Quote from Scythe

Tip: Buy a freaking drawing tablet.


#Bam

Most definitely. Also, if you are making a fullbody where your character's dimensions will be roughly the same, try separating it into pieces and put those pieces in individual layers. This will let you move them around without having to erase an re-draw for every frame This tends to be useful for making games, and for more detailed characters.

#Bam

Quote from Hidro

So you're saying I should watch cooking and horse breeding tutorials?
Be more specific.

As far as I know, cooking and horse breeding usually aren't a part of animation tutorials... But if you find an animation tutorial about cooking or horse breeding that's ok.

What i meant, is that you should see tutorials about different kind of animation, like, 3D, fullbody, stop motion etc.

F5 expands frames, like most people know. Shift+F5 deletes them. Saves the trouble of highlighting the frames and right clicking to delete.

gonna favorite this
and just an idea, instead of doing your VERY BEST at the beginning and having to go back every 30 seconds to change something, start off with a rough draft then improve.
^ good for fullbodies.

-Don't join a rhg clan. Nothing happens in those.
-Keep dialogue to a minimal. If the stick must speak then make it like a short sentence.
-Unsaturated bg's are the best.
-It is a good idea to animate each part of a explosion on separated layers. For example the base on one, the torso on one, and the head on one.
-Dont spend to long on particles. Make a reminder to finish it later after finishing the rest if animation.
-I dont recommend tutorials. You could of spent the time animating.
-Always strive for full lengths. They help you improve. Dont give up midway like i always do due to lack of ideas.

#bam

Here's some tips from me.

-When you start an animation, better finish it, even if you don't want to. If your plan for it was for it to be longer, make it shorter if you have lost interest. It's a waste if you're just going to abandon a project. It'll be an addition to your completed animations if you complete your animation.

-Compare animation to real life movement, animation is everywhere, you yourself is animated in an undefined fps speed.

-Watch a lot of films that focus on close-combat and angles, it's what we stick-figure animators usually animate.

-When you have the feel to play games, play. Don't force yourself to do what you don't want. Though you better finish your animation as soon as you feel like animating again.

-Watch pron if you really really need to, they are an 'inspiration' and urgazm can motivate you to continue animating (lolwat?).

-Watch Naruto and all those flippy moves.

-Watch Guz and Syrius, study their moves.

Quote from Atomicapple

-Don't join a rhg clan. Nothing happens in those.
What if the animator just wants to use it to extend his web of e-friends?

-Unsaturated bg's are the best.
depends. Colors are good.

-Dont spend to long on particles. Make a reminder to finish it later after finishing the rest if animation.
depends. If you want to emphasize the particles in your animation and time isn't really an issue, then you can go ahead and spend 4 months on a single particle if you want to.

-I dont recommend tutorials. You could have spent the time animating.
depends. If you're new and you don't know what the fuck to do, looking at tutorials are more efficient in finding out how to use the program.

-Always strive for full lengths. They help you improve. Dont give up midway like i always do due to lack of ideas.
depends. If you want to just try and get the hang of angles, making a full length just for the sake of learning angles is pretty inefficient. A better advice would be to actually apply what you've practiced into a full length, instead of just making shorts and being proud of them.

Quote from Scythe

Tip: Buy a freaking drawing tablet.

depends. I think Syrius animates with a mouse, and he's pretty sick at it. I think Terkoiz does/did too?

Quote from Hidro

If you keep the alt key pressed while you click and drag an object you will duplicate it.

This works with frames btw.

Here's my tip for you aspiring animators: Know when to stop. If you're starting to get the feeling like you're only animating so you can impress some prepubescent faggots, then you should probably quit animating instead of wasting more time on something you're probably end up hating. Also know when to rest. Taking a walk in the park, hanging out with friends, or even just not touching the tablet for months can help your mind think creatively. Just don't force yourself to do anything.

Another, and I think it's the most important one, would be to make sure to enjoy what you're doing. Either enjoy painstakingly drawing sticks frame-by-frame, or just enjoying watching your finished product, if not both. At least even if you end up sucking, you can still say you had fun doing it.

Quote from Fordz

-Watch pron if you really really need to, they are an 'inspiration' and urgazm can motivate you to continue animating (lolwat?).

-Watch Naruto and all those flippy moves.

-Watch Guz and Syrius, study their moves.

Really man? Lol, I dont think pron motivates you to anything, only getting you more kinkier.

Also, not only Gzu's and Syrius', try studying the smoothest/awesomest/greatest animations you have ever seen. You can learn their gimmicks and shit. Not up for that? Then try studying something a much simplier (and fab) animation. It's easy that way.

Here's something I guessed. Getting a bonerfest on making fullbodies?
-The motion? Try animating a stick figure (draft) first,it resembles the "skeleton" of the figure. It's easier that way, so that after drafting, you can freely draw out the body.
-Clothing? Draw/animate your figure clothless first. After doing so, do the clothing. Is your figure running? Want to add up some flapping clothing effect? Then try studying a flapping flag. That way, you can know where to animate the foldings.
-Miscallenous objects (like earrings/sword) on the body? Make it still. Even when your figure's running, it should never fold/become fluid or something like that.

#bam

play dragonfable for neat effects and loads of other animating related stuffs.......bam?

Quote from Smile

depends. I think Syrius animates with a mouse, and he's pretty sick at it. I think Terkoiz does/did too?

If Terkoiz ever did it, he did it a long time ago because he's been using a bamboo tablet for years.


DL'ing an animation and analyzing something frame by frame or even rotoscoping it isn't a bad thing if it helps you get a better idea of how the animator did it. The only thing you shouldn't do is rotoscope and post it as if it's your own animation.

Reminds me of rotoscoping a run loop. Learned alot from that.

And naming frames!? Omg thanks.

Syrius has a tablet now lmao.

Anyways, here's a few tips I can give.

-Try animating with pivot. It sounds stupid, but pivot is the easiest way to learn how to do smooth and fluid movements. It requires you to take a lot more time with your easing and flow, and doesn't allow doubleframing to look nice which helps a lot if you want to get the hang of how to do some good movements.

-When you're animating shorts, try to keep them variated. Don't just do the same punches and run loops over and over again even if you know they're good, try and focus on other movements that you have a hard time animating.

-Don't show your every animation. If you're just doing a short practice, it's not like anybody needs to see it. If you're just practicing to get your movements right without wanting criticism, then don't post it. Saying that you rushed it really pisses everyone off and when you know your animation is below your standards you should know that it isn't worth showing.

-Have fun with it. I know people have said this, but it's really important. Feel like the animation's getting boring to do? Fine, just ditch it and start with another one that you can let out your ideas on. Feel like an effect is taking an extremely long time to animate? Alright, just go for it later. It really doesn't matter if you make good animations, having fun with them is probably the most important thing since you shouldn't be doing this at all if you're just doing it for attention.

Also guys the bam thing is pretty annoying by now.

I've got a tip for you guys. Save your favorite animation in .swf format as a .swf on your computer! (I only know how to do this on Firefox. Go to the direct webpage with your desired animation, right click > click view page info > click the film icon > find a file ending in .swf > click save as > save it wherever you want)

You then want to go ahead and download an .swf decompiler such as SoThink SWF Decompiler, and decompile that animation into an .fla!

That way, you can actually view the makeup of the animation in Flash and study or refer to any area you wish, whenever you want. It's a great strategy for up-and-coming skilled animators, I did this for a bit, and I believe some people ought to give it a shot. Just don't directly copy or steal anything from the decompiled .fla.

Yo heres a tip!~

-Don't do RHG battles when u first start animating

-always keep a copy of a animation you make! Cause if the one your using crashes or comes corrupt all the sudden its not fun all that work gone to waste (trust personal experience)

Quote from ssosmeify

-Don't do RHG battles when u first start animating

Why not? I did one when I first started out and it went pretty well. You just got to find someone that's in your skill level.