Top 15 Animation Books E-book, PDF for Beginners

The Animator’s Survival Kit PDF E-book

If there’s one book that every animator should own, everyone would agree with The Animator’s Survival Kit.

It's mainly illustrations, the best learning tool for this subject. You can learn about all basic principles of animation like timing, spacing, weight, posing, and acting. No matter whether you're a beginner or an expert, don't miss this book.

Sketching for Animation PDF E-book

It's a nice book with lots of ideas and quick tips on sketching. Over 350 pages, you’ll learn exercises and tips to apply to your sketching workflow. The author Peter Parr has numerous examples from his animation classes that can give you insight into your design work. The subjects discussed are using shapes, perspective, drawing figures, landscapes, capturing movement, developing ideas, characters, layout, and composition.

How to Make Animated Films PDF E-book

If you want to know how to make movies from start to end till their distribution, How to Make Animated Films is the book you're looking for. The author Tony White has decades of experience working in the animation industry, he offers all sorts of tips and guidelines about what to concentrate on and what to avoid. The best about this book is that it comes with lots of free samples and DVDs, you can watch him draw and replicate on your own.

Cartoon Animation PDF E-book

Originally released in 1994, Cartoon Animation is an old but extremely valuable guide for creating cartoon-style animators. It's a book that had been used by animation students for decades. Preston Blair is one of those people that everyone knows without realizing that they know. He worked under Disney and MGM, having created some of the most memorable cartoons of all time.

You’ll learn five areas in his book, character development, character movement, animation, dialogue, and technical topics as camera synchronization and sound. It's also good to learn animal animation from this book since it shows many examples of animating different types of cartoon animals in detail.

Timing for Animation PDF E-book

Timing for Animation has remained a classic book for every animator since it was first published in 1981. The principles that it lists are still as relevant today as they were when it was first published. As the title states, timing is important. The 184-page book breaks down the general principles of timing into six different sections that show you how to properly frame your animations.

The second edition includes timing for digital production, digital storyboarding in 2D & 3D, and even the use of After Effects as well.

The Fundamentals of Animation PDF E-book

Packed with examples from classic and contemporary films, The Fundamentals of Animation presents each stage of the animation production process in an engaging visual style, whilst providing an historical and critical context for four core disciplines: drawn/cel; 2D/3D stop-motion; computer generated; and experimental animation.

With insightful commentary from leading animators, Wells and Moore also introduce you to the many different career paths open to aspiring animators, from storyboard artist or character designer to VFX artist or writer and director. They also provide you with key tips on producing engaging portfolios and show reels.

The Animator Sketchbook PDF E-book

The Animator’s Sketchbook will teach students of animation how to improve their work through observation and drawing. It will show readers how to access their inner "animator." With over 60 different gesture and drawing exercises, this book enhances vision, analysis, understanding, and the core skills required to become a master animator. Filled with extensive practice pages, Tony White’s Sketchbook, invites students to demonstrate what they learn. Each exercise is timed, so that the skills acquired, are optimized for efficiency and comprehension. The style and technique of the art produced will be entirely up to the reader, thus making no two sketchbooks alike.

Animators Notebook PDF E-book

Apprentice yourself to a master of classical animation techniques with this beautiful handbook of insider tips and techniques. Apply age-old techniques to create flawless animations, whether you're working with pencil and animation paper or a 3D application. Author Tony White starts with the basics, and expands his discussion to more advanced topics, like how to animate quadrupeds, working with fluidity and flexibility, and dialogue. White brings years of production experience and even more time as an instructor to the book, ensuring that The Animator's Notebook will serve well as your mentor in a book.

Animated Performance Bringing Imaginary PDF E-book

Animated Performance shows how a character can seemingly 'come to life' when their movements reflect the emotional or narrative context of their situation: when they start to 'perform'.

The many tips, examples and exercises from a veteran of the animation industry will help readers harness the flexibility of animation to portray a limitless variety of characters and ensure that no two performances are ever alike. More than 300 color illustrations demonstrate how animal and fantasy characters can live and move without losing their non-human qualities and interviews with Disney animators Art Babbitt, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Ellen Woodbury make this a unique insight into bringing a whole world of characters to life.

Simplified Drawing for Planning Animation PDF E-book

Simplified Drawing for Planning Animation is packed with information about drawing the human form in a simplified way, for animators, illustrators, character designers and comic artists. It emphasizes simplified structure, balance and posing with sequential images. This book is used by animators at ILM, Walt Disney, Blue Sky, EA and many more. It has been required text at animation schools since 1999. This is an updated version with more character design information and animated examples from planning notes. It is a must-have book for animators and artists in all fields, perfect for experienced artists and beginners.

Character Animation Crash Course PDF E-book

Character Animation Crash Course! is a veritable Genie's lamp stuffed with everything the aspiring animator could wish for! Renowned animator Eric Goldberg's detailed text and drawings illuminate how to conceive characters "from the inside out" to create strong personalities. Classic animation techniques are analyzed and brought to life through this unique book that offers readers animated movie examples that show, in real time or frame-by-frame, the author's principles at work. Add to this Goldberg's discussions of classic cartoons and his witty, informative observations based on the wealth of knowledge he's gained during his 30-plus years in professional animation, and you have a tour-de-force guide to character animation with the classic touch.

Animation from Pencils to Pixels PDF E-book

Award-winning animator Tony White brings you the ultimate book for digital animation. Here you will find the classic knowledge of many legendary techniques revealed, paired with information relevant to today's capable, state-of-the-art technologies.

White leaves nothing out. What contemporary digital animators most need to know can be found between this book's covers - from conceptions to creation and through the many stages of the production pipeline to distribution. This book is intended to serve as your one-stop how-to animation guide. Whether you're new to animation or a very experienced digital animator, here you'll find fundamentals, key classical techniques, and professional advice that will strengthen your work and well-roundedness as an animator.

Animation Mechanics Motion PDF E-book

Learn the key skills you need with this practical and inspirational guide to all the fundamental principles of animation. With extended pieces on timing, acting and technical aspects, Chris Webster has created the vital learning tool to help you get the most out of your animation and develop the practical skills needed by both professionals and serious students alike.

The free CD-ROM includes more than 30 animations illustrating the techniques described throughout the book as well as examples of a professional Production Schedule, Budget and Production Chart - everything you need to get started!

Action Analysis for Animators PDF E-book

Action Analysis is one of the fundamental princples of animation that underpins all types of animation: 2d, 3d, computer animation, stop motion, etc. This is a fundamental skill that all animators need to create polished, believable animation. An example of Action Analysis would be Shrek's swagger in the film, Shrek. The animators clearly understood (through action analysis) the type of walk achieved by a large and heavy individual (the real) and then applied their observations to the animated character of an ogre (the fantastic). It is action analysis that enabled the animation team to visually translate a real life situation into an ogre's walk, achieving such fantastic results.

Physics for Animator PDF E-book

Achieving believable motion in animation requires an understanding of physics that most of us missed out on in art school. Although animators often break the laws of physics for comedic or dramatic effect, you need to know which laws you’re breaking in order to make it work. And while large studios might be able to spend a lot of time and money testing different approaches or hiring a physics consultant, smaller studios and independent animators have no such luxury. This book takes the mystery out of physics tasks like character motion, light and shadow placement, explosions, ocean movement, and outer space scenes, making it easy to apply realistic physics to your work.

Buy all the books once and read them as e-book pdf and print if you.

Good Luck!