John Pomeroy has been posting some outstanding and very useful videos lately. While this whole video should be seen and enjoyed I want to highlight one area of the video as it contribtutes to a long observed and criticized process of animators reusing animation from previous films. In this section John not only fills in some important back story on shots often mentioned but also specifically details where he used the process and ratifies some previous thoughts on not just who the primary reuser of animation was in those days but reveals more of the process of traditional animation itself. (In short, artists use reference in many different ways).

It should be noted here that one reason animators of old were more likely to more closely follow reference from previous movies is that the audience weren’t going to be freeze framing and doing comparisons as we can so easily do today. It made very good sense to proceed as they did although unless specifically paying homage we’d almost always want to be more careful in how we use reference today. Use reference as the starting place but then really plus it up and make it your own. And yes, this applies to use of ai as well.

So once again it bears repeating: don’t be a newbie. Use reference.

Even better, use reference wisely.

Regarding John Pomeroy’s videos: Not only should you check this video out (in its entirety) but consider also joining his online community and workshops. Can’t afford to join or attend? Explore the near endless free resources John (and others) have posted online.

Links: https://www.youtube.com/@pomeroyartacademy

https://www.pomeroyartacademy.com/

Tell John that Rodney sent you. 🙂