The first time I walked into the Labs at CalArts, I was initially taken aback upon greeting numerous faces engulfed in their computers.
I was surprised by how many people use
computers to make their art. And I was surprised to learn how much the
animation industry itself is governed by digital art.
Before attending CalArts, I had only made
art in the traditional way. I knew digital
art existed, but I thought it was much less common to use as a tool than it
really is. I had assumed that computers were mostly used for computer
animation.
However, I soon immersed myself in it. My
whole first-year-film was made on a computer. And while I still believe it is
important to know how to craft art traditionally, I realize that it has also
become essential for you to be familiar with digital computer software. So I
thought I’d share which programs we used during my first year at CalArts. If
you’re aiming for CalArts or any school in animation, I’d highly recommend
exploring these software before attending!
Photoshop
Most of you will have heard of this program.
I used Photoshop for the backgrounds in my first-year-film. We also use this
software for our character design classes. It’s a good program for making
detailed drawings because it offers you so many opportunities for making it look
professional, such as various brushes, colors and layers. You can learn a
little about how different artists use Photoshop from the book 21 Draw.
TVPaint
I used this program for animating my
first-year-film. It’s a relatively easy set-up that allows you to flip between
your drawings, draw on top of rough animation, and much more!
After Effects
This software is great for creating effects
and camera moves. These are things you can also do in TVPaint, but I personally
find it easier to use After Effects. When I say effects, I mean things like
explosions, glittery magic particles, creepy shadowy fog… You can really go for
it and make some really cool things with this program! However, for my first
project in After Effects, I chose to keep it relatively simple and make snow.
If you’re new to the program and would like to get to know it before using it
for a huge project, I’d recommend taking some time to think about something
very specific and simple you’d like to create in it. Then try to make it! When
you know what you want to make, it becomes less overwhelming to experiment with
unfamiliar software.
Premiere Pro
I used Premiere Pro to composite my film
and add sound. A Program that is very similar to Premiere Pro is Final Cut Pro.
Some students also used iMovie for their film.
Maya
We use this program for computer animation,
modeling, rigging, and environments.
I realize these programs are all very
expensive. You can get a student version of Maya, but the other programs are
quite an investment. If you are only interested in getting one of these
software, I’d place my money on Photoshop. Of course, you get the most out of
exploring this program if you also have a tablet or a cintiq to draw directly
on.
On a side note, I should warn you that one
downside to learning digital programs is the confusion you feel when in real life
you automatically and continuously start pushing an imaginary "undo" button
while drawing and nothing happens…
Anyway, I hope this post has inspired those
of you who love making traditional art to go out and make yourself comfortable
with these digital software programs. It will really help boost your confidence
if you know how to work digitally and with different software! And to those who
already work digitally, I hope this helped shed some light as to which programs
go into the making of the CalArts films each year!
-Christine-