Animation References

This site has given you the basics on being a good animator. Good references books in animation will help you to further develop your animation skills. Most of the animation you see today have been computer-generated. This section we give you references to books and the different types of software available.

Reference Books on Animation

For more information or for more advanced topics in animation, I have compiled a list of books that I think are good references for animation, whether it be for the traditional 2D animation or the computer-generated 3D animation:

Disney Animation The Illusion of Life, by Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnson -- This is the most complete book on traditional animation you will find
How to Draw Cartoon Animation, by Preston J. Blair -- This book teaches you the techniques of drawing characters for animation
The Art of 3-D Computer Animation and Imaging, by Issac Victor Kerlow -- This book covers how to animate on the computer, but does not focus on any particular software
Maya 2, Character Animation, by Nathan Vogel, Sherri Sheridan, and Tim Coleman --This book gives a through look at developing characters from the initial concept to the final rendered character
Digital Character Animation, by George Maestri --This book gives a through look at developing characters for the digital environment, but is not software specific

Animation Software

There are numerous types of 2D and 3D Animation software available on the market these days that range from the low-end to the high-end packages. The following list are some of the many choices available in the market today that I feel worth mentioning:

2D Animation Software:

Macromedia's Director -- Is an affordable authoring/animation package that can generate shockwave movies
Macromedia's Flash -- Is an affordable vector-based animation package that is good for doing web animation
IdeaWorks 3D's Vecta3D -- Is an affordable software plug-in package for 3D StudioMAX capable of generating Flash ".swf" output or as a stand-alone version
Softimage's ToonZ -- Is a high-end animation package, typically used in the film and TV industry
Toon Boom's USAnimation -- Is a high-end animation package, typically used in the film and TV industry

3D Animation Software:

Discreet's 3D StudioMAX -- Mid-range package that has gain popularity in the entertainment industry over the last few years. Typically used in the computer-gaming industry
Newtek's LightWave 3D -- Mid-range package that is typically used in TV commercials and shows
Electric Image 3D -- A mid-range popular package used for animating in the MAC OS environment
Alias/Wavefront's Maya -- A popular high-end package that is used typically in movies for character creation
Avid's Softimage|3D -- A high-end package that has been used for years by the movie industry
Side Effects' Houdini -- A high-end package that has been used in movies and is a popular animation package used overseas

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