Why do animators need Facebook? Because as a student animator, you need to be able and willing to show your work, and you need to learn not to mind about taking criticism. We all tend to be shy about our work, especially when we are learning something new, and, when our work is criticised, that criticism can feel very personal. Learning to take criticism is one of the most important skills a student animator can learn.
The importance of Criticism
Bing able to take criticism (“notes” in the industry) is part of the process of creating great animation. When you first show your work to a client, they will have comments, and they won’t always love your first efforts. Whether you’re working at a studio, or doing private client work, or just working on your own personal work, animators need to learn to incorporate criticism in order to make your work the best it can be.
Facebook Classroom
At Animation Apprentice we have a Facebook classroom (a closed group, only our students can join); where our students post their work for critique, ask technical questions, and also learn about the latest job openings.
Closed Group
Because it’s a closed group, everyone can post their work safe in the knowledge that the only people who can see it are other students on the course. This means students can make their mistakes without feeling too shy.
We all start off feeling shy about our work, but as we grow in confidence it gets easier to post test animation and get constructive feedback.
Assessed Work – Work in Progress
Our master’s degree students (Our MA is awarded by Buckinghamshire New University) are strongly encouraged to submit their work-in-progress early at the Fb Classroom for feedback, prior to the submission of assessed work.
This is very much how industry works, and our course is designed to mirror as closely as possible the methods used in industry. At animation dailies, an animator’s work is critiqued by the director, and by other animators, to make sure every shot is of the highest possible standard.
Learning to take criticism
At the FB Classroom students learn to take criticism, and they also learn how to give useful critique on the work done by other students.
It is good practice for working in industry, not just to solicit comments, but also to learn to be able to give constructive criticism. Animators help each other out on production all the time by giving one another tips and suggestions, and your best resource at a new studio is often the person sitting next to you.
So, for all our students, don’t be shy, make the best use you can of our Fb Classroom.
To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.
Animators need sound design. If you’re animating a shot, remember that the visuals are just 50% of the experience; the rest is audio.
Audio is made up of music, sound effects, dialogue and – sometimes – narration.
Occasionally, good sound design means having no sound at all, or very little. But there is usually some work to be done, and animators neglect sound design altogether at their peril.
Who needs Sound Design?
Good sound design brings a huge amount to any project. Sound design is not just about the quality of recording itself, it’s about music, sound effects, foley, and the final mix. Sound heightens our experience of a film and brings it to life. Sound design is something that animators at a big studio take for granted – because someone else does it for you. But when you are learning and studying animation, you will have to do it yourself.
Getting Started
What sound work is needed for your shot? Do you need sound effects? Voice narration? Music? If music, does it need to be an original composition (lots of work) or some library music (much less work). If there is voice narration, you will need to find an actor, and record their voice(s), or do it yourself. Start off by making a list of what you will need.
Free sound effects
There are plenty of places on the web to find good sound effects. Free sound effects can be found online at Youtube, www.freesound.org and many other websites. You might pick some music that you like (even if it is not what you intend to use in the final edit), and drop that in to your animatic.
One excellent resource for royalty-free sound effects is the YouTube Sound Effects Channel.
The YouTube Sound Effects Channel also includes links to other similar sites at YouTube. So, if you can’t find what you need, try a new channel. You can also (of course) use royalty-free sites like freesound.org and findsound.org.
Collaborate with a Sound Designer
In a perfect world, you might delegate the sound design of your work to a professional (or aspiring) sound designer. Check out this blog post for how to get the most out of a collaboration with a sound designer. But it’s often the case that the quickest and best way to get something done is to do it yourself.
Learn Premiere
Most sound design tends to get done in editing software such as Premiere or Final Cut Pro. Sound design is hard in Autodesk Maya because you only get one sound channel; so you can’t layer in sound effects. To find out how to use audio in Maya, see this blog post.
Examples of Good Sound Design
To see some animation featuring especially impressive sound design, check out the work of Animation Apprentice graduate Lee Caller, below.
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