I bought TVpaint 11 Professional edition and am transitioning over into using that for my animations. I still have a long way to go to before I feel confident in this program, but I definitely see how it speeds up colouring heaps. I always want to preach about how much bravery it takes for anyone to attempt animation. Especially doing full hand-drawn where every decision for every micro-movement has a consequence as it flows into another.
It's one thing to be an animation fan, or maybe dabble in copying drawings of characters, but it's a whole different level of intensity to to put in the hours of trying to create a performance out of nothing. You can put labels on whether something is 'limited' or 'full' animation, but I always aim to better understand movement, acting, the constraints of a character design... it is absolutely infinite. How can you not get addicted to an art form that has a power to entertain and transmit emotions to whoever is watching?
One of the things I learnt about yoga philosophy is how doing things that 'create fire' are the things that are so good for you in order to grow, this means things that aren't in your comfort zone. This absolutely is animation for me. My philosophy on art has expanded the more Iv'e learnt about Yoga philosophy and apply it in the (gruelling yet enjoyable) classes and in daily life. I am not specifically an intellectual person. Instead art for me is an expression of love, love of spontaneous, subconscious movement, like a change that is part of nature. In short, wanting to communicate some sort of energy; emotional and/or physical, is important to me. You can read any animation book to hear about drawing principles, but feeling the joy of movement is special.
Attending well past 100 Vinyasa classes since being back in Adelaide a year has had it's affect on me. I may sound loopy, however I have actually always been like this, only I just found a 2500+ year old philosophy to back up my beliefs. Bye for now!