How to Create a Good Animated Film

Last Updated: February 23, 2023

Want to create a quality animated film? Although it may sound hard, the animation industry is constantly evolving and creating easier and better ways to animate.

Steps

1
Choose a focus for your story.^{[1]
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Research source} First of all you need to find your vision and write it down. Brainstorm your characters and develop a plot for your story. Sometimes it's easier to focus on a good main character and revolve everything around them. Who would be this character's friends/enemies? Who would be their parents? What are their goals in life? What is their everyday attitude? Try to add a theme to this character's life. Will this be comedy or tragedy?
2
Create a storyboard.^{[2]
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Research source} Draw a summary of what will take place in your movie. This can be simple sketches since it won't be in the final movie and might even be replaced or cut. Think of these as each page of a book. Don't draw every detail but express the point of each part.

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3
Write a script. Be sure to include everything, especially dialogue. Every detail counts.^{[3]
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Research source}
4
Write character profiles to further develop the stars of your animated film. Include lots and lots of details. You can even include traits about your character. Is your character the comedian of the movie or is your character something else?
5
Animate your film.^{[4]
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Research source} You should have decided what animation technique you will use by this point. Flip books are cheap and funny, but have several downsides (no sound, limited film length). Traditional animation has great quality, but takes a long time, is not very efficient, and is quite costly. You could always use animation software as well. It's all up to you, the creator!
6
Edit your film.^{[5]
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Research source} Decide if there is anything you would like to change about your film or something you don't like about your film. Cut it out if so.
7
Show your film!

Community Q&A

Question

What kind of software do I need to make cartoons or 3D movies?

Community Answer

Cartoon: ToonBoom, Flash, etc. 3D: Autodesk Maya (used by Disney and such, costs money), Gimp (no actual animation, most toturails require it though), Blender (a free master of animation).
Question

I made my characters, but how do I animate them?

Community Answer

It's not cheap, but Adobe After Effects is a great program for animating, and it will be a professional tool for a future career. If it's 3-D, use Maya.
Question

How do I make a music animation video?

Cataclysmic Creations

Community Answer

Usually you should write the song or pick your music before you animate. After that, match your music with other sounds in case if it's a music video. Once that's done, create an animatic (a quick sketch of your animation) and try to match movements, lip sync, and beat marks in order to match the music. Once you have the animatic matched with the music or song, start the final animation process for the sequence. Most animations that have music in them usually have the character move in motion with the music. So if you use a software, try using a scrubbing tool to play the music while your animating.

Warnings

Creating a film can be stressful and time consuming no matter what method you use.

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Flipbooks lack in sound and length.

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Traditional animation is costly.

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