Animation is fast becoming one of the largest industries around the world. You see more and more feature films being released to the cinemas and entire channels are even dedicated to showing cartoons 24 hours a day. Of course, this opens possibilities for many budding animators. And if you happen to be one of those people with ideas and you want to animate them, here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.

• Learn to draw – Drawing is a big part of animation. Of course, you don't need to be a total expert and it's a small part of animation especially if you are going to start animating digitally using a computer. But the fact remains that any good idea starts with a storyboard and a storyboard needs to have some kind of visual direction. Knowing how to draw or sketch is essential and if you don't know how to do freehand, it's time you started to learn how to.

• Learn the technology – Animation is fast-paced and these days there is hardly any room for so-called “in-betweeners” to fill in all the gaps between two actions. The reason for this is because software technologies have now made it easier for animators to actually make cartoons move. And this is where you need to stay sharp. Learn all about the different technologies used in animating objects and learn how to use them. Even the simple software should be something you can look into. Some basic software may include Photoshop and Adobe Flash.

• Learn the basics – Of course, the running force behind all animation is its theory. You need to study the theories behind certain styles of animation like CGI or Stop-motion. Only then will you understand more how the software is developed because they are developed around these theories.

• Draw your ideas – It's always good to have a sketchpad or notebook in handy when you come up with ideas that you would like to animate. Once you have an idea, scribble it down and try to draw a sequence that you have imagined in your head. Later on, you can work on this sequence on a computer or whatever medium it is that you have chosen. With the base idea in your pad or notebook you can improve it from there.

• Be consistent – When creating characters for your animation shorts, make sure that you are consistent. This means that the proportions of your characters should be the same with each frame that you create. This also means that the character you create must stay in character. You can't have a character represent one thing and then an entirely different idea in the next. Be consistent with your character creation so that your audience will be able to relate with your characters easier.

• Push it – Of course, once your idea is out, you have to fight for it. Animation is very competitive and you will see many great things being offered to the world. But as long as you believe in your idea and know that it will be something loved by viewers then you should never give up and continue animating.