{"id":101300,"date":"2025-08-27T16:10:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T10:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.admecindia.co.in\/?p=101300"},"modified":"2025-09-19T10:14:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T04:44:20","slug":"popular-activities-and-their-accessories-used-by-animators-in-the-pre-production-phase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.admecindia.co.in\/animation\/popular-activities-and-their-accessories-used-by-animators-in-the-pre-production-phase\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular Activities and Their Accessories Used by Animators in the Pre-Production Phase"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For me, animation is like a bunch of keys with lots of activities to do. We create characters, environments, and stories using multiple accessories. Hello readers, this is Kuldeep Sharma, I\u2019m an animator by profession and an alumnus at ADMEC Multimedia. I did a diploma in animation from ADMEC in the year of 2021. Today, I got a chance to tell you about some very popular activities of pre-production that we, as animators, follow very often. So, let\u2019s get to reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Popular<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think everyone knows about a basic workflow in general, like we create animations and add movements to the characters<\/strong>. But, for that movement, we have to go through various stages. The most important stage is the pre-production phase<\/strong>. Let\u2019s first understand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre-Production Phase in Animation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This is the most important phase before creating an animation<\/strong>. It covers planning mainly. We focus on making storyboarding<\/strong> frame by frame, drawing characters, deciding upon a theme, and building the main structure. This saves our time as we have a clear path to follow, especially after storyboarding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did I learned this stage?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My training at ADMEC Multimedia Institute covered separate sessions on the pre-production part. I explored how to sketch each frame for an individual scene. It was a bit changeling in the beginning, but thanks to my art instructor, Sahil Sir<\/strong>, he guided me very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also learned, drawing hum<\/strong><\/a>an anatomy<\/a><\/strong> literally requires good artistic skills. So, I would also suggest that all new learners please work on their art skills and try to make sketches daily<\/strong>. The level of drawing improves gradually. So, just keep drawing daily and understand sketching and drawing fundamental<\/a><\/strong>s<\/strong><\/a> too. If you are good at drawing, then you can bring your imagination to animation easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional parts I explored in my learning journey were Claymation, stop motion, flipbook, and still life study. I\u2019ll talk about these in detail in the upcoming points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essential Pre-Production Activities and Tools for Animators<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Multiple activities or tasks are there to us in the world of animation. But if we just focus on pre-production, then we can broadly divide them into the top 6 essential tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Sketching<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Sketching<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Image Source:<\/strong> Google<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sketching is the very first and important step in the pre-production phase. Even still, I draw my ideas on paper first. This helps me to get an idea of what sort of scene or animation I have to make. Just think about the story, characters, and environment, then create rough sketches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow principles of perspective<\/strong>, human anatomy,<\/strong> and figure study. Never skip them, as they are your guides in sketching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practice making proper poses, movements, and facial expressions,<\/strong> too. Make sure that the body parts you draw are of the right size compared to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2. Painting (Canvas, Digital, and Matte)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Canvas<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next is painting. An animator is an artist, so you all have to be good in both traditional and digital arts. I attended special digital and canvas painting sessions<\/strong><\/a> from my instructors Anuradha Mam<\/strong><\/a> and Promila Mam<\/strong><\/a>. They helped in getting confidence to draw paintings through real as well as digital brushes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through painting, we create emotions as we add colors to the sketches. I feel colors give a good spark to our imagination, so that we can draw roughly on paper. But make sure to study color theories, especially the color wheel. This will help you understand key terms like Hue, Saturation, and Value. This trio adds realism to all types of paintings<\/strong><\/a>. Of course, you can\u2019t start with animation on screen directly. You may have to paint on paper first. That is why knowledge is vital to grab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who have any confusion between the names of different painting types, let me make it clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n