Practice makes perfect if you’re looking to pursue a career in the dynamic animation industry, but learning all about the art at school can help fast-track that road to success. The SHS Animation track at CIIT is one of the best programs you can take. Before you begin your academic journey, however, here are some animation tips for beginners that would come in handy.
6 Best Tips to Ace the SHS Animation Track
Animation is one of the specialist tracks for senior high school in the Philippines that CIIT offers. Featuring courses like 2D Animation, 3D Modeling, and Digital Storyboarding, among other specialized subjects, this track is a smart choice for anyone who wants to earn a competitive edge in the animation industry. It’s also a great introduction for anyone who is looking to master the craft of animation through college-level studies in Multimedia Arts.
Completing the SHS Animation track will also provide you with the valuable skills to practice the art form as a profession. Of course, just like any other art-based track at school, animation requires a bit of preparation before you officially enroll. Here are some animation tips for beginners that you should pay close attention to.
1. Study as much animated content as you can.
In the same way that writers are expected to be readers, artists should regularly consume art in order to stay inspired and learn by themselves. Thus, you should treat it as both study and play.
In addition, you have to make sure that you’re consuming animation that’s not limited to your personal tastes. Explore other forms that you would not typically go for. By doing this, you can broaden your understanding and appreciation of the craft.
2. Practice your drawing skills.
That age-old adage exists for a reason. In order to hone your skills, you should actually draw. Successful artists tend to treat their artistic process as work, doing it regularly even when they don’t feel like producing anything. This, in return, improves your hand, arm, and shoulder muscles, allowing you to control your strokes and movement more as you sketch, paint, or digitally draw. Additionally, it also sharpens your creative muscles by increasing your self-awareness, focus, and discipline. All of these are especially important if you want to practice art as paid work later in your life.
3. Be keen on details.
Every little detail in an animation is painstakingly crafted. One small mistake can lead to hours of revision. Worse, it can damage your professional career and reputation. That’s why you should always keep a sharp eye for details. You can practice this by looking at your old works and seeing how you can improve them, asking for objective feedback from friends, family, and mentors, and studying other people’s work.
4. Study camera work.
Learning about cinematography is important in animation as artists need to be well-versed with how they frame their scenes. Even if animated scenes are not captured by a camera per se, the same principle applies to setting up how a scene appears in an animated film. We may even say that animators are tasked to imitate the camerawork that we typically see in films. Having this know-how about cinematography will help you decide on how you’ll treat your work in progress, from the proper angles, the mise-en-scène, to the smaller details like shading and lighting. Overall, it helps animators make their work more realistic and meaningful.
5. Invest in the right equipment and software.
With that said, studying Animation is an investment—and not a cheap one at that. Therefore, you need to make sure that you have budgeted enough money to purchase a reliable computer and professional software. You can’t go wrong with using top-notch tools. Adobe Animate, Adobe Character Animator, and Toonboom are some of the best animation software for beginners. When you start earning from your art, you’ll see that the investment was well worth it.
6. Learn to build your network.
While you can practice animation as a solo creator, projects will usually require you to be a part of a team of creatives. That means an animation project will be a back-and-forth process of exchanging ideas and inputs. Hence, you have to communicate effectively and learn to raise your concerns and suggestions in the best way possible. In the same vein, you need to be open to more ideas and constructive criticism. It can be tough to have creative ideas clash every now and then, but it’s a crucial skill you should master in order to thrive in a team setting.
By communicating with others, you also get to build your network. In return, they can open more doors for you later in life.
Ready to Start Your Journey at CIIT’s SHS Animation Track?
It takes burning courage to begin your journey toward realizing your dreams, but it can be an excellent and rewarding way to learn more about yourself and the craft you hope to master. Now that you know the things that you need to prepare before pursuing animation, it’s time to get settled in and enroll in Animation courses in the Philippines that can help you find your voice as an animator.
The SHS Animation track at CIIT will empower you to be the animator you dream of becoming and more. You’ll learn from the best practitioners of animation in the Philippines, develop up-to-date, industry-level skills, and gain on-hand job experience.
With our SHS Animation track, you’ll surely acquire ample experience to take on paid work even before you step into college. Our coursework also includes work immersion with industry partners that have resulted in multimedia arts or programming freelance work for some of our students after the immersion program.
Ready to start your pursuit of animation in the Philippines? Be a CIITzen now and join our community of creators. Browse our coursework to learn more.
