My train is runinng a bit slow this morning so I thought I'd share some of the things i'm learning about creating animation with you this morning--also if I don't do anything I'll fall asleep--fun fact about grad school + working it means some pretty late nights & early mornings--last night was no exception, now if I could only get the internet to work in Amtrak--we'd be in business--but no such luck--so far. Anyway--animation-- Correct your keys and breakdowns BEFORE moving ahead to in betweens.

Okay this sounds like it should be a no-brainer for anyone doing animation but in my last scene I second guessed myself and thought I couldn't tell if the animation 'worked' without the in betweens. I moved ahead too early and am paying the price-- a painstakingly slow redo of work I 'completed' over the last couple of weeks.

SIMPLIFY

When I'm first coming up with acting for a scene my mind is everywhere and I try several different variations to of the same action--and then inevitable choose some strange combination of everything I've tried. No No No! Good animation is simple and relies on motivation driven ACTING to point A to point B not the strangest most complicated action imaginable. I need to first get into who my character is and why they are doing what they are doing (motivation!) and cut out the rest of the fluff. Surprisingly I think the acting/posing/expression stuff might be one of my strengths but I tend to second guess my choices--stop that!--and come out with something strange.