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ESSENTIAL BOOKS

  • The Animator’s Survival Kit, Richard Williams (definitive book on animation technique)

  • The Illusion Of Life: Disney Animation, Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston (bible of animation theory)


    • 2D, DRAWING, STORY & COMPOSITION

  • Temple of the Seven Golden Camels (drawing and story for animation)

  • Deja View (Andreas Deja archive/blog of Disney animation drawings)

  • Living Lines (character design, concept art & storyboards)

  • Animation Meat (various animation notes)

  • CTRL Paint (digital painting & Photoshop techniques)

  • Art of Aaron Blaise (2D animation & drawing of animals)


    • PODCASTS

  • The Animation Podcast (interviews with legends of animation, mainly Disney)

  • Bancroft Brothers (Disney veterans interviewing other artists & animators)

  • Toon Talks (interviews with various animators, Pixar, Dreamworks, ILM, etc)

  • iAnimate podcast (feature film & games interviews)


    • GAMES

  • AnimState (games animation community, blog & podcast)

  • GDC - Animation Talks (a selection of animation lectures from GDC)

  • GDC - Animation Bootcamp (more GDC animation lectures)

  • New Frame Plus (games animation analysis)

  • Game Anim (book + articles & interviews)


    • REFERENCE

  • Getty Images (nature, archive & general footage)

  • Nimia (more general stock footage)

  • Greenscreen Animals (animal reference)

  • Eadweard Muybridge (photography of humans & animals in motion)

    • NOTE: stock footage sites let you download free watermarked preview clips.


    ANALYSIS

  • How to make birds fly good (analysis of bird flight by Brendan Body)

  • Mammals Locomotion (analysis of mammal movement)

  • Animal Gaits for Animators (quadruped gait analysis)

  • Stuart Sumida (PDFs on anatomy for animation)


    • MORE VIDEO

  • Kenny Roy Animation Lectures (tips, workflow, tutorials & QA)

  • Keith Lango VTS (more lectures & tutorials)

  • Toniko Pantoja (2D animation & career thoughts)


    • TOOLS

  • Krita (free open source digital 2D painting & animation)

  • Blender (free open source 3D modeling, animation, video editing & compositing)

  • Kinovea (free open source tool for video analysis, paintover, etc)

  • Aseprite (pixel art drawing & animation)


    • MORE BOOKS

  • Drawn to Life: Volume 1 & 2, Walt Stanchfield (drawing for animation)

  • Impro - Improvisation and the Theatre, Keith Johnstone (acting theory)

  • Elemental Magic Vol 1 & 2, Joseph Gilland (effects animation)

  • Acting for Animators, Ed Hooks (acting theory)