Can animation ever be considered a craft?

>Give it two more generations and traditional animation will be an extinct art form.
In America. Also, you can just learn animation on your own.

You need to be a genius to be on Baxter's level by learning entirely by yourself

If Baxter is an elite animator then in any case there would be few people who could rise to his level, and I think today there's so many resources available that you don't need a school or mentor.

If only :(

All of the Newgrounds animators were self-taught. They have not improved by any metric since 2005.

If you're trying to teach yourself how to become a newgrounds or youtube flash animator then that's just what you are going to become.

Because animation IS easy.

Good animation however, is hard and not something some people want to take the time to do.

Why not?

>Why not?

No immediate profit center. All the major studios are in California, in places like LA, which cost of living is astronomical. Those positions are jealously guarded and getting hired is based more on who you know rather than what you know. If you're a nobody, you can't afford to live in LA long enough to land a solid job as an animator.

And you have no profitable options as an indie animator, either. YouTube changed its algorithm so you cannot possibly earn a living through ad revenue. You can have a dayjob and animate on the side, but since animation is so tremendously time consuming, you'd never be able to produce enough content to make any of it worthwhile.

So that's why there is next to no motivation for people to learn the craft of animation and become proficient at it.

Why aren't there jobs besides LA?

Some are starting to popup in Texas. Castlevania was animated there.

I think the issue is that all the existing infrastructure to run a profitable animation studio is clustered entirely in LA and trying to start a studio up elsewhere from the ground up is too costly and difficult. It isn't just about getting animators, but you also have to set up contacts with the South Koreans studios who are going to do the bulk of the actual animation for you and you pretty much have to be an established studio to get that set up.

Partially animated there. Most of the animator credits are Koreans.

>Good animation however, is hard and not something some people want to take the time to do.

True, though I love to take my time when I animate. Animating is like a weird hobby of mine, I gain nothing from it but it's fun to do. Thank god I have patience.

>Castlevania was animated there.
A little bit. It was mostly Korea as usual.

Attached: Untitled.jpg (373x288, 63K)

There were more korean animators and more korean animation, but the Americans did all the important animation, just like my japanese animes

Can't you freelance?

In anime, it's the in-betweening that gets partially outsourced. Not most of the key animation.

Most people do.

There are a lot of freelance animators in Canada, but Canada has a much larger animation industry (in terms of actual animation, not just pre production and then outsourcing to Korea). And the only reason Canada has an animation industry is because their animation studios are all government subsidized.

>Why do people assume its easy?
Because the mediocre schlock that passes for animation these days makes it seem like animation isn't something that actually requires effort.

yes, but freelancing is iffy. Sometimes one client will pay you enough to not work for three months, then you won't have clients in months. Its very unreliable income unless you already have a list of contacts that can hire you.

Because the animators who are good are TOO good. People like James Baxter and Milt Kahl are able to move things so naturally and draw things so solidly and consistently that the animation doesn't FEEL animated to anyone who doesn't know how animation works.

>And the only reason Canada has an animation industry is because their animation studios are all government subsidized.
>Socialist animation industry

That explains why Canadian cartoons fucking suck and look awful.

>implying
Art can only ever truly prosper for any extended period when it's funded by either a governing body or an organization that's functionally similar like the church. Good art is simply too time consuming to produce enough of to make a profit or even in many cases a living off of

That's why Renascence era art was so good by the way. It had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with funding

Yes, but the Canadian government isn't funding Fantasia-quality animation as an artform. They're funding shit like Johnny Test, Almost Naked Animals, Total Drama and Scaredy Squirrel.

TV animation sucks sure, but Canada's put out some of the greatest animated shorts in the history of the medium

This. The government subsidy of the animation arts industry in Canada was originally to promote and encourage the development of animation in Canada. The National Film Board of Canada produced a ton of amazing animated shorts (if you're an oldfag, you probably saw them on Oh Canada). But this was back when the means to produce cartoons in the analog age was still very expensive.

Flash animation, Toon Boom and other digital programs making the production of animation extremely cheap and affordable is what killed the Canadian animation industry and led to studios realizing that the more trash they produce, the more government gibs they can get.

Don't forget Travis Knight, Richard Williams, and All of the nine old men

youtu.be/p1S5pAF1YYA

>Give it two more generations and traditional animation will be an extinct art form.
Not if Sergio Pablos has anything to do with it

Attached: Klaus (Netflix).jpg (910x487, 82K)

>Sergio Pablos
who

whats the point of animating if you gain nothing from it?

whats the point of jerking off if you gain nothing from it?

him.
thespastudios.com/

Attached: The Wire - The Hunt (S01E11).gif (334x251, 3.98M)

most of that is 3D animation

but check what he has done in those 3d movies: most of it was concept design and if you filter by animation, there are more 2d movies than 3d.

It's also in Madrid

...and that matters because? the dude is rolling in minions' money. He can put his studio wherever he pleases.

youtube.com/watch?v=4RVaJSZ5XG8

I love how Sergio had to explicitly state that he's "not to blame for the Minions." Dude's all right. I've got high hopes for his Netflix film.

Attached: Sergio Pablos's 'Evil Me' concept art.jpg (1600x1238, 280K)

>that you don't need a school or mentor.
In order to rise to the status of master, you WILL need another master to train you. There are very few types of people in this world who can rise to the level of genius/master entirely on their own just by studying and practicing. At a certain point, you will need a fresh set of eyes to critique your work or help you see outside the box that you would have never considered otherwise.

>Can animation ever be considered a craft?
it is
>Why do people assume its easy?
they dont

>who you know
So basically it’s like every single industry? Even in the animation industry it seems that a large majority of the work force have some years of experience.