There are many resources in animation, whether it is in 2d animation, stop motion, cutout animation or 3d animation. One particular book has made its way to the number one spot as THE resource for animators around the world, a must have for all kinds of animation.
The Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams is a great book with lots of history, techniques and insights into the animation world. I’ve read it from start to finish and still continue to use it as a reference, but through 2010 I will do much more than simply read it.
Starting January 1st I’ll go through the book recreating all the animations in 3d, one animation a day for a whole year. There is a lot of content into this book and as I’ve made a list of everything in it I ended up with around 410 animations. Some are simple, some are more complex.
The goal is to become a better animator and this challenge will help in different ways. First and most obvious is the learning and mastering of all this book’s content. Also since animation is an art, it is learnt the same way as most art professions are: practicing a lot.
Exciting stuff!