What would you recommend?

[angel2342]

Okay, just to get it out there; I know nothing about animation. Nothing more than what I could try doing with a flip book. In any case, I'm eager to try something new and embracing the challenge that I hope it will create for me.

I have an idea for an animation that I would like to try to make revolving around a song. But what would seasoned veterans such as yourselves recommend:

- Using to animate with a Mac OS X 10.4?
- The best way to animate and what it is/means?
- How to get started on this independent project?


Thanks for the help.

[Katezila]

Well it all boils down to what medium you want to use.
For macs, theirs a great little program called iStopmotion that costs 40 bucks I think, and it allows you to take images in sequence, straight from the camera to your computer, and then play it at 24fps.
If you're thinking your going to do this traditionally, I recommend getting Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation book. Its a staple for 2d animation students.

[angel2342]

Well, I've always had an interest in both, but the animation I was planning on was going to be done traditionally. But does the Preston Blair's book, is that actually a book or is it software? I eventually would have liked to share my finished animation online as well. I probably should have mentioned that earlier >.<

[Zilant]

1) Afraid I'm a bit Mac stupid.
But I do know most relevant programs tend to be Mac friendly (such as Adobe Premiere/After Effects/Flash). Even the mid-range Plastic Animation Paper has one in the works.

2)*low whistle*
That's an awfully in-depth question. That's one of those 'answer so vast my only recourse is to throw a book at you' questions.
I recommend: The Animator's Survival Kit (http://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Richard-Williams/dp/0571202284)

3)A good way to start is with a Storyboard.
If there's a story you want to progress, this is the time to make sure your communicating it effectively to your audience. A music video can be tricky, because you can't use dialog or sound effects to get your point across. Show it around to your friends and see if they 'get' it. Even if your animation is going to be abstract with no real story elements progressing, a rough outline of what your hoping to accomplish is invaluable.

Next you can construct something called an "Animatic".
This is a movie file where your storyboard images are set to the music, holding on each image for the length you want that scene to be. This helps you structure your timing, so that when you begin to animate you have a basic idea of how many frames you need to make for each scene.

[angel2342]

Thank you very much. You've helped a lot.

[Katezila]

Animator's Survival Kit can get a little heavy in the reading if you don't know much about animation, but it is a reeeeeally good book.
Still definitely reccomend iStopmotion for shooting it. Its not specifically a stopmotion program. We use it at our school to shoot tests.
Basicaly what it does is take images in sequence, so if you lay your drawings down, and light them, you can take an image of each frame you draw, and play it.
If you want sound capabilities, I think you have to by iStopmotion Express. I've never worked with that version, I'm afraid. But yeah, when your done you can export your film in a lot of different formats, including web-friendly ones.

[angel2342]

Once again, thank you very much. I'll look into the Survival Kit when I get my next chance.