The quality of an excellent animator
American film director Darren Aronofsky said: “The animator must outlive the normal 24 times, one second every 24 frames.”
When making an animated film, an animator must keep all aspects of the character’s movements in mind, because the animator needs to make every movement of the model. The animator also needs to observe everything around and learn from them. Observing the things and people around you and analyzing their behavior will help the animator shape the character’s movements. The animator must also understand the camera angle and the projection of different objects in a given frame. Constantly practicing taking pictures in life helps to understand perspective.
10 characteristics of a good animator:
creativity
The design of the character must be attractive. It should make the audience like this character. So animators need to be creative and need to keep the character simple while paying attention to details. The complexity associated with them should not exist. This is what makes them more accessible and friendly. Jumping outside the boundaries helps us become good animators and makes the characters more interesting. Creativity makes your ideas different from others. An animator should know how to make anything simple artistically into something interesting.
- Humor
Humor is the key to being a good animator. If you have a good sense of humor, your character will automatically portray it. Comedy is the key to friendliness. Humor reflects the actions and behaviors of the characters. Since almost all animated films are aimed at children, they are all made in the comedy genre. Therefore, it is important to instill a sense of humor in your character.
- The patient
Patience makes an animator a good animator, and be patient with your work. You know that Rome was not built in a day. Don’t expect your work to be completed as soon as possible. Animation is a patient and hard work. Those animators who devote extra time to details will go a step further.
- Good at observing
We learn from observation. We must instill this quality into ourselves in order to become a good animator. A good observer will learn from the things around him and try to apply them to his character. They have been studying the movement of objects around him. They often look for interesting movements, walks and interesting expressions on their faces when talking. Observers try to apply these qualities to characters and exaggerate them to make them more interesting.
- Learn to perform
This may sound a little different. But if you don’t know anything about acting, how can you let your character perform? This will be of great help to your research on the body mechanics of sports. Acting in person will allow you to learn a lot about body mechanisms. You don’t have to be a good actor for this. Just understand the basics of it. Learn to observe and analyze professional actors, plays and wonderful performances. In addition, don’t forget to pay attention to the reasons and feelings after watching them. All animated characters are inspired by reality and have been enhanced to make them more entertaining.
- Explanation
Not only learn from our reference materials, but also learn from their reference materials and explain it correctly. A good animator knows the goal of the project and strives to achieve it. He tried to adjust the reference work accordingly. He has a good understanding of a particular scene, its motivation and its importance in the movie. It is not enough to analyze your reference work. If you also analyze its inspiration to better grasp it, it will be the best. You may find a better way to do this. The look and feel of an animation project, whether it is a movie or a game, is crucial.
- Motivated
The motivation of a good animator is a crucial quality. If you are not motivated, then it is difficult for you to be good at anything you want to do in life. If you have an idea, just pick up the paper and start drawing. Don’t wait for the next day. This way you can stay motivated.
- Details
A good animator always pays attention to details. The animation sequence is copied onto a screen inspired by reality. Elaborating every detail of the role is a basic skill. Adding details is the basic ethics of an animator’s work. You have to spend some extra time to give your character a perfect finishing touch.
- Teamwork
Animation is teamwork. You must work with your team members to be successful. You must have a good character and a cooperative attitude. Different people do different jobs. You should know how to work with them, listen to their voices, and work together to achieve the goals of the project.
- Resilience
When others analyze and criticize your work, you don’t have to be too sensitive. You must learn from your mistakes. If someone doesn’t like it, it doesn’t mean you don’t know how to draw cartoons. This means that the comics still need some improvement. Just pay attention to all these features and you will know that you are on the right track to become a good animator. The distance between being a good animator and being a good animator is practice. The more you practice, the better you get. So these are some of the important characteristics of being a good animator.
After the last practice, I summarized it.
- Import the reference of the mouth shape, extract the unique mouth shape, and make key actions
- Adjust the width of the mouth, combined with extrusion and stretching
- Match the position of the teeth, and the opening and closing of the mouth should be synchronized
- The arc movement of the corner of the mouth
- Match body movements to mouth shapes
- Add eyebrows and eye movements
- If it is a real person’s reference, use the animation 12 guidelines to exaggerate


So far, I have only done so much, and I will continue to finish the rest.