Today we were introduced to some fundamental techniques that can be applied to our animations to make them more believable, through the 12 principles of animation. We were shown several videos demonstrating some but not all of these principles, after which we were asked to research more into these principles, here's what i found:
The 12 Principles of Animation
The 12 Principles of Animation are a set of principles that examine the ways in which an animation can be created in a believable and emotionally appealing way. The principles were introduced by two Disney animators, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, who studied the work of Disney animators from the 1930s and on to create their book titled, "The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation". These principles were, and to this day still are relevant to anyone animating their work, be it hand-drawn or digital.
Below you can see a list of these principles with a brief explanation of each found next to it:
Squash and Stretch
Squash and stretch are fundamental techniques used by animators to give their subjects weigh and flexibility.
Anticipation
Anticipation is something that can sometimes be overlooked by less experienced animators (myself included.) It is the crouch before the jump, the back-swing before the golfer hit's the ball. The anticipation refers to the 'preparation' of a subject to perform an action.
Staging
Staging references the same principles used in film and theatre, to keep the audiences attention focussed on what is important. This is done through many variables such as the camera angle, focus, the subject position and more.
Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose
Straight ahead action refers to the creation of an animation frame-by-frame, allowing in drawn animation for more fluidity when compared to the results achieved by the second type; Pose to pose. This technique uses 'keyframed' animations that will then have their intermediate frames "filled in". Computer animation tends to use Pose to pose as the blank frames can be filled in automatically.
Follow-Through and Overlapping Action
Follow through is the tendency for parts of a subject to continue moving after the subject itself has stopped, ie. long hair flowing in front of a character who comes to a sudden halt when running. Overlapping action refers to exactly what it says, the overlapping of various actions such as hair following the movement of the character it's attached to as they run.
Slow in and Slow out
This refers to the need for objects to accelerate and decelerate from their movements. The frame distribution for a character jumping in the air will be more dense at the beginning and end of the jump, emphasising the easing in and easing out of the action.
Arcs
Arcs can be found in most actions, meaning that to make a convincing animation this will need to be taken into account.
Secondary Animation
Secondary animation is any extra detail you can give to an animation that adds to it, without taking emphasis away from the primary action. Like having a character who's sad, walking along with their head bent forward. This animation would be emphasised by reflecting the characters sadness through their facial expression, or through having their arms hang loosely from their shoulders.
Timing
Timing refers to the number of frames allotted to an action. The number of frames affects the speed of the action and in turn, the believability of said action, although of course a lack of realism is sometimes the aim when animating.
Exaggeration
Exaggeration is a tool used by animators to create a more interesting style of movement for their subject, taking the way such an objects realistic movement and exaggerating it. This can be useful for conveying emotions and moods as well.
Solid Design
Solid design simply refers to an animator having the knowledge necessary to create realistic animations. Things like taking into account the weight, scale, and shape of a character are all things that an animator should be familiar with.
Appeal
Appeal is exactly that, the appeal that a character has with it's audience. Animation can play a key part in the appeal of a character, exaggeration making a characters motives more apparent is one way.
These are all excellent things to know when creating an animation, and i believe now knowing about these, that i will see great improvements in what i will be able to achieve in my animations.
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