learn This Before You Animate A Crowd
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- Ever wondered how crowds of people are animated? Here are some tips on how to animate complex 2d crowds in a manageable way!
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Because some of you asked to see them...
Here is where you can see Str8 Outta Mumbai: vimeo.com/265896036
Here is where you can see Goliath: www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/698517
Please keep in mind that Goliath was made quite a long time ago when I was less experienced and there are a lot of things I would change about it now. Str8 Outta Mumbai was extremely rushed because of deadlines, so I don't talk about these films often on the channel
I like how this video was like
How to animate crowds.
Step 1: Don't animate crowds.
It's true tho...
But wasnt he like learn about crowds before thinking of animating crowds?
@MageBurger crowds are known to bustle though. i probably won't appear natural.
21:56 well this is studio ghibli they care about anything even for background character 😆
DUDE I LITERALLY JUST LIKE HEY HOWARD DIDNT UPLOAD IN A WHILE LETS GO CHECK HIM OUT AND U UPLOADED THIS 6 MINUTES AGO WOW IM A GENIUS
we are telepathically connected :D
Of course the try-hard version is done by Studio Ghibli. They're the closest thing to Gods that us animators have. XD
They're like the J. R. R. Tolkien of animation.
Bro I remember watching my neibour totoro on a discord voice channel where they display the video and I was so impressed when they animated every single person in the school
Thanks for the tips! I love watching your videos and it gives me insight of what to expect when animation and someday I also want to make my own animations. Your animations themselves inspire me. Thanks man! :3
안녕하세요. 😁
Hello. I'm from Korea. I'm a high school student and I really love to watch animations and also create them. I've tried to make my animation but it's not that easy..😂
I don't have time enough to make animation cuz of school works.. Sometimes it occurs to me that I can't be an animator cuz I do almost nothing for it lately.
But I really love to watch your videos, going to school, having a meal, whenever. Your videos are my mentor. Yours help me a lot! Thank you so much!
감사합니다! 💓
Wow! You're not alone bruv. If you love making animation, you will be an animator and nothing will stop you. 😉
this comment is everything that i feel as well. this is now one of my favorite channels!
good english
I've just found your channel, and every single one of your videos that I've watched so far has taught me something so genuinely useful! I have a fairly large-scale independent animation project that I'm in the preliminary stages of planning for, and your videos really help me feel like it's an attainable goal. Thank you!
You've no idea how much you've helped me dude, thanks a bunch.
Ahh thanks man. You didn’t have to make me a birthday present.
Happy birthday 🎉🎂!!!
Happy birthday!!
eyyy happy birthday!
Thanks guys
Happy Birthday
I think isometric perspective in 2d animation always looks really cheap and lifeless, as a throw away passing shot. Sure, it'll get the job done. But I'd honestly just prefer a well rendered still with maybe a few frames of movement and immersive audio. I think what matters most is shot composition. And you simply do not get good shot composition with isometric perspective. Humans don't see the world that way, so it makes it come across as fake at a glance, which is the last thing you want.
Honestly, I think the only cheaper way of doing crowds well is the stylistic approach like with the rats. I'd even say just a general block form with hints of detail for a background crowd would be acceptable aslong as the shot composition is on point. Play with perspectives and angles. If you present your stuff in an interesting way, with a lot of intrigue and detail in the background, people won't be looking at the guy doing a wobble tween or the same recoloured dude with an umbrella. They'll be trying to read what that upside down sign said or how that one straight plane somehow manages to be at 3 different angles in one shot.
Dead Leaves does all of that brilliantly, certainly on a budget too.
Preferences I guess.
I wasn't planning to animate a crowd, and I don't even animate...
but still TH-cam suggested me, and I clicked anyway
The wind rises is one of my favorite Japanese films! The animation is top notch!
Ernest and celestine omfg i love that movie 😭
I would say with that first row of Stormtroopers, you'd want to draw each one separately as their perspective changes when they move further out of frame (look at the direction of their feet, for instance). Once that first row is finished, you can copy/paste that first row into second, third, fourth rows, getting smaller the further out they go, just make sure each trooper lines up.
Look how anime does crowds. They're usually baked into the background with audio that sounds like activity is going on.
It's always disorienting.
I’m a new animator, I’m learning so much from you.
*Studio Ghibli: Am I A Joke To You!?!?!*
PERCYBIBOL10 😂🤣😂
This channel is one of the MOST AMAZING CHANNELS IN MY LIST
I love your work i love you art style you are so professional
Although my animation is not the most consistent ever and not what i am hoping for nor aiming to be ended up with; but your channel gets me VERY EXCITED AND GIVES ME ALL THE MOTIVATION I NEED TO KEEP GOING!
You really help me grow on animating
I see progression
Thank you so much~😊❤
Awesome Timing as always. Thanks M8
How to animate crowds:
1. Don’t animate crowds
Oh ok then
This was really helpful -- your Mumbai scene in particular fooled me completely! BTW a good example of "crowd control" is Ninja Scroll, and the final sequence: as hundreds of ninja(s?) load the ship it is just two animations going in different directions. Same with the battle. And when (spoiler alert) the ship catches fire, all we hear are ninja(s?) shouting "abandon ship! and "fire!".
hahaaa glad my Mumbai scene fooled you! I will check out that Ninja Scroll scene, thanks!
Oh, another thing is to use effects to mask-out some of the crowds... Like, a year or so ago I had to help my cousin with a big warriors type of face-off that we had to complete in a really limited time, so we used stuff like explosions, smoke and debris to cover some of the crowds to make it easier to focus on the main characters fight than side ones...
Thank you for the tips!!
Shoot I am working on a project about the vagueness of living in crowds
The crowds are literally the main feature
Welp
Hey! I’ve been in the animators guild discord for a while, just watching tbh! Are you in change of the server? I’ve found it really helpful and it’s really cool that I can see other peoples art and animation, learn from it and get inspired. It’s just super cool and I just wanted you to know that! Ok byeee!
Hey thanks! Yeah I founded it and initially it was just me running it, but now it kinda runs itself and there are two moderators who do a great job of organizing activities on there. I use it every day and post things on there too but it can be distracting when I am making videos so I need to keep it closed most of the time :)
There is some good advices to cheat with crowd animation, and I understand the purpose of your tutorial as the major part of us doesn't have the ressources to do pro movies. But, your in fact teaching how to avoid to animate crowd. I expected more technical advices about how to deal with group of characters moving all together on set. But it was an interesting tuto.
Thanks for the feedback. I think you're right.. It is more about how to get away with animating a crowd and not to have it consume your whole life. Maybe I'll make a part 2 with advice on character interaction. I can think of quite a few things I would say about that. Thanks for the suggestion!
Thanks you this video is awesome
Hello...
I do love paintings and drawings but never showed huge interest on them.
But now with this freaky mindset i have just started to look ahead in field(animation)...
But the big problem is , i have very little or just zero formal training/knowledge in drawing and paintings...i have just realised its importence but its very late for me since i'm 17.
Would i be able to get this , i mean is it possible if i start now..
For me its like" start from scratch"
Btw , sorry for my bad english...
Dude 17 is YOUNG!
if you are able to be disciplined about it, you can quickly surpass anyone who started younger than you.
Just give it a go, at first do it just for fun, and then later on you can decide if you want to devote yourself to it. Don't make that decision before you have started making stuff
Hey dude please can you post your goliath and that Mumbai film you showed clips which is making me so curious to see it
Please!
Wow! This is awesome! I actually wanted to animate a crowd.. It was too much... Then I got lazy.. Then I watched this video. 😂😂😂😂
Amen to this.
Hi! I'm new to animate. I actually have animated a loop of sort with my phone. I hope I can upgrade eventually 😅 both skills and instruments
Hey Howard, Have you seen "Horus Prince of the Sun"? It shows the crowd scenes done in the Pokémon technique.
0:34 all I heard was the windows error sound on high
A bit off topic, but what screen recorder do you use?
There are time saving when doing animation. For example when a manga character is dialoguing it's the mouth is animated at most time. Not along with the jaw.
What kind of software you used for making 2d animation
From what ive seen he used animate cc, but i heard he use tv paint too :)
For th first time I’m early on a video
Before i watch the video...I need help! I search a certain sakuga animation video! It's a very dynamic animation, you can see a priest, holding a cross, the video is black white... any ideas??
yep it is probably the opening credits to Castlevania. I might even take it a step further and suggest that it might have been animated by Spencer Wan :)
@@HowardWimshurst YEEES !! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
This applies to CG as well
I much rather animate it using 3d assets and mocap using clever techniques such as toon shading than doing hand by hand
Hey, I have Toon Boom Studio Harmony Essential; but I'm not sure where to begin when I first start animating. I've been watching your videos throughout a course of time but I've been struggling actually starting out (beginning with which part of the character to draw into the stage to start animating with). Any words of encouragement, or any tips in order to counter this? I've been really passionate about animation for such a long time, and I'm hoping I can begin animating as soon as possible. I just need to umm.. eliminate this fear that I have.
Howard have you heard of Dreams for PS4? If not it's a game that is also a development tool, and I'm sure when you see it you'd be interested in trying it out.
Howard. I wanna watch the Goliath animation... Please
YES
Senpie finally noticed me
What software are you using?
Every animator animating a zombie infection film be like:
Is there any better way to find my own art style? I keep practice but still can't find it ,any suggestions?
It finds you. Just keep working
Nice.
Sometimes people animate a big Silhouette blob
they are ways in the future to animate crowd with neuronet mb
can't wait!
The crowd of animals at 17:12 really bothers me and gives me trypophobia
There is simple way is to use 3D. The only limitation is your computing power.
How to animate a crowd - don't animate a crowd. Genius
*COPY & PASTE WILL BE SOMETHING USEFUL 😃🤪*
Another good idea is to use CGI even if the animation is 2D, studios like Ufotable use CGI for big crowds and far ones, especially if it's a quick cut that most people won't pay that much attention to, but it'll be easier to do if the whole show was actually 3D so the CGI will blend better, and it will be a lot easier to actually apply step 2 and 4 :)
Welp. I guess this is my life now.
Hello how are you, I would like to offer to be my partner in a project
Monogatari series has no crowd at all