Hand drawn 2-d Animation?

Hello and welcome to the most time consuming, frustrating and rewarding form of artistic expression! Don't get distracted by all the different supplies - a poor workman blames his tools. The supplies don't matter a pair of dingos kidneys - it's what you DO with what you've got that makes it work.

But, before you go investing in a whole bunch of crap, do a little mental check with yourself - do you start projects and carry them ALL THE WAY THROUGH to the finish? Do you have the patience to sit still for several hours, doing the same task over and over again? And finally, do you have another source of income to support your 'habit' (live with parents, have a 'real job', etc.)?

Now - in reference to your questions regarding paper and peg boards. What you're trying to do is traditional 'analogue' animation. A craft in itself, this process removes most of the expensive digital equipment from start up costs. A short explanation about a 'peg board' - the pegs keep the papers in the exact alignment from one drawing to the next to ensure proper registration when all the drawings are played back. Because the purpose is only registration, anything that makes sure the paper is in line with all the other pages will work - I used two pieces of masking tape perpendicular to each other and butted the corner of the paper between them. A simple way to create a peg board is to take an old 3 ring binder and then uses punched pages. The paper has a bit of give when on the rings, but if you do that along with the tape process, you'll be just fine. But, you can ditch all that and just tap the pages together, if you want to just get started! That doesn't work for really long projects, but you shouldn't be doing anything more than 100 or 200 sheets at the beginning.

The thing you REALLY should buy as opposed to a peg board is a light table. This helps you see the drawings below the one you're currently working on. If you don't use a light table, you'll need to do everything with tracing paper.

The final step on your analog process does require digital intervention. Once you have all the drawings done, you need to put them all together so they can be seen as a video. You can scan them, or shoot them with a digital still camera. You can use a digital video camera, but most have a 3 to 6 second standard still frame length. That will require additional editing to remove during assembly.

So, you either scan or shoot your frames, and then you need to put them all in order, one after another. For this, you'll need a computer with some type of simple video editing software. Of course, this gets you into the crazy world of frame rates and frame sizes. As you start out, use 12 FPS and 720 x 480 for your frame size and you'll be fine. There are a million other options, which you'll learn about as you go.

Of course - if you don't have access to ANY digital devices, you can always ship your drawings off to a post production / CD duplication company and have them assemble it for you. But, for how much that costs, you can get a cheap laptop and do it yourself.

What I've told you here is the VERY VERY tippy top of the iceberg. There's so much more, a lifetime of information about 2D animation. Unfortunately, 2D is considered a 'dying art' - being replaced by 3D at every turn. So, of course I'm very excited that you're thinking about getting into it! There are a lot of great resources out there if you're looking to talk to people about your projects and ideas. If you're on Facebook, check out the groups '2D Animation' and 'Independent Animation'. A good blog to start following is 'Cartoon Brew' and the best resource for anything related to the field of animation is 'AWN: Animation World Network'.

Three books you need in your library if you decide to take this on: 1) The Illusion of Life 2) The Animators Survival Kit and 3) The Animation Book. The 'Drawn to Life' series is excellent, too.

But, regardless of everything I've said here - the FIRST step, once you finish reading this post, get a little pack of post it notes or a small notepad, a #2 pencil, and animate something. A bouncing ball, a creeping worm, a waving line, a blooming flower. Anything. Don't worry if anyone will see it, don't worry if it's good enough, don't worry how long it takes. Completely INDULGE yourself in the process, wallow in it, absorb it, explore it. What does the line look like one frame to the next? Can you make the movement really really slow? Really really fast? How much detail do you need from drawing to drawing? Does your back hurt when you're done, and what is better posture so you can sit for a really long time without discomfort? Did you find the experience enjoyable at all? You'll learn more from doing it than what anyone can tell you.

Good luck!

Animation Pegboard

Yes, most definitely. The 2D hand drawn animations that Disney used to do had a lot more character and soul than the stuff that they're putting out now. Not that the 3D animations that they're doing now is bad, but I have room in my life for both. Sadly, Disney's not going to make anymore 2D animated movies. They closed down their 2D animation studio a few years ago in favor of going all 3D from now on. Such a shame.

3D Animation Software Program - http://3danimationcartoons.com/?sKPx

honestly, idk about all this, I wouldn't think anyone else would answer this question. so I'll put up some websites that I searched on Google that are kinda helpful, maybe not.

http://animation.about.com/od/recommendedreading/s...

http://www.ehow.co.uk/list_6777687_2d-animation-ti...