No, you do not need a drawing background to be a 3D animator. That being said, you can learn a lot from drawing that will help you in your animation. When you are doing life drawing you are taught to look for lines of action, strong silhouette, balance and weight.These are all things that animators use daily when posing out their characters for their shots. Being a student of a different art form besides animation, such as drawing - acting - photography, will help you grow into a well rounded artist that can only help you in your animation.
Guest blogger Aaron Hartline
7 comments:
If you don't have to be good at drawing to do 3d animation, why do you have to be so good at drawing when you want to study animation?
All animations courses I know seems to have high expectations of your drawing skills - they all want a portfolio, most of the times including some sketches and drawings, and often they take only a small group of the very best people.
thx, Micha
Micha, I would venture a guess that it's mostly designed as a filter for people they may feel aren't 'serious' enough about art to pursue it in any discipline. Not saying that this is true...
But from the position of the imaginary school in question: I would imagine they have a reputation to uphold and they only have so many slots which they can open up. So they want to fill them with quality prospects. More good work means more money going back to the school in the form of donations, grants etc.
From a 3D animation standpoint I think it's helpful but not necessary to be able to draw. Think of it this way: You can teach just about anyone with a 2D (traditional) background in animation how to use Maya in a relatively short time and they will have an EXCELLENT foundation from which they can pull.
On the other hand, someone with a decent amount of time as a 3D animator and no real formal drawing experience (and I say this as one of those people) Would probably not pick up the tool and run with it quite as easily.
I think animation in and of itself is a skill. That skill will continue to grow no matter which medium you practice and each could be complimentary of the other. I just think from a technical standpoint, the computer is a much more forgiving tool to learn.
...but a traditional animator might argue otherwise ;)
I didn't get much of a drawing education in college or after, and I'd have to say that hurt my career (assuming that would have actually made me good at it). I lasted eight years at Pixar, but I feel like I would have done better in the area of strong poses and personality if I had absorbed the principles used in 2D art. If an animation student has an opportunity to take drawing classes, it will be an invaluable addition to their education.
A teacher told me that drawing teaches you how to observe. I had a hard time grasping 2d and the whole idea, and thank god for 3d. It finally clicked that it moves in 3d space and etc.
I will play with both now and eventually get better in 2d, the volume retention is tricky, I guess like everything it just take practice.
When I taught animation at Ex'pression in Emeryville CA (a digital arts school), I sometimes taught the intro class that was strictly hand-drawn animation. The idea was to explore the principles of Animation without the additional task of learning the software. Some questioned the validity of this approach, but I found it to be a wise first step in learning timing, poses and weight distribution.
However, I think it is more important to just learn drawing skills, like life drawing, without necessarily animating in 2D. We have life drawing classes at Imagemovers Digital, and admittedly I just can't seem to get the hang of it. However, much can be learned from just doing it even if none of the work is worthy of your portfolio. It will be more efficient to sketch and re-sketch poses on paper until it looks good there before posing the CG model.
Well said and clearly explained Thanks
I would say that it is to disqualify more people and to add a level of elitism to the field. And rightfully so. It also shows a level of professional and detection to the craft. Plus it show that you aren't a one trick pony who can only do software animation with someone else's rig.
I would say that good drawing skills are fundamental to animation it illustrates to the employer that you have a good mental eye for posing and composition.
If you can't draw I wouldn't hire you.
P.S. hows Pixars Canadian sweat an shop doing?
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