Page for parents and students

This page has information both for parents of elementary school kids (Hello Muir!) and for older teens looking to get into the field. Take the information that is appropriate for you. (I do say, adults can do post it note flipbooks, too.)

I wrote a pretty silly article on how to become an artist here…

Becoming an Artist – 1

Becoming an Artist – 2

I would follow that advice above with drawing. To become an animator, there are other things to do as well. I got my bachelors degree in 3D animation, but I’ve had my career as a visual development and 2D artist. They need very different skills.

3D animation is all about that code! It is super code based and it is amazing. The more familiar you are with code language the better. Programs like Maya and game engines like Unreal will let you do so many amazing things if you know how to handle code. It is a marriage of math and art and it is incredible.

Do I need to go to school to learn animation? You can learn by yourself with books and online classes, but I’d recommend a good university that limits their admitted students and whose graduates are actually getting jobs. (Beware for-profit colleges and universities, so many of those offer animation degrees but they don’t teach what you need so you won’t be employed and are so much more expensive). It is hard to get into these good programs. I recommend a university experience both so you will learn the skills you need on the computer and also so you can learn the skills to work with others. Animation is super collaborative, and you must be able to work as a team. Also, I can’t stress networking enough. All of my professional jobs but one were based on networking.

Post-it Note Animation

These are super fun and easy!

I actually recommend drawing over any program, but there are some fun programs that we’ve used as a family. There are other good options out there, but I have only used these.

Simple- young kids:
Minecraft “Stop Motion” app – this is a stop motion app we’ve used that is simple and pretty fun. You can create stop motion animations with figurines or with people. Includes some

TinkerCAD – This is a free 3D modeling program. It is very simple and has tutorials. This was a fun program for my kids to build in. Made by the same company as Maya (the program most animation studios use). Tinkercad is very simple, and if you want to create more complex scenes or have more control it can be a little frustrating, but you get lost less than the larger programs like Blender.

Complex- older kids, teens, adults:
Blender – free, open source 3D program comparable to Maya – massive in scale, this can create actual 3D animated movies from start to finish with near Pixar quality. Super fun, but has a steep learning curve and easy to get lost in. Doing tutorials together are great.
Unreal Game Engine – free, open source game engine. This is the same game engine that top tier game companies use and it is available for free. Also massive. Doing tutorials together is super fun when the kids get to run around in their own little worlds they’ve made. This is a professional program, so the learning curve is steep but rewarding.
 

Books are trickier to recommend on a general basis. Especially considering 2D animation needs reference to the human body, and that may not be appropriate for some ages. These are books I used for my college degree. If you are looking for books for your child rather than yourself, just review the content before giving it to the child and return it for another if it doesn’t meet your needs.

Drawn to Life Volumes 1 & 2 – Stanchfield

The Animator’s Survival Kit – Williams

The Art of Pixar

The Natural Way to Draw – Nicolaides

Weatherly Animal Drawing Guide

“Art of” books are amazing.  Get an art book from a movie that inspired you. Art of Tangled, Art of Into the Spiderverse, Art of Avatar, The Last Airbender

Directing the Story – Glebas

I don’t get asked about storyboarding as much because it is less well known, but I love it! I focused on it for my bachelors when I was supposed to be good and focusing on my code. While I enjoyed code, I love story most. I enjoy storyboarding for both animation and live action.

I will need a completely different time to focus on story and storyboarding, because it deserves it.