Common Mistakes that can ruin your Animated Short's Production

Here are my top common mistakes that not just beginners, but I and many professionals do when making short animated projects that may jeopardize the production itself. This excludes anything like writing, story, character - but rather the actual making of process.
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[@YoannDessin]

The ''too big, too epic'' mistake is very accurate in all projects really

[@shadowdancersdm2394]

Highly agree!

[@FuatKarakahya]

Would it be way too ambitious to do claymation for my first short?

[@shadowdancersdm2394]

@@FuatKarakahya yes very XD but hey if you have the patience go ahead

[@androizkie2774]

Bruh, I just had a mental breakdown last week thinking I’m incapable. Turns out its just too ambitious.

[@isweartofuckinggod]

It's that way in most creative fields. Every solo game developer's first idea is an MMO. Every writer's first idea is a novel series with perfect worldbuilding. What you realize pretty quick is that it isn't as easy as it looks and that the people who do make that stuff do so with a full team behind them. You either get that you need to start small and grow slowly, or you end up quitting feeling insufficient.

[@meogatopreto]

Don't know if it helps, but I also list the scenes from "easy to hard". the easy ones requires simpler animations/movements or has less details, and I do those first. This makes you produce a bit faster and then you have more time to work on the shots that have more complicated animation or movement.

[@crazygamer_1082]

livia meo I do that too! Mainly because I know that it takes me longer than the average animator since, I myself, am a beginner. And while I’m in the process of making even an animatic. I do easy things first, then go for the more challenging aspects so that I test things out and practice ☺️

[@maxstinger1694]

that's nice! with my team,we do the opposite tho. I guess it really depends on people/team. We do the hardest/longest first so we have time to improve them during production, whereas little/easy shots can be be done at end when it gets "crunchy", it's not going to affect the final produciton quality as much as rushed difficults shots.

[@RichyFlinty]

@@maxstinger1694 Well actually you're right if we do harder ones first then we don't have enough tension! 😂

[@S3amanNG]

I wish I could bookmark this comment this is really gonna help me withy project

[@wheatherd]

"Storyboard gets the overall idea and feeling across; Animation gets the subtext across" 👌

[@AdaptiveReasoning]

It's hard to put so much thought and work into something that goes nowhere. So, I guess I will give you permission to mourn. Because that's what I needed after working on a book that I couldn't sell after five years. It's ok to take a break before you get back onto the horse. Just aim to get back onto the horse. Whatever you made I know you learned something you can use for a new project. I know you can do it better and faster than before. Your other project wasn't a failure as long as you still ride.

[@miunya]

Oh no... maybe going e book route ? I would buy it. What's it about ?

[@retrotek0409]

Did you self publish, or you could not sell to a publisher? I had a repeating dream, couldn't get rid of it. My friend suggested writing it down. Long story short, it became a trilogy novel. All my beta readers loved it, wanted the next chapter last week. All the editors the literary agent found wanted to make changes that changed the later storyline. Self publishing is a bit pricey, especially if you let the publisher inject editors & cover illustrators that end up being additional costs. I now plan to do my own covers. I might make it into animatics. I don't know, it's my story & I can make it become whatever I like because I maintain the rights to it. See what avenues your story could travel. There is more than one door in the hallway to success.

[@EdaliaDayCreative]

I had the same experience 10 years ago. Putting everything into this massive novel. Since then I've learned that you just need to make more. Whether a novel or animation or whatever. Keep making more. And actually generally shorter is better. And then eventually something get some success and then people are like “what else have you made?" And you're like: “well, I did write this novel once…” although if you're in my situation, you then re-read the novel and finally realise all the errors in it that made it less likely to succeed. Good luck in your artistic endeavours and I hope you have lots of fun.

[@marymikel9193]

Needed this after deleting a good chuck of my story I'd been writing for ++ years. I just tell myself "It's alright, come back 10 times stronger and better" c':

[@kdvr766]

Please dont stop making videos on animation. Youre only one of few who tackles this field. Really appreciate the free content you offer to us.

[@marcosgomezolivos]

It is true, sometimes we put a heavy burden on ourselves when thinking about each project that comes to mind. We started out very enthusiastic, but then we began to hesitate. Will it be as good as I think? Will people like it? and we began to abandon the project little by little ... then we went to another and so ... Very good video. Thank you.

[@DCtoons]

this

[@thestrangeandstupidone8116]

this hits harder than the furniture that stubbed my toe

[@drent3969]

Facts LOL

[@Necrossauro]

Watching this while working on my next short haha One of my tips is "personal films have personal deadlines". It's nice to keep on a schedule of your film, specially if you are doing it on your free time or you want it to be ready for some festival. But sometimes life doesn't care about your perfect schedule, you might need to stop working on your film to get your life on track. Or even, you want to keep on your schedule no matter what and this affects your health. Taking breaks and having a flexible deadline is important as working on your film.

[@RossOzarka]

Making ambitious projects is not only doable, but also nets rewards. You just have to scale the animation way back. I spent three years making a 50-minute adaptation of a 16th Century Play. Since it was so long, I animated the whole thing with rough drawings on bits of cardboard, rather than with cel animation. When I was finished, I emailed it to every prominent industry person I could, and I ended up getting lucky and now I make cardboard animations full time. If you want to make an epic story, maybe you are not interested in animation so much as you are in writing, storyboarding, art direction, or other disciplines that involve narrative. If you have the advantage of not being a CalArts student, then just make a super-rough animatic of your epic vision and get as many people to watch it as possible. Maybe you will get lucky too and meet a producer who needs your skills at making fast and cheap animation. The low-budget end of the market needs animators just as much as the high-budget end does.

[@Ovnuniak]

I'm curious (I know nothing of the industry). Why is it an advantage to *not* be a CA student?

[@user-nw3ol7fk1i]

@@Ovnuniak i also know nothing but i think they meant that art students would have less free time/be expected to make more "polished" work

[@warrenography]

@@Ovnuniak he means not being held to the same restrictions as the students are, and therefore, free to make a rough, hour-long animatic

[@marvelousworks]

I wish I knew this last semester. I went big for a short film for class submission. Totally derailed - didn’t finish. Now I’m playing it safe.

[@stelomation]

Being someone who likes to make animated shorts during my free time, I feel like some mistakes can also be made because of lack of resources. There's one I short I made where I rendered it and I had no idea how to toggle the frame rate cause I was using a different video editing software at the time, and as a result the animation has a lot of ghosting and blurs. I guess that's a mistake I can say I made.

[@Stefan25897]

Could you tell me what editing software are you using now?

[@stelomation]

Stefan25897 I now use Adobe Premiere. I think it’s a way more user friendly program.

[@SadTown99]

That really isn’t lack of resources then, you just weren’t familiar with how to navigate the program 💁‍♂️

[@queas]

This is a great list. I want to back you up on not making your film too epic or long. I had my storyboard supervisor for my grad film literally draw an x through the entire middle section my of the board I drew, hand it back to me, and say, "there's your film." I was too shocked to be upset. Considering how much work it took to finish what was left, I clearly owe the man a bottle of scotch. I'm working on a project right now that could probably use his magic x.

[@superjboy16]

You know what's actually crazy making a feature film entirely by yourself. This guy on tumblr Toodrawtothink has been working for years on some amazing 2D western and honestly I can't wait for it to be done. He is clearly skilled, and I know for a fact that he planned it all out. He occasionally updates where he is with the project and he also showed that scenes he had to update because of the design. Everything you talked about here is evident on his tumblr. It inspires me to make bigger works one day maybe even something as crazy as his, thank you so much for this video!

[@danielleporat344]

my main one is the "too big" problem. the more I'm working on my current wip the more unachieveable it feels. and this is after scaling it back a lot and commiting to less animation work.

[@WillyToons]

Great video, just about everything in here was something I noticed when making my short films. I would also add that you should BACKUP everything!

[@AdondisArt]

Your animation course is about the only tutorial learning service i would actually consider purchasing just because how skilled you are at explaining concepts

[@FlashFastBlack]

Great Vid Toniko, I finally finish my first "real" short. What a mixed bag, finishing it was so anticlimactic, I thought I would jump with joy but really I just want to put it all behind me. Now i'm finding that figuring out what I want to do next is the real struggle.

[@xxchocoecaramell]

aayy this sure came in a great time 😂😂

[@secondjaw5783]

i did not expect 10:04 😂😂 very informative and helpful video as well !

[@randomrandle9141]

Utter genius Anyway better go to sleep for the NIIIIIIIIIGHT

[@artbyshea7585]

😂😂 your shot film in the background literally made me cry oye, this video's message was great. I do put a bit expectation on my art to take me to places and it makes the whole process less fun. Thanks for the touching message man.

[@marymikel9193]

I'm honestly doing something too ambitious BUT....So far I'm enjoying the process and I'm accepting it WON'T be perfect. And I'm not even gonna cry trying to make it that way. I've already had a cry session.

[@TANIMAYTO]

Hey! Thanks for making this! It's super insightful and gives me a lot to think about for future projects that I want to tackle. I would love to hear you talk through your process on pairing down your ideas once you've realized it's too long. It's something I have to do often, and I still don't feel like I have the hang of it!

[@brain_apostrophe_t]

Im doing my year 2 animation right now (1 min 30 dont worry) and a lot of this advice Ive never heard before. Thank you. Ill share this around!

[@animatorFan74]

I'm starting my own very small animation short now and this advice has been super super helpful. Just really wise and smart advice here. Will definitely be applying these insights into the short(s) I make. Thanks! :)

[@pczb2692]

This video was the _enLiIGhTenment_ I needed! I'm finally getting started on my own little projects, and a lot of what was in this video has been on my mind for quite some time.

[@jacksonfunksworth3822]

damn, that was really heart-warming about you journey, fam. we really appreciate you giving us alternatives and real advice outside a classroom, you're doing great work for the community. even I'm learning the basics pretty well, makes for a great start if I end up at an animation college someday. thank you.

[@beachbabescomic]

Wow. This is totally true even for me. I'm not an animator but I'm making my 1st comic. The schedule, high pressure on yourself, overworking, etc. A good video 👍🏾

[@JadDraws]

i freaking love you man u cant believe how much your videos are helping me in my animations

[@AntonymofBright]

Wow, thank you! I have to make a film in about a year, but I’m trying to harness ideas and help early! I’m sure this will help a lot!

[@Bransbow]

Quick question about your Complete Introduction to 2D Animation package: does it include learning how to draw in general, or does it assume that the student already has decent art skills?

[@TonikoPantoja]

Hi there, its just animation! I have put up drawing related stuff for free on my channel

[@TheRiordane]

THANK YOU MAN. I just finished my first animation for artschool and it SUUUCKED man. I learned a lot but you're videos helped me so much that I decided to try it again next semester but with a better plan.

[@seanhallihan7048]

Your videos have been so useful, thank you for doing what you do.

[@paetrpeter]

I know I'm late to this video - but it was super helpful to me, so thanks KZbin Algorithm! I'm in the beginning of creating a short film and these tips are exactly what I needed to hear. You did a great job breaking down your experience and the pitfalls that you found. Thanks!

[@Michafrar]

I can't believe the Dante bit is the most replayed part. Also, I enjoyed the scheduling /ambition talk in this vid

[@ArtsyFartsyYT]

Another super helpful one. Thanks!

[@saltyiris7116]

Thank you for another useful tutorial❤️❤️

[@subscriber6697]

Thank you Toniko. you always inspire me to do better.

[@ghostie7790]

Thank you so much for these!!!!

[@yukira_karishima]

Ohmahgah your "light~" voice crack was on point

[@mei.lin_rose7397]

Thanks for the tips! I have a very ambitious project planned for this year, but I will get it done. The process will include a lot of experimenting so I think it'll be exciting. I'd like to submit it to festivals so I more people can see it once it's finished. Maybe it furthers my career maybe not, but it's an animation I care about and I hope it turns out good. If it takes longer then that's fine too, planning to share the process as well as the final product.

[@nicolasmarsa8001]

good quality content as always dude!

[@guyonamotorcycle1]

Thanks! I've just started to animate puppets for stop motion, this is great info and really translates well.

[@hebrinarouw4536]

Great video! I always had a lot of respect for animatoes as that looks like so much work but listening to this reminds maybe I can do it, too if I just go at it step by step. Thanks!

[@marinarosemann]

Thank you, Toniko, for your very wise and useful professional advices: it's a hardship indeed, to pull one's ambitions down, to adjust them to one's skills... Well, but - your drawing skills are amazing, fantastic, and your voice - I would say, - quite like your pen - so soft and so fresh...

[@cloudymatchalarge]

reason 1 and 7 absolutely slapped me in the face. i have never made a short film before (only comics and illustrations) and i know that the film i want to make is too ambitious and epic. and i definitely cannot finish it by December if that's my end goal. I'm also banking on the success too much when admittedly, i haven't done enough vis dev work for the film and I'm already daydreaming about its success. so from a 10 minute short, I'll make a 1 minute and 30 second proof of concept of my idea so i can test things out! thanks for the vid toniko!

[@stinkape3417]

This video has some really good tips in it!

[@sweetland750]

Excellent video, just what I was looking for.

[@suMANna]

love your tips.. thank a lot

[@abeerelsaeed1873]

Thank you for such a great video it's really helpful 🥰

[@mondaysfeelblue2849]

Perfect timing 👌

[@Glasseyyy]

Thank you, i'll try to keep these points in mind. Im in the final year of animation and my story got shortlisted, meaning im gonna have to lead the project with new team members. Im so scared, but theres no backing out now. I need to do this

[@chrounous]

Oh god, one hit me like a truck as i'm currently working on my first short film for school and so far i'm glad my teacher is reviewing my Storyboards and making shots simpler. I will be coming back to this in the coming for reference 😅😢

[@ApiLilinAnimation]

Love this, im just start learning how to make a short animation 😊

[@AlbertoGomez-oi5ou]

thanks master, your words mean a lot to us

[@rajatgoswami7072]

I love your tips 😍❤️

[@elliotmann4821]

If your intention is to tell stories, you managed to tell yours very well! Maybe one day you will produce a short film that will subjectively illustrate the emotional perception of these experiences, which have become a beautiful teaching. Again, thanks for your thoughts ... There are many things I need to learn on my own, but I think I can avoid certain frustrations by learning from your fantastic professional and life experience. You are incredible, and I wish there were more people like you who were concerned not only with the technical aspects, but with passing emotions and experiences.

[@EdaliaDayCreative]

Thanks for these fab tips

[@elizabethandreno8608]

Wait wait wait...are you telling me the animations shown in this video are YOURS?!? I fell in LOVE with the dragon and wolf ones years ago as a kid just surfing KZbin (I think on Aniboom, but not sure!) So happy to have found my way back to you, you are an amazing inspiration!

[@richteeworks]

I feel like I often make things more complex and epic then it needs to be. Guess I should remember to keep things simple and remember core ideas

[@yumakami]

I really enjoyed this and it helped me tone down my ambition for my first animated short. Now I want to shoot for something 30 seconds long and do it well rather than shoot for 5 minutes long and burn out, so thank you for the timely video! Also, and I know this is nit-picky and you may not be able to fix it, but on the chart at 2:44 you've got the "greater than" symbol rather than the "less than" symbol, so all your times are saying 'at least 90 seconds' etc. instead of the desired 'no more than 90 seconds' etc.

[@tfox_paints]

thank you so much for talking about the last reason

[@miunya]

I've always loved animation and I really thought about starting a small animation short. Maybe a minute long to begin. Im just too anxious to actually begin learning bc I have very little confidence that it would be worth it. Doing something with all my heart and having no one see or care about it sucks to me.

[@ladyseshiiria]

Holy crap too busy crying watching the animation. No dialogue and you convey so much emotion. I'm not really here to learn animation. X3 But there is a lot of good advice for projects in general.

[@guillaumecloutier5162]

Amazing video!

[@fenrir-art4742]

10:50 Thanks for that. I have three shorts made already online that are for preparation for what I will bring. They were never going to be better or worse. Just for fun.

[@hyderanimatesandrockk2424]

This video spoke to my soul

[@shakeemwinn3647]

I'm definitely finishing mine. It's the first one that I'm going balls to the walls on. It's epic in scope as well. I guess it's all about what you're willing to do or not do.

[@ERTHL]

Thanks a lot, super useful! Very guilty of many of those mistakes. (Funny, the list of "mistakes" consists of partly 'do's' and 'dont's'.)

[@NovaNocturneArt]

I've been struggling with your point about storyboard timing (#3); My animation teacher has been adamant that even my storyboards needed to be exact on their timing and include so many excess frames that I was basically jumping right into animation right away. It felt like overdoing that stage, but also skipping way too far ahead of where a storyboard should have been. I am the type of person who likes to work in big broad strokes, then narrow in. It was hard for me to get my final project for that course done (still have 1/2 of it left to storyboard for heaven sakes!)

[@Phoenix.Sparkles]

The too big too epic concept doesn't seem to affect me, sure I have struggled, but that's what motivates me.

[@flatfacedcat]

I remember years ago when you were still a student and putting out films, I found your content online when the crops of CalArts stuff would come out en masse. I was very impressed with it then and I'm frankly very confused that you didn't get the internships and etc that you had hoped for... huh.. I don't know what to think about that. I'm also an artist but I see you as a much stronger animator and draftsman than me. So I guess it's leaving me wondering "then, what are studios looking for, if they said no to even Toniko??" It feels like the goal post is way further than I had thought before, and I already thought it was galaxies away. Anyway, I guess a tip for short films I'd recommend is not trying to oversell your narrative's emotional/impactful content. It's either there, or not. But it's very, for lack of a better word, "cringeworthy" and noticeable when people are trying to force a tearjerker. It's the same feeling as reading naval-gazing young adult twitter comics or embarrassing poems you wrote as a 15 year old in your emo phase.

[@CaratsRitzy]

8:52 I once spend around 6 months on and off on a project where the original clip was 30 and I was trying to animate in 24.

[@cheyblake2475]

I was never interested in animation when I was little because I thought if you want to do animation, you have to work in an animation studio. But when I saw an animation meme on youtube, I really liked it, and I realized that I can make animations for myself, I don't have to work in a studio to do animation, and that's how I'm interested in drawing and wanting to do animation

[@A1denPlay]

That DMC 1 scene ... I'm dying :'D

[@zktoons8740]

Wow, this video came as rain to a drought. I just started working on a short film for an Artstation challenge two weeks ago.

[@AssortedPopcorn]

I've made the mistake of having too many expectations on a film. High hopes are tough to keep in check. It's a lot like being too ambitious. Our wacky little artist brains just love to shoot for the moon. Focusing on learning rather than success is great advice.

[@halidramzan2803]

Thanks for this, it's very helpful. PS I love dmc😂

[@Its-j]

I guess I needed someone else to tell me to not put pressure on my own project

[@PineapplePanda]

Me watching this knowing I was working on a 90 second animation but only using tweening (which I am fairly new to) as well as working at 24 FPS (which I am also new to, tend to stick to 12 and sometimes i'll go down to 10 or up to 15) I got to like 15 seconds (only straight up tweening, no backgrounds or effects yet) before I scrapped it. I was to ambitious to make something while still being fairly new to the technique I was using

[@MrEmilable]

Last year when i was working on jurassica Safari Park, i Ran into the "Too Big, Too Epic" Thing and i did put it down and i was considering to never make it but, after getting a Storyboard animation up and haveing planned things out, i think it´s less challangeing (the video´s around 11 mintues and 24 seconds long) and i did plan out things pretty well by splitting them up into scenes where i start to animate when i get some models done and ready(im a 3D animator so that´s why im saying this modeling thing) i´ll likely edit this when i have done it or atleast a good ways into the project

[@itsallfunky4591]

haha, nice, love the DMC reference

[@zackbrannigan3740]

That meme of dmc got me so hard, it caught me off guard that it impaled me with sparda.

[@OSA5000]

10:04 That was absolutely bloody hilarious

[@marica6776]

I really want to shelf my current idea for later and pull a puparia with it even though I’ve already boarded it and planned it out for 10 months 💀💀💀

[@artsveiman7776]

Wish I had known these before starting my thesis, Ive had the worst time trying to complete it for making sooo many mistakes mentioned here.... on the plus side at least Ive learned from my mistakes.

[@RedGallardo]

It's all wonderful beyond imagination but it hurts to see others flying when I had my wings broken ages ago... Now, that story about a girl and a dragon would be epic to finish, it could mark a start for a career worth Bluth, Miyazaki or Disney.

[@LmaoMeowz]

This is just a rant comment with no point, just done expect any conclusion if you read it What I’m doing with my series is I’m going to have the first episode relatively simple & short, maybe 6-10 minutes with not very much going on: just a setup pilot episode to open up the story and introduce a few important characters & the story idea, with nothing that i haven’t animated before. The next one has a few things I’m unfamiliar with, such as a lot of backgrounds and some 3/4 veiws walk cycles which i’m not the best at but am still able to do, and maybe 10, 15 minutes. The next episodes are going to be however i envisioned them, maybe with some difficult scenes in the next 3 episodes simplified. I’m also planning to work on the first & second at around the same time so there are less inconsistencies in the final animation. The problem with a series is that it’ll definitely change a lot over the course of the animation but my style hasn’t changed very much in about 6/7 months so I’m hoping the change won’t be too jarring. I’m planning for the series to be about 8-10 episodes in the first season and 4-5 in the second. I’m going to have to cut some dialogue out because of A, the way i want to animate it makes lipsync annoying, and B, i probably won’t be able to find many good voice actors. At firs i was going to script it & get voice acting lines BEFORE doing the storyboard but I realize now that that’s definitely not a good approach, and i’m gonna do the voice lines & script notes in the storyboard instead of writing it all out like a MAP or movie script. Anyways this comment is over now i dont know how to conclude it If you have any tips i’d like them i guess Or if you wanna voice act sometime 👀👀

[@Nick-wz6tz]

Yesss another video from KZbin's greatest animator. These notifications make me so happy :'') Thank you for your hard work !

[@redrunner666]

12:00-13:00 broke me man. You tell great stories :(

[@lunar-bear8363]

I messed up the display setting for my gradfilm and thankfully my prof caught it before it was too late 😅

[@Conceptsofsanket]

Can you make a video about coming up with story ideas

[@rose-bk3zh]

THANKYOU!! GREAT VIDEO! What program do you use?

[@isidoraklamm]

ok, so I was watching this at work. I'm a traditional painter that is transitioning to digital painting and animating due to more financial/passive income possibilities. I don't even know the subject of your shortfilm but I actually felt tears building up when this f***ing mouse died. I dont know why. I'm not on my period, I'm totally fine but this animaiton touched me and this is exactly what any animation should be aming for. It's not about the special effects, it's about telling a story and touching the viewer.

[@2MKcreations]

Hey Toniko, Can these same tips apply to illustrations and comics as well?

[@demondare1926]

What that wolf one I wanna watch it

[@fenrir-art4742]

If you want, use thumbnails before animating and make sure to make backgrounds before you add the characters and objects movements in the spaces.

[@fenrir-art4742]

As I am working differently, I was finally aware how to do animation or digital art well while being different. This video is helpful too.

[@adriandiazburgoin1592]

I have two attempt to make a short film, and because both were to ambitious i failed, now i'm just re-enter into Social Media to share my art and stuff i can do, because i just lost so much time on those attempts i feel that i'm missing out, then i will chill doing art, show my talents with mini projects, learn more, making contacts, and stuff, then i will wait some time to make an third attempt with a more minimalistic Idea, the good side is that i see thise attempts like exoeriences, of course i just want my successful attempt and i feel i little down, but i still have pasion for it uwu

[@dawgsideofthemoon.]

Hey!! What do you use to animate + make storyboards on?

[@racoonproduccions]

So you made the wolf short Awesome

[@PleasantlyDisturbing]

These videos might just save me and stop me from becoming a burned out darth vader. Thank you🙏

[@jacksparrowismydaddy]

the wolf film made me cry again :(