How Long Will it ACTUALLY Take to Animate...?

[@HowardWimshurst]

About the SOFTWARE I use: A huge amount of my production involves Adobe CC (my affiliate link tinyurl.com/v7fvqgo) I use Adobe photoshop, After Effects, Premiere, Audition and sometimes Animate. I would be nowhere without these softwares. You can get them all with a comfortable monthly subscription, or you can get subscriptions to individual plans. Check them out and see what works for you. The main software I'm using to actually animate frame by frame is called TVPaint. Here's more information on that: www.tvpaint.com/ It's a great software :) And if you need a Graphics tablet, I highly recommend this one for you ballers out there: geni.us/vy8xUZB It's the best tablet money can buy :) And here's a great low-low cost alternative: geni.us/LLYv

[@theodorul4085]

took me like an hour to animate a low key cartwheel. Big respect to you animators

[@Waynimations]

Yes my masterpiece should only take 5 years. Wait...

[@binyameenmohammady1471]

Waynimations rip with your master piece

[@theodorul4085]

if its truly a masterpiece, 5 yrs would sound like a go go to me

[@frey8893]

Ohk so hav you done 20% of your masterpiece

[@Pro9pix]

35%

[@wingtyger6096]

How is your masterpiece coming along?

[@eghegh8126]

7:38 "Maybe you don't have a life" Truth really hurts 😧😧😧

[@smolscribbles8087]

Ouch

[@41-siddharthabehera6]

🙃

[@ashwinsanthosh9154]

Short answer: MUCH longer than you think it will.

[@Johnhasa1]

🥺

[@maiwei]

Dang, 2 months for a 2-minute animation. That's INSANE work! MAD respect for those who work in this industry.

[@Delta-2-0]

I actually estimate 2min animation 3-4 months... given that i am very strict with clean up and inbetween if i do it alone... It takes me 1 week for 2secs animation clean up and inbetween only studio quality

[@maiwei]

@@Delta-2-0 Sweet Ghandhi's tits that's so much time and effort! Kudos on the dedication. To think animation is so hard ajd time consuming, yet studios underpay artists so much is sad 😥

[@atreidespendragon]

this is why a lot of work has been done in the 2.5 D space, where creators are avidly searching for a happy medium and use of 2D and 3D work. An incredible example is Castlevania, or another like Arcane which is primarily 3D, but the art is very akin to a classic 2D stylized approach and some classic 2D work sprinkled in all over it. It was such an incredible piece of work, that film was breathtaking and something to aspire to.

[@ninjartist36]

depends on the animation 2d frame by frame 2d/3d vector stopmotion

[@lionelwalker6216]

Big Ups to animaters It is the most tedious thing to do and I am not an animator I am just a comic book colorist. I did my first coloring of a animation and it was just a simple one-on-one fight scene no background or nothing. and it took me to damn near 2 days just to lay the damn flat out and I still have to put in simple shading and be consistent about it. Excellent video.

[@ItsAJArt]

I can't wait to get a tablet and start animation

[@azureangel8217]

ItsAJArt Me neither bruh. Cant wait to stop using sketch books(even though I'm used to em by now😂)

[@ItsAJArt]

animegenius PROD. Yea bro sketchbooks are good but tablets that's when the fun stuff starts

[@azureangel8217]

ItsAJArt Yeaa💯👌

[@azureangel8217]

ItsAJArt Im making a whole anime series so its gonna be fun once i get one

[@ItsAJArt]

animegenius PROD. That's Awsome man I'm doing the same thing working on a anime/manga good luck I know its gonna be fire🔥

[@kiriappeee]

First time I'm watching this and I'm so impressed you take the productivity curve into account. That's super realistic and something more people need to take into account. No one works at linear productivity and so many mis estimations happen because of this component not being taken into account.

[@mos_animates]

3 years on, and this video is such a big help. I started animating a year ago, and have 4 projects - all in the 4-5 minute length range fighting for my attention. This is helping me look at them realistically and made me set an order of priority - and most importantly, is helping me budget my time. Thanks for publishing this! You may have saved this beginner animator from some serious overwhelm that threatened these projects!!!

[@JerryDechant]

That is good to know information. The general public should realize how labor intensive and time intensive animated movies take, so they can appreciate the quality of the final product more. (Side note: buy some new erasable markers before you shoot such a video. That is part of pre-production for videos.)

[@user-xh6ju3pg8c]

Yes. Animation needs to be more appreciated

[@EFlame01]

This is a great video explaining how time consuming animation really is, and it is really helpful formula as well. Nice!

[@nihilistmitch8405]

I've been asking this for my entire animator life. Thanks.

[@Henbot]

Because it really hard to calculate tbh -- best to just go on your gut or estimation or guesswork

[@jesterssketchbook]

if you dont bother calculating, youll have 20 extra minutes to actually animate lol

[@HowardWimshurst]

Sonic Animations hahaha

[@HowardWimshurst]

As well as working hard you should work smart 😄

[@bigshotmovieverse2621]

Or maybe 20 extra hours for failing to calculate 😦😁

[@kamiko8021]

i really appreciate the effort and time you put into making these kinda videos. i wish i could support you. I recently started taking animation serious and im most likely to start freelancing but so far I've only had a year and a half experience and i feel my skill isn't good enough for me to actually get commissions or animation jobs on the internet. So i'd like to know how you started out if you could give advice to beginners like me. It'd be great if you could make a video on that. Also I have problems opening your website. Doesn't open at all

[@rebelliousartist2161]

The poor markers dying-

[@binyameenmohammady1471]

June Locknight yes it is its needs life or ink I think it needs ink more then life

[@HowardWimshurst]

June Locknight it can't handle the truth

[@Henbot]

It like they are the very embodiments of animators hopes and dreams

[@mizunarijay]

I'm working on an animation project for my school and this really helped me to work out a sched since I also have a full-time job. Thanks! :)

[@wilkisama]

anyone else have to replay part of the video because u found urself staring at his shirt n losing time? no? me neither..... lmao

[@keatontyo]

Someone send this man a good marker lol. Great video though :) I'm not very good at animating yet, but your videos really help me with learning perspective drawing. Even just for kids who want to see how to get some quick sketches that look cool, your videos really help. Thanks for putting in time to get people to tell their own stories and letting your process be the focal point of these videos. Not a lot of timelapses that make the work seem unachievable, just good kindhearted commentary and help for those who want to have a way to express themselves even if it's just a hobby.

[@diklam3]

Love to see how a professional manages his time with reasonable quantitate data !

[@aidand.7911]

Just commented on your most recent video asking this exact question. Turns out you already answered. Amazing. Dude. You're amazing.

[@TheOneWhoAnimates]

Wow. You are amazing howard. Thanks man. Like big time.

[@MrRishik123]

quick mafs

[@rix.777]

im a begginer animator, when he started talking about animating on 2'os, 3's my head just *POP*

[@Little3Pigs]

Thanks for sharing this, for professionals creating art related content is always hard to convey how much time is needed to make a certain work, without looking unprofessional or putting your talent into question, clients expect high quality content in the shortest amount of time possible.

[@Henbot]

Honestly, your version of calculation seems pretty valid, got close to how long it took me to make a larger project I did. Really it is hard to estimate so you got to always instead of given the best time give the worst length it will take to clients. The problem really is if you trying to be a KZbinr animator you have to be very regular so you don't get harpooned by the algorithms of YT but that impossible because the less active your account is the less it turns up on the first pages of searches. Then another thing a YT animator gets stabbed with is that 10-minute rule. They should design an algorithm and rules separately for animators. The best option then might be for animators to do 30 seconds to 1-minute animations to keep the channel active and then put the number of episodes you done together for bigger blocs.

[@HowardWimshurst]

yep! I worked that all out about 4 years ago and that's why I don't just make animations. I also make videos about animation to please the almighty KZbin gods. The other way people found a way around the crippling system is with story-time animations. That's not really my style but it is a means of pumping out animated content using limited animation and re-usable assets.

[@Henbot]

Aye. The You I meant was badly used by me-- because you been on YT so I was saying you more generally as a stand-in for YT animators. I would recommend to you if you haven't seen it anyway as a bit of animation (due to it being 15 years ago) the Clone Wars 2003 animated series. It is on YT fully. Essentially they did 2-3 minute animations and only in last season doing 5 minute or more which is where the idea popped on. Was great under 3 minutes animation frankly. Was directed and Storyboarded by Genndy Tartakovsky who was a big brain animator-- the 2003 clone wars was mainly 2D traditional. He also did a series called Samurai Jack which should be mandatory for any animators LUL @@HowardWimshurst People like the animator for Neurotically Yours had advantage on YT because before YT the place to be for animations was Newgrounds and he had a massive back catalogue of animations which he just moved onto YT but he did so many it gave him a way to keep in check the algorithms. Really should come up with separate algorithms for animations.

[@kuichib]

Thanks for the video, Howard. I'm really bad at estimating project time. That simple multiplication of original estimated time is definitely something I'll implement.

[@1kbeforehalloween587]

From animator to animation teacher to math teacher. What now? U gonna be an president? Well? I would vote for you though.

[@jamesbouk]

damn, I thought it took 1-2 days for pro animators, and I could never get close to this level. Thanks for the information, you inspire me to be an animator!

[@AkilahOsa]

This tutorial is a life saver. I'm so glad I found it before I even attempted to try animation for fun. This is a serious artform, but I didn't realize how serious until now. The amount of time, energy and love you have to invest in this is crazy scary. 😱 Talk about selling your sole for perfecting your craft. 😅 Sign me up 😏.

[@ianzhang975]

i usually watch stuff that my mom call garbage. my mom is always on my screen but this time she thought i was watching something really profesional ( well it is the case) because of the board and righting

[@ishwarkoradi]

i watched this 2 years ago and again watching this full video without skipping

[@warrenography]

That was very useful. Thanks for the breakdown, I needed to see this.

[@programmerart5447]

quite a challenge to be both an animator and an absolute unit

[@HowardWimshurst]

haha thanks, gymnastics is my antidote to sitting in a chair animating all day

[@jo_ellee]

This literally feels like math class - the dulling marker, the light shining on the white board making it harder to see, the confusing math that my brain takes twice as long to process Yup. Takes me back😂

[@TheSleepKing]

Alright, I'll give myself by the end of the year. Going for 1 minute, let's go!

[@binyameenmohammady1471]

Dude this helped a me alote it's really a a great video u are really good at animating Question in your next video are u going upload the short film

[@chad6864]

Bro i love so much your channel. Your animation gave me the determination and inspired me to become an animator. You do an amazing job. Thank you

[@animaticfanatic7516]

This is extremely helpful! I'm wanting to make an animation that might end up a bit more than 2 minutes, this will help me calculate how long it could take. Thank you so much!!!

[@studiom5858]

My productivity graph would look like a heart-rate monitor

[@HowardWimshurst]

haha

[@HenwiBeHappy]

This video is VERY helpful. I will use this math in the future. I'm a complete amateur and didn't realize how long drawing would take. It took me like ... a week to make a very bad one minute animation. Thanks for making this a lot easier to figure out! :3

[@jmalmsten]

I prefer to do it the other way around. Take the duration and divide it with the allotted production cycle. The difference is basically which variable you're solving for. In the videos case you get the final production time, which is fine if you have no external deadlines. But usually you have one. So moving backwards you start with the runtime. Say, one minute. Multiply with 60 to get the seconds. 1×60= 60 seconds. And I think seconds is a good unit moving forward since nr of seconds per minute is constant but the nr of drawings per frame can vary wildly. Then take the production time you have. Say, 1 week. Divide that to working days, say, six (one day for pure socializing, woho!). That means 6 days to get 60 seconds. Divide sixty seconds by six days and get 10 seconds of final animation per day that needs to be in the can. You are insane so you schedule 10 hrs of drawing per day so you get 1 second of runtime per hour of work... On average that is. And this does not account for the pre and post. But say, you are more insane and skip the free time day and you get those hours for the stuff around the animation. So you still get one hour for 1 second. Divide that then with the framerate of that second to get the number of minutes you can spend on each drawing. 24 fps becomes 60 min/24 = 2.5 min or 2 min 30 seconds from creating the new blank frame to hitting the button to summon the next blank frame. 12 fps becomes 5 min per drawing. 8 fps becomes 7 min 30 sec per drawing... Again. We are talking about averages. If you make one frame in 1 minute and then let that play for the eternity of 4 seconds as a still image you get a huge boost in minutes you can spend on the next second, because 4 seconds equals 4 hours of work freed up. Making so you can allocate 24 fps for the next second without a huge drop in drawing quality... Or you make that one 4 sec drawing really detailed and let it eat up 4 hrs of work. Of course for this equation to be realistic you will need to accept some pretty dodgy individual drawings on average. And probably no background art. But doing it backwards like this makes you realise what effort needs to be spent and the drawing quality you can expect to reach the seconds quota you have each day. That makes me more realistic in my approach. So I can choose between really smooth moving primitive shapes or detailed stills for each shot with confidence.

[@mynameispi883]

Thanks for making this video, this is really going to help me when I start college in fall

[@cutmovies6522]

Just discovered that my 3d series gonna take more than i thought which was 1000 days ...imma still gonna do it tho

[@KeineCarvalho]

This is everything i was looking for. Massive Thanks 🧡

[@HowardWimshurst]

you always have two references on you

[@onetouchanimation2796]

If only i can do 5 min animation per week..

[@hotcheetos304]

Pretty cool seeing this part of the process. Also, I really dig that shirt lol.

[@Brockjay]

the x2 and x3 kinda hit me hard, like it's crazy how huge the degree of safety should be

[@ONIRODRIFTER]

10 years… o my god...

[@bluebellcookie]

I don't really get how you get the estimate for the storyboard

[@HowardWimshurst]

a storyboard is made out of drawings. How much time does it take you to make a drawing on average?

[@bluebellcookie]

@@HowardWimshurst I recently timed myself, and I created 4 pannels Rough rushed: 3m 56s Cleaned Rushed: 7m 08s Also, thank you for responding ^^

[@lauramaue]

Excellent breakdown; thanks so much for this. I've been giving clients an estimate of one month per minute of footage for a while now, but now I think maybe I should give myself more time. :D

[@bentonmarcum8188]

And we complain about the artwork in anime’s when the poor souls only have one week to put it out. Yes with a studio, but still

[@zbwlstudios]

mean while, some kid making a 3 minute long 12ps fully voice acted and edited stop motion animation using LEGO in under a week:

[@supasquid6698]

It will literally take me to the end of time to make an animation

[@BreinGames]

Jesus Christ man. I’ve seen clearer video of Bigfoot than this video.

[@avalonperez3806]

Dude thank you so much this was super helpful

[@NotHackTheBox]

I appreciate your videos man

[@robertonegrin9001]

Thunks Howard.

[@gepi5667]

Lol

[@jef_f8751]

Thanks so much! I just started working on a huge project. This will be useful..

[@bluebellcookie]

So about the storyboard & preproduction, is it 160 per hour?? I'm really confused on that part

[@bwaluvr7]

girl i need to make a 3 minute animation in 2 weeks < 33

[@HowardWimshurst]

good luck with that 😂

[@momentosdeluz3443]

Hi Howard! Great vídeo! Thank you Very much.

[@Kairegi]

This came in so handy

[@azureangel8217]

This is going to help me alot. I'm making my own anime series and I was thinking how to pace my self between drawing and frame rates. 😊Thanks for explaining man👌

[@Marisa_arts]

doing my first animation for a game. this is helpful

[@produccionesluxy]

Fun fact You can reduce time a LOT Just by adding dialogue scenes

[@rygennecosia4559]

As if we are in a classroom and its ur report day about how long it take to animate, then im really focus on the lecture til the markers is out of ink and boom i noticed u look so cute trying to use the black one heheh, but honestly ur video is really helpful. thanks

[@yuciechan6940]

how do u avoid jerky animation in the process. I always have this trouble when animating :'(

[@default853]

This was very helpful, thank you very much.

[@saarbrook]

You’re awesome.

[@drawnbyjd]

This is really helpful. I'm aspiring to be an animator. Thanks for the advice. Btw you kinda remind me of Taron Egerton.

[@zondervan3309]

Im thinking about making a 3 min short movie 3d animation i think it will take one and a half year or more all by myself

[@HowardWimshurst]

3d is a very different pipeline, it would require a very different model to try and predict it. in the meantime i would use the "past experience" formula

[@kaiju2127]

I love your videos please keep going!

[@anandchandra7687]

@Howard wimshurst, can u pls tell me which is more time consuming, 2d or 3d animation for a similar project?. As we don't have to create every single drawing of a character in 3d as we have to draw in 2d. But, it takes time to get a character ready for its first shot, in 3d. I'm not that technical, can u pls tell as I'm working on a project. Thanks..

[@HowardWimshurst]

They all take a butt-load of time. There. There's your answer 😂 3d is faster for on-going series set in the same location because you can re-use assets very easily. 2d is faster as a method of communication - you can sketch something and that will visually communicate long before a 3d animation makes its way through the 3d pipeline. Most 3d productions start with a 2d storyboard / animatic for this very reason.

[@ILoveThisGame778]

Hey how much you charge per minute if client provide you script

[@weightacademy7834]

You shouldnt expect him to reply on a year old video. Go on the newest video.

[@Mar-pd7ne]

Being a freelancer honestly sounds like hell I mean god damn the amount of math required looks exhausting are there no simpler ways to calculate when you finish an animation. My life was shortened by a couple years just watching a couple minutes of this.

[@ChoosingExcellence]

This Video is a Godsend! thank you!

[@artmanstudios7037]

or maybe just time yourself! you time your self realistically with your habits such as water breaks or toilet, any in between snacks! and so forth. this will give you a realistic time and your know when your be finished or when your deadline is due! such as.... 1) simple detail animation for 1 minute? 2) medium detail animation for 1 minute? 3) complex details for 1 minute? this is base on frame rate which can commonly range between 24fps to 30fps {anything above or below your just asking for trouble} and also after storyboard and any animatics which takes up extra time from the actual animation process. you will need to add time and days of work! ones you know this and become a master at timing thing your animation and confident will be at it's peak! Animators should work for no more than 4 to 12hrs in a day! with at least a day off! use that day off to forget all about animating! this way you will be recharged and not burnout! like when spongebob became a waiter at the krusty Krab to impress squidward's rivalry of friend in a day and or over night! it takes that amount of dedication to forget and become a full time pilot! in shifting your gear from boat to ship at full power! so shut down anything related to art on your day off and enjoy it!

[@dylanworth8038]

I’m not sure if you e already made a video on this but can you go over how you color your animations? I’m not sure if there is a better way color them than to just use the paint brush tool on a layer behind the outlines. Great video by the way 😁👍 This channel and community is really inspiring!

[@kingamer6375]

omg yes, i have trouble with this rip

[@HowardWimshurst]

I have a few tricks up my sleeve but they are specific to tvpaint so i don't know how useful they would be

[@kingamer6375]

Howard Wimshurst colouring in general?

[@HowardWimshurst]

like colour theory? Or the process of colouring an animation? There aren't that many life changing shortcuts for colouring an animation. It's just something that has to be done and it tedious no matter what way you go about it. Most of the time saving would be done in the design, reducing your character down to a simple design and using a limited amount of colours

[@ghostahedits5987]

such a great informative channel

[@TigerT242]

Nice video dude

[@TylerButh]

Would this be the same case for vector looking shows like powerpuff girls? It looks like those are simple enough they'd be a lot quicker.

[@jacksontoonz]

Finally I find the Answer.. Thank you Soo Much

[@jacksontoonz]

dude the white board is not visible correctly

[@HowardWimshurst]

Jackson S7R Animationz not much i can do about that unfortunately

[@onetouchanimation2796]

2 min animation = 168 days wow..

[@t0rgadoro]

Respect for animators

[@MackJoseph]

Thanks 🙏🏾

[@smolscribbles8087]

I’m trying to make more episodes of gravity falls because I am not satisfied with the ending, still have so many questions, and I got kind of emotional when I finished it :’3

[@melonhed9988]

somebody send this boy some markers !!

[@nibinfrancis8206]

Can i know which software you are using for animation and background

[@gepi5667]

Adobe animate cc animation

[@trashbagsan]

how do I know if I like animating?I'm having some weird issues right now.

[@HowardWimshurst]

Not really sure if there is an easy answer to that. Time will tell I guess ... You need to know yourself. Maybe with enough introspection you can tell the difference between an activity that you are excited about initially but which doesn't go anywhere vs a longburning passion which will remain. Also, especially in the case of animation, you NEED to love the process. Not the results but the process. You won't get very far if you don't

[@trashbagsan]

I've been trying to reply to this for a while now but I don't know what to write.I guess I'll just say that animating is truly beautiful but the process to be able to make one is a lot of time.So I guess I will have to love the process then.Thanks as always!!Totally would be a Patreon supporter if not because of my low monthly allowance

[@szklon4247]

very nice but I guess that average anime episode is 3000 drawings so 2 minutes would be more like 300 or 350 drawings (if its not 2 minutes fight scene) and sometimes 5s of animation is just camera movement on some background or only one drawing so it wouldnt take 56 days but more like 15 or 20 days

[@nikeshpk6475]

Can u make a animation on flipaclip and tell us some tips. Flipaclip is an Android animation app for free. It would be helpful if make one

[@NotHackTheBox]

So I'm guessing it would take 1 person 3 years to make a good quality 30 minute short. Is 1 month a minute what you were saying is what working solo would be like ?

[@ClayMotionStudiosO_O]

You´re so helpful

[@yv3652]

So if it's a hobby a decent standard at 2 mins will be 3 years 😮

[@abdellahi.heiballa]

i made 20 second animation and i jump in it without calculating i ended up drazing 497 frame

[@cooper22887]

Good video. Is it impossible for a solo animator to work on their own project while just doing animating for living ? , it seems even if working with commercial works, animator are difficult to spend their time to complete their personal project. Which always bothered me to think if i suitable to be a animator or doing animator for living . :(

[@HowardWimshurst]

That's a good question. From my experience I would answer it like this: You can do your own projects whilst animating for a living, but it takes a long time and it is hard to steal time for it, and you need to be patient. I have multiple almost-finished animations, two of which I am determined to finish. To finish both of them completely would take about four weeks of dedicated time. I have been waiting for those four free weeks for well over a year. I actually rejoice a little when I have a patch of no commission work, because that is when i can work on my personal projects and grow as an artist. But all the time I spend on commission work is not a waste, that work also helps me to hone my skills. The alternative - not working as an animator for a living- is much much worse. If you punch the clock at an ordinary job, you have so little spare time to work on your own projects and during that spare time, you are so drained of energy it is hard to do anything productive.

[@cooper22887]

@@HowardWimshurst Thank you! it is inspiring. I always think animator is a difficult job, the hard work put in might no pay off well, but I think the most important thing about animating maybe enjoying the process and the finished animation. Keep it up!

[@unbuiltknight1405]

But what if I want to make a portfolio within 2weeks at max,how should I go about that? It's not like I can make a portfolio with only one work!

[@HowardWimshurst]

Unbuilt Knight ok... i recently put together my own physical portfolio and here are some tips i learned from the experience. Go back through all of your old work - you will probably realise that there is more work there than you at first thought! Sometimes if the core idea of the old project is good, it is worth putting in the effort to clean it up to meet your current standard Don't overlook the presentation of the portfolio! Take the time to lay it out nicely. Keep the presentation design minimal, like an art gallery. Let the work speak for itself without distractions. Curate the work down to your very best, even if your very best means only having three pieces of work but you are confident that those are three very good pieces. Remember that you are not going to be there to explain your artwork to people! It needs to explain itself! If you really need to you can provide a text description to explain the context but really you want the work to completely explain itself. Good luck!

[@unbuiltknight1405]

Howard Wimshurst Thanks mate, this is really helpful!

[@Henbot]

You probably could unless you going for like 2-minute animations each.

[@lisabarnes924]

Me: _squinting the entire video_ BUY MORE MARKERS!!! Edit: (or redo this video all digitally)