Live Action Reference for Animators

Where can animators find useful live action reference? Reference is often a necessary starting point for producing believable animation.  Of course, YouTube is a great resource, but it can be hard to find what you want, and you may need to dig within YouTube to find particular channels that specialise in the particular kind of reference that you need.  Below is a list of some of the best online resources that our students have been using find the perfect live action reference for their shots.

YouTube
The most obvious place to look. But, there is lots of material to wade through, and plenty of it isn't suitable for one reason or another.

AniRef at Vimeo
AniRef at Vimeo is a useful resource, and it's all free.

Endless Reference at YouTube
Endless reference at YouTube is a useful YouTube channel that has plenty of great reference. You can find it here. It's great for things like walks, jumps and runs.

BBC Motion gallery
The BBC Motion Gallery, done with Getty Images, is also a very useful resource. The images are watermarked but that doesn't matter to us - we just need it for reference.

Global Zoo
Global Zoo is a free YouTube channel dedicated to uploading inspiring and distinctive bits of animal and creature business.

Ultra Slo
Ultra Slo is another YouTube channel, this one dedicated to very very slow footage of things like birds and insects.

Rhino House
Rhino House isn't free, but it's priced competitively and, if you can find the clip you need, it will be well worth it.

Walks reference by Houman Sorooshnia
This is a video of walks reference by animator Houman Sorooshnia. Great reference for character walk cycles.

The Animator's Resource Kit
The Animator's Resource Kit is a great blog that we're recommending to our students for all kinds of stuff. It has useful posts on books to buy, jobs to apply for, rigs that work, and links to other sites like video reference material for download. Overall, it's a great site - well worth checking out.

You and your camera
Of course, nothing beats shooting your own reference. If you do try to film on a tripod; it will make your life much easier. We recommend this inexpensive tripod here.

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt in 3D Animation, follow this link.  To apply for our storyboarding evening class, visit this page here.  For the next 12 week animation course, click here. And to apply for the next evening class in Producing Animation, see this page.