Preachings in art & animation I had to unlearn 1

I'm going to do these short casual videos where I talk about certain things that were preached to me as a student and as a professional, and me reflecting more on my own opinions on the said statement.
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[@AFoxinSpace]

Creating the animation that will net you a million views won't necessarily be one you enjoy. Creating the animation you enjoy won't necessarily be the one that nets you a million views.

[@BlueLegacyArts]

So true, I'm proud of what I make. I like to entertain people but most importantly, I love to do the actives that makes me happy with myself.

[@hahaimsad103]

every something great comes with a sacrifice (idk how to word it better)

[@gingertrang8686]

Art in general is, 'cause it's personal

[@ximmer4802]

Make the stuff you love and you might get lucky with one of your works

[@Henbot]

Also YT changing payment from number of views to minutes watch killed off YT animation

[@imanidavis]

I'm starting with stick figures; it's encouraging to know that's okay! I just have to stop comparing my beginning to someone else middle. There's a lot of great art out here!

[@sandrobot809]

stick figures are underrated nowadays, they're still legit

[@owohscorner]

Cuz, I fall into that all the time. I see people with hundreds of likes and millions of followers, and I like "Am I not good enough? Am I doing something wrong?" Then I just have to keep reminding myself that everyone starts at a different place and growth takes times.

[@sabaaras]

You should check out RANDOMstuff animation! I believe they started out by animating stickmen on Stick Nodes, and they still use Stick Nodes for some of their animations now, except without stickmen (good example is their Roses animation). Stick at it :D

[@imanidavis]

@@sabaaras Thanks I will check them out! I will stick with it :D

[@Henbot]

YT also killed off YT animators when they changed payment to minutes watched from number of views along with their algorithm that sinks animators when they don’t have a schedule. Distribution, exposure and payment also impact animators

[@scribblecloud]

shouldnt it be percentage watched? that make a lot more sense

[@stillbuyvhs]

@@scribblecloud They're trying to keep people on the platform longer, so they can sell ads.

[@yellowbear111]

@Scribble Cloud you can thank the reply girls for that

[@yen_bm]

thank you for including my work as example! to be honest it was always intimidating to make the step into the more handdrawn direction. most of us stickfigure animators mostly told themselves that they could not draw and pretty much trap themselves in that bubble of just using that one software. it definetely helped me to build a strong foundation for the technical aspects of animation without the need of beeing able to draw. i also noticed that your own animation has the strongest impact on yourself in the moment you play it the first time, because that is the closest you will get when you want to understand the first impression of the audience that will watch it. i already realised these things as i still used pivotstickfigure animator. i do believe it's very important these days to stay flexible with all these softwares that exist. anything can help you to understand art & animation a little better. these days it's more about soaking up any information you can get. observe and study the subjects online and irl to find out what you want to do for yourself. eventually, the deeper you dive into exploring and creating what you truly enjoy, people will start to find that entertaining what is entertaining to yourself since they begin to relate. .. at least all of this is what i like to believe

[@JMarcosArt]

I’m almost afraid to admit this (out of fear of being preached to out of existence), but I’ve never been one to rely on timing charts when animating. Even after watching your video on the subject, I kept trying to use them and it never stuck with me. Just like you said here, when I animate, I usually use the playback option constantly to see what I could fix, but thanks to it, I feel like the final product comes out much better than when I use timing charts.

[@Lazamattaz]

I never got the hang of them either! Most of my professional work is in After Effects at the moment anyway, where I don’t feel the need to use them

[@lunab541]

I saw a post on instagram by trad animator Matt Williames in which he explained that timing charts are guides for the assistant animator to fill in the inbetweens. It's a pipeline thing. You're not supposed to plan your animation on them. When I saw that things started to make sense

[@ovn_tamil]

Timing charts should be made after the key animation or rough layout, you can still playback and see how can you make this even better. This is a pipeline thing, which helps inbetweener and colorists to have an idea about what you wanted to convey, is it quick? is it slow? Things like this. I guess in sakuga (Japanese) animation work flow the story boards are made into rough layout then timing charts, then corrections in timing and drawing by directors(similar to playback), then finalized for 2nd key animation and inbetweening, I find this work flow really understandable, dynamic yet efficient and easy, unlike the western way where you have to follow a strict guide which makes workflow stiff and uneasy, at least for me. There is a lot of going back and forth refining things in sakuga animation which makes end results, a whole lot better!

[@lunab541]

@@ovn_tamil I didn't know about the japanese workflow, that's very interesting. Could you elaborate on how it's less stiff than the western model?

[@ovn_tamil]

@@lunab541 In the western side, people used to animate on paper (as you know), and animation was on its experimental stages by then. So they have to find ways to efficiently produce results. They used timing charts at the beginning of animation (to plan out animation) and just rolled with it. Back then, Disney animators are masters at drawing expressive, dynamic actions in just 1 or 2 go, no further cleaning, directly sent to inking. I struggle especially at the timing charts part, I have to refine my drawings a LOT. Also there's not a lot of time where x-sheets are used in western animation, the timing is just marked in the corner of the animation, which can sometimes be hastle. That's where sakuga animation helped me, Japanese animation developed later than Disney, thus it had time to evolve into its own thing. It had an x-sheet, timing charts, storyboard notations(for post processing), lot of back and forth refining the animation. It gave me a good breath time between process and I did not felt rushed. So, this is just a personal preference! Try both of it, pick one you like the most (that's how I found out all this)

[@PrettyPrincess6]

Thank you for mentioning how you don’t need to have good art to animate. I’ve seen stunning animations with only stick figures. I’ve been told “I can only draw stick figures, I can’t really draw” by many people, but I disagree. Good art is neat when it comes to animation, but you don’t have to be good at drawing to make animations 💕

[@cajs9964]

"Guys this is Miranda, she's one of the boiiiiiiiis"

[@xQuandaleDinglex]

@@cajs9964 I'm ashamed that I know what this is.

[@Henbot]

Any stick figure animation won an Oscar or seen in cinema

[@raffvids]

@@Henbot Yup, Don Hertfeldt. Not won but nominated for Oscars twice.

[@katwhite8735]

Spent 4 years at an animation school (2Dand 3D) and after I left I was so burnt out and depressed I couldn’t even pick up a pencil to draw again. Not to mention that I graduated right at the beginning of COVID 🥲

[@renzelnavarro8269]

Same, I’m also burnt out after graduating recently but so stressed about getting a job ;u;

[@MINISWISS1]

U guys got it, don’t give up! Remember the stuff that hyped you up and got you interested in drawing/animation. Sometimes looking back on what inspires me it can help

[@littlereuby]

Damn, I live in a country without an animation industry, so I want to encourage you it is not so bad. You might consider a different career if the burnout persists

[@BudderChezMC]

ah I graduated recently too. good luck my friend 🥲

[@Henbot]

A lot of what you say in last few minutes was said by legendary animators and the giants decades ago at Disney and other places. Remember one said they would be more impressed with an animation of a mother and a baby or elderly person then an epic fight

[@lioedevon4275]

Can we talk about how the file he's drawing on was "recoverd" thrice, because that's a major mood

[@jethrotai1721]

Starting my 2nd year at CalArts this fall and it was certainly the case for me that I started animating (in a tiny rectangle on paper and shooting it with a crappy Nokia phone camera) before I knew how to draw at all I was never really known as the art kid because my drawing skills weren’t particularly good. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally gave in and decided I liked animation enough that I’d make myself learn how to draw, but only in order to help me animate. Even now I only enjoy drawing because of what I can do with it and struggle with drawing just for the sake of drawing

[@kolacao8134]

How did you enter to calarts? o.o

[@TonikoPantoja]

@@Igorooooleynikov When I applied a portfolio of life drawings was mandatory.

[@jethrotai1721]

@@kolacao8134 I think in addition to a solid understanding of drawing fundamentals they also look for artists who have enough drawing experience that they can draw spontaneously, without over correcting or overthinking, in a way that reflects how they (literally) see things. Turning what you see into lines on a piece of paper in a way that feels true to the original subject is in a way a problem solving task. Every artists solves that problem differently simply because we experience the world around us differently. I’m sorry if this sounds really vague but the more you draw observationally and encounter different types of drawing challenges, the more aware you’ll become of how you naturally draw. In parallel, it’s also very helpful to study how master artists draw, and some of their approaches may resonate strongly enough that you incorporate them into your own way of drawing. This is what I think might be their unspoken requirements for sketchbooks and portfolios anyway but I never really knew for sure lol All of this simply takes a long time and a lot of hard work to figure out. I realized very late that I wanted to go to CalArts and it took me 4 tries before I was accepted. Many who are accepted on their first try had started preparing years in advance.

[@littlereuby]

I feel like the west just overcomplicates stuff for no good reason. Don't get caught up with the do's and don'ts and just animate. I learnt this from the Japanese. observe the people around you and put their behaviors into your animation. Sure the principles help out when you're beginning, but apart from timing and spacing, I don't really pay attention to most of them. Usually when I'm animating all I think is, this character has this personality, how would they behave in real life? who do I know that behaves in a similar way? or I saw this girl run funny the other day, I'll put that in my animation. Like Richard Williams said, learn the rules so you can break them.

[@icecreamhero2375]

When drawing characters i always pretend to be the character in the situation and sometimes give them poses I might do. Sometimes when I am bored I pace around so I might make the character pace around.

[@leonardoromero2000]

I completely agree with you specially in the first sentence. In the west, the majority tends to over-act the characters the whole time.

[@Felix.Wingfield]

A lot of those paper animation supply makers are out of business now. Even if you could afford it, they're not available anywhere.

[@voice_0f_reason]

That's ashame

[@SheepUndefined]

So, something that I've kinda noticed, and don't like...know if anyone else has picked up on it, but y'ever notice how some animators, particularly the older ones almost seem to fetishize how *difficult* animation is? Like I tried reading a book I downloaded during a flight, and I kid you not, half the book was just rambling on and on and on about how hard it was, how you shouldn't get into it unless you're willing to put in alll the hard work, and like... I get it. It's not easy, but with how much prattle there was, it almost seemed more like the author (and by extension, many of the animators who do this same deal) was just patting himself on the back while trying to scare off people who he deemed "unworthy" of becoming an animator. Imo yes, it's hard. Give a warning that it's hard and move on. If someone joins, discovers it is indeed a lot of work, I think it's only an issue if you bought expensive equipment instead of starting off with something accessible for a low entry point (which the book also promoted, mind you...)

[@caroodraws]

When I first started animating (which was a few months ago) I thought if I could draw well, then animation would come easily to me, which totally wasn't the case :D They're very much different skills. What I will say though is that drawing is an awesome tool for an animator to have in their toolbelt... Drawing from life can sharpen your observational skills and help you think like a designer, and knowledge and experience with visual communication is pretty essential in my eyes.

[@apreslapluieart2575]

I just started learning animation process, when I don’t really have drawing skill. it so difficult, almost give up hahaha but i’ll keep going and never give up because I really like animation :)

[@caroodraws]

@@apreslapluieart2575 Good for you! Starting out without much experience can be really discouraging, but I'm glad you're sticking with it... Drawing is just a communication tool, so as long as you're getting your main point across, then it's a great drawing. You can do it!!

[@habitualaddictionstudios]

How do know you have something interesting and postable on your hands when creating!?

[@caroodraws]

@@habitualaddictionstudios If you're asking me, there isn't a tried and true formula to it. However, I think when you yourself are excited about it as your creating it, people can feel that through your end result and enjoy it too. It's hard to gauge exactly how your audience will react to your work because everyone has different tastes, but you are a consumer as well as a creator and if you enjoy your work from an audience standpoint, other people will too. Sometimes you'll create something you think is really awesome and it will receive very little attention, but sometimes people will react really well to stuff you think is dumb or average, so I dunno. I think it's best to make a ton of work and figure out what people come back to your page to see. That being said, feeling compelled to create work solely for social media isn't the healthiest creative mindset. It's a 100% valid way to show people your work and build a career, but it's easy to burn out on if your strongest motivation is to receive online attention through it. Art is too hard to do it for the wrong reasons. Hope you have fun creating and posting online :D

[@habitualaddictionstudios]

@@caroodraws thats a great point, just putting genuine passion behind something usually gives great results. Salute!

[@Noirlax]

I'm very glad you made the third point. My animation is not meant to be entertaining, so I found that confidence boosting.

[@christianfenis1415]

On a side note, I really stan for that rock star girl character at the beginning of the video. She's cute. 😍

[@whatisevenahandle]

And she looks badass too

[@NostalgiaArtist]

The first point is on the money. Animation can 100% be used to reinforce/improve draftsmanship as well. Ik difficult animation can require alot of problem-solving and I've learned alot about life drawing though that process.

[@pinkiepurplez]

I would say that 2nd one is a bit odd. Yes, animating on paper can be a good way to start, but I also feel that it is unnecessary, especially in modern animation industries. Those of which prefer 3d and 2d respectfully. Both on digital software.

[@sakumaFR]

Yeah I also agree. Seeing the amount of labour that went into the old shows/anime makes you want to time travel and drop your wacom and laptop on to their desks. It's still fascinating to see the process but these dudes need to chill lol.

[@baizhuwaitingroom7057]

I had to animate on paper for the whole first year of my studies. A month? Even two, I'd take it, it's an interesting experience to have, but I really don't see a point in dedicating a whole year to it nor the philosophy that it'd somehow make you better than if you only animated using digital tools, because "the mistakes cost too much so you're gonna be more careful". 💀

[@spongebob03]

Holy cow! I went on a bit of a binge session this morning! I had you content in constant rotation. Something to keep my mind in a certain space, while I stepped away from drawing. While looking at metamorphosis animations, I see that you uploaded this video! Nice! By the way, I love the intro music. It’s very calming.

[@owohscorner]

Right now, I'm literally working on an animation/short film about despair and envy. So this video is just what I needed.

[@littleravendesigns5587]

It is always a good day when a String Bing video pops up! I love your work and advice, it definitely keeps me motivated! I was training to be an animator myself but when I finished college to pursue animation education ( my college didn’t have animation studio nor did my area) it was pretty much canceled and 3D animation took over.. I couldn’t comprehend 3D, however 2d is making a comeback and I am so grateful! I can’t wait to relearn!

[@artimusclay4338]

You have been dropping gold in these videos... honestly I wish these golden gems were around when I was younger... I used to pursue style and technical ability simultaneously... later on in my life as I got older, alot of your expression towards the path and the industry became more apparent to me, and this was before seeing your videos... like I had similar thoughts but no solid foundation to confirm ....my head just keeps nodding as I work and listen to your videos... you are hitting home with these videos

[@ericduchesnes7340]

Thank you Toniko !..👍 ❤ 🕊 ( I agree 100% !.. )

[@FuzzyImages]

Thank you.... also love that little squirrel character.

[@joseluis-ov8nz]

All of your videos have help me and thank you for helping me improve

[@dumpydude5073]

I love these videos so much! Thank you!

[@2shadowgamer2]

Your videos are always super helpful ☺️

[@Andybowbandy]

Space Jam 2 is sadly a good example of great 2D animation but it not being entertaining what so ever

[@fricka4798]

isnt it 3d animated tho?

[@Andybowbandy]

@@fricka4798 When he gets sent to the Toon worlds it's all 2D but yes it's also 3D animated near the end

[@icecreamhero2375]

What are you talking about? Space Jam 2 is phenomenal.

[@habitualaddictionstudios]

It really is though… 😂😂😂🤦🏾‍♂️😅

[@gaspachoo5046]

@@icecreamhero2375 Space Jam 2 has problems that alot of people cannot overlook. There’s a reason it hasn’t really taken root in popular culture the same way that the OG Space Jam did.

[@DaGrandDragonn]

Heck yeah new Toniko Pantoja video!

[@chelseascreatures]

100%! I didn't realize at the time why I my life drawing prof would push and have us spend most classes just drawing 1 minute to 30 second poses... so the point where we would just have class outside drawing other students walking by. He was training us to get the basic movement down on to focus on the cleanup finish product, aka what rough animation is. You worry about the form, design is just the pretty sparkle sticker.

[@scaredsanty857]

i heavily agree on the money problem. everything "traditiolal" is expensive af be it painting, drawing, animation. i'm so angry when people call only traditional artists - true artists that's so hipocritycal knowing that the same people think artists are poor and go hungry ah yes well of course you would be poor and hungry if you spent your entire freakin salary on art supplies

[@MINISWISS1]

I appreciate the content, don’t see too much stuff like this

[@DiabolicalJinx]

Instant like because devilman :P

[@chJohnJobs]

bro, the girl in the background looks very similar to a D&D character me and a friend made, its very surreal seeing a similar design in another video (also great video btw)

[@icecreamhero2375]

In my opinion good animation is animation that follows the laws of physics unless you are doing a visual joke. Also animation that gets the intent of the scene across the best.

[@jonh3141]

Animating on paper makes me think “Wait, so we’re gonna use 60 pieces of paper for an animation?”

[@yadongon]

hah i wish i had heard those first two points years ago, they're things ive thought i needed since i was super little and i obsessed over them. slowly but surely i am letting them go though

[@AlaaAnimations]

Good job 👏✍️✍️🧑‍🎨🎨🎨🎉🎉

[@stillbuyvhs]

You don’t need a peg board, animation stand, or even a camera to animate on paper; a flip book is still animation.

[@rolim_]

🙏🙏🙏

[@nurmeran]

sir, my figure drawing kind of stiff and suck. any tips to make a smooth posture of figure drawing.

[@skimmalk3738]

This Was a gd one

[@kimaly7718]

Hey! Just wanna say the caption made your name into cineco pintua now 😂😂😂

[@LavenBisc]

woo

[@biowbe4522]

Question as an indonesian, why did you bring up jakarta, is jakarta quite prominent in animation industry?

[@TonikoPantoja]

my parents were living there so i would go back there during summer vacations.

[@Henbot]

I don’t see how you can be good animator and not be able to draw a character consistency in 360 but of course with earliest animators in the new age they started out as stick men animators and you could do stick men with Bad drawing

[@scribblecloud]

He's not saying you dont need to ever learn art if you wanna do animation he's just saying you dont need to be good at art if you wanna start learning how to animate

[@pil9310]

Ooh im finally early

[@shaamex2]

I like alan ituriel's Villainos and i am the creator of ribbon boo.

[@Andrew-qs6ml]

2:27 wait a minute i know that youtuber he is called YenYen he makes great animations sometimes he livestreams

[@Felix.Wingfield]

Those "MUST be Entertaining!" folks probably hate Ghibli.

[@joganesha4151]

That's why I love a lot of the Ghibli movies. Haven't watched every movie but I always love how these movies aren't afraid to just take a nice long walk. To me it relieves me from the tension and adrenaline from the last scene (best example is the transition of chihiro running from noface to the train scene). Idk it just feels a lot more real and down to earth.

[@Felix.Wingfield]

@@joganesha4151 Yeah. I binge my Ghibli collection whenever I'm sick. I don't have them all, but most.

[@Silver01Son]

@@joganesha4151 I agree, love those movies! I think another good example is samurai jack or primal. they're more action oriented, but have alot of calm and slower moments.

[@ximmer4802]

A great example of an excellent animator without the best drawing skill is Aimkid, she makes some of the liveliest animation you’ll find.

[@xixGoBL1Nxix]

Do people actually say that you are only a true 2d animator if you animate on paper? That's not only entitled but one of the most asinine things I've ever heard.

[@OayxYT]

YEN!

[@shaamex2]

Cartoon pilots are expensive.

[@crispyluck9763]

I feel like there are people who got the wrong idea of the dogs shirt at the Thumbnail

[@scribblecloud]

huh?

[@CherryColaHD]

Yeah I still draw stick figures because I can't art properly

[@userPeterSteves]

and u can do 3d, no need to draw

[@SogonD.Zunatsu]

I disagree on the drawing before animating part. Animation builds up on drawing. If it is tedious to produce one frame, you will burn yourself out. As for YenYen, his drawings show his lack in the fundamentals. That's why he compensates in big flashy animations. His perspective, anatomy are shaky. He has troubles to stay on model, and because of that he can't pull off acting sequences. That said he developed an insane talent for action. But lately he showed discouragement for being unable to pull off more subtle animation, that's why I'm saying all that.

[@fatwaaminrais1454]

finallly i hear someone who have same principle with me :O

[@Vanyx1000]

Learn the rules, so you can break them.

[@dorklymorkly3290]

Personally, I look for design and appeal more than anything, unless the anything is really impressive. It's a reason why no matter how well animated 'tumblr art' is, for example, it doesn't have pretty much any chance of winning me over.

[@Vanyx1000]

Same here, I share your sentiment

[@TheMagicPinecone]

The second one, to me, will always be peculiar... As a child of the digital era, I actually first learned to draw purely digital on MS Paint. And I always think; "Really? I *have* to learn animation on paper? Do you know how *hard* that'd be??" I'm not saying digital art is easier to make, but I am saying for some people, it's easier to learn. Just like in the old Disney days, do you think there'd be as many animators, and as many passionate people who want to learn it? Most likely not. Digitalized tools are built for a purpose, there's absolutely NO shame in exploiting them, especially if you're a newbie.