How to Make Your Animations Look COOLER

[@CakeStation]

This was not a technical tutorial at all and yet it was the most important tutorial I've ever watched.

[@thislayk2728]

on gawd fr fr

[@Gabriel-pn8cp]

Cake!!!

[@Ginsenguy]

Falling in love with the process, it was something I had forgotten in my three years of blender. I remember when I was watching tutorial after tutorial making the most out of wanting to learn, then going to my laptop and start animating for hours on end. Now that I've got a whole Desktop PC, I find myself sometimes just staring, replaying my animations, surfing the web for stuff I'm not looking for and downloading assets I won't use. I spent too much time trying to get things I think would make my project "better" rather than trying to focus on the actual project itself, getting blindsided and sidetracked into not doing what I set out to do or why I even started in the first place. It became less about what I wanted to do and more of how can I make something good so I overcompensated which only led to me making worse quality stuff in the end. The truth is, the amount of excuses isn't going to make up for the fact that I could be doing something, anything, and it be worthwhile. So as I finish out typing this message, I just want to say thank you for this video, and have a good day AK.

[@AKMotions]

Have a great day. And happy animating. Good luck with whatever awesome projects you are going to make next.

[@SwitchbackCh]

This video is why intent and personal experience is so integral to storytelling. Early RWBY was created by someone who was an animator first and foremost and it shows in every aspect of its different qualities, from its camera work to its character designs. It's no wonder then that it's fellow animators who are most able to replicate that essence in their fan work. They may not know Monty personally or read his notes on RWBY, but they shared creative experiences and perspectives that no doubt he would have struggled with and found familiar, and that shines through in a way people can tangibly feel through the screen.

[@Buck3670]

I gotta be real... I kinda teared up at the end. Maybe it was the music, mix of quotes and the pep talk, but it really made me step back outside of myself for a moment. I think this video will sink in some day, it resonates with so much I often think about and what I want to improve about mentally. I appreciate this being a more philosophical approach rather than a frame-by-frame tutorial. The idea of characters fighting for the camera is the funniest yet most mind-blowing technique I got from this right now. Thanks for making this video, a lot of people, myself included, sometimes need to hear things from a less technical point, and more a mindset point.

[@AKMotions]

I appreciate it. And I am really glad I can help👍🌹 (music is clair de lune btw)

[@larvaedadindex]

watching that Dead Fantasy sequence with the magic booze never gets old

[@tacticstories7159]

I think one important thing to mention is, that there are thousands of talented people out there who are NOT famous and yet maybe surpasses those who are famous. Instead of getting upset about NOT being good, people should rather find a better reason for why they do things. There may be a state of mind that lets you enjoy it healthier, or it maybe enjoy another hobby/work entirely.

[@AKMotions]

True. The fastest man on earth isn't Usain Bolt. It's probably some person in a random country that just likes running all the time. Or runs to survive and doesn't have time to think about world records.

[@tacticstories7159]

@@AKMotions Exactly. You can do a lot of things for a lot of reasons. And when you don't live up to your own expectactions, of course it's going to crush your self esteem. I for myself found it way more helpful to find out, what, or, for who I create things for. And for me, it turned out to be only for myself and what I want to see. But the most important part is finding peace with your current skill set and accepting that. Also learning how your brain works and how impactful routines are.

[@JeanneMyBeloved]

It's okay to start again . But don't give up at the slightest trouble either . something that took me a while to learn . i found myself giving up too easily and the few times i did have energy i spent it all trying to recover and savage projects that weren't going anywhere ╥﹏╥

[@rixarts14]

This isn't a tutorial but a creed all animators need to hear.

[@Bunkatron]

Don’t take the time to mend a broken mirror, sometimes ya gotta accept it’s broken and make a new one by learning how to avoid pushing its and your limits. 💥 Incredibly well done and said

[@whutwhut4721]

Wow...honestly I've been an animation student and lost my confidence and motivation because of so much work and little time we have to meet the professor's expectation to get a decent grade among other classes...I miss my 15-year-old's confidence and positivity to finish a "bad" animation...I appreciate you for this video.

[@AKMotions]

That's primarily why I never had any interest in going to school for animation. I didn't want anyone trying to teach me a "right way" to animate.

[@Parisella]

Just push through it, and strive to be better! The nature of art is recognizing just how much work goes into the simplest things. But if you remember to not lose sight of what you love about the medium, than you'll find the motivation you need to produce great work.

[@Parisella]

​@@AKMotions I used to think like this too, until I started working in the industry. I don't have a degree, but I've done a few workshops, and I think there's something to be said about learning from people with more experience. At the end of the day of course, nobody knows everything, but I knew an animation director who could recognize where my work was lacking and kind of forced a different workflow on me. In the end, I learned what I could from it and discarded the rest, and my work is all the better for it.

[@aquajeth4965]

I'll make sure to listen to your pep talk everytime I feel down or unmotivated. :)

[@AKMotions]

I've had some things on my mind. So I plan on making more videos like this. But in the meantime, keep going you got this.

[@_stealth_313]

As a very new animator, this has helped me a lot. Especially the mirror analogy

[@VibesStudios]

I animate the same way, with music and it helps me picture out my vision for the fight.

[@markbv591]

You're right... You're so damn right... I know this one animator called Vamrack Powerhouse. The guy rocks. I remember watching some of his first animations made in Stick Nodes. The animation was not good at all. There were fights but they were bad. But DAMN was it entertaining. I could see his passion in the story he wrote, the characters, all of it. And especially the fights. As I said, there was nothing good about them animation-wise. But even so, they were so entertaining and thrilling because the animator wrote the characters that well. It really is all from the heart. Thank you, I needed to hear this.

[@stupidstopmotions100]

I appreciate this a lot. I always look at others animations and try to improve to match theirs but I never can. I end up getting discouraged and stop animating for a while which leads to me getting worse ironically. My mom and I had a talk about it yesterday too. Weird to see these back to back. Must be a sign

[@AKMotions]

Maybe it is 👍

[@DarkFruitsAnimation]

I'm learning to play to my strengths rather than my weaknesses. For example, my character movement is garbage; so my next animation is a tank-vs-tank action battle (Layout: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zny7aWholpZqmpI but it will be rendered in cycles so will look like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nn6vfnh6hteChpY ). My walk cycle can't look bad if my animation doesn't have a walk cycle. I think the key thing I've learned over my 3 years of animating is that you can't learn everything at once. You will do things, and some things you will be naturally good at; others, you will be terrible at. By using your strengths as the backbone for your animation, you can then start to learn the things you are weak at individually, and incorporate them into your animations. But that's just my two cents anyway. I only animate for fun, and it is not my job in any way.

[@nolanxart]

This was well worth watching. Thanks for sharing this.

[@Kidthatgotit]

How encouraging. I think this is the boost I’ve needed.

[@Clayaga]

I needed this. I am sure a lot of people needed this, but I needed this. Thank you.

[@AKMotions]

👍🌹

[@hopialikeit7279]

This was a good tutorial! I sometimes forget to have fun because of expectations and standards but I need to learn that it's about the process not the end result. Thank you AK.

[@miles0995]

Thank You for this!!!!! I always want to find or recognize the strength in Monty's animation.

[@VGClementine]

Thank you for the inspiration and knowledge you have provided. I definitely needed to hear all of this. It actually made me see animations more differently. Making Animations is the number 1 thing I want to do for the rest of my life and what keeps me from making that happen is I sometimes not believe in myself since the animation doesn't always come out how I originally wanted it to come out. Or I have no idea etc. But this video does help a lot. Thank you

[@AKMotions]

I hope you go far, good luck.

[@VGClementine]

@@AKMotions Thank you 😊

[@Azrael_Shade]

How to not do fight scenes. Jumpcutjumpcutjumpcutjumpcut guy dead. Also the circle thing in regards to cinematography enlightened me.

[@joebones10]

Sorry, just stumbling upon your video now... a damn year later after its posting... thanks KZbin algorithm! Monty was known to always be pushing for people to "watch things, watch movies, watch shows or watch anything". And this is a key point that you didnt exactly "miss", but clearly did not recognize. In your analysis, not only was Monty a great animator, but essentially a great cinematographer! He knew where to put the camera in his animations to get the desired effect with the action that was happening. That goes beyond your "circle" animation in the highway fight of RvB that you highlighted... not trying to insult you, but I think that you just didnt see it for what it truly was... a masterful showing of not just animation, but cinematography! Now, I am by no means an animator! Nor, do I aspire to be one! Jesus, I completely suck at Photoshop! lol But, I am an editor. Monty's "watch anything" philosophy is not something that hasn't been said to me numerous times in my life by producers for various projects... but it is something of a fact that I realized at such a young age and I focused on and it pushed me to get where I am today. A multiple Emmy winner. Meaning, you take what you learn from WATCHING ANYTHING and get ideas on how to make a good product and go from there! The ability to find inspiration will always be around you. You just have to make sure your eyes are open to it. Then, make it your own... and make it something special.

[@AKMotions]

My ⭕ wasn't wrong, and I definitely have recognized that Monty is good at cinematography, the dude literally said he wasn't an animator but a filmmaker. And before he animated he was a Photoshop master and made a bunch of wallpaper type art pieces. One single example isn't going to cover the entirety of Monty's philosophy for camera and cinematography, that would take forever. The circle example basically just goes over why moving a character around too much in frame will make it hard to know what is going on. A big example of that is the latest freaking episode of one piece (specific scene not the entire episode) like seriously. Great animation, but I could follow none of it. Generally, when a character changes positions in frame there has to be proper meaning behind it. Without that it just looks like the camera man wasn't paying attention. and the camera man is supposed to be the most overpowered character in all of film.

[@usmansubhani7482]

As someone who writes fight scenes in my novel, I’m not sure if what I say will make sense to animators… but I’ll leave an opinion here so I can at least know I said it. There are a few things I keep track of in my fight scenes, which I give different names. 1. Combo Sequences = An individual will have a particular moment pattern thought out. They will act on those intentions and do a ‘combo’ of sorts by doing different movements. This is to be used to understand each person’s style and how they are different from others. An aikido practitioner will have rotating movements, a Mauy Thai user will be direct and brutal, and some will brawl. Combination Sequences is to be used as character defining tools, not the whole fight itself. After all, there is no way a combo won’t be interrupted unless you’re curb-stomping your opponent into the ground. 2. Median Flow = I tend to write while playing with how people are like ships. They can face each other and move in different directions, but each time their hits follow the range and distance of what they can do. It’s like how History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi simplifies this by showing a translucent barrier when they get into a stance. Showing where they can defend and where their defences are weaker. This is to be used as a tool to understand how each character could exploit each other. People tend to think too rapidly while writing a fight scene, which ends up adding a lot of unnecessary motions that don’t fit well when put together. Median Flow isn’t their internal fighting style or external environment, but how characters define themselves through the use of both aspects. What they are more likely to notice and take advantage of in the environment or the opponent, rather than acting based on pure instinct alone. This is where moments of focus come in on the tools the character will use. Whether they pull out a knife, switch to defence while circling a table, or jumping out of danger. 3. Critical Impacts = Each fight usually has key moments where the power dynamic shifts in an extreme way, rather than just rocking the boat. A grave injury that sustains, an exploitation of a weakness, being armed, or just an external change in the environment that helps one character more than the other. Critical Impacts are where fights start and end. Either the impact will completely neutralise them, or it will put them in such a state of weakness that they might lose. It’s used to highlight a specific weakness in a character, or to show a strength of a foe. 4. Commitment Restrictions = It’s highly necessary that characters don’t act outside what they are revealed as. Doing more than what’s revealed they can do. If you introduce a power, it must be focused and capitalised on for a bit until you add something new. Unless you’re using an already existing character, showing their limitations is necessary for a fight to work. You can’t expect everyone to understand who’s winning if you use an OC that has several powers he reveals all at once. The viewer would just get confused. Even ‘Dead Fantasy’ only worked because the source materials already expanded on what characters could do. Utilise the tools you have efficiently rather than introduce new ones. This restriction should fuel creativity in choreography. This last one is pretty important, as even the most beautiful fight looks empty without context on the strengths and weaknesses of a combatant. You can’t get into their headspace without it. That’s all I got.

[@AKMotions]

I think of the characters and their personalities and how it will affect their combat style before animating them. I can go into extreme detail on the rwby characters and how their combat styles make sense. There is a lot people don't understand with how Monty comes up with his fights when they don't understand character writing. I believe Monty was a genius in more ways than even he gave himself credit for.

[@usmansubhani7482]

@@AKMotions True. Even a genius wouldn’t understand their own potential. I wanted to write this comment since there’s two types of people. Ones who do things instinctively, and the analysing types. I found that your videos cater to the former more often. The only way you can analyse something is by having a frame of reference you can simplify things from. This in turns leads to being able to express what you want. People look at ‘Cool Moments’ and think “Wow that was so epic”, but they forget why something seems ‘cool’. Walking away from an explosion is cool because it shows how dauntless they are. Doing a neat trick in battle is cool because it shows how calculating and resolved they are. Different ‘cool moments’ express different things, which is how you use the ‘Rule of Cool’ with a calm state of mind. That’s how I see it anyway.

[@suphatrajumnongnart8318]

Honestly this advice is really good i will use this in good use!

[@thesittingtraveller3467]

Would be a good idea to use different colors for different circles.

[@TheJumpButton]

This is surprisingly well edited

[@TheJumpButton]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaLRhpKpf52JY6c

[@VLADD420]

10:35 even though dj bear got the soft helmet on his head i swear he had to have felt every inch of that faceslam lmaaooooo

[@pablogr6960]

oh man its just on time for me, you are great! i really enjoy to animate while listening to music too

[@AKMotions]

Great habit

[@AllVoiceHowdy]

tbh i think that whole retrospective, looking in the mirror thing should be kept to when the animation is finished. worrying about the details really slows things down. You have an idea, best to immediately put it out to see if you'll like it because you never really know what the final product is gonna be. I feel its pretty similar to something like music, I usually watch an animation or look at a drawing to get into that "flow" of just making the main tune, rather than worrying about the flaws and constantly stopping to fix them. Kinda like how i imagine you listen to music to get an idea of a fight, maybe even sync the moves to the song ^~^

[@AKMotions]

I agree. I am always listening to music. Part of my mind is thinking about animation, and part of my mind is jamming out to the music. At the end of the day, I hardly remember my thought process or even animating certain parts, all I remember is jamming out to the music and how terrible my singing is lol.

[@xanaphin8743]

Continuity is one of if not THE most important parts of animation.

[@jaybryan5808]

I'll be animating to this video on the background. You sir... idk. You really do know what you're talking about. Thank the algorithm gods for bringing me this. Glad I didn't ignore it . Aight. I'm off to animating now. Before I overthink it 💀

[@AKMotions]

One of my favorite comments of all time. Move forward my friend. 💪👍

[@TaigaClaws]

Was not ready for the Monty quotes. He was taken too soon.

[@AKMotions]

He really was.

[@OddityStudios]

Really great video AK. This is very helpful in a lot of ways. If I may, my advice to other animators would be that "Practice makes Perfect" Its cliche but its true. Everyone starts somewhere and nobody just becomes a master animator in one day. September will make two years since I started animating so I'm still kind-of a beginner, but I think even people who have been animating for many years still learn new tricks and methods to better their work. This was very inspirational AK, keep up the good work!

[@gabogaberiuxs]

Hey man, I really appreciate the way you deconstructed all of your arguments unto something incredibly understandable for someone who is a noob on the field, I always thought there had to be some sort of science involved into creating these insane fight sequences, but you analyze them flawlessly, I appreciate that. This vid along with your other one, very rich. There was a time not long ago that I finally reached a point in illustration where I could work professionally, and in the same way some of you animators look up to Monty's work and philosophy, I used to look up to Bungie's artists like Mullins, Hannaford, Lehto's direction, Marathon' and Destiny art; I used to look up to classic comic authors and their whacky ideas and compositions, Ditko, Kirby, Macfarlane, Lee, really unique and original. 'Le old masters' like Velazquez, Sargeant, Hirschl. It's of course true, there's a voice inside your head saying you'll never be as great as them, but the simple need of your hand to draw something on a canvas has a voice of itself, that thing has always pushed me forward into 'art'. Now here you have me, going into the rabbit hole of animation, though I'll always prefer 2D over the 3D work. Like, come on, those spiderman-like sequences in AoT, dog, that is some hot art right there. Or the work of I.G. in Ghost in the Shell, I think the maxima display of animation skill goes for quick action sequences, but that film really puts slow and clever compositions into place, with subtle movements of characters, really enlightening. Anyway, I just like to ramble about the crafts, but honestly, I find your personal work really good, you could find work already with your level, if you aren't already. I'd love to hook you up to some production that would put you on a project, but unfortunately, it's not my department..yet HAHAHAHAA. And a closing question, if you will, are you going to art school for this or are you purely lyrical, just like the god himself?

[@AKMotions]

I love comments like these. I decided to wait to read it on my lunch break so I can have something to look forward to. Funny you mention it. I also prefer 2D to 3D, I look at all those AOT sequences, demon slayer animations and explosions, and it's what drives my work. I want to follow 2D, in 3D, and make it good. That's what Monty also said "Think 2D, and animate 3D", which is part of the reason why his work is so different and loved. He took a 2D approach to 3D animation. Also to answer your question. I never went to art school, and I don't plan on it either. To be honest, I learn what I need from just watching the artists that inspire me. And I have a lot of other artists and amazing animators that I can go to for help.

[@gokuwrightattorneyatlaw5227]

Listening to music or watching a video is how i create scenes or ideas for my manga layouts. I dont really depend on scripts i just go with the flow. Ill know if i need a script but for action scenes especially fight scenes ill let my imagination run wild

[@AKMotions]

Hell yeah🔥

[@jaybryan5808]

Wow you shot me clean through with that thinking too much 🤣🤣

[@dynaman7329]

Nice video AKMotions, it was very informative and the ending was nice with those quotes and your pep talk. P.s. Here's an interesting fact, I'm not the biggest fan of the "Yellow Trailer" not because I think it's badly animated, far from it. But the reason I don't like the "Yellow Trailer" is because from my point of view Junior, the Malachite Twins, and the goons were defending themselves from Yang who initiated the attack at the start and I don't like heroes who break the law and don't suffer any consequences for their actions. You might argue that Junior deserved to get beat up by Yang because Roman hired some of his men, but Junior doesn't look to proud of himself and is kind sulking right before Yang walks up to the bar.

[@AKMotions]

I can see that yeah. Yang was never really a love at first sight character for me like ruby was. Although we aren't really aware if she was punished or not. Ozpin mentions that he knew. And Oz could easily overlook that if he chose to.

[@dynaman7329]

True, but I wouldn't have a problem with the Yellow Trailer if they actually showed Yang getting punished for wrecking Junior's bar. Like if a cop was waiting for Yang instead of Ruby and a jump cut later we see Yang sitting on a bench in a jail cell like the beginning of "Big Hero 6." This would show the audience that heroes actions (good or bad) have consequences and makes the world of Remnant more realistic.

[@AKMotions]

That would kinda push it too far. Those people are probably criminals that do far worse than yang did. they probably deserved it. I mean we literally see them rob a valuable store in the first episode. Which means they are used to getting payed to break the law.

[@dynaman7329]

Yeah, but for all we know some of Juniors men (including the Bear DJ) aren't criminals at all, just guys trying to make some money to support themselves or a family and working for Junior was their only option or because he payed more than enough. Also, Junior's men were robbing the store because Roman hired them to do it and since he's a notorious criminal they probably didn't want go against his word and followed his orders even if they didn't want to.

[@AKMotions]

That's kinda silly looking too far into a show like that. They seemed pretty willing to point a gun and kill a 15 year old girl. So pretty sure they weren't very nice people.

[@zerozero4101]

Oh wow, I didn't expect the pep talk to hit kinda hard... I always wanted to get back into learning blender, but I always felt tired or confused when doing so. Then I take a look at animated works from amazing creators and use that as a motivating point. While I can't produce the same kind of excellence that they can peform, I wanna be able to use my amazement to make my own version of "excellence" even if it isn't the greatest. I really want to start putting effort into learning Blender so that I could try keeping up with the people I admire, so this video was a great reminder of that.

[@AKMotions]

If you need help with Blender there are people in the Cake Station server that can help you with a lot of things.

[@JordanToa_YT]

Thank you. ☺️

[@usmansubhani7482]

It’s sad that I’m going to be dropping being a Webnovel writer… will always feel like I could’ve done more unless I finish my stories now.

[@winglessmecha]

This is very informative. Thank you

[@vamrack8344]

I uh....... definitely needed to see this.

[@aaroncarr3413]

I see a lot I already like so I know I'm in for a treat

[@usmansubhani7482]

17:40 I thought the same about writing (bec of my dyslexia). I think I write well now. Just have nothing important to my name beside a NaruSaku fanfic.

[@TheLegodude102]

The ship that should have sailed…..fck I hope no one in the discord sees this

[@kingmurder8245]

This...is ... fucking ... gold... gg my man

[@funnybleepbloopthing]

DJ Bear animation when?

[@ClicStudio]

I always thought your animations were nice, great, awesome, incredible, etc. Not cool. :( Was I wrong all this time? But I’ve never seen someone walk off from an explosion while putting on sunglasses in your animations, which is the actual definition of cool! Unless you mean the other definition, but I don’t see your animations as being cold tho.. they always warmed up my heart ❤️

[@AKMotions]

I got no clue what that means but 🥵🥶

[@ClicStudio]

@@AKMotions It was mostly a joke saying your animations weren’t cool while also saying that I like your animations xd Plus a play on words since cool can be an adjective describing the temperature of something xd

[@AKMotions]

Lol alrighty

[@Mjustine]

Awesome tutorial

[@spliffy98]

Where can I watch that segment of team RWBY fighting the Deathstalker?

[@AKMotions]

Cake station OVA 1. And stay tuned for OVA 2 soon.

[@attackofthecopyrightbots]

0:00 whats that on the bottom middle

[@AKMotions]

By Dillongoo, it's his Cyberkatsu animation

[@marcierex4547]

what do rwby and rwby fans use to make these animations