What makes a good professional animator? While technical skill is important, there’s one key issue...
Animation Studio Etiquette: Keep Your Ego in Check
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Animation Articles
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...
6 Common Mistakes of Beginning Animators
We asked Animation Mentor Grad, Pixar Animator, and current mentor Jane Cassidy to share the...
Movies Coming Out in 2018: What to Watch in Animation
2018 is here! For you that might mean resolutions and fresh starts, but most importantly it means...
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...
10 Animation Mentor Alumni and Mentors Nominated for Annie Awards!
It’s always exciting to see our students going on to do great things—and it’s ESPECIALLY exciting...
Classic Villains of Animated Christmas Specials: Ranked
How do these yuletide bad guys hold up under actual scrutiny? Are they really bad or just...
Laika Showcases Behind-the-Scenes Magic in New Exhibit
Good friend of Animation Mentor Malana McFarlen visited the Portland Art Museum last week to see...
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,...
What is an Animation Pipeline?
Few like to think of animation as a product to be processed like oil or an automobile. But given...
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...
Welcome to the New Animation Mentor Campus!
We have big news! Animation Mentor is going to look and feel a lot different starting in the...
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....
Inside Dailies at Pixar: Expressing Your Opinion About Changes in Animation
There are many things to take into consideration before asking to change something, and many...
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
