Though first, is Richard Williams, who isn’t a games professional, but an animation one, and he states that ““If an animator’s drawing foundation is strong, he will have the versatility to go in all different directions possible.” Therefore, the first step to improving and learning new animation skills is to practice drawing foundations such as anatomy, to improve base knowledge of movement and structure.
He also states that “A walk is the first thing to learn…” and ”about the toughest things to get right.”, therefore it could be considered important to study proper walk cycle practices. These could be used in games too, for example a sidescrolling platformer character.
Another key skill is Keyframing, the frames used for each extreme of an animation, and Games Industry animator Paul Robertson states that to be a 2D animation in games, “The most important thing is to have really strong and extreme key frames”. Therefore this is a key element 2D artists and animators looking to get into the industry should study, as keyframes are the most vital part of an animation.
Though Bone-Based animation is now used in 2D games as well, something that previously was limited to 3D animation. As Orlando and Pedro Periera state, “Having all the main body parts of the character separated allows the developers to create the animations directly in the engine”, this means it is easier and quicker to create, and an upcoming practice that is worth learning for aspiring game animators.
Cameron Fielding, from Valve Corp, has this to say, “Computer game animation is concerned mostly with physicality. Good representation of weight and force.”, this means that game animation needs to serve a function, and tailoring work to a games-function is better than creating, for example, a short film. They also reiterate upon this, stating that “a single great animation, 10 seconds in length, could get you a job. 3 minutes of shit wont.”
Fielding also suggests that creating animations to serve game-functions is better than creating something akin to a short film, “The truth is, that acting and story ( most usually presented through a short film ) are not the most important requirements for a game animator. Beautiful dialogue animation is nice to watch, but won’t sell your physical skills unless you choose appropriate execution” This cements the idea that potential game artists should learn by creating appropriate art, such as walk cycles, HUD animation and so forth.
Rich Werner, Plants VS Zombies artist, states that in order to become a 2D artist in games one should ““Draw SOMETHING every day!” and “Draw backgrounds, draw characters, draw everything.”, training to be flexible, to be able to draw any asset that may come up.
To conclude, it is important for a 2D game artist to have base skill drawing foundations, but strong keyframes and animating to serve a function are the key necessities.
Word Count: 500 Words
Time Spent;
2 Hours reading Richard Williams' book
1 hour, 30 minutes organizing quotes and researching quotes and information.
1 hour, 30 minutes writing the report.
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