Animation Mentor Class 1 Progress Reel. Ben Krolick

My progress reel from Animation Mentor Class 1.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Animation
• Mentor
• 3D
• class1
• filmmaker
• progress
• reel
• maya
• walk
• cycle
• personality
• pendulum
• tailor
• ball
• bounce

[Guldies]

I'm so lost right now. I graduated this week. I'm 18 years old and I love to sculpt and animate. I love art in every kind of way but I haven't been able to prioritize art and animations just yet. I don't know if I have the guts to go all in and start animation/art school and do what I love. How hard is it to make a living on this? that's my main concern. I want to become an clay animator

[BenKrolick1]

@Guldies

You CAN make a living from animation. But you ain't going to be driving around in a Porche. But you can survive, and surviving from a job that you absolutely LOVE is more important than money.

I can't offer too much advice, as I don't know enough about you, but I had similar concerns when I was your age. I actually did a bit of travelling and shitty jobs before returning to art education in my mid 20's. Then I was more sure I knew what I wanted to do.

Good luck with it all!

[andoi9292]

i am planing to do animating after i graduate from high school! besides being 18 and knowing basic math and good english, what else do i need to start studying with an animation mentor?  do i take college at the same time, b4 or after? doi need college? sorry for asking many questions but i dont know much about this stuff. id love to pursue animation. any suggestions on what to do to get there?

[BenKrolick1]

@andoi9292 I guess Maths is helpful, but I think Art/Drawing is more helpful. A strong ability to draw the human figure is pretty essential I guess.

Stay in college, maybe do Animation Mentor after you finish college. But for now, buy some books on animation. Richard Williams 'The Animation Survival Guide' and Eric Goldberg 'Animation Crash Course'. And maybe a book on life drawing.

And I think EVERYONE needs a copy of 'The Illusion of Life' by Ollie Johnson and Frank Thomas.

[TRE1275]

all tutorials about art and animation can be found online for FREE!! Don't pay for some shitty art school to destroy your creativity.

[BenKrolick1]

@TRE1275 ....What an unusual thing to say Tony Treloar!!!? I work for one of the biggest Visual Effects houses in the world, creating animations for the movie business. Nearly half the animators here did Animation Mentor. And I'd hazard a guess that the rest didn't learn their trade for free online.

I went to art school. I staudied art when I was younger. Continued learning has not 'destroyed my creativity'

[DinoAGrado]

Animationmentor suggests using Autodesk Maya, so I'd assume most students use that for their animations

[tonenajjar]

@tonenajjar I forgot to answer your question haha, it's great that you are interested in animation... My suggestion would be:

-If possible go to college for art/animation education, it helps a lot.

-Read Animators Survival Kit, Drawn to Life, The Illusion of Life, Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators.

-Constant research about animation, art, cinematography and pretty much every subject you can... It never hurts to understand about other fields.

-Practice, Practice and Practice!

[tonenajjar]

@R4fF07 In terms of computer animation, on a production level most of you're time will be spent planning and then animating on the computer.

But for animation skills, drawing as Richard Williams and Glen Keane put it: "It should be second nature", not because you will be drawing all day long (unless you are doing traditional animation), but cause it will help a lot to understand mass, force, weight, gesture and appeal, which could improve dramatically your animation skills.

[tonenajjar]

@DinoAGrado Yes, you are correct my friend! Maya is kind of "industry standard" in the sense that most animation studios and more recently game studios use it at least in some part of the production for it's robust features and extendability (not only animation wise but also for modeling, lighting, texturing, etc...).

3ds max is also very used in the games industry.

[hungryhype]

@BenKrolick1 Good advice on pursuing what you love. We all need to be reminded of that from time to time.

[Guldies]

@BenKrolick1 I'm grateful you replied. To make even the smallest amount of money on something you enjoy doing is enough for me. Thank you. It helped.

take care

[Chickenkeeper24]

@BenKrolick1 You usually need a maths and english gcse and an art a level.

[R4fF07]

I have a question as right now I'm 23. I haven't drawn since I was in memorial and well I'm not that good, I might say its just alright. How or where should I start, I'm intrested on animation.