I've been looking to get into animation for quite some time now but I've not been able to make the jump. I don't know much about it, but I found with filmmaking the best way to learn is to jump in and do it. I'm not much of an artist, nor do I think I have any of the necessary programs, but I am a fairly good writer and I'm a very dedicated producer... so if there were say... an animator looking for work, I could hook you up?

Thanks.

Are you wanting to learn 2D or 3D?

If you are interested in 3D, a great place to start is to download Blender. Powerful piece of freeware...(Celtx is to screenwriting as Blender is to Animation)

There are a ton of beginners tutorials to get you accustomed to the interface and basic functions. Its takes quite a bit of time and dedication because there is just a huge amount of things to know. But you are right, the best way to learn is to jump in and do it.

I'm going to limit myself because my conversations seem to be a bit on the lengthy side when I am talking about animation. But I'd be happy to answer any other questions.

I was looking more into 2d animation, but not like old disney artist sweat shop stuff. More like the simpsons.


Though, if 3d animation is something I could learn myself then I'd be interested in that, too. Would I need to be artistically inclined? As in... I can't draw... not even in illustrator or photoshop. Is this something I could do, or do I need an art monkey?

if you can't draw, on or off the computer, your going to need an art monkey, unfortunately.

If you want to do 2D animation, you are probably out of luck if you are not artistically inclined. Basically when you make a 2D animation you are drawing it from a single perspective much like freehand drawing.

eHowever when you model something in 3D space you are creating it so it is accurate from all perspectives. So its less of "sketching" and more being able to break ordinary objects into their geometric components and duplicating them.
Its a different skill set altogether. For that reason you don't necssarily have to be a good artist to be good at 3D modelling.

Well, I'll look into it, but I'll probably end up needing that art monkey anyway.

Thanks.