Thursday 25 March 2010
Friday 19 March 2010
Tuesday 16 March 2010
Appeal
Appeal is the essence of any and all creative art forms. If a painting, drawing, piece of music, or animation does not hold some kind of appeal to the viewer then it will not be a success. In animation characters must have a fullness of personality, be it heroic, evil, charming, or even awkward. This helps the viewer to identify with the character, which in turn makes gives the character appeal.
Appeal is not restricted to characters. Storylines must be intriguing, environments must be robust, and emotions must have resonance. All of these things are combined to really capture the audience and leave them hungry for more.
Appeal is not restricted to characters. Storylines must be intriguing, environments must be robust, and emotions must have resonance. All of these things are combined to really capture the audience and leave them hungry for more.
Solid Drawing
Solid Drawing is the real test of animators drawing ability, imagination, and common sense. The ability to draw a character in a way that shows that characters personality is a very useful trait. However, in order to make that character come to life in an animation the animator must be able to draw the character in any position while still retaining the personality.
Exaggeration
Animation in most respects is much more like theatre than film. The subtleties of the human condition, although achievable using animation, are not as easily represented by animation as they are by film. The same can be said when comparing film and theatre.
When considering the exaggerated performances of theatre actors, it becomes clear that animators must incorporate the same level of exaggeration in their characters. It can certainly be said that the level of exaggeration in an animation can be both too subtle, making the piece seem lifeless, or too extreme, making the piece garish and inevitably unwatchable. Although in the case of Warner Brothers (especially Tex Avery) extreme exaggeration isn’t always a bad thing.
When considering the exaggerated performances of theatre actors, it becomes clear that animators must incorporate the same level of exaggeration in their characters. It can certainly be said that the level of exaggeration in an animation can be both too subtle, making the piece seem lifeless, or too extreme, making the piece garish and inevitably unwatchable. Although in the case of Warner Brothers (especially Tex Avery) extreme exaggeration isn’t always a bad thing.
Timing
The timing of an action can completely change its meaning. Therefore timing has become one of the most important principles of animation. The timing is altered by the number of in-betweens separating two extreme keyframe positions.
Say, for example, in the first keyframe a character has his right arm stretched to the left of his body and in the second keyframe his right arm is stretched to the right. If there were only two or three in-betweens, the character would appear to be swiping at a fly in front of him. If there were, say, twenty in-betweens, the character would appear to be pointing out the size of a distant mountain range or forest.
Say, for example, in the first keyframe a character has his right arm stretched to the left of his body and in the second keyframe his right arm is stretched to the right. If there were only two or three in-betweens, the character would appear to be swiping at a fly in front of him. If there were, say, twenty in-betweens, the character would appear to be pointing out the size of a distant mountain range or forest.
Secondary Action
Secondary Action can be both a physical necessity to make a movement look more natural, and a means to emphasise mood and expression.
The first example of a secondary action would be a characters arms swinging as he walks. If the arms hung rigidly at the characters side, the walk would look very unnatural.
In the second case the principle of Secondary Action becomes a wonderful tool for expression. Secondary actions can be used to highlight the emotive context of the primary action. An example of this would be a character wiping a tear from his eye (secondary) as he cries (primary).
The first example of a secondary action would be a characters arms swinging as he walks. If the arms hung rigidly at the characters side, the walk would look very unnatural.
In the second case the principle of Secondary Action becomes a wonderful tool for expression. Secondary actions can be used to highlight the emotive context of the primary action. An example of this would be a character wiping a tear from his eye (secondary) as he cries (primary).
Arcs
When studying the movements of any organism it becomes apparent that there are few, if any, movements that don’t follow an arc. Whether it’s the swinging movements of arms and legs during a walk cycle, a bouncing ball, or the pivot of the head and eyes as a character looks from left to right, arcs are an essential part of animation.
Monday 15 March 2010
Slow In and Slow Out
When any object starts moving there MUST be an increase in its speed. Similarly there MUST be a decrease in speed when the object comes to a halt. It doesn’t matter how quickly the object starts or stops, acceleration and deceleration ALWAYS occur.
The principle of Slow In and Slow Out (also known as Ease In and Ease Out) is the technique animators employ to adhere to this law of physics. When an action occurs between keyframes, the frames will be bunched together on the timeline, gradually they will separate as the action speeds up, they will then gradually come together again as the action slows, and eventually stops (Fig 5).
The principle of Slow In and Slow Out (also known as Ease In and Ease Out) is the technique animators employ to adhere to this law of physics. When an action occurs between keyframes, the frames will be bunched together on the timeline, gradually they will separate as the action speeds up, they will then gradually come together again as the action slows, and eventually stops (Fig 5).
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