Software for an aspiring animator?

[XYZ 2154]

My teenage son wants to work in animation. Does anybody know a good software and drawing tablet for doing animation? He wants this to be his career, so I’m willing to spend some money on this. Also, any good forums to ask questions about this field? Thanks in advance.

[Horn of Gabriel 1863]

2D like cartoons or 3D like CGI?

[El Diablo 4232]

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/multimedia-artists-and-animators.htm

[XYZ 2154]

56 minutes ago, Horn of Gabriel said:

2D like cartoons or 3D like CGI?

2D

[Horn of Gabriel 1863]

The major studios roll their own software, so you can't get it unless you work there.

Otherwise he should learn Tune Boom Harmony, it's used to make the Simpsons, Rick & Morty, etc.  It's not cheap, $900/yr, although they have a lite version for $180.  Not sure on student pricing.  Not sure on tablet; I'm sure at that level they're using a wacom or something similar more than iPads.

But really, it's not about the software...it's about other things.  #1 the story/plot, #2 interesting characters, and somewhere waaaaay down the list is the quality of the animation.  I mean, Red vs. Blue made millions of $'s...look at Southpark, or even the Simpsons.  Animation for TV these days is limited to a few key frame animators here in the US, and the vast, vast majority of people doing animation as a job are in Asia working for pennies on the dollar to fill in between keyframes or even storyboards.

If he's interested in production, or post-production, have him learn Adobe After Effects or Premiere and work on some of his own projects.  You can do a lot in those for a decent price.  But really if his heart is set on animation, it's not about the tools, it's about being a good artist.  Nail it on paper and those skills will transfer to electronic.

[Horn of Gabriel 1863]

Looks like they have a lot of resources for students: https://www.toonboom.com/education/students

Including special pricing: https://store.toonboom.com/students

And job resources: https://www.toonboom.com/jobs/job-listings

[XYZ 2154]

Thanks, I’ll pass this information along.

[XYZ 2154]

Horn of Gabriel:

If I understand you correctly, what you are telling me is that if you want to work as an animation artist, don’t bother with the skill of animating between frames because that’s done by cheap labor elsewhere. Basically you have to be a good storyboard artist, like a comic book. Make up interesting stories with interesting characters and cool drawings. Yes?

[Horn of Gabriel 1863]

Horn of Gabriel:
If I understand you correctly, what you are telling me is that if you want to work as an animation artist, don’t bother with the skill of animating between frames because that’s done by cheap labor elsewhere. Basically you have to be a good storyboard artist, like a comic book. Make up interesting stories with interesting characters and cool drawings. Yes?

Basically yes. The days of Disney artists toiling in LA and drawing thousands of frames by hand died with the original Lion King, if not before. I’m sure that someone who wanted to be an animator in that way could find work, but that job is largely gone now and replaced by computers/AI and cheap labor in Vietnam (which is where the Simpsons is done today IIRC).

Besides for the creative artist, there isn’t much glory in animation, it is very mechanical and methodical. Maybe he likes that but there is much more creativity and license in some of those other areas.

The break in entry level job might be as animator or keyframe artist, or it could be compositor - that is harder to outsource.

Talk to some more people, my experience is 2nd and 3rd hand here, although directionally correct...

[Monster 219]

You can do southpark style animations with adobe after effects.  It's basically photoshop, but with a timeline.  $49/month for the full adobe suite, which gives you photoshop, audio editing, and a dozen other software programs you'll never use.  I'm sure there's a month long free trial and a tons of tutorials on youtube.It isn't traditional animation, but it's a way to tell an animated story without drawing 1000's of frames.  Here's a couple of interesting animations created with after effects...

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