Animation Is Hard

Episode 8: Burnout

The podcast returns after a long absence! Mike and Matthew devote this episode to the complex problem of burnout: how to recognize it, how to deal with it, and how to hel

Episode 7: Stepping Up Your Game

Animator Guen Goik chats with Mike and Matthew about how to continue improving yourself as an animator once you're out of school, so you can get better animation jobs. It

Episode 6: Sacrifices

This week's episode goes to some dark places. Many personal sacrifices are required when committing yourself to a major creative project. All that time and energy has to

Episode 5: Making It as a Freelance Animator

This week, Mike and Matthew chat with freelancer Kyle Bernard about his experiences as a working animator. Along the way, they learn about the importance of networking an

Episode 4: The Pipeline

This week's episode is all about the technical aspects of making your own animated short: asset management, naming conventions, file versioning software. Sounds boring, r

Episode 3: Team-building

Mike and Matthew go deep into the world of freelancers: where to find them, how to negotiate with them, and how to make sure everyone ends up happy. They also cover copyr

Episode 2: The Inverted Pyramid

Mike and Matthew talk about the importance of working out your creative decisions early, during the scriptwriting and storyboarding stage, and how these decisions filter

Episode 1: Why Animation Is Hard

Mike and Matthew introduce the show and tackle some of the reasons why animation can be so challenging: story problems, budgetary constraints, unrealistic ambitions, limi