Starting any animation assignment presents many creative choices up front! One of the hardest...
Stepped vs. Spline Blocking in Animation
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Animation Tips and Tricks Articles
What is a Reversal in Animation?
Reversals aren’t all that complicated, but lots of new animators haven’t heard of them! Here,...
Mastering Body Mechanics: A Student Showcase Behind-the-Scenes
Onward in our behind-the-scenes look at the 2017 Animation Mentor Student Showcase! This week, we...
Shawn Kelly Answers 5 Burning Questions About Demo Reels
Animation Mentor co-founder and ILM Lead Animator Shawn Kelly answers five questions about demo reels and tips for applying to studio animation jobs.
Some Words of Advice for Contract and Rookie Animators
Taking your first steps into the professional world of animation? Blue Sky Studios’ Supervising...
Creature Animation: A Student Showcase Behind-the-Scenes
We’re continuing our in-depth look at the 2017 Animation Mentor Student Showcase! Meet the...
Animating Musical Shots: A Student Showcase Behind-the-Scenes
We’re taking a deep dive on the 2017 Animation Mentor Student Showcase! Meet the animators, find...
Why All Animators Need to Master the Moving Hold
A "moving hold” is basically just a way to have your character hold a key pose for a long time...
6 Common Mistakes of Beginning Animators
We asked Animation Mentor Grad, Pixar Animator, and current mentor Jane Cassidy to share the...
Best in Animation 2017: Animation Mentor Staff Picks
2017 has been...eventful to say the least. And that’s why we’re more grateful than ever for the...
Top 10 Animation Blog Posts of 2017
To help you get a head start on 2018, we’ve compiled our top animation posts of the past year!...
What Separates the Good Animator from the Bad Animator?
What separates a good animator from a bad one? While the answer might be somewhat subjective,...
5 Myths of the Animation Industry
The animation industry is the business of creating myth and magic. As such, it’s not surprising...
How to Maximize Your Productivity When Animating
Animation is a time-consuming art form—there’s just no way around it. Something that many people...
How to Create Your Game Animation Demo Reel
So you want to apply to a game studio but you’re wondering, "What exactly do I need to put on my...
Choosing the Best Poses for Your Acting Shot
When you’re creating a performance for a character, how do you decide how many poses to use? The...
Twinning and Why You Should (Usually) Avoid It
With twinning—as with everything in the animation world—there’s always room to break the rules....
What's the best workflow for animating a shot?
The short answer is: Whatever helps you get the shot done. The longer answer is: It varies from...
How to Create Believable Weight in Animation
In animation, we want to believe that the character moved, not that someone moved the character....
Don't Be Scared to Critique More Experienced Animators
We get it! It can be tough giving feedback to animators who are more advanced than you. You worry...
I’ll never be as good an animator as so-and-so…
Sooner or later—usually sooner—someone is going to come along and blow you out of the water. But...
ANIMATION TIPS & TRICKS
DEMO REEL ADVICE
