20 Common Mistakes That Any Animator Should Avoid

Animation errors are quite a normal thing and there is still a lot to learn, even for an experienced animation designer. In video production, animation fails, if any, from the technical and art aspects to large-format production issues, may become really critical and thus should be studied and better avoided in future projects. Here we’ll discuss some of them to improve the process and find out how to animate better.

1.Underestimating how hard animation is

The first mistake ever is not putting in enough time to the scrupulous animation design process and underestimating its complexity. The key to success and avoiding mistakes is the understanding of how hard animation is, and putting in enough time to check on every work stage.

2. Ignore the Duration or Length of the Video

Photography or illustration may capture the moment; motion design helps to add movement, but the whole video should tell the story and within a set timeframe to the utmost. A great 20-second video won’t be of much value if you don’t have an intro, body, and a follow-up in it all in one within the right timing.

3. Include Too Many Details in a Single Timeframe

At the same time, too many details crammed into the video all at once just won’t do. There should be enough data presented in portions within the set timeframe with a great rhythm and animation speed. 

4. Adding Inappropriate Sound or Music

Nothing spoils the video worse than adding inappropriate sound, voice or music that does not correspond to the narrative. Avoiding that will be a way to produce better explainer videos.

5. Apply Too Much Animation in One Scene

Adding too much or too fast motion, too many animation transitions or similar can make your video design look a little silly and unprofessional and can even be too much distracting for your audience, which decreases the video value and conversion rate.

6. Hire Any Random Person for Voiceover

It sounds strange, but voices are hard to find. Voice-over is notoriously difficult to break into. Animation is an even tougher nut to crack. To get someone cast for a regular on an animated series may be disturbing. So, to hire professional voices, do a great voiceover from an expert, not a random person, is the key.

7. Poor Arc Tracking

Arc tracking is the process by which a plastic material is transformed from non-conductive to conductive through a process of surface degradation. If the animators make it poor, the whole animation impression will be distorted.

8. Not coordinating facial expressions with body movements

This one is really stupid but it sometimes happens that animation designers forget to coordinate facial expressions with body movements, especially while making a project on the go. A good revision will change things to the better. 

9. Not animating the actions with anticipation and aftermath

Anticipation is the preparation while designing an action such as a jump or a punch. And it should be smooth. The stronger the anticipation motion, the more cartoony and fluid the animation will be.

10. Animate your actions with both anticipation and aftermath

According to the animators of all times, business animations in videos should be smooth and varied using actions animated with both anticipation and aftermath. So, in professional language, the best animator will make a preparation for the main action in an animated scene, as distinct from the action and the reaction.

11. Incorrect ease-ins and ease-outs

Is ease and ease in out same? Ease-in – specifies a transition effect with a slow start. Whereas ease-out – a transition effect with a slow end. Ease-in-out tends to specify a transition effect with a slow start and end. Anyway, they need to be correct and never confused.

12. Making it too complex

Often, the animation needs to be matched to the audio. So getting the timing, movement, and design right take a lot. Especially in frame-by-frame, which is redrawing every single frame, is taken. All this has to be moderately achieved, with no overdoing. Otherwise, the product will be too complex and overloaded.

13. Rushing the project/video

A rush project could be defined as one requiring extra faster-than-average project timing. For clients, perhaps, the request involves delivering each initial concept quickly to align with a reviewer’s schedule. Nevertheless, the animated pieces should be well-checked, which normally takes good time.

14. No strategy or call to action in your video

CTA should be integrated into the video script organically. It is also one of the last (and most important) steps to include in any video. This is precisely where you close the deal, so to speak, and motivate your viewer to actually do something with your brand product. It’s the virtual handshake with the viewer.

15. Failing to follow a brand’s visual language

By the way, a corporate style and brand identity sometimes may catch video designers all of a sudden and following a brands visual language becomes a challenge for them. It’s always hard to fit in the existing visual appearance rather than develop one from scratch.

16. Not keeping up with the trends

Why is it essential to keep up with trends in character animation? Commonly, staying informed on motion design trends is vital to help you build business credibility and value. To show how to animate well, showing that you know where your field is heading in the future is related to keeping up with the trends. Successful people spend time daily keeping up with the latest updates and video niche news and development, so it’s wise to make time for these strategies.

17. Not Paying Attention to Spacing

For animators, it’s better to avoid having any random movement pops in the scene. Those pops may destroy the sense of weight in animation design. Spacing issues may not look noticeable to you, but it can be noticeable and distracting to the audience who may watch your video explainer.

18. Not trafficking your animation properly

Once your content has been created, don’t just plonk it on your landing page, or elsewhere, create a good pipeline to attract the right traffic and convert your video. Besides, take your time to proactively push out the created video on as many channels that you have available as possible to extend the coverage.

19. Avoid Studying the Movement Psychology

For those who don’t know, studying human movement may provide insights into physiological, neural and psychological adaptations to exercise, into the role regular physical activity plays in chronic disease prevention and management, and into how the brain controls and coordinates everyday movements. 

20. Ignore Other Little Problems

It requires teamwork. It is essential to understand not only the animation’s technical aspects but also the factors of interaction with other people from the team and other little problems that are human-centric. This way, you can better understand how the day-to-day work of filmmaking goes. The most important thing is to remain attentive to the details, whether it’s with a project manager, an experienced animation artist or a rookie assistant. After all, teamwork is all about the details.

Why animated video is important for your business

There is something about animated videos that generates interest and curiosity in viewers, but the use of animation is really only part of it. Artists should avoid animation mistakes to achieve ultimate working quality and incredible pieces for business.  

According to Forbes, the animated format helps businesses increase revenue by 49%.The animation content boom continues as it is an inexpensive and effective way to make a name for a brand.  And how to make a good animation is a question. Presentations, promos, corporate films, website interfaces and even logos are transformed into animated format to look engaging and convert. 

The animation brings success for your business because it’s fast, dynamic and engaging. It will allow you to entertain and clearly tell the audience about the specifics of the business, the uniqueness and importance of the product/service and beyond.

Conclusion

Studios like us love work with animation projects with no animation errors and with great enthusiasm. Animated explainer videos created from scratch become really critical for business success, and thus should be thoroughly designed without mistakes and with great reference. It’s okay to make mistakes while learning, but it’s also worth learning from others. Our team who runs the production company, has huge experience and creates videos for business, e-commerce, government, science and other industries for various clients including start-ups are here to help find out how to get better at animation and succeed with more motion design projects.  Just get in touch.