Should I get a graphics tablet for animation?

I want to buy a graphics tablet so I can animate videos for school and maybe a youtube channel if I am good at it. I don't want to spend over $150 and I just want one that would work. (Also, if someone could direct me to a good tutorial on using them or recommend a program, that would be great)

Answer

For animation I think you'll be stronger at it if you get a tablet and learn some of the fundamentals even if you then move on to rigging and motion tweens.

Also if you want to illustrate and color characters and backgrounds for these animations it can be incredibly useful.

Here are some very good tutorials particularly Photoshop Animation Series (part 1 of 4).

Wacom, the top manufacturer of tablets, has some very good content as well in their Wacom Community. They cover a lot of different uses and software applications.

Should also get the book Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life.

For a complete "tool" roadmap I'd suggest:

• Wacom Intuous Draw ($90)


• Adobe Photoshop CC ($10/mo for students)


• AnimDessin2 [discussed in the Photoshop animation series] ($0 free)



• Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life (~$30)

And then the one other thing that hasn't been mentioned is a smoothing application. See this Answer for your options. None are expensive but it depends if you're on Mac or Windows.