I put together this side-by-side breakdown of a short 2D animation I made. One half shows the finished short, while the other shows the drawing and animation process for the little bird that lands on the sheep's head.

I find it interesting how a character that appears on screen for just a few seconds can require its own drawing process, movement planning, timing, and adjustments to fit naturally into the scene.

Despite all the technological advances we've seen, I feel that the core artistic work behind 2D animation remains remarkably similar: designing shapes, making movement feel right, and bringing drawings to life frame by frame. The tools evolve, but the artistic decisions are still what make the animation work.

I love watching other artists' breakdowns and making-of videos. Seeing how different people approach their work is one of my favorite ways to appreciate the craft and learn new things.

There's something strangely lonely about this process.

When I watch the making-of of a tiny element like this bird, which appears for only a brief moment in the animation, side by side with the finished short, I'm reminded of how intimately I know every frame, every movement, every little detail that most people will probably never even notice.

It's almost like knowing an alternate universe in a multiverse, a version of the world that exists only because you traveled through it, frame by frame, and that no one else will ever experience in quite the same way.

Animation can be a lonely art form. It's a singular journey, because you're the only one who walks the entire path. You spend hours, sometimes days, exploring a world microscopically, painstakingly building something that everyone else will experience in a matter of seconds, moving at full speed, without ever seeing all the little decisions, struggles, and moments of affection that went into it.

And perhaps that's part of what makes it so special. The audience doesn't need to see all that work. They just need to feel that the world is alive.

But somewhere behind those few seconds, there's an entire universe that only you will ever truly know.

The illustration and animation were created entirely in Arttista(for Linux, but there is also macOS and Windows versions too)

Hello! I was given the opportunity to teach a workshop at an upcoming school event. I pitched the idea of doing a Stop-Motion Animation workshop because of how easy the StopMo Studio app makes capturing images, but the students requested that I teach 2D Hand-Drawn Traditional Animation. I am an animation generalist and have no problems teaching the principles of animation, but I'm used to teaching in my college classroom where I have light tables, ACME hole punchers, and peg bars.

Because I'm doing the workshop states away from my college, I won't have access to my light tables and peg bars to hand out to the students.

My current plan is to maybe find some 3-hole-punch peg bars (not ACME) and punch a bunch of paper ahead of time so that students can learn to flip pages and use persistence of vision instead of a light table. I've seen some of those peg bars online, but I've also seen many of them not work. Then, for capturing the photos, I was going to use my personal phone (in Texas, where I'm teaching the workshop, there's a law that bans phone usage in schools) on a tripod to capture the photos, like a makeshift downshooter. My only worry there is if all of the students finish around the same time, they're all going to want to use the downshooter.

Hence why I'm here. I'm looking to see if anybody has an tips, tricks, or ideas that could improve the practicality of my workshop, or any 3D-printed 3-hole-punch peg bar or even ACME peg bar files that they'd recommend.

**this is one of my first times posting to Reddit, so excuse any sloppiness I have**

I'm trying to get into animating and am currently using Toonsquid on the iPad. I really want to learn animation, at least to be able to make my own GIFs. Do you guys think this is enough, or should I get a different program, maybe on a laptop? What bothers me a bit is the small screen: the animation timeline and the drawing canvas quickly feel cramped.

Looking for a long term fp animator to add to studio roster. First batch of work prepared with template scene, all details / actions / reference videos in place. Anyone interested can reply or DM:)

I would really appreciate any tips and tricks to how and where to start animating correctly .😀

I had some fun doing it😂😂

its pretty much si fi so it doesn’t make any sense, inspired by he man, scooby doo, and ancient greek spartan soilders. And there is no dialogue as I don’t want to use AI. Feedback appriciated

Anyone knows how does this guy make these types of animation? I have been trying to make the 3-D elements more aesthetically pleasing but it’s not working out. Can anyone give me some tutorials?

Working on my comedic timing and sound design in Krita, but I'm completely torn between these two sound setups.

​Version 1: Dramatic opera vocal intro with a slightly longer buildup.

​Version 2: Cute music-box melody with snappier pacing and a faster interruption.

​Which one makes the football punchline funnier? Would love to hear your thoughts and any critique on the expressions!

im talking REAL simple, borderline traditional paper and pegboard animation type of simplicity, possibly with an option to add colour or audio (but not necessary).

i’m so tired of all these apps having wack ui and looking so stale and complicated, even when they’re relatively simple to use. id love to know of any pc programs (free or paid for) that are extremely easy to look at lol, like flipaclip or DSi flipnote but for a desktop.

I recently wanted to start getting into animating but I can't find any good, free ones. Are there any worth trying? Also, i want to do 2d animation, not 3d

Animeee

Hi, I just reposted this here for a bit more reach, I apologize for the inconvenience but the full request is in the original post.