Endless Reference


I have used live action reference many times on many films, especially movies with human characters, such as The Road to El Dorado and Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron, and especially on action shots where the motion was complex and hard to get right.


Andy Serkis and Gollum. 
Shooting live action reference for your animation isn't cheating - it's a legitimate way to capture a great performance. Animators do it all the time, filming themselves or others getting into the role.  You'll see it done all the time in documentaries about the making of animated films.

Using live action reference is something we get all our students to do at Animation Apprentice. Obviously, the trick is to take the live action and use it to inspire and inform the animation - but without being a slave to it. In the end, the animator's performance must be more interesting and entertaining to watch than the original live action was - else why bother to do it?



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