: Re: I have no artistic skill, but I want to write for animated shows/movies See title. I love writing stories, but I usually imagine how they are like in show/movie form, specifically 3d animated

@Jessie137

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Unity3D is free. Adobe Fuse is free. Below is a framegrab from an animation I made using both. Quality 3D software is just a download away. The only limit is time, and the ongoing effort to keep pushing yourself. It is certainly possible to learn, and in time finish your own projects.

Unity is now marketing their program as a "studio-quality animation tool" with a recent tie-in with a Disney production studio. While it's not all lollipops and rainbows, it's a good time to start as game engines adapt to a new market of fast video production. The tools are getting better, as the game engines are filling in a new niche.

If you want to stay in linear video, YouTube's currently-favored format is weekly, short videos – 6-7 minutes each. With 1000 subscribers they let you monetize. I follow a few animated vlogs like Overly Sarcastic Productions (check it out, they cover writing and history and mythology).

Of course if you have a great deal of money you can hire artists to animate your scripts. You can self-fund a short film and shop it to film festivals. I honestly don't see how you would get hired to direct without a showreel that proves you can handle production – the artwork is secondary if you are not the artist. An animation school will help you create a production reel, and teach skills for a fee – however with the pace of evolution in software, a film school will be years behind the leading edge.

This year I'm learning to add open source storyengines like Twine, ChoiceScript, and Ink (all have Unity plugins that are free). Since a fully animated story is labor intensive, I'm pushing to complete an interactive visual novel. It's more or less the same 3D skills, and it's all my art and story. I need a bit more programming and to learn app-publishing before I am done. I could publish for free now online. but yes, this is doable. You can animate your own stories, with options for presentation and interactivity

I won't pretend you can produce great animation for free, not without putting in some investment in 3rd-party software and art assets. You also have an idea how long it takes to get proficient with 3D software - 2 years is a common timeframe mentioned on the Unity forums, my 3rd year was when I started to be happy with my art quality.

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