Learn to animate for kids

Blue Zoo's Bader Badruddin will be at Vertex on March 13th discussing how to complete a cartoon style animation shot, start to finish, in his masterclass. Blue Zoo are one of the stars of the CG cartoon world and here's is his colleague Tom Box, with some tips on how to succeed.

Animating for kids obviously has a lot in common with any other animating task, but there are certain elements that could do with a little extra attention and focus.

At Blue Zoo, we have increasing experience with kids' animation, so here are my top tips for this subject.

01. Know your audience

This doesn’t mean dumbing down – get to know who will be watching and make decisions accordingly. Don’t simply get carried away with what you think is funny in the moment. 

02. Turn off the soundtrack

If you can’t follow the story because it requires exposition coming from dialogue, then the visual narrative isn’t clear enough.

03. Put the character first

As entertaining as a big action event can be, the story should be driven by character. What journey have they been on and what have they learnt?

04. Focus

With every shot, you should know precisely what the audience will be focusing on – don’t let them be distracted. Every moment should have a reason and progress the story forward.

05. Be kind to your characters

Young children learn at an extraordinary rate, absorbing everything. Yes they need to be shown characters making bad decisions, but there should always be a consequence. Don’t use being mean as a way to get a quick laugh.

Learn more at Vertex 2018

Vertex is the event connecting all areas of the UK visual effects community, for a day of presentations, workshops, recruitment and discussion.

Come to watch talks by some of the world's biggest names in VFX, including Scott Ross, Chris Nichols, Sébastien Deguy and more.

Book tickets for workshops run by some top artists, from Glen Southern to Mike Griggs among others.

If you want to get your hands on the very latest tech, then the expo access tickets are for you and are even free, but you do need to register, so book now over at the Vertex site.

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