s0ffia:

websites:

• Animation World Network
• Animation Backgrounds
• Animation Magazine
• Animation & CGI
• Animator Island
• Anime News Network
• Cartoon Brew
• Character Design References
• On Animation
• Reference! Reference! (free database for animation)
• 11 Second Club (monthly character animation competition)

tumblr blogs:

• animationart
• animationforce
• animationtidbits
• aspiretoanimate
• calartscharacteranimation
• disney-moments-sketches (Allen Ostergar’s blog, animator at Walt Disney)
• drawingforsuckas
• fuckyeahconceptart
• storyboardresources
• theanimationarchive
• theartofanimation
• wannabeanimator

resources/tips:

• Animation schools: 1 / 2 (Top 50 USA) / 3 (Top 100 international)
• Which animation school is right for you? (Ringling vs. CalArts)
• Don’t want to/ can’t afford art school? you’ve got other options.
• Animation Mentor: The online animation school
• Art school exercises!!
• 51 Great Animation exercises
• 20 things you can expect as a traditional (2D) animation student that they never tell you
• A Survivor’s Guide to Life Inside an Animation Studio
• Animation basics: The art of timing and spacing
• Animation Notes From Ollie Johnston
• Animated chart of the basic principles of animation
• 10 Second tip: Always Anticipate
• book: Animation: Learn How to Draw Animated Cartoons by Preston Blair
• book: A System for Planning and Timing Animation by Glen Keane
• book: Timing for animation by Harold Whitaker and John Halas
• book: Gesture Drawing for animation by Walt Stanchfield
• Basic 3D Animation Terminology
• Digital pencil test!!
• Keys to Emotion in Animation
• Lessons from Disney’s Zootopia
• Model Sheets central
• The importance of Acting in Animation by Segio Pablos
• Printable exposure/dope sheet
• Phoneme Chart
• Recommended reading for animation students and enthusiasts
• The 5 Types of Animation
• The Know-How of Cartooning 
• The Unofficial Truth about The Animation Industry
• Why Disney Sends Its Animators To Life Drawing Classes
• Walk/Run Cycles reference
• What is Pixar looking for in Animators? (scroll down)
• Portfolio Advice for The Disney Animation Internship
• What is Rigging?
• 3D Rigging Terminology
• 3D Modeling Terminology

tutorials:

• Animation for Beginners: Where do I start
• Animation Physics (Video tutorials on physics for animation artists)
• Animation tutorial part. 1 AKA “the secret of animation”
• Appealing Poses in Animation
• Background & Movement in TV
• Blinking tips
• Breakdown tutorial (middle frame between to keys)
• Drawing & Composition for visual storytelling
• Drawing for Animation
• Drawing a Likeness
• Animation fundamentals + tutorials
• Filmmaking: Composition and Framing
• Getting Shape Change
• How to animate using photoshop
• How to animate Characters in Perspective
• How to Animate Head Turns
• How to Draw Gesture
• OpeenToonz tutorials masterpost
• Overlapping Action and Drag
• Portfolio tips / Making A Successful Portfolio
• Lyp Sync tutorial
• Line of action
• Basics of good cartooning 1-12 by Sherm Cohen
• Squash & Stretch tutorial
• Squash and Stretch 2
• Storyboarding tutorials by Sherm Cohen
• The Illusion of Life: 12 Principles of Animation
• Tilt, Flow & Rhythm
• Underlying Structure When Animating Expressions
• TVPaint tutorial: Uploading and Coloring Scanned Animation

supplies (traditional animation):

• 10 Essential Art Supplies for the Traditional Animator
• How to Use a Light Table for Animation
• Making a Simple Animation Lightbox
• Peg bars, Animation Disk & Desk

softwares:

free

• Blender (3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline: modeling, rigging, animation,etc)
• Emofuri (animate using .psd files)
• Google Sketchup (
• Live2D ( animation/drawing software
• OpenToonz (Studio Ghibli’s open source animation software)
• Pencil2D (create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics)
• Renderman (Pixar’s free 3D rendering software)
• Sculptris (Free digital sculpting tool by the makers of Zbrush
• SculptGL (Online modelling program)
• Synfig (2d animation using a vector and bitmap artwork)

paid

• Zbrush (digital sculpting sw by Pixologic)
• Mudbox (digital sculpting sw by Autodesk)
• Cinema 4D (digital sculpting sw by Maxon)
• TVPaint  (2d animation)

animation studios:

• Aardman (Bristol, UK)
• Blue Sky Studios (Greenwich, USA)
• Dreamworks (Glendale, USA)
• Fox Animation (USA)
• Imagination Studios/CN (Burbank, USA)
• Industrial Light & Magic (San Francisco, USA)
• Laika (Hillsboro, USA)
• Luma Pictures (USA / Melbourne, Australia)
• Nickelodeon Animation (Burbank, USA)
• Pixar (Emeryville, CA)
• Rise FX (Berlin, Germany)
• Studio Ghibli (Tokyo, Japan)
• Sony Picture Imageworks (Vancouver, Canada)
• Sony Pictures Animation (Culver City, CA)
• Walt Disney Animation (Burbank, CA)
• Weta Digital (Wellington, New Zealand)

inspiration: worth watching short films

• Coda by and maps and plans
• Contre Temps by the Contre Temps Team
• Duet by Glen Keane
• DOG ENVY by Olivia Huynh
• Fallin Floyd by  il Luster
• French Roast
• Gravity by Ailin Liu
• In Between by Gobelins
• Jinxy Jenkins and Lucky Lou by Michael Bidinger and Michelle Kwon
• My Big Brother by Jason Rayner
• Night Light by Qing Han
• Nephtali by Glen Keane
• Nocturne by Kari Casady
• Historia de un Oso by Gabriel Osorio
• Home Sweet Home  by home sweet home the film
• One Bright Dot by  Clément Morin
• Stickboy by Giant Ant
• SOAR by Alyce Tzue
• Tsunami by The Animation Workshop
• Thought of You by Ryan Woodward
• Vagabond by  The Animation Workshop
• 5 Gobelins Shorts That Pay Tribute To Women Animation Pioneers