Do I have to redraw every single frame and layer???

[hoobastar]

I'm new to this TVP and animation (I can draw tho). Let say i got a character and i want him/her to walk from point A to B, do I have to redraw the character many many times with different leg position or something?
if so... How long does it take you guys to make a 5mins clip???

[Peter Wassink]

yes.
1 month to 2 years.

[Elodie]

oooh, just a loop walk can take fews hours. After you make walk your character from A to B with the keyframer =)

[hoobastar]

Is there some way to make it simpler or faster?
And that is kinda hard then... i mean.. yea i can draw, but let say I draw a character out, and to make him or her move I have to draw it like 20 times and so.. I cant say I can draw him or her the same every time, especially if i'm drawing a more compilcated character. Are there tools to help?

[Elodie]

eeer... you can seperate every moving part of your character on different layers and move them with the keyframer...

But I think it will be as long as drawing by yourself =)

There is no shortcuts in animation (even with 3D or vectoriel animation) : it takes time =)

If you need help, take a peek on Richard Williams' or Preston Blair's books : you will find everything you have to know about animation !

[slowtiger]

hoobastar: You definitely need some reading material about standard animation procedures, or you will end up doing a lot of unneccessary work. Basic concepts like walk cycles and breaking up a character are, well, the basics of our job, besides drawing.

I've heard the new book by Tony White, "How to make animated films", is a good choice, at least have a look at his website http://www.desktopacademy.com/

(I do a walk cycle in an hour for a secondary character - nothing fancy, just another pedestrian on the street ...)

[Gravin]

Eh, that's kind of the way of the beast with 2d animation. There are ways around doing each and every drawing by hand, like separating the moving parts from the none moving parts in layers and what not. Personally I think there is a lot of character and life to doing all the drawings though, it shows the hand of the artist and all that jazz. My suggestion would be to do really rough sketches to setup the general volumes and movements before doing any "nice" drawings, this way you can test everything out quickly before falling in love with any of the drawings. I would also only do the keys, extremes, and passing positions and time everything out by adjusting the frame exposures for said drawings. This will reduce the amount of time it should take to figure things out and get a feel for the movement as a whole, then you can go back through and put down the more detailed final drawings.