Making a mistake is inevitable. People in the animation industry are no exception. It does not matter if you are new or have been animating for several years because you will sometimes still make mistakes at some point.
Being keen on details is needed for animators when making an animated explainer video. That is because these videos are crucial for businesses.
With this said, continue reading to know 5 common animation mistakes you can avoid and some illustration tips to help you.
Mistake #1: Not Connecting the Emotions and Facial Expressions of Characters to Their Movements
When you work on your characters’ facial expressions and poses, you need to make these differences in the video itself. Therefore, their bodies should not simply move around. The emotions need to be connected with the movement.
When you work on a character, you need to know the character, such as how they feel and think in all the shots. You do this by paying attention to details such as the character’s hands, fingers, eyes, and posture, among many others. This is what separates high-quality animation from simple animation.
You can review animated shows and movies and see how the characters look, stand, and sit if you need more ideas in combining facial expressions and movements.
Mistake #2: Not Using Slow Ins and Slow Outs Properly
Many animators do not put slow ins and slow outs when working on the movements of a character. To avoid making this mistake, you need to consider the size, height, weight of the object or character you are working on.
If you find it challenging to determine the ideal timing of objects in a motion graphic when animating, you can observe items in your house and surroundings and the way they react to outside elements.
You can do the movements yourself or observe others when they move to understand your characters’ movements better. It will also help to record yourself or other people to use it as your reference when working on the animation of the character.
After observing how objects and people move in real life, it will be easier for you to improve slow ins and slow outs and make your animation more fun.
Mistake #3: Not Working on Spacing
When working on scenes, you should avoid random movements suddenly popping out. The sense of weight can damage your animation. Spacing might not seem significant when you are animating, but people can notice and be distracted when watching your animation.
For instance, viewers will likely be disoriented if a character’s arm moves up and down and then moves in different directions without any connection to the scenes that follow.
Though you might want to pause in every movement of your objects or characters, they will look unrealistic and questionable. You can connect the former movement of your character to their next movement to prepare your audience.
Moreover, you need to consider the degree of movement of your characters. Sequential movements and fluidity of your characters can make your animation more realistic.
Another thing you need to remember is to review all your frames carefully. You can lower the number of keyframes you use. Doing this can be time-consuming, but it helps improve the overall quality of your animation.
Mistake #4: Doing Too Much Animation
Doing too much animation for a scene means showing too many things in a short period. This is a mistake since it makes the animation more complicated. As a result, your audience will not comprehend the scenes or get the message or information your animation is trying to impart.
It is best to keep each scene to a minimum and show actions of objects or characters that are needed to make your video animation easier to understand.
Mistake #5: Opting to do Off-Branding
When animating a 2d and 3d design, some animators opt to do off-branding. Although you have a style you want, you need the colors, style, and characters to match the brand you are working for.
As mentioned, being keen on details in your animation is crucial. You can ask for the branding of your client and their guidelines in making the animation. Aside from sticking to the brand, you will less likely be asked to do a revision. You can also ask for previous videos they have to use as your reference.
Conclusion
Finally, you need to have a better understanding of the typical animation mistakes and some layout tips to help you create better quality animations. Animators are expected to be creative, but you need to remember to make sure that your work is clean and smooth.
Making mistakes is part of coming up with great animation videos since this is part of the process. What is important is that you correct it and use this mistake to improve yourself in the industry. These mistakes are lessons that you will not learn in an animation school.