It can be intimidating starting something new, especially when it has the potential to have such a huge impact on your future. It can also be super exciting when you set out as a beginner to learn animation. There’s definitely a learning curve, but learning animation is a journey that begins with learning the 12 principles of animation, technical skills like Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects, honing your creative process, and developing an amazing demo reel. But how do beginners learn animation? There are several paths you can take to learn skills like design principles, Adobe After Effects and Animate, Autodesk Maya, storyboarding, and editing. Many animators learn animation at an arts-focused school, college, or university through a degree program, but there are also plenty who learn their skills in professional training facilities. You’ll find just as many self-taught animators. If you're sure you want a career in animation, you can jump right into a career-focused bootcamp or certificate course for faster entry into the workforce. If you have a larger budget and more time for the most in-depth and immersive animation education available, you can apply to a college, university, or art school to earn a degree in animation.
Getting Started with Animation
Before enrolling in animation classes, it can be helpful to have a basic understanding of color theory, computer literacy, and even some experience with design software like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. If you're planning on enrolling in college, an art school, or a professional training facility, you probably won’t need any prior knowledge. Each course is different, and certain courses will have prerequisites. Some professional training facilities will even offer pre-coursework to help students prepare for learning animation. In this event, students should complete this before the start of class for the best learning outcomes. Whether you want to do traditional hand-drawn animations or go into computer graphics-based animation, you'll still need artistic abilities and drawing skills. Although creative thinking is a skill that can be taught, it is also one that many creatives have innately.
Some industry-standard animation software includes Adobe Creative Cloud, Autodesk Maya, and Blender. Access to these tools will be necessary for many beginner animation courses. Some education facilities offer students computers with software preloaded, while others will expect students to supply a subscription or license to animation software. You may also need to purchase course materials or an external hard drive to save your coursework and demo reel. Other materials you may want include drawing supplies like sketch pads, colored pencils, and watercolors, a stylus pen for your mobile device, and books on animation for your library.
The First Steps When Learning Animation
The basic skills you'll need as a new or entry-level Animator depend on the type of animation professional you want to be. But foundational skills almost always begin with the 12 principles of animation. These principles serve as techniques that allow animation to adhere to the laws of physics and highlight an animated character's emotions and the overall appeal. Timing, exaggeration, and staging are core parts of animation that help anchor and captivate audiences. Not only does it help create realistic animations, but it also enables you to bend or break the rules effectively.
You'll also master several popular animation tools like Autodesk Maya and Adobe Premiere Pro. These tools are useful in creating animations and editing them. With their large selection of animation and computer graphics tools for modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering, animation software helps make your designs everything you want them to be. Other software, like Adobe Creative Cloud, provides a suite of creative tools that allow you to bring your wildest or tamest animation ideas to life. Proficiency in multiple animation tools ensures you can create as needed for any animation role. Other basic skills you'll need include writing and editing, researching for character design, storyboarding, compositing, and 3D modeling. These skills will give you more range as an Animator.
Free Animation Tools for Beginners
Many animation beginners aren’t completely convinced that animation is the right career path for them. If you find that you're unsure about animation, experimenting with free animation tools can help you make the decision. Free tools are also very helpful in supplementing your education. They allow you to get some additional practice while also increasing your confidence.
Free animation tools include Adobe Animate, Cinema 4D Lite, Powtoon, Vyond, Moho, and DigiCel FlipBook. While most of these tools have paid versions, you can access limited features for free or through a free trial. You can use these to learn a variety of animation techniques and explore the tools. You may find the learning curve too steep and decide to take a class to more efficiently learn to navigate the software, or you may discover that you prefer one animation tool over another.
There's a lot you can do with animation tools, and product makers want you to make their tool one of your go-to animation resources. Most companies offering free animation tools also provide insights on how to use their products. Through videos, articles, and tutorials, you can learn how to use animation tools for character rigging, 2D and 3D animations, creating visual effects, and creating engaging videos and presentations. Exploring these tools will help you start learning animation skills and prepare you for what you can expect to learn in a live animation course.
Live Animation Training for Beginners
You'll find many advantages to enrolling in live animation training for beginners. The main reason most people opt for live training is that it's the most traditional and widely accepted method for learning new skills. It's thought to be the most efficient and effective way to learn, offering students plenty of support, guidance, personalized feedback, hands-on guided practice, and networking opportunities. Live animation training is a great choice for anyone. However, if you have a particularly tight or erratic schedule, you may find live courses stressful to incorporate into your existing routine.
Guided and structured learning is the biggest advantage of enrolling in live animation training. Whether you choose live online learning or in-person learning, having an instructor to help you through the coursework, provide personalized feedback, and invest in your animation future is invaluable. Without a live instructor, you may find it difficult to figure out the most logical order to take courses and how to troubleshoot animation challenges. Receiving hands-on guidance can help you feel more self-assured and learn more efficient ways of navigating animation tools. Personalized feedback is a form of support that anyone wanting to improve and grow as an Animator looks forward to. Live training also gives you more opportunities to interact with your peers and build lasting networks that can benefit your career as a professional Animator.
Another huge advantage of live training is accountability. When you have peers and an instructor, you're more likely to complete coursework, engage with it meaningfully, and meet class expectations. On-demand courses and free online resources don’t provide this level of engagement or accountability. In comparison, on-demand animation courses offer very little accountability. This partnership between instructor and student works to the student's advantage by encouraging growth and advancement.
The Next Step
If you already have experience with animation software or a foundational understanding of animation, you may be interested in advanced animation courses. These include advanced single-topic courses, bootcamps, and certificate programs. Advanced courses are better suited to those pacing their education to fit their schedule and budget, as well as professionals looking to upskill in their careers. Moving into advanced animation courses will give you more depth and range in your projects, deepen your understanding of techniques, concepts, and tools, and help you develop a higher-quality demo reel. You can look forward to learning advanced uses of animation tools like Adobe After Effects and Photoshop, 3D project rendering, incorporating AI into projects, and editing video and audio.
Already completed a beginner’s animation course and decided animation is the best career path for you? Consider enrolling in the Video Editing and Motion Graphics Certificate course, where you'll learn video editing principles, advanced After Effects, and Premiere Pro techniques. You'll also get a bonus lesson in either AI for Video and Motion Graphics or Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp. It’s helpful to be familiar with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop but not required when enrolling in this 126-hour certificate program. This beginner-friendly certificate program also covers post-production and animation concepts and techniques. Students can take advantage of one free course retake and one-on-one mentoring sessions outside of scheduled class times. Full-time and part-time schedules are available to better meet student needs.
Already know the basics of Adobe After Effects and want to start working with Cinema 4D? Deepen your animation skills with the Cinema 4D in After Effects Bootcamp. This course teaches you how to integrate Cinema 4D Lite with After Effects to create animated 3D models and motion graphics. After completing this bootcamp, you’ll have the skills to create and work with 3D models, assign textures, create animations, and use the Cineware effect for seamless integration in this 18-hour, live, project-based bootcamp. Students can view recorded class sessions to reinforce their understanding and retake the course for free once if needed.