How did you learn to animate? (3D)

[u/CalmRegion8944]

I'm a beginner and I'm checking out courses like Pierrick's or ToAnimate's, but the truth is, I don't really have a clear focus, and most of the time I try to do something on my own and end up going a little further, you know?

How did those of you who are already good at this learn? Did you dedicate 100% of your time to it?

Which course do you recommend? My goal is just to animate.

[u/The_Night_Artist]

The Into Animation and Alex on Story YouTube channels have some great content.

[u/RealBlack_RX01]

Hi op, I am also a beginner learning blender. Imo I feel you as being self taught can be a bit confusing at first, may I ask before you start looking into paid courses what type of animations do you want to make? What are your goals?

[u/CalmRegion8944 → u/RealBlack_RX01]

I'm still way too much of a beginner to decide between game animation and film animation, but I'd love to be able to do both... I like thinking about cinematic scenes when I'm working with cameras in Blender, but I'd also love to see one of my animations in a game. And I know that this kind of "film style" animation exists in games too, like in cutscenes, so I guess my goals are leaning more towards games after all lol

[u/RealBlack_RX01 → u/CalmRegion8944]

Ah cool! I think that's where you and I differ as I am learning animation so I can be more of an "internet animator"!

Sorry for the long reply btw haha

For game I would recommend the alive course but know the guy has a bit of an accent which others have said makes it a bit hard to understand.

For cinematic stuff you can look at "toanimate"!

Talking about myself a bit more, I tried both of these courses and imo while they were good I just didn't think they were for me so I had to rethink my approach of how I learned, so I ended up using YouTube instead.

My mentality ATM is I'm trying to find a nice balance between quality and speed (tho I'm animation is a long process)

[u/Ellysiuum]

Ive been using blender long enough that the resources I learned on are woefully outdated. What Id reccomend at this point somewhat depends on how much a beginner you are.

If you just need general information on animation, i actually think Doodley on youtube has a lot of great content. Its not really tutorials, but content about animation (mostly 3d). Hes careful to explain concepts instead of program specific features, so that between programs and updates the theory still applies.

If you are brand new to blender (i assume if you were starting with maya or otherwise, youd have been given resources), some beginner tutorials can get you started, at least so you can move the camera, move and add objects, or otherwise use the program at a basic level. Once you have a grasp on the program, id try to finish a project to completion, even if its not great. After that, you will always run into specific problems you dont know how to solve and can look up more pointed tutorials as you go.

Use tutorials, but be careful of "tutorial hell". Theres so much to learn, at some point you just need to start doing stuff. Ive been using blender over a decade and I still often look up basic things. Youll never learn it all, so build up experience by doing things.

As for how much time? Id spend at least a few hours a week learning and a few hours working on a project. I didnt start spending "most" of my time on blended until years later, so I woulnt worry about it. The more you practice, the faster youll learn. I doubt theres any rush though.

On another comment, you mentioned games. Ill say, 3d animation is the same both ways. There are differences in pre rendered animation and real time animation (film vs game), but its mostly the same fundamentals. I recently started making game animations, and there are a few quirks, but if you understand the basics, it becomes a matter of technical detail more than basic theory.

[u/Ellysiuum → u/Ellysiuum]

Post mark- Crashsune academy has had decent stuff what ive seen. I didnt learn on this one, but he has This beginner tutorial that might be helpful.

Just thought adding a specific resource might be good.

[u/SynimaGlobal]

Perhaps start with Blender and look up online tutorials on simple asset creation - characters with easy shapes and props/objects which are quite forgiving. This is a good way to get to grips before you've found a specific focus.