3d & animation

6 Free Tutorials for Learning How to Animate in One Hour or Less

Add movement to your ideas with a little help from Domestika teachers

From the first magic lanterns to super 3D audiovisual productions, animation is an art that never ceases to amaze. Many creators and brands favor this technique to convey their ideas, tell a story, and provide information clearly while entertaining their audience. Animation is reaching more and more ground on social media too.

If you want to learn to animate to expand your portfolio, rest assured that this technique is not as complicated as it seems. Have a look at the selected tutorials below, designed to learn a skill in 60 minutes or less.

To access the content, simply click on the red titles.

Procreate Tutorial: How to Create a Gif Using Static Images

GIF is one of the most widespread digital graphic formats today, allowing you to reproduce animations with a maximum of 256 colors. GIFs are small in size and communicate ideas in a simple way, which is why it this format is perfect for social media.

If you want to learn how to animate photos or illustrations, check out this tutorial by Natalia Rojas (@LosNaked), a Colombian designer who will teach you how to take still images and turn them into a GIF to share on multiple platforms.

Cinema 4D Tutorial: How to Animate Letters Simply

If you've always wanted to learn 3D animation for your personal and professional projects, Cinema 4D, with its with intuitive design and easy-to-use tools, is the software for you.

In this tutorial, motion designer Holke 79 (@ holke79), who has made animations for television and for projecting on buildings, will teach you how to bring a character to life using letters and words. You will only need to download the basic resources. You will love the result.

After Effects Tutorial: How to Create a Loop

Originally from Barcelona, ​​Spain, Moncho Massé (@moncho_masse) is an experienced illustrator who has ventured into a wide range of animated formats, from educational videos to stickers for instant messaging apps.

In his tutorial, you will learn to animate a loop or infinite loop using After Effects tools, another animation and postproduction program popular with the professionals. What makes this program unique is the ability to add depth to your creations, something you could not achieve with other software.

After Effects Tutorial: Basic Path or Stroke Vector Graphic Animation

Words can become more expressive in motion, so it's worth learning letter and font animation. This is one of Holke 79 (@ holke79)’s specialties. His tutorial teaches you to breathe new life into words using simple vector strokes.

It also includes the necessary presets for publishing your files on your Instagram feed, arguably every brand’s favorite social platform.

Pyxel Edit Tutorial: How to Create an Idle Animation

If you're a gamer, you probably know what an idle animation is, even if you've never heard of the term. This concept is used to define the moment when a character in a video game is waiting for the player to act.

For art director Daniel Benítez (@dabntz), this phase is one of the most critical moments of a video game, as it spurs the user to make a move. In this tutorial, Daniel will teach you to make an idle animation with Pyxel Edit, a software specialized in creating pixel art. You will also learn to animate weapons for your characters to use in their adventures.

Adobe After Effects Tutorial: How to Animate Your Fonts

The world of animated fonts allows you to create texts that come to life and jump out at your audience. These words are full of character and style. You can also come up with digital compositions that reflect the spirit of a brand.

Adobe After Effects is one of the most-popular 3D animation, motion graphics and post-production packages on the market. In this tutorial, Érico Santana (@erico_santana) teaches you the steps you need to use Adobe After Effects to create professional animated fonts.

Isn't learning animation easier than it seems? If you have been wanting to develop your animation or motion design skills further, check out any of our specialized online courses.

English version by @acesarato.

You may also like:

- 12 Basic Principles of Animation
- What Is Blocking in Animation and Why Is It So Important?
- From Mario’s Mustache to the Very First Easter Egg: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Video Games

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