How I determine an animator's skill level + How I would level up

This is my own personal perspective in how I determine an animator's skill level, and what I would expect at each level.
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[@sketchophia1491]

Small note, tho, just to not discourage people: u can still get animation jobs and gain experience even if you're not at the advanced stage yet. I'd consider myself a novice in terms of animation and I've had jobs already that I can put in my portfolio and helped me gain experience and skill! So don't worry, just have fun and stay consistent!

[@martyduty2598]

We've all seen youtube comedy animators right? Shit looks like what I used to scribble on walls as a kid. There's money out there for us noobies somewhere😅

[@futurestoryteller]

I'm not even interested in animation, I started watching these because I felt like all my weaknesses in drawing would have to be requirements for animators. And was curious if learning how they do their work would give me a better idea of how to solve my problems. I don't know if it's helped, but it is interesting.

[@phipsart6424]

same

[@crowincidence280]

Honestly, through watching animation tutorials you can learn a lot about anatomy, dynamic poses and clearness in drawing. (generally how stuff us supposed to look when moved) It goes hand in hand, and that's really cool

[@phipsart6424]

yeah, to me it feels like what I am trying to reach as an artist, is what animators can do. and i think being able to animate something means you really have understood what you are drawing. you can go far without doing that, and by guessing and referencing, but being able to animate something means you kind of mastered the art fundamentals... this is at least how i think about that

[@futurestoryteller]

@@crowincidence280 Actually I do feel like if there's one thing I learned definitively from these videos it's to really embrace the idea of aesthetics over accuracy. Guess that's kind of cliche, so of course I was aware of it, but focusing too much on details was probably getting in my way. Stripping some of that away gave me more confidence. I wanted to say part of the reason the idea came to me was this show Draw Off. They used to put a cartoonist up against an animator, and whether or not it was in my head, I felt like the animators always finished faster and had more complete and polished drawings when they were finished. So I thought "there's got to be something to this." I realized that they probably just draw more, because they have to, but then that means they also probably have to draw quicker, but also still accurately, and I thought "wait how do they do that?" I think I just have to learn to be more intuitive again, I lost something along the way.

[@arkle111]

Truly a chad thumbnail.

[@rotkerid462]

The thumbnail is pure gold

[@VideoGamePhilosopher]

I think I’m still a pretty solid level 1. I’m interested in getting to level two but that’s going to take a while since I’ve got kids and a full time job. I’ve got dozens of books on it though, so maybe I’ll get there eventually. Thanks for the video.

[@letsgetemo4787]

You got this 👍

[@brandonjacksoon]

Good luck dude!

[@GenusOfficial]

I believe in you man

[@megamaggotman7025]

How old are you?

[@Hubert99999]

GL! I reccomend you Check out the various lectures on the SPA studio channel and of course Aaron blaise!

[@marbsj9633]

It's these videos from down-to-earth, straight to the point and *experienced* animators that I'm grateful for. Putting the time, effort and care to educate us about the animation industry, show possible career pathways, and learning then understanding about ourselves as aspiring artists. Glad I found this channel. Another informative and fun video as always man, take care everybody.

[@Shinbunshii]

this is a good video. unfortunately also a realization on my end regarding how much work I still have left to do. I've had to transfer out of an animation school to a state uni because my family couldn't afford the tuition. animation has been my dream profession for years, but until now I haven't even gotten to try stage 1 bec I'm too occupied in a course I don't care about, just because I need the diploma. I'm losing hope especially with how competitive landing a stable industry position seems, and I feel like I wouldn't be able to match up to more seasoned artists who got a head start.

[@discountfunnyman]

I get where you’re coming from man, I realized pretty damn late that I wanted to become an animator and soon after it became my dream job I realized how hopelessly behind I was. Shit had me down for a long while. It’s important to remember that even if it takes longer for you to practice and gain experience you still have time going forward. You don’t have a set date where you’re forced to either get an entry level position at an animation studio or give up entirely. You can take things slow, people learn at different paces. You still got this :)

[@Curryfishballa]

It really doesn't matter much in terms of a "head start" that u get in schools. I'm not an animator but a cgi artist and i can tell you that I've learnt 90% of the things by myself using the web. Schools only give an advantage if u are looking for critiques from your lecturers. Oh yeah, it's really competitive, you are not wrong about that.. you will need to have industry level of work before you will be employed as a "normal" employee and not just a junior or intern. If your will and heart isn't clear as an artist, you will not get anywhere. Blame whoever you want but the only way to fail as an artist is by not having enough wisdom and faith in yourself. Also, school ain't shit man, I've seen people who are more knowledgeable in cgi eventhough uneducated. I stopped learning anything new from my uni ever since i hit year 2. In my year 4 i was already at and could perhaps be beyond my lecturer's level in terms of technicalities. You can learn a whole lot through online and applying critical thinking in evaluating your own work. Why does my animation suck? Which part of it suck? What do i have to learn or do to be better in that element? Most school lecturers also have been idle from the industry so the only thing they can teach you are usually just basics and outdated methods. You will be surprised once you step into the real industry that your animation lead or colleagues be way beyond what you can grasp. If you are easily discouraged and provide excuses on why you couldn't be an artist, you should stay far away from this career path. We don't need half assed artist here. There are already way too many "lousy" artist in this world.

[@kiwifit620]

@@Curryfishballa This is, surprisingly, just what I needed to hear. Thank you

[@taavixx1326]

Also, the fact having a creative study doesn't guarantee anything, I agree with the comment above. Even though I chose a game and art study, I basically have to learn everything at the hand of tutorials and just a shitload of practice. don't get discouraged if you just take your take your time a bit everyday, you'll already improve. Also, I'm assuming you're still pretty young, so you still have a lot of time as well. when you take a break from your study, focus on your craft. this will also make your own study more bearable. even though the competition is hard, it's not impossible.

[@TomboTime]

honestly i just rank animators based on their apparent understanding of the basic principles of animation and to what extent their understanding of that takes them: how complex and detailed of animation can they do? can they vary their timing? do they have nice easing? strong poses? good arcs? sure animation style, medium and genre can wildly change, but the principles are how you scale animators skill regardless of what they do or who they are.

[@mica4977]

I feel another important aspect is the amount of time a particular artist takes to complete their animations. Can imagine there being some who are more skilled than their general work shows but who don't allow themselves the time to flesh out their work further in order to maintain the quota for their respective social media platform(s).

[@Shimamon27]

Can you rank my animations? I need a good critique and general understanding of where I stand.

[@teddgrizz2338]

I dream of becoming an animator, but haven't really done much animation practice besides doing the "bouncing ball" exercise once or twice. And spend most of my time practicing gesture and anatomy to draw characters. Hoping some of the solid drawing skills I do will help me when I start learning animation

[@madjidchouarbi3921]

Just buy Preston Blair's book as well as Richard Williams one and work on the assignements. Don't matter to much about perfection with bouncing ball nor pendulum and try some stuff like walk cycles etc... you will learn what you need without noticing it. Staying at wanna be level just reinforces your fears and insecurities. As a complete beginner you'll make mistakes, but, who cares ? After a while you'll become better and better and at that point you'll certainly find the necessity to fix the weaknesses of your animation by returning to the basis for a certain time but, that way, you'll find it easier to understand and your fixing will be pretty fast. Plus, animation is all about fun and passion ; are you really passionate by drawing the bouncing ball day after day as your only exercice ? I don't think so. Try to animate some Preston Blair's character will be a lot harder but a lot funnier too. Maybe your first animations will be ugly, jittering, changing in form and size. Maybe you'll think " This is not professional ", but gess what ? instead you'll certainly think " Wow ! my drawings are alive ! what a magical feeling ! ". Like said a little master with great wisdom : " Do, or do not. There's no try "

[@gamedirection_us]

This is basically my lesson plan for my students through my 1-4 years

[@staerxiia5116]

Honestly I was always nervous to ask you about the begginer and starter part, from someone who doesn't know anything about how to animate and wanting to ask you, I thank you for making this!!

[@spinningmonkeysanimates]

A level 1 here trying to move to level 2. I'm a grown up though with a full time job so just doing what I want when I can. Really enjoy these videos though and I can't get enough of the dog intro!

[@alK345]

The captions always say "Hey guys it's cynical pantoja"😂😂

[@GenusOfficial]

I feel like I've been stuck at a level 3 for years at this point ngl

[@justynaUrsa]

This video is so helpful in seeing where I stand and what I can move to next. I love that you added level 6 "beyond" in there because it shows that we can aim for that stage at any point in our learning journey. Thanks Toniko!

[@Alexandre-rt7xk]

The "beta!" cracked me up.

[@LepusProd]

Your videos are always a true inspiration. Thank you so much, Toniko for all the great quality work over the years!

[@BlueTheCartoonAddict]

Thank you Toniko! Your videos have been a huge help in my animation journey. I've been going at it for almost a year now and because of you I feel like I'm learning and improving a lot. I'm so grateful for what you're doing here on KZbin. Also I've found out I'm about a level 2 or so. Maybe a tiny above, but definitely not a three! Thanks again!

[@watsak6840]

Thank you so much Toniko! This gives me ideas on how the growing path could be for animation which can feel intimidating yet also challenging!!!

[@IyeViking]

I’m a 3D artist, but I love watching these types of videos, there’s so much that still applies to the 3D medium.

[@luca__3044]

thank ms for the video! really got me back on track of what i want to accomplish in animation. hope yo have a beautiful day ✨

[@pinkiepurplez]

To think I've spent most if my animation past before Level 3 is kinda scary. I'm sure I'll grow and catch up to my animation skill goal.

[@grtstudios3616]

Love ur awesome channel bro its so helpful to me as a beginner artist and animator

[@Cp-71]

One thing that came to my mind is how these levels can be relative. I'm currently making a solo animated short in a program that isn't made for animation to begin with (the game Geometry Dash) and I can say I'm pretty much above everyone in that community in terms of these particular skills (yeah, quite a blunt statement) so that would put me in the "advanced" or "beyond" category. Even though my animation skills would make me a "beginner".

[@NebbyProductions]

What i always do, when i need to Animate a character i've never animated before. I always take an already finished animation of that Character. Import it to my Animation Software and trace the movement to get a feeling of the Timing the original uses. I wont Upload it, I wont even export it as a Video. Its just for me to get a feeling of it. And after i did that for a couple of times, i feel wayy more "safe" animating that Character

[@animee323]

I honestly enjoy watching the intro animation, very whimsical, wholesome and innocent

[@ceob111]

Love the dog chad in the thumbnail.

[@justGoscha]

I feel like I'm totally in level 2, but I don't think that means you can't find work. When it comes to Disney or Ghibli level or any other professional feature movie company, you are probably right! But there is so much more you can do with animation. Motion graphics, advertisement, short films, music videos, logo animation etc. ...in all these areas you can find work regardless of your skill level if you are determined, creative and can deliver on a project. And you will probably make much more money if you can prove yourself consistently. To everybody: Don't lose hope, you don't have to be a master to find your niche in animation. ⭐️ To Toniko: I still very much enjoyed the video and realised what the areas are I could improve. Thanks for that 🤗

[@sophiedarnell467]

Thank you very much!!! I'm just starting to animate and just finished my very first bouncing ball exercises. Besides the variety of exercises for beginners, I wanted and always are always looking for structured guides to at leas guide me through. Then later, like you and other artists have said, "break" into them. I have always since grade school, have needed structure in this way. It helps with the memorization/ getting familiar with the fundamental process(es.) I figured if somehow, I could find the same sort of "study guides/preps," or "progress checklist," I would be good to go, other than practicing. Being a self taught artists, there are a lot of how to's/dos/don'ts/must have tips of videos. The techniques tips/tricks videos help, and some of the others i mentioned help. However, this doesn't always help for those who are visual learners and need to have things laid out right in front of you so you can store it somewhere such as a wallpaper on your laptop or other devices, printed out and hung up, or written on a sticky note and attached in a folder. Your videos are so helpful!!! I love them and they are easy to understand. I would love to be able to be one of your students if I could afford to be one!!!

[@conejocidad873]

hahaha, bro, that hit trough the red napkin really likked me xD haha, thanks for the video, some minutes ago I was lost in uncertainity, now I feel more confident :D thanks!

[@majaraiahysael7178]

I love ur explanation. So inspiring

[@playitcoolman7820]

I love that meme thumbnail

[@cocosdad]

So much hard work and skill goes into the high level animation I be watchin

[@Gettinsketchyonbourbon]

Should be noted, there is ‘South Park’ animation that works that that genre then there is Pixar that tells that kind of story. It is all about the path you choose. Don’t look at one better than the other

[@Reelok0]

this is why i fricking love this channel

[@lukedog2ndaccount570]

Thanks for making amazing videos!

[@kingdomanimations1193]

Thanks for the video man 🙏🙏

[@AwkwardPain]

I agree that anyone who is currently wanting to see what they can do to just do a short (I am working on my 3rd, right now). First was only 18 seconds long and I learned a lot from it. I learned even more from my second short that was just over a minute. Overall it helps put my issues in the spotlight and helps me figure out how to break through by making something work that I am not comfortable with. Hopefully this helps at least one person. Also, when in doubt just have fun with it!

[@edjproductions825]

Hi Toniko! I’ve been watching your videos for a while now and they do inspire me to become a great animator. I am writing a story for my own cartoon but at this time my drawing skills are really bad. I’ve been trying for years to get up to a good level and I’m struggling -_-. As for relating to this video, my animation level is 1. Bouncing ball level… I try so hard to progress to the other levels but I hit big brick walls. No matter how I try, I can’t beat my anxieties and other issues that stop me. I dunno when I’ll get up to your level but it looks like a very long time :(. But great video though! I loved it! ^_^

[@Loreage]

Im at begginer and working towards novice. Going into my second year of uni but first year of animation in a month. Your videos are helping me so much

[@talonfurgus4736]

THIS VIDEO IS PERF FOR ME RN THANK YOU BB

[@talonfurgus4736]

This will be my bibble

[@nmenard1]

Such great points ty ☺️

[@joebob6688]

me who has never drawn or animated before in my entire life: *hmm interesting*

[@princessthyemis]

I'm in the starter/beginner area and proud to be while I learn. Hopefully I can become good soon but right now I'm having lots of fun learning the basics!!!😃😃😃😃😃

[@hautakleightontam771]

Using Aeon Flux as an example of the 'Beyond' level is an excellent choice!

[@tripeatin]

Wow. Thanks for this! 🤘🏼

[@HazasDump]

I'm going to translate this into drawing more dynamic poses for my illustration.

[@platyadmirer]

Ayyy I'm level 6! I'm making a short film rn. I started it early this year and I'll be done in 2 months. So excited!

[@AnimationGym]

I just love the connection between the starter and beyond it’s something just a real artist like you can talk about 👍

[@RossOzarka]

Enjoying the view from level 7

[@pavender3073]

The advice here is useful and it's really opened my eyes to my improvement, I think i'm somewhere between novice and beginner. I'm trying to create a run cycle, but the character keeps on looking stiff and the cycle just doesn't look right. Could you possibly do a run cycle tutorial?

[@justGoscha]

Funnily enough I started my animation journey with walk and run cycles. The animators survival kit is a good book to start and when you become confident with the cycles in there you can branch off to invent your own. Here's what came out of my 100 days of walk cycles: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2jCgpaFrNuUa68

[@JustMeMorgane]

Watching this and once again thinking of how solid my first year course was and how much it taught us in so little time !

[@elrufon7906]

I LOVE tour style

[@Joyboy9776]

thanks bro great content

[@LmaoMeowz]

I think i’ve been stuck in the upper half of intermediate for quite a while, but only because i’ve been relatively happy there. I don’t usually do shading or complicated designs/animations, and i usually do pretty simple & short things. I have been attempting to level up a bit but i’ve been overworking myself some and with the tools I currently have it’ll be really hard to do more advanced things so i’ll just have to sit here for a while :,)

[@LmaoMeowz]

This comment is ~pointless~

[@con_the_artist6823]

I'd say I'm between 2 and 3. This is a really helpful video, thanks!

[@axelpit987]

Thanks for what you do :)

[@OpGamer56728]

Best thumbnail I’ve ever seen

[@ArtichokeAnarchy]

Very epic, you are underrated

[@ministerofjoy]

Thank you!

[@Steebve]

I wanna animate so many things I have idea on but I don't know if i can do it. Until i try and learn some usefull tips

[@tatorvintot6535]

I'm here because of an old drawfee video on animation and would love to grow 💕 i used to make flipnotes on dsi and just assumed I needed a better computer for animation, which I do, but I have a program that lets me do flipnotes to get a little grasp on some things! Very difficult for me to make art without a lot of layers to work with, but autodesk sketchbook seems like a great free program for a starting animator

[@aquabluerose7734]

I feel like I'm somewhere between 4 and 5, and working on a lot of the level 6 stuff. I mostly need to learn more on drawing in perspective and using a bigger variety of tools and programs. I have a very distinct style which has a Japanese video game feel (though I vary it depending on which story I'm making - some of my art is more stylized and wild like a crazy anime, some is very realistic yet keeping that eastern flair.) One thing that can help an animator learn is to study film, both animated and live action. I am a film and animation student, and my general film knowledge helped my animations have better staging and stuff.

[@LocuParox]

Man, it'd be great if I could get past level 2 someday

[@mob6632]

i'm making an animation for the first time for my boyfriend as a gift and this helped a lot

[@cfunct645]

You had me at the thumbnail.

[@vanrock6754]

Hi, i'm level 0, but i'm focusing first in ilustration, idk if i'll get a professional style or something but i really like this!!

[@kimaly7718]

I'd say I'm still on the beginner stage going on novice I just need to make things a little bit better and honestly I'm quite satisfied with where I am now cuz I just want to make short animations for my KZbin that doesn't require a lot of crazy moving animations 😅

[@idknoname4257]

I would consider myself a 2.5?? Which is a weird spot Because I do have the draftsmenship but despite taking an illust/ animation course in school, they barely taught us anything you mentioned about control/subduing movement/overshooting/consistency. Idk what the difference between a cell and a frame is, and I don't know how people use that little timeline on the side of their animations But i'm learning everything from your Tumblr ! :D at this point your blog/videos are my animation course haha Im not so much of an animator but it is fun

[@showman139]

Can you do a video like this for drawing? Knowing the skill levels of drawing would help a lot of people who don't think they can draw.

[@PartyC4nnon]

Somewhere between 3 and 4 I think. Now I know what to do!

[@FeldiArts]

I'd say I'm somewhere between novice and intermediate. I animate on Clip Studio Paint which can be pretty rough since I then don't have the tools that someone with Adobe Animate might have. But it's also a lot more fun because I learn to animate properly.

[@lin3378]

I'm at level zero, and still trying to figure out which type of animation I would like to do. I am comfortable with stop-motion since it can have a lot of types of medias involved, and also with experimental, since it allows me to learn and experiment a little bit of everything.

[@Heliomation]

Thx. I'm noob at animation! Owo. This was helpful

[@kungfuremix]

lol he said beta! love it!

[@nkanyisoinnocentkhwane3752]

Can't wait to test my skills after a few months

[@PinkiL]

This made me realise I need to ease up on the assignments

[@artboxartist9935]

I feel like I'm at level 2.5 if that makes sense... I've been practicing on and off for about a year and a half and have been wanting to improve!

[@isaacsteen4828]

I think I'm somewhere between 2 and 3? I could certainly tackle stuff from higher levels but it would be too inefficient and too mentally draining. Though something that's always been consistent is that what I can imagine is consistently 2 levels higher than the level I'm at

[@soulsurge6909]

0:00 Bro this video just started and i feel called out lol

[@plastic2666]

Starting the vid off with a Jessy Lee Peterson impression

[@SPMask]

Oh wow, I think I'm in the "BEYOND" category OoO.

[@dorshaldoes5055]

I’m pretty sure I’m at 1 as I’m still learning 2 but it doesn’t stop me from having fun and doing a lot more complicated stuff that I shouldn’t really do right now but I’m havin fun Sees character turn arounds in 3: Uhhhhhhhhhhh…. (Gonna be real turn arounds is one of my favorite things to do in animation)

[@shipuku0305]

I'm using huion sketch, it may not be as good as flipaclip, but I don't have to worry about watermarks, and you can add custom brushes if you wanted to. I could then put it in a video editor ;) my animation sucks right now, but I think I've improved from my first attempt.

[@shipuku0305]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXzGhaeeeZKohKM

[@mangoalias608]

what if sometimes you remember your program has an animation tool and you use it to make something pretty cool and you're like "hey this could be a fun skill to learn" but then you don't pursue it and forget about all of animation again for 3 months and the cycle never ends

[@SwarumtheForum]

Hmm. Are you actually passionate about it? Or are you doing it "because it might be useful"?

[@mangoalias608]

i dont really know. i try a lot of stuff when it comes to art, and animating seems really fun, but i guess i only return to it if i think its a useful skill to have. i'm not sure, when i am animating, i do feel really passionate about it.

[@SwarumtheForum]

@@mangoalias608 what emotions do you feel when you look at an amazing piece of animation, like some of the stuff on Hobbes Sakuga's channel?

[@mangoalias608]

@@SwarumtheForum oh my god my heart can't take good animation, its like drinking the best most refreshing cup of lemonade or smelling a really pretty flower or something, its just incredible. Really good animation takes my breath away

[@SwarumtheForum]

@@mangoalias608 Then go for it. The hardest thing for me was getting started, but once you do it gets easier.

[@brandonjacksoon]

I'm still animating bouncing ball... Thank you! I hope I will be a true professional :)

[@FinalStand7]

Lmao that fking begining already a great start

[@-DumpsterFire]

in my eyes the 12 principles of animation is similar to science. for example the squish and stretch rule. in my eyes squish and stretch is the law of conservation of mass. with movement there is inertia and energy.

[@qqq9542]

Hi Toniko, do you have any courses on animal run cycle animations?

[@studiom5858]

I _think_ I might be at level 3 (or 3.5 lol), maybe 4 at most? Not sure I don't like to measure tho so that instantly makes me less skilled since it makes things a bit less consistent, and consistency is important :< I'm generally very versatile, atleast 😅

[@randomanimation-4530]

Im level 3 also because i can't animate a god tier sakuga because i don't have the budget to buy the equipment and its expensive have to buy a premieum to i don't even have enough money i just use my hands and thumbs and finger

[@andersonrodriguez4822]

Bro you need to learn how to draw and think in a 3d space. Once you do that your animation will be on a higher level and way more consistent.

[@N.a.r.i]

I saw a bunch of AMAZING movies on the Beyond explanation. Can someone recognize them? I really want to watch em

[@RenaissanceGirl]

Was that Tails doing the spindash at the beginning of the video?

[@m.a.packer5450]

It's nice to see modern animation that doesn't look like crappy anime

[@Shoop400]

Even having gone to a state college for animation I still find myself somewhere between 3 and 4. Glad that your channel exists because you bring practical advice and insights that were left out of my education, as the track focused more on 3d than 2d.

[@LordOfSky_41G]

*starter level: draws stickman* *me, an stickman animator: confused choregraphy noises* lmao jokes aside this is a very good video!

[@renzometalwolf]

Watching this video i realize i'm stiml a begginer,cuz i still hace problems applying those principles to actual desings

[@afoxcatartvideos4877]

I want to make animation, but my art skills are level 1

[@YukyDoodle]

I came here for the dog with the brush

[@misternester7750]

But when i practice do i always have to practice in a specific style of drawing

[@SMBShippuden4]

2:39 what’s overshooting ?