Drawing an animation of an animal purely can be made by hand, through a computer or a combination of both. Generally, the modern animation process already utilizes computers when creating animated characters. However, there are still some who prefer the traditional and purely hand-drawn process requiring repeatedly drawing the character to make it move. Meanwhile, computer animation requires less drawings by using "key frames" to define the starting and ending points of a movement. Then, the computer simply creates the animation's "in-between frames."
Instructions
1. Read the script and collect inputs from the animation team working on the project so that you will be able to create your animal character according to the needs of the animation. At the same time, collect research materials and visual pegs to polish your design. These help you avoid multiple revisions of the animated character because of some technical, creative or thematic concerns the producer or director of the project requires.
2. Make your initial character sketch of the animal either by drawing it on a piece of paper or directly drawing it in a computer. For a hand-drawn character sketch, simply scan and open it in your animation software. If drawing directly in the computer, simply start drawing the animal using your animation software.
3. Create a character design of your animal by putting all necessary details, colors and textures in its facial features, fur or skin, body frame, identifiable body markings or even its clothes, shoes and accessories if they are needed in the animal's character design.
4. Use the final character design to create a character turnaround. This is an important document used during the animation process, so you can keep the look of your animal character accurate at any shot or angle. This character turnaround shows the front, back and the left and right sides of the character drawn in a single document.
5. Make a character design comparison sheet, which allows you to get the right size of your animal character in reference to other important characters, sets and props appearing with them in the final animation. For instance, if you have two main animal characters such as a bear and a tiger, you draw them both in a character design comparison sheet so that you can compare their sizes and heights and avoid inconsistencies when incorporating them with their backgrounds and other visual elements seen on the animation.
6. Save your character design, character turnaround and character comparison sheet in separate image files, then print and distribute copies of them for the various artists involved in the creation of the animation. These typically include the director, animators, lighting and texture artists, background and set designers and voice director. Apart from the printouts, also send them soft copies of the image files.
