good projects for beginners?

[Vikingknight7]

i havent seen this on the disscussion board yet but i gotta ask is there any good projects that are good for beginners? you know like any animation project that canhelp ease someone into the role of animation? like walk cycles, hand gestures, basic movenets?

[A Commodore 64®]

i would suggest walking test animations and stuff... and then i would fail

[Fluid Script Studios]

walking cycles are a good exercise. But it's one of the most difficult things to animate. Walking requires every single bone in the body to move every frame. So for a begginer it's not a very good idea.

For beginners, exercises i suggest would be the following

creating posters, in which all you are doing is posing a character and creating a scene.

copy movement per movement of characters in a scene from a movie. Doesn't have to be a crazy action scene, just something simple, like a dialogue between two people. copying the camera angle and scene build itself is also a good way to learn about composition of a shot.

facial animation. practice creating expressions, eye movement and general human mannerisms. Personally, i struggled with this until recently, where i just lacked practice in creating human emotion, but really its all about the way the eyes move, the little twitches your face makes when reacting to something, the hair falling behind as your character turns their head. Small details like that can really bring animation to life.

Once you get those down, then, i suggest getting into creating more difficult things, like walking, fighting, and physics (balls bouncing, clothing, things of that nature).

[Frosty]

The Valve provided tutorial project is a very good one since you get a hand at msot of the mechanics involved with sfm

[Scoot]

Originally posted by Vikingknight7:

i havent seen this on the disscussion board yet but i gotta ask is there any good projects that are good for beginners? you know like any animation project that canhelp ease someone into the role of animation? like walk cycles, hand gestures, basic movenets?

Best way is to dive in head first, to be honest. Try to mimic people, follow tutorials to the letter, mess around without concerning yourself with looking amazing.

I've got about 120 hours on SFM at the moment, and the entire time has been spent making my first ever animation, which is gonna be a 5 minute entry for the Saxxy's. I don't do things in stops and starts, all or nothing xD

End of the day: you're losing nothing by just diving in!

[Mittens]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ memes are the best way to go. Fun to make and well recieved

[dooragjockey]

make a video about soldier going to a applebees bathroom just to cry in it