Yesterday, we finally started the practical part of our course. After learning the difference between straight-ahead and pose-to-pose animation, and after looking at a quick overview of what we’ll be learning in the coming weeks, we started two separate exercises: one focusing on straight-ahead animation (drawing shapes evolving and moving around, going off of instinct) and the other focusing on pose-to-pose animation (making 3 main facial expressions, and connecting them with various in-betweens.
I hadn’t animated on paper in years, so it took some getting used to, but it was immediately fun and I got the hang of it quickly enough. Overall, the pose-to-pose took me a lot longer to complete, as the constant switching back and forth between frames was time-consuming and the face I’d drawn was more complicated than the simple shapes I chose for the straight-ahead animation, but it was a great learning experience regardless. So far, I’m quite proud of what I’ve been able to make.