How can you develop your animation skills outside of work?

Watch Different styles. Try and analyse do experiments learn and implement. A good animator can tell story with only his style of animation.

"Developing animation skill in a non-professional setting". Wow, it's never been easier. Back in the day (1990's and before), us animators kept a physical "morgue". A collection of all the best designs, VHS video clips, and photocopies of drawings and photographs gathered over the years to inspire us to continued growth and passion in the industry. Nowadays? Every. Single. Thing. We can think of. Is available on a Google search. ...with one caveat. . . . We need to remember what to search for. And therein lies the rub. Having everything available to us ends up assigning it all the same value. The solution? Ignore your "feeds" and keep a digital morgue. I'm thrilled with mine. It's a little messy, but it's great :)

in my experience as an architect ,who works+ 20 years and product + 60, 3dvisualization on big-scale animation project, One of the most effective methods for learning in architectural animation is to study and analyze the work of other animators in the field. Explore a diverse range of architectural animations online, including walkthroughs, visualizations, and tutorials. Pay careful attention to how animators apply fundamental principles such as timing, pacing, camera movement, lighting, and spatial sequencing. Identify the elements that make their animations visually compelling, immersive, and communicative of architectural concepts.

From my own experience learning animation, I made it a fun habit to try a new animation tutorials every day. Then, I'd put my spin on it, tweaking and experimenting to give it my personal touch. Kickstart your learning journey with simple projects to nail those basics. As you get the hang of it, gradually dive into more exciting animations. Oh, and remember, don't throw in the towel – keep practicing and enjoying the ride!

In my experience, this is the tried and true method for improving skill in any creative endeavor, including animation. Practice, practice, and practice some more.

Keeping yourself outside of your comfort zone can be super informative. However, it can easily lead to draining and burnout, so the best option is to balance between the two by at least having a challenge once a week or once every couple weeks to keep that muscle growing while doing familiar and stuff you have already grasped on the side

There are two ways to learn animation: specialize in a single area to become a super expert or generalize your learning to cover several skills. Choosing which path to take depends on a number of factors, including your interests, goals and skills. If I'm interested in working in a specific area of animation, like 3D character animation or traditional animation, specializing might be a good option. If I'm looking for a more flexible and creative career, generalization may be a better choice. Specializing can generate more specific animation vacancies and a more stable career. Generalizing can generate flexibility, creativity and a wide range of learning.

Learning properly is quite important. A basic understanding of animation is required. Then only you can play around. Although you will be working digitally, try traditional animation for the sake of learning. It will offer you a solid basis. The fundamentals of animation will remain unchanged. However, the method you present them will vary depending on the project. For example, whether you're creating animation videos, business explainer animations, or user interface animations. You must modify the project as per the software and rendering or output requirements.

"How to enjoy watching animation while doing it for a living". I think everyone who works in the industry has at one point or another found that pulling back the curtain and seeing how the sausage gets made suffers a temporarily dampening of their appreciation of the art form from an audience perspective. But that doesn't need to last long. Once we see firsthand the amount of talent, effort, and sweat it takes to get even the most modest project onto the screen, we gain a new appreciation for the process that 95% of the audience will never have. Combine that with our desire to be fully immersed in a believable fictional world created to convey a story better than any other medium in the history of the world? We are the lucky ones.

"How to improve at animation despite working in the industry". Our job in commercial animation is to bring other people's ideas to life. This is good in that we get paid to learn, to grow our careers, and to be part of something bigger while working with creative, interesting people. The challenge is that when we are limited by external time, budget, and creative constraints, we run the risk of becoming frustrated, jaded, and burnt out, even while our skills are growing. But there is a salve to this. A solution. An outlet. A release valve. . . . Create your own ideas on your own time. Oh, I know it's not easy to set energy aside every day for our own projects. But it's necessary. And it pays off in the long run.

Volunteer for local community projects or non-profits that need animated content. It's a great way to apply your skills in new contexts, help a good cause, and build a diverse portfolio.