My 20 Biggest Animation Student Mistakes 

I've been wanting to make this video for literal YEARS. Also, my wife made the thumbnail for this video as a meme and I loved it so.. thanks for clicking on it! Maybe hit the thumbs up while you're here and check out my Maya Workshop in the description :)

7:56 16:33 Sir Wade that is so true, I really needed you when I was doing animation, cuz I had a lot of self-doubt both prior and post graduation. After constantly applying to various animation companies and getting turned down, it made my self-doubt even worse after graduation. I ended up switching career path but that hurt me.

the part of the "rushing the job search" is a good explain for me ! thanks

One thing I want to add, about doing AM, please don't rush to AN06, take your time, stop between term if necessary. To absorb all the information from the previous class and put it into practice.

Oh snap I interned with the Training department at DW! I was there in Spring '15, then later worked in Production for 4 years. Such a small world!

Oof. I feel called out on the Polishing too early. I have a VERY ambitious animation project for school, and I am finding it *super super* difficult to block my poses to make the process digestible. I am not a procrastinator on school work, but the task is so large, I'm really scared to touch anything out of fear that I will have to "redo work" as you said. This whole thing might turn into one of those harsh life-learning moments that will either be really good for me, or just hurt a lot.

I’m about the start Animation Mentor this summer. So hearing all this is suuuper helpful! I might even end up dropping my other part time school so I can really give it my all. I definitely feel that struggle with wanting to rush ahead and get a job, but now I’m ready to put my head down and and WORK. Super nervous about the commitment and self discipline, but also psyched to be apart of the AM community now!

Currently dealing with recording reference for acting shots. Completely agree with what you said. I've heard by many animators that in studios your supervisors and directors will ask you to show your reference, hence the necessity to get confortable with recording and showing reference. What are your views in this?

This was just the video I was looking for! Thank you this helps a lot.

Thank you so much. This was exactly me a few months ago. I, too, took animation classes as just ordinary school assignments. This video has also addressed some areas that I was still doing. This has given a self check analysis as a student. This is a timely video.

Once I didn't understand the feedback of "the left arm looks IK" but the hand was moving so I asked what it meant and learned that the arm and wrist didn't move compared to each other.

Stumbled across your channel looking for Maya tips and man, it's funny how our experiences at AM were nearly identical. Lotta a learning I missed out on, by focusing on "passing" and rushing to get a job. Glad we both eventually got our acts together and continue on the never ending journey of growing and learning! Your videos are incredibly clear and easy to follow, making them highly helpful! So thank you for them!

Thank you, I just explained the same things to my students today and you made a video about it. thank you for making a video about it.

Thank you. I've been animating for years. Always love to hear what you have to say. Thanks again!

Sir Wade you have no idea how much I love your channel.Your videos have been incredibley helpful learning animation not to mention your flawless editing and production skills. I hope I can one day meet you as a professional to professional in the industry.

8:26 The only thing that scares me away from Maya...was the price! XD There's always this ongoing thing where I am very critical of my work. I'm always thinking what can I do to improve on the work that I done. So what happens when you feel like you peaked and you can't find ways to improve?

Hi, so nice to see how all your tips are working also in other domains (for example mine in computer science). I would love for you to post a video where you learn a new techinque using an IA (for example: how do I do "this" using "this tool")

Thank you for this video. I'll share it with my students and hopefully they'll watch it.

Great vid Wade!

Is there a good online school similar to Animation Mentor, but specifically for 2D animation with Toon Boom Harmony? Obviously there’s their specific on demand training videos, youtube tutorials or paid classes, but I think something like animation mentor with structure, teachers and classmates would be a good thing.

As soon as you said "Comprehensive feedback from your Dreamworks mentor" I KNEW your AN06 mentor was gonna be Sean! lol

I'm currently at Animation Mentor class 1 after seeing your videos and it is best decision I've made

Thanks for the tips, thanks for taking care of us)

Oh my god, Thank you, Thank you! This video should help guide me on my dream career path!

Awesome video, I always try to get with all of my classmates on discord and give each other feedback Sir wade can't wait to see more.

I trained as 3d modeler in vfx for 6 years (hoping it would eventually lead me into feature animation, but after some advice from someone in the industry that there wasn't much out there in my country for modelling for that type of animation). After a surgery that went wrong last year it made me realise that I was never really chasing what I wanted to do and how I've always had a big fascination with the flow of movement, and I could visualise/understand it more in my head. So, this summer I am truly excited to about to start AM and to retrain so to chase my true passion and dream to one day hopefully only work as an animator for feature animation and avoid live action (if that is even possible) and really excited for meeting my fellow classmates/being apart of the am community, and starting this new journey :) Regarding the note taking part I've got a question. I got something called auditory processing disorder that is basically a disconnect from the brain to the ears, I tend to struggle to maintain the vast amount of information being said to me or decipher words when being said vocally (which also means can misunderstand what is being said to me) and so I find it really hard to write notes down and listen at the same time and therefor focus on the listening so I understand the best that I can. Do you or anyone know by any chance if it is even allowed for someone to ask another person to take notes for you if you struggle in that area? I don't like being a nuisance to people, and I like giving my all to achieve the best in my work. Which is most importantly true when people ask me to do something. (Apologies for the long paragraphs, and the edit I tend to get carried away but also tend to not be able to word things in a way I intended)

I hear you about reading those books that’s standard for animators. Like I should be reading perspective books and understand why railroads and objects stacked near each other appear as they do to the eye. I still rather carve my own path without rudimentary guidelines. Maybe it will show but hey if I’m reading I’m not drawing 😅

Thank you,

Do you trink that for sculpting in blender or Zbrush a Grafictablet like the Wacom Bamboo is a duty?

Hey, Sir Wade! This isn't really connected to what's in this video, but it is to one of your previous ones regarding your setup, specifically your Stream Deck. I noticed you have original Maya icons on it for different actions, but I can't seem to find the icons anywhere. Mind sharing how you got those? It would be really helpful using them to better navigate the Stream Deck. Thanks!

good video!

when we are younger and fresh outta school we believe we are invincible can do anything don't need to learn anymore we can ace it, and we want all the fruit of learning now, and transitioning from a child/young adult psychology and adult learning is not always best straight away, a break can be needed, with adult learning you need to want to learn it, soak it up as a sponge and it's not until you have worked you realise even on a bad day in education, it's still better than being in a job out there in the business world with all the monotony, daily routines and humdrum of life. having not enjoyed school i went back to education as an adult multiple times thirsty to learn and back then learning C language in a week was feasible, in the real world you don't get that opportunity so much without stress of work coming back. so slowing down and learning 3D or anything else is not so much of a torture as an adult and you don't cut corners as much.

I see you uploading this early on a Sunday. How many Animation Mentor students do you think you sniped with this after a sleepless night of regret? I can name at least one

Sir we don't understand dialogue shot animation please make a tutorial🙏😔

Oh God, thank you for this video. I am younger you!

I have to disagree slightly with the notion that "school is for learning, work is for working". While you should take every opportunity to learn things and get the basics of animation right in your place of learning, a lot of schools were (and some most likely still are) teaching methods that are not up to date and don't quite reflect the work environment in your average studio. Or worse: they don't even teach you anything and you learn from your peers, who also don't quite know how things really work in the industry (certainly the case for me back then). In my opinion "your studies begin after your studies" and that goes for most jobs out there. You really start learning how things work, what to look out for, how to plan you work when you start working in the industry with veterans at your side.

The thumbnail 😭

First view sir

Hey sir.h ave you ever made your own videos not by your employer?

The illusion of life is a great book...not so much for practical application, but more about how the art of animation developed ...I wish Disney still was this , instead of this soulless corporation it has become.... a place where franchises go to die Other than that I would say that you shouldn't buy or read books, just to conform to some industry dogma ... If there is anything I hate is when I see people grouping together and end up doing the exact same thing. Dare to be different. I mean I love the quality of work that the people from Animation Mentor produce ....BUT, it all looks a bit samey and it is very job oriented (ie making sure that you'll fit in in the dreamworks/pixar style) ... in that sense I like the Gnomon approach a bit more as it is a bit wider oriented. As to my own journey, I found that say 10 years ago I picked things up more quickly, but my understanding was limited ... and that owadays , it takes e a bit longer to get things, but once I do , I understand it better. Anyway liked the video , thanks for sharing (sounds a bit like an AA meeting now :) )

I feel so naked right now.

I disagree with the feedback thing. I think you should get feedback only from people that you trust, or that have an absolute understanding of what they're talking about. For example I've seen people parroting feedback they've heard around a lot, like it's an absolute universally applicable truth, instead of giving actual constructive points. A lot of times I see these new people posting their stuff, not animation, like a brand new car or the Sci Fi interior of a space hub, you name it, and there's ALWAYS, ALWAYS 10 people going ''Mhm, that's not okay, you should add dUsT aNd ScRaTchEs''. Bro, it's literally an out of the box Sci Fi computer why would I add scratches, dust, missing stickers or whatever? This happens a lot. Another thing that happens a lot is not understanding the difference between artistic feedback and technical feedback. I'm not asking you to tell me that you don't like the ribbon I put there, I'm asking you if my topology works.

yup!