If you know how to animate, how did you learn? Did you take a class on it or did you just pick a program and start working with it? Also, what programs do you think are the best?

I found an animation program for 1$ at a recovery sales place, and managed to make blobs move with it but I couldn't figure out any more than that... it was way too complicated.

I thought myself flash (which is my excuse for all my animations sucking )

What was they name of the program you got?

hehe I see, perhaps flash would be a good program to start with, but what I got was an early version of toon boom studio... and it didn't come with a manual

I srart by using adobe image ready, just making small GIFs. Then moved into macromedia flash. I prefer doing stop frame with a camera.

There are a lot of free online tutorials that teach you how to so small things, and then you just learn how you can put them together. I would think learning it from a real person would be easier though.

I see... I always wondered what program people used to make those small moving images. I'll have to check around the net for those supposed tutorials you say exist, but I'd definitely like to take a class on animation if I can ever find one.
Do you post your work on yoututbe? I'd like to see what you make.

I have been looking for animation classes, but all I can find is university courses (3 years), but thats the uk.

No I don't have any youtube videos yet.... My animations aren't very good, so far they have mostly been just plantlife doing pointless stuff. but soon maybe one day

You're lucky you can find university classes... there are basically no classes where I am anywhere. And with a name like magical-goats you animate plantlife? XD interesting... you should post one of your works even if you don't like it, I want to see one

It is a degree course so that would take 3 years and atleast £20,000 ($40,000).

It's all been for school so far, which why it has been INTERESTING plants

that is a pretty long time for an animation degree and expensive, but I'd want to take it anyway if I could afford it..
And I see, so your animations have been for school... are they educational about plants?

The project theme was changes over time. The plants died.

I see, poor plants.  

Notice: the following is like my entire life story. You do not have to read it. I'm not trying to boast, it's just out of control.

I got Flash 8 and made a cartoon series with my friend. Tiny little things that he wrote. It was a lot like South Park, and it was a good place to start because all it required was effort. My friend didn't really care what it looked like, he just enjoyed writing and voice-acting. It was pretty fun. That project ended after 8 (I think) self-published little episodes.

I tried to start a whole bunch of other projects, but they were not meant to be. I didn't have the storytelling skill, and I was really just copying off my favorite web-cartoon series'.

After all of that failure I decided to bare down and make something, regardless. Just struggle through, no matter what. It wasn't that difficult. Another friend and I did it (I wrote and animated, he voiced), and it was just madness. It had a plot in that things went from one location to the next. The art was pretty good but I didn't try for camera angles at all. We submitted it to a pretty major, but still weird, website. It was exciting, because we could see how many people had viewed it. I'd talk to people and say stuff like "Hey, 12,000 people have seen my cartoon."

After that I tried to get really good at Flash. I wasn't motivated enough... until I found M dot Strange. I'm completely re-invigorated. I picked up the Animator's Survival Kit again and started reading it again. I set up a pretty low-tech traditional-style animation studio with my camcorder so that I could get really good at the basics... and that's where I am now. (I'll post links to the cartoons if anyone wants to see them... they're not the most exciting thing in the world.)  

--Last edited by Maxlord on 2007-04-16 15:35:28 --

Definitely post links if you have them, I'd like to see what you make.
So I see that you also used flash as well; Perhaps I am completely incompetant when it comes to technology but I'm very curious about the details of your story. For instance, how did you get your voice overs onto your computer er what kind of stuff did you have to buy? And what did you do for the project that you submitted to a website.. was that on Flash too?
It also seems to me like you could only be doing stop animation with a camcorder alone, is that what you're up to now?

And that post wasn't too long! I enjoy life stories XD

http://albinoblacksheep.com/flash/sciencefair

That was for the website (Albino Blacksheep). As you can see, it's in Flash. Madness. My friend (alias: "Pie Boy") has a microphone built into his Mac laptop. He'd record the dialog, background noise included, and e-mail it to me. I'd clean it up and apply whatever filters were needed. We both used a program called Audacity. It's open source (free) and good. You can find it here.

For the series I did with my friend, we recorded the dialog with my camcorder (using an external microphone) and I'd have to import and edit the footage in a video editor. I'd painfully export a whole bunch of .wav files. It was torture.

I haven't done any stop-motion with my camcorder, but the thought has crossed my mind.

Wow... your flash cartoon is awesome! I liked the humor, and the sound was cool.
And thanks for sharing all that information and the link!
I was wondering about using a camcorder strictly for voices but it sounds like a microphone is a way better idea.... even better if there are free programs for them.
So you haven't done any stop motion but what are you doing with your camcorder? >>
I'd like to try stop motion too at somepoint, but all I've got is a measly digital camera/camcorder thingy.

I've got a little classical animation setup going with my camcorder. The camera is pointed at a piece of paper. I draw the frames by hand and put them in front of the camera, on top of the piece of paper, lit pretty evenly by two lights. I shoot the frames one by one. I don't know how much sense this is making.

XD oh ok, I get what you're doing. I never thought of trying that with a regular camcorder, that's pretty cool.

I didn't have a digital SLR camera to work with so I just thought "What Would M dot Do?" and used my camcorder. I had help setting it up too, I'm not much of a hardware store guy.

I see, hehe, I might have to ask myself the same question and just start using whatever I can get my hands on for making animation.

Yeah. I'd suggest The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams as the best book just about animation.