How do you deal with technical issues during your computer animation process?

Save iterations often. Label your work when you hit major milestones. If you find hours have gone by without remembering to save, check your preferences, some programs and add on's offer auto save options.

Don't be mad if your software or computer crash. Your negativity is as contagious as your positivity. Keep in mind that the work you have lost will be redone twice as fast and you will somehow manage to make it look even better most of the time.

I have made it a habit to hit ctrl+s often thus saving my progress in small increments. Once I am satisfied with a pose I'll save up an iteration. I use this method as I build up my animation. For example, It is not unusual to end up with 15-20 iterations for a walk or run cycle. Thus I have access to previous stages that aren't too far apart if something should go wrong with my current/latest iteration

Throughout the animation process I continually mirror the images, slow the the fps and other tricks to get a fresh perspective of what I'm working on. Mirroring the images is a great way quickly see how to push poses. And even in the polish phase I'll speed up the frame rate to see where the potential might be in the shot to add more energy. Slowing down fps is great for working out hiccups or mechanical issues

Watching the animation in a software viewport is never enough as it only runs as fast and smooth as the hardware allows. Capturing the viewport as an mp4 is a good way to be able to watch the animation at its full speed and smoothness. Most importantly they only take a few seconds or minutes to make so you can iteratively make changes to your animation and see the results without losing hours on test renders.

Check for the latest graphics drivers…and, “did you try turning it off and on again?” … sometimes just restarting the software/modem/router can help…. And also copying your data to a fresh file or rig can solve some headaches.

I think its important to clarify "software." Totally agree that drivers, especially graphics card drivers, can be causing issues and its important to keep those up to date. But applications (eg: After Effects, Maya, etc) I often stay on an older version for a year or more to let bugs with newer releases settle out before switching production to them.

I would also add; if you are in a production environment where the clock is ticking on your schedule, consider how much time you spend in traige with your issue. Is there studio documentation for this problem? If not, and you've given fixing the problem a try.. ask for help. Your team is there to support you.

It's important to know WHAT is possible more so than how to do it sometimes. Watching a tutorial on a complicated new piece of software or method in the background while you work will allow you to absorb the possibilities and potential of it. Then, when you actually come across that problem in a job you'll have an idea of how it can be done and where to look. Then you can go back and learn the process properly.

Google or YouTube the issue, there are thousands of people out there, and someone has probably run into the same issue. So, when you are blocked technically or creatively. Take a deep breath and fire up that search engine. The biggest trick is to narrow down what the actual problem is, sometimes it may take a few queries before you hit on the answer.

Also, taking the rig for a test run first which include testing all the controllers first or at least the main controllers you’ll be using; this is always a good idea to see if there are any glitches or bugs that needs to be flagged.

A good friend once said; "there's no visual fx problem that can't be solved by breaking it down into smaller pieces" and I always think about that when I get stuck on a problem. Pretty soon, I'm unstuck.

Read the documentation. Take the time to go through the technical documentation provided by your project. Most of the time the answer is right there. On a side note, make sure you also produce such technical documentation when needed , and that it is easy to access and well classified.

Know your software well. You will be able to recognize weather the issue is a glitch, a mild crash or a technical error on your part. When in doubt, save in iteration, restart software, see if the problem remains. If it does, analyze your work, you may have missed or done something incorrectly along the way.