How long does it take to make a 30 seconds animation?

Answer 1

30 seconds ------------------------- The first person to answer this doesn't know (obviously). It depends what type of animation (for example traditional animation, stop motion animation) and how fluent you want an animation to be. Also, you haven't defined what "how long it takes" means. A standard animation for a movie would take probably take approximately 360 frames. People also usually storyboard these animations first. I got 360 frames because 12 is the approximate standard form animating a movie. So 12 x 30 = 360.

Each frame takes time to draw, let alone the characters. So it would depend on how long it takes to draw a character and how long you would spend on the background.

But really, there are too many variables to actually state how long it takes for a thirty second animation to be made. -------------------------- Actually, for a stop motion animation, the standard fps setting is 24 fps for movies. A lot of hobby animators use 30 for a smoother animation, but convert it to 24 fps if it'll go onto a DVD. Only beginners should use 12 (if not even 15), but it should only be used to get used to the animations, and move up to 24 before making an actual video.

Since it takes 24 frames to do one second: 24*30=720. So it'll take 720 frames for a quality video. I would only recommend making tests if you want to use 12 fps, not a video though. You can time yourself and see how long it takes you to animate each frame, but if you run on a very rough estimate about 5-10 seconds a frame: 720*5=3600, 3600/60=60; 720*10=7200, 7200/60=120. So if it takes you 5-10 seconds to shoot a frame, that'll be about one to two hours of animating. But again, you have to time yourself and judge how fast you animate.

Take your time! This is an art of patience. If you think 7200 frames is bad, just think about the Nightmare Before Christmas! It's about 76 minutes long, at 24 fps, that equals out to about 109,440! To that number, 720 frames is pocket change, in a way of speaking. But just take your time, do the best you can, and don't get discouraged!

Answer 2

Depending on the detail, deadline, size of staff and a couple of other factors, it can take about a month and a half to maybe 3 months. Walt Disney averages 18 frames per second, which is 32400 frames for half an hour. To have a cartoon complete (rights, distribution...) it can take, I'd say, an extra 2-3 months (at max). So for everything, it should be no longer than 6 months.