Why Animators Need to Post Their Work

One of the hardest skills for animation students to learn is how give and receive criticism.  We all tend to be shy about our work (especially when we are learning something new) and, when our work is criticised, that criticism can feel very personal.

The importance of criticism
Being able to take criticism ("notes", as they say in industry) is part of the process of creating great animation.  When you first show your work to a client, they will have comments, and they won't always love your first efforts. Whether you're working at a studio, or doing private client work, animators need to be flexible, and learn to incorporate criticism in order to make things better.

Notes being given at our Facebook Group

Online Classroom
Here at Escape Studios each class of students has its own dedicated Facebook classroom. Each classroom is a closed group; only our students can join. It's where our students post their work for critique, ask technical questions - and also post the latest job openings.

Closed Group - members only
Because it's a closed group, everyone can post their work, safe in the knowledge that the only people who can see it are other students on the course. It's a place to make mistakes in a safe environment.

Wisdom of the crowds
We all start off feeling shy about our work, but as we grow in confidence it gets easier to post test animation and get constructive feedback. When you post your work in a forum, you open up the problems to a broad range of solutions - you never know who is going to come up with a great suggestion for how to make the shot better.

Learn to take criticism - and give it too
It is good practice for working in industry, not just to solicit comments, but also to learn to be able to give constructive criticism. Animators help each other out on production all the time by giving one another tips and suggestions, and your best resource at a new studio is often the person sitting next to you.

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.