Animation book recommendations?

[Sarah]

I was searching around on Amazon today to get some more animation related books. And it got me thinking that it would be a great idea to share our book recommendations on here & save ourselves a load of money! (it was a subject that was brought up at a BANG meeting early last year).

So if you have read any books that you think are the holy grail of animation knowledge - post em up!

[sheepfilms]

I'll get the obvious one out of the way first - The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams

[Sarah]

Great book! There's a DVD boxset now to go with the book...but it's blimin' expensive!

Similar one I got recently to this was "Timing For Animation" by Harold Whitaker & John Halas

And of course, Angie Taylor's "Creative After Effects" book.

[sheepfilms]

A DVD boxset? Sounds interesting! I had a quick look online and couldn't find it. What's on the DVDs?

Another classic (I swear this book is government issue for animators) is Preston Blair's Cartoon animation book

[Sarah]

Link to Richard William's DVD box set

It's basically Richard Williams giving an animation workshop at Blue Sky Studios & loads of animated examples of the principles from his book. I'm sure it's great, but it is mega expensive for 16 DVDs! Maybe we should all chip in for a BANG copy & each borrow it!

[Lloyd Raworth]

Prepare to Board by Nancy Beiman is the best book I've read on storyboarding. It's really nice to read, her drawings are hilarious and it's packed with useful information. For me, it's head and shoulders above anything else I've read on any aspect of animation.
Lloyd

[Maria J Parra]

Of course, "The animator's survival kit" by Richard Williams is an amazing book!
Another treasures are: "Cracking Animation: The Aardman book of 3D animation" by Nick Park, Peter Lord & Brian Sibley.
"Inspired 3D Short Film Production" by Pepe Valencia, and "El dibujo animado" (cartoon) by Sergi Cámara Pérez

Also, if anyone is interested I’ve found the short movies; “Madame Tutli-Putli” and “Borom Sarret” on Cinema16 -2DVD


Enjoy!

xx

[Sarah]

Do you (or anyone else) have a copy of Madame Tutli-Putli? It would be great to show it at the next BANG.

[Maria J Parra]

Sure, I have a copy of Madame Tutli-Putli
I

[Kit Hown Man]

I can think of 2 at the moment

Shamus Culhanes - Animation Script to Screen is a very good book detailing traditional animation techniques and processes it can be found at amazon on the below url

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&...

Preston Blairs - Advanced Animation. You can't get hold of it but you can find a digital copy on the below link which is to an animation archive on the net and holds a wealth of animation topics and subject related matter

http://www.animationarchive.org/2006/05/media-preston-blairs-animat...

Hope this helps


Kit Man

[carl youri]

hello Sarah, hello ALL...A book i really like at the moment is called 'Flash + After Effects' by Chris Jackson, Focal Press
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flash-After-Effects-Creativity-Unleashed/dp...

[Kate Genevieve]

Hi, great idea Sarah. This is a really useful list.
Here's some more:
"Stop Motion- Passion, Process and Performance" - love Barry Purves' enthusiasm!
For 3D facial animation - Jason Osipa's "Stop Staring- Facial Modelling and Animation Done Right" is spot on.
Frank and Ollie's "The Illusion of Life"- for an insight into the experimental beginnings of Disney and lots of tips.
Really want to get hold of Clare Kitson's "British Animation: The Channel 4 Factor" - love the films that came out of this era.

[chris hemming]

Hi, I agree with Maria - "The animator's survival kit" by Richard Williams is by far the best for animation - it's the only one we bulk bought where I work. Although it's about tradional 2d animation, Dick's ideas and principles he has studiously gathered over many years are put in really simple and easy to remember ways, and very easy to transfer to other mediums.