Customer Reviews

The Complete Animation Course: The Principles, Practice and Techniques of Successful Animation

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The title of this book is some what misleading as to its scope. It looks like a Preston Blair or Richard Williams calibre teaching book based on the title. It presents itself as a "complete" course on animation technique. It isn't. This is a very good "high level" fly by. It is a survey of some of everything in current animation from classical to computer. A lot of breath and very little depth. It's Intro to Modern Animation 101. If you are just starting out and you want to get a useful 20,000 feet off of the ground introduction to what's available out there then this is a great overview book. Easy on the eyes and easy to read. But, if you are trying to actually become a successful animator and you want specific technical instruction this is not that kind of book. If you are a complete novice and have little or no idea about modern animation and don't know where to begin, then I recommend this book as a great starting reference.

Chris has created an invaluable resource for anyone interested in creating animation. I have recently created 2 animated shorts and am well into my third. My first effort was created using Toon Boom Studio's 2D software and for the second, I used Macromedia Flash. I then embarked upon an old-fashioned hand drawn animation with plans to scan the art, assemble it and then edit it. How to do it? My How to Draw animation books barely touched upon the tools needed and none of them covered modern technology, especially the all important modern tool, the computer.

Lady Luck was smiling the day I discovered Chris Patmore's "The Complete Animation Course". The book is NOT a how to draw animated figures kind of book. However, it is a valuable resource filled with ways to produce an animation. The book is handsomely designed and easy to navigate. If you want to know how to find software to create "Pencil Tests" of your drawings to see how you animated action is unfolding, Chris lists several inexpensive programs (and some very expensive ones, too!) and tells the reader which ones are for Macintosh and which ones are for PC. You want to know about setting up a Rostrum Camera? It's in there. How about simple cutout animation or stop-motion animation (also know as claymation and stop-action)--it's also covered. Chris offers many options for the fledgling animator to choose from.

He gives inside animator tips on equipment and procedures. I found myself regularly referring to his book as I moved through the various stages of drawing, shooting pencil tests and scanning the final art.

I'm a long time illustrator but I'm new to animation. The Complete Animation Course has helped me immensely.

5 Stars & HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I don't think one can review this book as anything less than a 5 out of 5. It's very well thought out, beautifully illustrated and I only wish it were available earlier when I still taught introductory college level animation. This will not teach you 'how' to animate -- to learn to animate you have to simply start doing it -- but it will give you a very good idea of what animation is about. If you're looking for a 'how-to' book, Richard Williams' Animator's Survival Kit and Disney's Illusion of Life are the standards.

I got this book thinking it would help with animation principles and some technical aspects, but it gleans over everything so quickly that the whole thing is useless. For example the chapter on Web Animation is about 4 pages long and covers Animated Gifs- Yeah, because what I really wanted to learn was how to make a looping picture of a clown on a ball. It also touches upon Flash, but its only given a 2 page spread and the only info it gives is "Flash is good for web animation!" This book has nice coulor photographs, but the only information it gives is stuff you probably already know like you need a camera for stop motion and that you should figure out what your cartoon will be about before making it. Oh, and apparently Angelina Anaconda is the end-all be-all of animation.

If you are utterly new to the field of animation, this may be of use. But, as I have more than just a passing knowledge of the topic, this was a disappointing book. Firstly, and I admit that this is a subjective view, I did not like the layout. The text is scattered hither and yon, boxes and call-outs lie scattered across the page, and for some bizarre reason paragraphs of text have 'window-like' ornaments on them, scroll bars and so on - what am I meant to do? Click on the paper with my finger? Such 'decorations' detract from the content.

As for the content, the book does not seem to know where to begin. We are told about using animated text for titles, before we are introduced to paper and pencil character drawing. I wonder which is the more fundamental. Also, the history of animation is introduced half-way through, but at the start of the book the reader is introduced to 'equipment' - with no mention of pen and paper, let alone of puppets or marionettes - indeed there is a strong bias toward computer-aided animation rather than the more general task of bringing life to the inanimate. this book should have been retitled 'the complete computer animation course'.

Finally, there is no hint of kinesiology, physiological modelling (how to create credible skeletons, walk-cycles, etc), no mention of theories of drama or emotion, no study of physiognomy, this is not a 'complete' course in animation.

This book is great to use mainly as a reference since it touches on all types of animation 2D, 3D, claymation, stop motion and many others discussing the different software technologies that can be used to create animations with sounds and effects. I would not use this book to strictly learn animation since it's such a broad subject and can't be learned with just this book as the title suggests, but I gave it 5 stars since the information will save you alot of time and research, since it covers anything an aspiring animator would think of asking an experienced person in this field.

This was a required text for my Animation 101 course. I knew nothing about animation, but I do now! This book is great for beginners as it starts with the history of animation from cave drawings to the first animated short and moves to cel animation before ending at computer animation. It thoroughly goes through all the different types of animation; cel, stop motion, go motion, cut out, claymation, computer, etc. It's also nice because it shows the benefits of storyboards and having the right equipment for doing certains types of animation.

A very good book that cover the basics for animation. It surely will make the younger ones want to start right away, and if you're a little bit older it will be a useful guide to start animation as a hobby or take a first look at it as a career. Chapters cover all aspect from essential equipment, how to write a good story, develop interesting characters and how to make all this come to life! (no mater you like cell animation, 3d, or web based) Did I mention there's plenty of images and tips? This book is up to date and if you want to go further in this art the book gives plenty of "Do it yourself" activities and includes a vast bibliografy depending on the subject. Give at try you'll like it.

this book just tells you what the production pipeline is in the animation industry. if your not in the animation school, then its a good book for you. but if you are, then there's no reason to buy this book. i will assume the school will be telling you, guiding and instructing you through all the production pipeline process.

This book is a phenomenal resource. I know there are a lot of people who were annoyed because the the book says "complete" and they didn't feel like they got a complete course out of the book. True, it is a rather short read, but it's packed with awesome information. What you have to keep in mind with this book is that when it says "complete course" it DOESN'T mean that it's going to take you by the hand and walk you through the entire (extremely long) process of animating a movie, short, or cartoon series. What it WILL do is give you an entire overview of the whole animation process. What a lot of people don't understand is that creating any kind of animation is a huge undertaking and a LOT of people get completely lost along the way, so having a light and simple guide that you can refer back to when you get a little lost or disorganized can do a lot to keep you on track, help your production process, and give you a good understanding of how everything works. A book like this may feel light, but it covers a lot and in my opinion the process that it covers can be vital... especially to us creative types that tend to be a little scatterbrained :)