Essential Tips To Help Create Top Quality Cartoon Animations

Creating top-quality cartoon animations is not as easy as you may think.

There is so much more to the process than simply coming up with ideas and seeing them come to fruition.

These days there is a lot of technology available to help anyone and everyone create cartoon animations that look good. 

Below, you will find some essential tips that can help you to create top-quality cartoon animations.

Write A Synopsis

One of the first things that you need to do is to write a synopsis.

You need to know what story your animation is telling. You should, ideally, be able to explain your story clearly to your audience.

Write a synopsis, so you know what is happening and when. 

Your synopsis does not need to be highly detailed. It can, in fact, be quite basic.

As long as you have a synopsis, however brief, you will know what you need to do and when. 

Do Your Research 

When it comes to creating cartoon animations, you need to do your research. It’s important that your animation looks realistic.

The more realistic it looks, the easier it will be for your audience to engage with it. 

Make sure you know exactly how all of your characters need to move.

Research how inanimate objects such as vehicles move.

You don’t have to make every character move exactly as they would in real life. However, if they move in a similar way, it will help. 

Take a look at how all your characters and any inanimate objects move. If something doesn’t look right, you need to work out why. 

Block All Your Scenes

Block all of your scenes, so you know what is happening in each one.

Your synopsis will give you an idea, but it might not be enough.

Blocking should detail what every character is doing, what’s going on in the background, and anything else.

You may also want to mention any music you want to use and the Adobe after effects you need for post-production. 

When you know what happens in each scene, you can create a better cartoon animation that makes sense. 

Another mini tip for you: The viewer’s eye can only concentrate on one thing at a time. Therefore, guiding the viewer’s eye through the narrative makes sense. 

Refer To Your References

When you’re blocking scenes, make sure you refer to your references.

These references could be animations that already exist and have the feeling that you want to achieve.

A particular song could be a reference, as could a book, or even a painting.

Whatever it is that you use as a reference, refer to it frequently. 

Pay Attention To Timing 

One of the best things that you can do is to pay attention to timing.

You could create the best cartoon animation in the world, but if the timing is out, it just won’t work. 

Make sure that any lip-synching works well.

In addition to this, you should concentrate on your character’s movements and anything going on in the background. 

When it comes to making sure the lip-synch works, think about how the sounds blend together.

You don’t have to concentrate on each letter that makes up a word. Rather, think about specific words and the phrases that they use. 

Exaggerate Where You Can 

Animations tend to exaggerate movements; it’s one of the reasons why they are loved.

Exaggerating movements can be one of the most important parts of the animation.

For example, picking up and drinking a cup of coffee can seem quite dull.

However, exaggerating the movements can make it more entertaining and give it life. 

Consider The Transitions 

Considering the transitions between one scene and another can make your animation stand out.

Take one scene and another and sit them next to each other. Think about how you’re going to get from the first scene to the second.

This may not be immediately obvious, but considering this can be a great help. 

Consider which elements will become others and how they will do this.

Which elements can you leave behind, and which ones can you develop?

What can you introduce to the scenes which will make the transitions easier?

You may have a lot to think about here, but doing so can help to make your animation better. 

Try To Keep It Simple 

Keeping your cartoon animation as simple as you can seem hard.

After all, you have a lot to think about.

It’s easy for everyone involved in animation to overthink things.

However, the more simple everything is, the easier your animation will be. 

You don’t need to have a complicated background, for example.

You don’t need to have much going on in the background unless you really want to.

The simpler it is, the easier it will be for you to do and for the viewers to translate.

If you’re stuck on something, go right back to the basics and try to keep it simple. 

Our Final Thoughts

Creating top-quality cartoon animations is not always easy.

However, the above tips can help to make the whole process less arduous.

Hopefully, in the end, you’ll be left with a cartoon animation that you can be proud of.