
If you are looking forward to learn What is 2d Animation, what exactly it is and how it can fundamentals of it. Then please read this post and I am sure when you will complete reading the article, you will come to know about Animation in 2 dimension, some other information related to it and how it works.
What Is 2D Animation
Animation in 2d is all about working with 2 dimension space, creating 2d characters, designing storyboards and evolves around drawing skills and some really serious creativity skills. Creating characters like cartoons, animals, birds, sketching, life drawing and storyboard drawings too. In some cases creating realistic portraits and caricatures requires a very good command over pencil work as well.
Many people who wonder about how to learn animation at home can learn animation by reading and following few basic guides about sketching, life drawing and then work hard to improve their pencil work.
Even though the characters by pencil work need to be in good shape volume and proportion. It is necessary for anyone willing to understand 2d dimension animation that maintaining volume along with timing and spacing is the key to perfect animation. To become a good animator learning basic 2d skills are must like sketching, life drawing, understanding timing, spacing, and volume are also must to move ahead before working on the lightbox and start drawing animation poses frame by frame.
This technique is called as traditional animation. Animating in 2d involves, working with 2d softwares like Adobe Flash, Photoshop, FlipBook, After effects is also preferred while working with vector graphics, jpeg images and rotating, moving etc them according to the script or storyboard of the story. Joining online 2d animation school like Don Bluth series can also help in improving workflow and learn a lot over animation, volume, timing and spacing and character design.
How To Become A 2D Animator

For anyone willing to become a 2d animator, basic understanding of movement, sketching is a must. Some institutes and animations colleges provide animation degrees or diplomas and carry a huge reputation in the world of graphics and animation.
Some studios prefer working with both traditional animation and 2d softwares like Adobe Flash, Flipbook and motion graphics softwares like After Effects. Becoming animator online by self-learning is also possible by following industry experts, their advice and willing to work hard for improving workflow.
Roles And Responsibilities Of 2D Animator
Anyone who enrolls in the program of animation and graphics must learns and master these following techniques and try to find a job depending on his skill sets. Every skill is related to each other and understanding them in detail is the key to build a strong portfolio and get a good job.
Getting a job further and working with new talented people further help the artist to improve further and after few months/years of experience apply somewhere else for a higher position or wait for their current company to change their position from junior to mid-level artists.
- Designing Characters.
- Storyboard Development.
- Life Drawing.
- Sketching.
- Deep understanding of Colour sense.
Examples Of 2D Animation
There are many examples of perfect animations in 2d which are inspiring, carry a message for the audience and have awesome cartoons, graphics, vector images, script and high-quality stunning motion graphics used in them. Use of graphics is increasing with time in product launches, the entertainment industry as teasers, promos, trailers, intros and are ads are often available in many websites in form of banners like Yahoo.com, Espncricinfo.
Even websites like Google are creating animations for any special day to give tribute to either any person or to create awareness. Websites like 123greetings which uses 2d flash animation as a medium to create animated e-cards are a popular choice for anyone wishing someone about any festival, occasion or event.
Some Popular Animation Videos Over 2D On The Internet:
Lucky Charm – (Diamond Dancers)
With the use of stunning graphics and music and cool characters, this commercial video is one of the most popular animation advertisements ever. This advertisement is created for Lucky Charm.
Ahrefs Explainer video:
With Internet industry moving forward very fast ahead in terms of service and technology. A cloud-based tool Ahrefs which is one of the most popular tools for Internet Marketers, Seo experts used for backlinking, keyword research, competitor research and much more has an explainer video which is used to understand capabilities and functions of this tool.
Zoho Project management software –
Intro video of one of the companies over internet Zoho has an amazing ad created in 2d animation Format to let everyone understands functions and capabilities of this amazing project management software.
Another 2d animation ad created by Alifstyle.- Excellent graphics using character animation and music
Quindo.
2D animated infographic/commercial created as a school assignment.
Animations In Web Technologies
While we are moving very fast into the world of web technologies. Web design applications, web-based Android and iPhone apps, websites with high-quality graphics, banners are something which grabs our attention, creates brand awareness and are a must to learn for anyone into web technologies industry.
A video by Ben Fhala from 02geek, an online HTML5 and web-based training portal where he teaches about HTML5 and Javascript and How to animate using GSAP.
Check Interview of Ben Fhala:
Advantages Of 2D Animation
With so many opportunities for animation artist, motion graphics designers, storyboards and graphic designers available online today. There are a lot of advantages 2 dimension animation has in the market over 3d animation and other techniques.
Effective Cost:
2D Projects are often with fewer budgets and can be handled sometimes by a single person. That means there is a lot of opportunities to earn money online using freelance sites as new startups, companies need their professional intros, logos, and animated videos.
With not so much cost and budgets involved, they can easily hire any freelance designer or animator and get the work done.
Simplicity:
With freedom in the hands of the artist in the case of flash animation. They can easily change colors, style of line, pattern. Everything is on the flat surface and does not require many changes which are often required in high-end 3d softwares like Maya.
Easy To Fix:
Errors are very east to fix in case of 2d. Since it involves a lot of pencil work. The artist or animator has the freedom to edit background, characters easily as per demand or budget of the script for the animated project.
Final Thoughts:
With Animation industry is moving ahead with time, it is required for people who are willing to become a master in this industry by joining any animation college or university.
However, anyone should not forget learning basics fundamentals and spending countless hours in correcting the mistakes and showing professionalism in work is key to success. We hope you will be able to gain some valuable information from this article. Thanks for reading this article.