. list. I try to make sure I have at least 45
minutes worth of work to do in between
You might think this sounds like playblasts. See “Making To-Do Lists” for
overkill, but believe me, if your approach the specifics.
is anything less than this, you’re not
animating . . . you’re just playing around Making To-Do lists
in maya and wasting time. When you
are in the first pass phase of animation, This is probably one of the most
you should never find yourself thinking important ways to maximize your
“I wonder what the timing for this productivity. Making to-do lists
movement should be”. Rather, you requires your full focus and your
should be thinking “Oh, I remember critique abilities. The idea is that you
this action—I wrote the timing down want to avoid spotting problems in a
in my planning. It was 7 frames”. I can’t random manner, then implementing
tell you how much time I’ve wasted questionable fixes— i.e.., “Well, I’ll try
myself by not thoroughly planning. And this, then playblast it and see whether or
remember, it’s not just about saving not it works”. This is not animating, this
time: any time you thoroughly plan your is goofing around or desperately hoping
shot, the animation is guaranteed to for the best. Real animators can identify
come out better. problems, when they occur, and how to
fix them before doing anything about
them. This will save you hours and
hours of time and create an opportunity
for you to get into a “flow state”—that which the issue occurs.
focused period of time where you are 5. Next, write down each problem
operating at top efficiency. Here’s how to you identified as a *solution* – i.e..,
do it: “The arm has an issue with the
elbow from frame 17–23” becomes
1. Make a playblast. “The screen right arm needs to have
2. Set your movie player to “loop” the RX adjusted in the upper arm
joint”. Or “The pelvis looks floaty
3. Start identifying random issues—
from frame 134–147” becomes
timing issues, weight issues, “pops”,
“The COG needs a 2D arc, and the
spacing, ease-ins/outs, 2D arcs,
ease out adjusted on the translates
overlaps . . . in general, use the
from frame 134–147”.
12 principles of animation as a
measuring stick to see where your 6. Finally, prioritize the issues by
animation is not meeting these hierarchy. Because of the hierarchal
rules. Write them down on a piece nature of posing and animation
of paper in no particular order. in maya, there would be no sense
in adjusting the 2D arc of an arm
4. After coming up with a list of 10 or
before adjusting the rotation of a
15 things that need your attention,
joint in the spine, since you’d just
watch the playblast again. For each
have to redo the arm if you adjusted
item on your list, write down the
it before adjusting the spine.
frame number or frame range in
Your final list might look something list, fixing each issue by priority level.
like this: Playblast, then DO IT AGAIN.
1. Body looks weightless from frame Taking Breaks

10–19. Add 2D arc, adjust tilt of
pelvis, and give some overshoot and We’ve all been there (or you will be
settle. PRIORITY 1. soon): it’s 11:00 pm, you’ve been
working on your shot for the past 4
2. Blink looks weird, frames 38–43.
hours, and it doesn’t look much different
Timing of the blink is early.
than when you started 4 hours ago.
Move blink to start at frame 41.
You keep looking to see what’s wrong,
PRIORITY 3
you keep trying to fix it only to break
3. When character looks toward something else in the process and go
screen right frames 49–56, back to a saved version of the shot.
something is off. Need to lead head You’ve looked at the shot so long you
turn with the eyes by 2 frames. can’t even tell what’s wrong anymore!
PRIORITY 3. You’re feeling stressed, pressured. You
4. Pose from frame 3–12 looks off- simply HAVE to get some work done!
balance. Rotate main controller
in Rz to make character more And this is exactly when you should
vertically posed over the legs. save your file, gently reach for the power
PRIORITY 1. switch on your computer, and shut it
5. The legs are popping at frames 18, off. It’s time for a break. Not a 5-minute
126, and 134. Adjust Ty of main break, but an hour or more—or maybe
controller. PRIORITY 1. it’s even time to quit for the night. Get
up. Get away from the computer. Take
6. The arms feel like they are rotating
a walk. Go hang out with some friends.
in a way that doesn’t feel connected
Go to the gym. Physical exercise is best,
to the body, frames 81–88. Add
since you’ve been sitting so long, but
rotation in the torso and clavicles
the most important thing you need is
to make arms feel more physical.
distance between you and your work.
PRIORITY 2. etc.
Forget about it. Remind yourself that
you’ll get back to it, and that everything
Armed with this list you can now not
is going to work out fine.
only achieve the flow-state, but you can
animate with purpose. Go through your
As with “focus” or “flow”, stress enough to be working on multiple shots
can greatly affect our creativity and at the same time, just close the one
problem-solving abilities. Studies you’re having problems with and start
show that the right amount of stress out fresh on the other. You won’t regret
can benefit our efficiency and work it, and you might find that the next time
ethic. We should have some amount you open that problematic shot, the
of concern about our work. But too solution was right in front of you the
much concern can basically shut down entire time—it happens more often than
our thinking processes. Instead of not.
seeing the work, we live in our fear and
judgments…we spend time thinking Reducing Mouse Clicks
about what will happen if we don’t finish
or what it means that we can’t figure out One of the things I do when I come into
a solution to the problems that need a new studio to supervise animation
fixing. is ask animators to describe how they
work—What steps do they take in their
So the next time you find yourself workflow? How do they plan, block,
worrying more about the deadline than first-pass animate and polish? And as
what’s happening on the screen, take a it relates to efficiency, what keyboard
break. You deserve it! shortcuts, tools, and mel scripts do they
use? My goal is to reduce mouse clicks,
Switching Tasks and this turns out to be relatively easy to
do.
If you find yourself trying to fix a
problem over and over again with no Imagine that in a typical 40-hour
success and you’re not ready to take work week, you click and release your
a break, switch tasks. For instance, if mouse 10,000 times. If you can identify
you’ve been trying to figure out why that repetitive tasks—and there are so many
pesky elbow keeps popping for the past when animating in maya—it’s quite
30 minutes and it’s still popping, then possible to reduce your mouse clicks
drop it. There’s always something else down to 7,000 or 8,000. This may not
to work on, so switch over to working seem like a big deal, but it is! Essentially,
on refining your hand poses or do some you save a whopping 20% of time, or 8
facial animation. My personal favorite hours per week. You literally create more
go-to is lip sync, which for some reason time where there was none before.
I can do fairly easily. Or if you’re lucky
There are so many great no mistake, this is NOT animating: it’s just fussing
tools that Animation around with a computer interface.
Mentor has that you
can use already. Many To avoid this waste of time, you’ll want to make
people never bother to sure you have a few layouts saved that you use for
use them, mainly out of specific tasks. One might be your main_cam or
the fear that it will “take shot_cam window, another a perspective view for
time” to learn them, and selecting nurbs curves, and another with the graph
who has time when your editor. Another might be a face_cam, perspective,
shot is due! But make a and graph editor, if you’re doing facial animation.
commitment to yourself to Set the preferences for your heads-up display so your
reduce your mouse clicks. windows are filled with visual clutter.
Learning these new tools
or keyboard shortcuts Now go forth, animators, and work smarter not harder.
may take a small amount Also, be sure to check out David’s short film, The Story
of time, and you’ll need of Animation! v
to force yourself to keep
using them, but you won’t
regret it!
Creating Work
Spaces on
Maya
Organizing your desktop
display is super important.
I can’t tell you how many
times I’ve seen new
animators clicking away
on their screen—resizing
windows, opening and
closing windows, bringing
windows to the front,
minimizing, maximizing,
or just endlessly rotating a
perspective camera. Make
Sooner or later—usually
sooner—someone is going
to come along and blow you
out of the water. But that’s a
GOOD thing! If you’re in that
situation, I sure hope you use
it as an opportunity to refocus
and learn what you can from
your new peer in order to push
your animation game to a
whole new level.
I have news for you guys.

Sooner or later (usually sooner), someone is
There’s always going to be
going to come along and blow you out of the
someone better than you.
water. But that’s a GOOD thing! If you’re in
Always.
that situation, I sure hope you’d use it as an
opportunity to refocus and learn what you
That’s never going to change.
can from your new peer in order to push your
I bet I could line up my all-
game to a whole new level.
time dream-team of favorite
animation heroes and ask if
I understand the concern a lot more at the
they are the best animator
student level, however. It’s scary enough to
they know, and I could almost
be an art student in any kind of art because
guarantee that they’d all blanch
again, someone is always better than you are,
and point the finger to dozens
only now you’re in an environment where
of other animators they feel are
you’re already wondering if you’ll ever be able
better than they are. The art is
to make a living at this, or worrying that you
simply too complex, too deep,
too much in a state of constant
evolution, and too global to
ever “be the best.” It just isn’t The point is, we’re all
going to happen. at different levels, and
Can you become the best at
that’s normal.
your studio or school, though?
Sure, I guess, but not for long.
are wasting a lot of time and money Some people have more experience
on something you may never truly be than others, and come into a class with
outstanding in. a much more developed background
in the art. A very lucky and very few
That’s totally normal to feel that way, people are just amazing prodigies right
and I bet that most animation and art out of the gate.
students have felt that way at some
point. The point is, we’re all at different levels,
and that’s normal.
What you need to realize, is that all
the artists you are in school with are I used to be pretty decent at drawing.
at different points in their learning Now I’m awful and completely out
path. Some people are slower to pick of practice after a decade of drawing
up on certain ideas and techniques. nothing but stickmen planning poses.
I’ve been thinking about going and believe that drawing, like animation,
taking a figure drawing class sometime is a learned skill. With the proper
to ease back into it, because I do miss motivation and dedication, ANYONE
it. When I do, I will know without a can learn to draw. That doesn’t mean just
shadow of a doubt that my drawings are anyone can be Picasso or Glen Keane,
going to be among the worst in the class. because those are artists applying a piece
There will be people who are incredible, of their soul to their technical skills
there will be people even worse than to raise their art to a level far beyond
me (if it’s a huge class, maybe!), and the what the rest of us will ever accomplish.
vast majority of us will be somewhere in But anyone CAN learn to draw really
between. well and can learn all the techniques
and so forth, just as anyone CAN learn
animation.
Any time you’re learning ANY art, one of the

most important things to get over is the fear of
looking silly.
But I’ll be in there to LEARN. I’m not I have no doubt, that if I truly applied
in there to compete with them. I’m not myself, I could someday be as good as
going to let myself feel too embarrassed the teacher in that figure drawing class.
about having to hang my lumpy uneven It just might take me a lot more years to
shrunken-headed poor anatomy get there than that girl who was sitting
slightly-alien-looking figure drawing on next to me whipping out masterpiece
the wall next to the masterpiece drawn after masterpiece.
in two minutes by the girl sitting next
to me. I’m there to learn, and any time But that’s OK! It’s normal. It’s expected.
you’re learning ANY art, one of the most And regardless of what you think, no
important things to get over is the fear one is giggling behind your back at your
of looking silly. The fear that people are work…
pointing at your work and giggling.
They’re all too busy worrying about
The fear that you just don’t measure up, everyone else’s reactions to THEIR
and won’t ever be as good as so-and-so. work! icon smile I’ll never be as good an
animator as so and so...
So, will you ever be as good as the field. But I really believe that “what it
best animator in your class? Maybe. takes” has a whole lot less to do with
Maybe not. Everyone is born with natural God-given talent, and a whole
different skills, different dreams, etc. lot more to do with tenacity, patience,
Animation is a competitive field. dedication, and retaining a constant
You’re kidding yourself if you think hunger to learn.
otherwise. School can feel very
competitive if you let it, and it only If that describes you, then someday
gets worse when you graduate. Jobs are YOU’RE going to be the one everyone
very cyclical, sometimes everyone is complains about being so untouchable,
hiring, sometimes hardly anyone is. I no matter where you are at in your path
understand the fear. I understand the right now.
concern.
For more of Shawn’s wisdom, be sure to
The hard truth is that not everyone check out his post: Is Your Demo Reel
who reads this will have what it takes to Ready for a Major Studio? v
sustain a career in such a competitive
The Twelve Basic Principles of Animation are essential “guidelines” created by
Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas for their 1981 book The Illusion
of Life: Disney Animation. We put guidelines in quotes because, in a way, all rules
are made to be broken, but in order to break those rules you first have to master
them!
To master to the Twelve Principles as an animator, you’re essentially learning how to

think about your character as adhering to the rules of physics while also considering
equally important topics like the character’s appeal and the timing of your shot.
So, how do you go about using your knowledge of these principles in your work?
How on earth can you keep track of all of these, and what’s the best way to approach
them once you know them?
We asked our mentors to share the ins and outs of each principle—complete with
examples and advice on how to best approach it to become a better animator. So
read up all at once, or space them out over a few weeks so you’re sure to absorb each
principle. Most of all, take notes!
• Principle 1: Squash and Stretch by Chris Hurtt

• Principle 2: Anticipation by Chris Hurtt
• Principle 3: Staging by John Nguyen
• Principle 4: Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose by Leigh Rens
• Principle 5: Follow-through and Overlapping Action by Drew Adams
• Principle 6: Slow In and Slow Out by Kevin Koch
• Principle 7: Arc by Anthony Wong
• Principle 8: Secondary Action by Kevin Koch
• Principle 9: Timing by Dave Burgess
• Principle 10: Exaggeration by Dana Boadway Masson
• Principle 11: Solid Drawing by Jay Jackson
• Principle 12: Appeal by Ethan Hurd
Our
Courses and
Workshops
Animation Mentor offers 12-week courses
and 6-week workshops on a wide variety
of animation disciplines. Whether you’re
looking to focus your skill set, build out your
generalist skills, or just try something new—
we’ve got you covered. If you’re a beginner,
our core Character Animation Courses will get
you started on your journey to becoming a
professional animator.
Character Animation Courses
12 Week Courses
AN01 Animation Basics

In Animation Basics, you’ll go beyond software to learn how to
realistically convey weight, motion and follow through – critical
skills on your journey to become a character animator.
AN02 Body Mechanics

In Body Mechanics, dive deep into the physicality of animating full
body walks on both human and animal characters with our Stella
and Sloan rigs. Begin by honing your observational skills and
understanding of human and animal anatomy.
Prerequisites: AN01 or Advanced Placement
AN03 Advanced Body Mechanics

In Advanced Body Mechanics, you will animate more advanced
physicality with your characters. Pick a character and create your
own sequence, using cuts to help tell your story.
AN04 Introduction to Acting

In Introduction to Acting, you tackle two of the most challenging
aspects of character animation: pantomime acting and animating
dialogue.
Prerequisites: Either AN03 or Advanced Placement
AN05 Advanced Acting

In Advanced Acting, you get your first taste of how to plan and
execute your animation in a studio production environment. You’ll
learn to create shots that cut together correctly, staging your acting
in the best way to support the overall story or character arc.
AN06 Polishing and Portfolio

In this course, you’ll produce at least 15 seconds of polished
animation for your demo reel. Learn the best practices for what
to include and what not to include on your demo reel, and get
valuable insights into the hiring process at top animation studios.
Prerequisites: AN05
Creature Animation
Courses
12 Week Courses
WCL01
Creature Animation:
Locomotion
Learn the essence of animal and creature
locomotion—how a creature runs, walks, senses,
stops, and turns. Challenge yourself to animate
believable creatures with the help of top creature
animators who’ve worked on Guardians of the
Galaxy, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and
more!
WCF01
Creature Animation:
Fight or Flight
Learn how to train your own dragon and
animate fight scenes like the pros! This
advanced workshop takes your skills to the
next level by teaching you how to integrate
believable creature animation with live-
action background plates. Learn what
makes a good action sequence, with tips
on planning and pacing physical animation
— and learn how to work effectively with
live-action footage.
Workshops
6 Week Courses WMAYA01
Maya Workshop:
Animation Basics
This is where it all starts! This workshop
is designed especially for beginners. Get
comfortable with the Autodesk® Maya® user
interface and the basic software tools for
animators and set yourself up for success in our
Character Animation Courses!
WTOON01
Cartoony Animation
for 3D Animators
Push your 3D skills by drawing simple 2D
animation sketches and learning to exaggerate
your animation! You’ll start with hand-drawn
master studies of great animation to start
learning effective cartoony techniques. You’ll end
up creating a simple cartoony animation following
the traditional workflow and then re-creating that
animation and workflow on a 3D character.
WSBOARD01
Storyboarding
Fundamentals
Round out your animation skills by learning the
foundation for staging, clarity, and emotion for
visual storytelling! Learn why “Story is King” in
Storyboarding Fundamentals with Mike Kunkel,
who has pitched stories for Walt Disney Studios
and Nickelodeon. Create your own simple short
story and board it to completion.
WGA01
Game Animation
Fundamentals
Want to know how to break into the game
industry? Now’s your chance to learn from
pro game animators who will help you learn
the essential techniques, workflow, and tools
necessary to get your animation skills ready for
the game industry. Learn the Maya to Unreal
Engine 4 workflow and use your game controller
or keyboard and watch your animation come to
life in real gameplay!
WGA02
Game Animation
Combat Attacks
Animate and watch your gameplay come to life!
Tailored for animators with an understanding
of body mechanics, Game Animation: Combat
Attacks gives you the opportunity to work with
pro game animators. You’ll learn the unique
techniques and processes required in the gaming
industry and use the Maya to Unreal Engine 4
workflow to animate two characters within a pre-
made game level. Get ready for battle!
WVISDEV01
Visual Development:
Principles of Design
Vis Dev Artists—also called Concept Artists—
determine the tone and mood for all the
characters and environments in a film, TV show,
or game. Visual Development Artists have a huge
impact across the entire entertainment industry,
from animation, to live-action films, to video
games, and beyond! In this workshop you’ll get
started with the basics.
WDPAINT01
Introduction to
Digital Painting
The character, creature, environment, and
background designs that determine the look
and feel of your favorite movies, TV shows,
and games all started with a painting! Learn the
basics of what makes a successful painting and
how to apply these skills to your own career path.
Storytelling is essential in any visual medium,
and you’ll learn to use your digital paint brush to
share your own characters and stories.
WPREVIS01
Previsualizaton Basics
for Animators
Previs Artist starts with rough building blocks—
just the storyboards or script—which they
interpret into a 3D space. In this workshop, you’ll
learn how animation and camera work are used
to help take a project all the way from script to
screen! You’ll also end up with 15–30 seconds of
animation for your demo reel.
Your Destiny.
Character Animation Workshops and
Courses Creatures
Start your epic animation journey Focus or round out your animation
with Character Animation Courses knowledge and learn new skills in less
and learn from the pros at Pixar, time with our 6 week workshops.
DreamWorks Animation, and Industrial
Light & Magic.
Apply Now! Learn More

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What Type of Animator Should I Be?

By: Erik Morgansen

As for the specific types of studios Another thought to consider is that

ANIMATION MENTOR: We One last thought, it really is important

You can be fearless and humble at the same time.

ANIMATION MENTOR: Any closing thoughts?

Felipe shares with us his experience and ANIMATION MENTOR:

ANIMATION MENTOR: Why ANIMATION MENTOR:

FELIPE: I decided to take Cartoony FELIPE: The most amazing thing

FELIPE: STUDY STUDY STUDY!! I

or participation from the

Be part of the collaborative process

Shahbaaz Shah was my

Yeah, it was kinda geek heaven for

I definitely have a much better

together amazingly well when

I highly recommend the games

Guerrilla that started to develop

From the start, I was assigned to

through the combination of

Richard: The amount of

Richard: Work very hard and focus

that is very difficult—mastering the body language and personality of a particular

Something I can’t emphasize enough is the importance of having strong body

A good animator creates interesting rhythm

Read more of Dana’s wisdom:

Creating the Space

1. Body looks weightless from frame Taking Breaks

I have news for you guys.

Any time you’re learning ANY art, one of the

To master to the Twelve Principles as an animator, you’re essentially learning how to

• Principle 1: Squash and Stretch by Chris Hurtt

AN01 Animation Basics

AN02 Body Mechanics

AN03 Advanced Body Mechanics

AN04 Introduction to Acting

AN05 Advanced Acting

AN06 Polishing and Portfolio

Apply Now! Learn More

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