SOME EXPERIENCE

You need some animation experience for this course - the ability to use a piece of software and animate something simple. It doesn’t have to be complex though!

• If you’ve never tried animation before you can learn with my other course Photoshop Animation first. It starts from the very beginning and will show you everything you need to know!
• If you’d prefer to use a different piece of software to animate that’s fine. You just need to know how to render a video from your desired software.
  

SOFTWARE

• Your animation software of choice (Photoshop or other)
• Adobe Photoshop (on a computer) - you can download a free 7 day trial here
• Adobe After Effects (on a computer) - you can download a free 7 day trial here
• Adobe Media Encoder - available as part of Adobe Creative Cloud

EQUIPMENT

• A drawing tablet or graphics tablet (more info below).
• A printer - if you don’t have one you can get your frames printed at a copy shop.
• A light box for tracing. 
• A scanner.

If you don’t have access to a scanner you can also use a camera to capture your frames. I won’t be covering this in the course, but as long as the photographs are sharp and evenly lit it’s an adequate alternative.

MATERIALS

• Pens / paints or whatever material you would like to use. 
• Paper for your final piece.
• Painter’s Tape / Frog Tape to stick down your frames.

EXTRA INFO ON DRAWING TABLETS

I haven’t been paid to endorse any companies here - these are my personal opinions!

Beginner Option - Pen Tablet

These are tablets WITHOUT a screen, which you can ‘draw’ on with a pen, instead of your mouse. Having one of these will make the process 100x easier than trying to draw with a mouse or trackpad. You don’t need a fancy one at first, as long as you have a pen, that will do. 

• Wacom is, in my opinion, the best brand to go with. The quality is always brilliant and they will last a long time. Their Intuos pen tablets range from £70 - £449 - Wacom pen tablets
• Huion also offer cheaper alternatives, from £26 - £160. I have personally found that Huion products are lower quality and the customer service has been bad. But if you’re looking for something cheap to start with, this could be an option.

Pro Option - Pen Display

These are tablets WITH a screen, which you draw directly onto. They are used by most professional animators and illustrators and make the animation experience even more fun.

• Wacom is my favourite option for pen displays. The quality is incredible, I’ve had two that have lasted 5+ years. The prices range from £359 - £3,150 - Wacom pen displays
• Huion do sell pen displays for a slightly cheaper price. I bought one recently, and really regretted it - the quality was nothing like my Wacom, it often breaks, and they charged me loads of extra taxes after I’d purchased. So, if you want a screen tablet I would really recommend saving up a little longer until you can get a wacom, they’re absolutely worth the price.

Other Options - iPad & Apple Pencil

This is a good option if you already have both an iPad and an Apple pencil. You can use the app Duet and a usb lead to convert your ipad into a drawing tablet!

It is absolutely possible (but a little painful) to animate with a mouse or trackpad. If you decide to buy a tablet you can always start watching through the course whilst you wait for it to arrive.