hi, i'm currently enrolled at the art institute minneapolis for Media Arts and Animation and i have an assignment for one of my classes to research an industry profession that i'm interested in. part of it is to interview a professional, and i'm a big fan of 2d animation, so i picked the practicality of inbetweener, because you almost have to start there to become an animator. it pretty much just has to be someone with any inbetweening experience though, so if someone here could help me out and answer a few questions i'd appreciate it a lot.
could give me an idea of what you've worked on up to date and where you work (city and/or state).
I've read some pretty detailed explanations on how the 2D process works but can you elaborate on what an inbetweener position is like? Does it get boring or do you stay pretty entertained with your work? Who do you turn to when you're stuck on a problem? What's the hardest thing for an inexperienced inbetweener to get a grasp on (as far as making the movements fluid)? How much do you have to do to "prove" you can move up to something a little more advanced?
do you have any advice for someone just getting started, stuff you wish you knew when you were just starting? any tips on building your networking or getting your stuff out there (i.e. specific forums, groups, contests, etc)?
thanks for your time.
zac
Here's what Don Bluth wrote about the subject. You'll find more useful information in the Academy pages on his website.
http://www.donbluth.com/inbetweener.html
Back in 1985, I started out as a inbetweener, and ended up doing just that for about 6 years. I inbetweened, cleaned-up and assistant-animated on stuff like Ren & Stimpy and a bunch of other shows. All told it was about a dozen tv shows, pilots and commericals, and this was all in Vancouver, BC.
My career has gone some 21 years since and now I do mainly storyboarding for animated TV series.
Inbetweening is a task intended to make the animation complete in terms of the fliuidity of the movement. Working off the animator's keys poses and breakdowns you complete the drawings via a meticulous "shift and trace" method ( the one I've learned guarantees pretty much flawless 'tweens).
Its a tedious, meticulous and demanding task. It requires a lot of focus and concentration and it can take a lot of time. Providing 'tweens AND clean-ups at the same time makes the job even harder, but when done right can make the animation look really nice.
It can be boring work, but since you require a lot of focus the time can pass quickly............or crawl depending on your personality. Listening to music/radio/tapes via headphones can help pass the time and assist you in focusing.
If you are stuck, you just run to the animator who did the scene and consult them, as they are ultimately responsible for that scene.
The hardest thing for the inexperienced to grasp is maintaining the line-quality between your drawings and the animators keys--if they already been cleaned-up. Understanding how to shift and trace properly, and manage arcs in the animation is another challenge, but properly done keys and breakdowns tend to manage this.
Inbetweeners, in those days, tended to be pigeon-holed as such if they stayed in that slot for too long...so most animators tried to move out of 'tweening as soon as they could. Having done it for six years, I was pigeon-holed and only broke out of it by eventually showing a propensity for storyboarding. If you demonstrate that you have other skills and
If you are just getting started, be patient, learn as much as you can beforehand--the internet is full of good info. Get your workk out in the public eye anyway you can. Get it in print, or posted on-line, do animation, learn flash, learn 2D/3D......draw to high degree of draftsmanship.
"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)