One of the most important things in any project is the ability to save time. Perfectionists need to save time so they can improve their work. Directors must have the project in advance to review the work over and over again and handle any changes before the deadline. Large studios must get ahead of schedule.

So here comes the bummer. Who is responsible for delivering an animation on time? Well. Bad news. You. Yes, you, the Entertainer. The fate of humanity rests on your shoulders, think of yourself as a hero on a journey that needs a couple of tips to make the adventure more enjoyable and shorter.

I. HAVE A HIGH APM (Action Per Minute)

To be faster at anything, you need to have a way to measure actions per minute. There are two ways to copy and paste anything in the virtual world. Navigate to the EDIT menu and select COPY, then move your mouse back to the EDIT menu and then click PASTE. Prayed! You can hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard (CMD on Mac) and quickly press “C” then “V”. Right? Using your keyboard can get a higher APM than navigating through menus.

Use shortcuts! I’ve seen some pros navigate through menus to get things done, it’s embarrassing. Believe it or not, just using shortcuts, I’m 20% faster than other animators. So what? Well, when I do freelance projects, clients hire me because they know I deliver ahead of time, because even though we do the same things sharing the same process, I do it faster (using shortcuts).

Customize shortcuts. Some programs like After Effects don’t let you customize your shortcuts, but if you can, DO IT! The best keyboard profile is the one that handles the most used shortcuts close to your right hand. The less your right hand has to move from left to right on the keyboard, the better. This is why you should try to have all the main functions closed in your keyboard “assignment”. Examples could be: CTRL+F, CTRL+G, CTRL+TAB, CTRL+SHIFT+W, SHIFT+3, ALT+SHIFT+3, etc. They are all very close together.

Consider using a gaming keyboard, gaming mouse, or gaming keyboard. The one I recommend the most is the gaming keyboard (such as the Razer Orbweaver or Logitech G13) because when software doesn’t support shortcut customization, you can customize your keyboard to have all the main features together, and better yet, instead. than pressing 3 keys (such as CTRL+SHIFT+P), you only press a single key on your keyboard.

Automate using Macros. You can do this if you have a gaming mouse, gaming keyboard, or gaming keyboard. A macro is a sequence of keystrokes that can be automated into a single press of a dedicated key on your keyboard. For example. in after effects

II. OPTIMIZE YOUR ANIMATION PROCESS

Optimizing means making the best use of the resources at your disposal for your project. So the best way to approach your animation process is to handle the 2 most important things in any project. Your pipeline and initial keyframes

Optimized pipeline. The folder structure of all your files is vital to managing the project with ease. Have separate folders for your sounds, music, images, video references, characters, and project files (toon boom, after effects, etc.). In our studio, if we do some motion graphics, we have them in a folder called AFTER EFFECTS, and the main project in a folder called TOON BOOM, then the edited animation in PREMIERE. So if any changes need to be made, we know which folder to look for, and if we need an audio file, we know exactly where to find it. Every Animation school is teaching the importance of this, and it’s not just because it looks cleaner and more beautiful, but because it works.

Set up key poses first, handle details later. Yes, yes, you want to impress your boss or your friends with how expressive your characters can be. It’s best if you lock in (pose your character) the important keyframes first, the starting position, the middle of the action, and the aftermath. And then add additional animation later on.

third USE GOOD EQUIPMENT (Avoid unreliable ones)

Using a good quality rig is essential, having to tweak keyframes and poses just means the rig isn’t good and is wasting your time. A good rig allows you to be free and more creative, because you can make your character change her pose easily, so your animation process is more dynamic. If you can’t find a good rig, outsource (have someone else do it for you) or use the rig just to get the key poses, then forget about the rig and handle additional animations (like hands, tail, hair) manually.

A quick way to tell if your team is good is to understand inverse kinematics and have them on your team. If you don’t know what inverse kinematics means, watch this video: http://vimeo.com/96444901

IV. RECYCLE WHAT YOU CAN

Recycle keyframes. Don’t waste time locking the character again, when the pose is very similar to a previously locked one, you can copy and paste keyframes and modify them. For example, if you have a fighter doing a low punch and then you need a high punch, copy and paste the pose and then modify it. You will have the correct hip rotation, foot position and you will only need to modify the position of the height of the fist and perhaps the torso. That’s faster than having to block everything.

Recycle animations. I mean a sequence of keyframes here. The most common example is eye blinking. Instead of manually blinking your eyes on the timeline, copy and paste keyframes into it. Another example would be a walk cycle: if you need the character to walk and do something with their hands, like giving commands to other characters, you can recycle the animation, but remove the keyframes for the torso, hands, and head, and animate them. In this way, half of the work is already done.

Use previous animations for reference. Sometimes the timing is perfect and the animation curves (for tweening) give you the smoothness you were looking for, but now, you’re working on another project and you’re having trouble, you just can’t figure out what you did. This is where an earlier animation can help for reference. All you have to do is check the number of frames between keyframes to get the correct timing and check the animation curves.

Instead of wasting time trying to achieve the same result, you can save time by getting the calculations right by checking a previous project. Like the timing and interpolation of the keyframes of the legs in an Angry Walk Cycle, where each step was so energetic it made the kids burst out laughing.