Five Common Mistakes Made by Junior Animators, and How to Fix Them: 5 Nov 2025

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Leopard leap with live action reference by Daniel Amor

Below are five common mistakes beginner animators often make – and how to fix them.  Learning animation is an exciting journey – but it can also feel overwhelming.

Beginners often run into the same issues. But the good news is this: once you know what to look for, you can fix errors quickly.  Below are five of the most common mistakes new animators make – and how to fix them.

1. Starting Without Reference
Kiwi animation with live action reference by Oliver Canovas

The mistake: Animating from imagination, guessing how something moves.

Why it matters: Experienced animators use reference (though not all like to admit it!) Without good reference, your animation is likely to feel inauthentic.
How to fix it:
Film or find reference for every shot. Study it, break it down frame-by-frame, and identify the key poses and timing before animating. To see how to use live action reference for animation see this blog post.
2. Too Many Keyframes
The mistake: Keying every frame, making the motion over-complicated and hard to control.
Why it matters: More keys don’t mean better animation. Keep your keyframes to a minimum. To see how to keep your animation curves clean, read this blog post.
How to fix it:
Blocking on Stepped Curves by Mark Masters

Start with as few keys as possible. Block your main poses on stepped keys, then add breakdowns, then polish. Build complexity only when the core is working.

3. Forgetting About Weight and Physics
The mistake: Characters feel light, floaty, or disconnected from the ground.
Why it matters: Weight is what makes animation believable. Without weight, even great posing falls flat.
How to fix it:
Focus on contact, settle, and follow-through. Pay attention to hips, centre of gravity, and how force transfers through the body on impact. In animation, everything comes from the core.
4. Weak Posing and Silhouettes
Strong poses with “Morpheus” by Rich Jeffery

The mistake: Characters pose well from one angle, but the idea isn’t clear in motion or staging feels messy.

Why it matters: Animation is visual storytelling – if the audience can’t read it quickly, they disconnect.
How to fix it:
Check your silhouettes. Use clear, strong poses that communicate an idea instantly. If you squint your eyes and still understand the pose – you know it works.
5. Polishing Too Early (or Not at All)
The mistake: Either jumping straight to polishing before the animation works, or never polishing enough to make it shine.
Why it matters: Rushing ruins the foundation; ignoring polish leaves shots looking unfinished.
How to fix it:

Follow a workflow: Plan → Block → Spline → Polish. Don’t spline until your blocking is solid. Once splined, spend real time refining arcs, spacing, eye darts, fingers, and details. Generally, animators work in Stepped Curves, and stay there as long as possible.

Final Thought
Animation is a craft that improves with practice, patience, and good habits. If you use reference, block smartly, focus on weight, make clear poses, and polish with intention, your work will shine.

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