1. The Fundamental Principles
Animation
The Fundamental Principles

2. Animation Fireworks basic animation Frame by Frame animation
‘Inbetweening’ or ‘tweening’ is the process of generating intermediate frames between two images to give the appearance that the first image evolves smoothly into the second image. Inbetweens are the images between the key frames which aid in creating the illusion of motion
A key frame is a drawing that defines the starting and ending points of any smooth transition or tween

3. Animation

4. Simple Animation Using Key Framing & Tweening

5. Animation
The frame rate of an animation is the rate at which the animation is played back to the user
Frames Per Second (FPS) – Generally 24 but may vary
In drawn animation characters are often shot ‘on twos’ i.e. one drawing is shown for every two frames of film meaning there are only 12 drawings per second.
For quick movements it is usually necessary to revert to animating ‘on ones’, as swift motion cannot be conveyed adequately ‘on twos’ at 24 FPS

6. Animation
Persistence of vision is the phenomenon of the eye by which an after image is thought to persist for approximately one twenty-fifth of a second on the retina.
Given a typical 24FPS animation the human eye will view 24 frames in one second
The brain storing will store each frame for a time slightly longer than the image stays on the screen
This gives the illusion of movement rather than the eye seeing a series of different pictures.

7. Creating Animation Step 1: Planning
–Decide on the problem to be solved
–Design a solution – storyboard
–Determine the characters and objects to appear

8. Creating Animation
Sample Storyboard

9. Creating Animation Step 2: Implementation - Start production
- Post production
- Test playback and review
- Changes
- Delivery or packaging

10. Stages of Implementation
Creating Animation
Stages of Implementation
Ruff
EFX
Mattes
(Portions of frame)

11. Fundamental Principles
1930’s: Walt Disney wished to improve level of animation suit certain story lines
Set up classes for animators where analysis of nature + real action became central to the animation process
From this grew the 12 fundamental principles of animation

12. 12 Fundamental Principles
Timing + Spacing
Timing is how long does it takes to get from one key pose to another
Spacing is the way to get from one key pose to another, whether its fast or slow e.g. eye blinking

13. 12 Fundamental Principles
Ease In and Out
Refers to the variation of the movement speed between different poses
Object or limb may slow down (Ease In) or speed up (Ease Out) as it approaches a pose

14. 12 Fundamental Principles
Arcs
An arc is the visual path of action for natural movement.
All actions, with few exceptions follow an arc or slightly circular path.
This is especially true of the human figure and the action of animals. Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow.
Trajectory of a kicked ball

15. 12 Fundamental Principles
Arcs

16. 12 Fundamental Principles
Anticipation
Anticipation of movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform
For example starting to run, jump or change expression.
A backwards motion occurs before the forward action is executed.
Anticipation is used to lead the viewers eye and prepare them for what will happen
Run off the screen... Starts with pose

17. 12 Fundamental Principles
Anticipation

18. 12 Fundamental Principles
Exaggeration
Accentuating the essence of an idea via the design and the action.
Exaggeration does not mean just distorting the actions or objects arbitrarily, but the animator must carefully choose which properties to exaggerate.
If only one thing is exaggerated then it may stand out too much. If everything is exaggerated, then the entire scene may appear too unrealistic.

19. 12 Fundamental Principles
Squash + Stretch
This helps to define the rigidity and mass of an object by distorting its shape during an action + adding realism

20. 12 Fundamental Principles
Squash + Stretch
Note: When an object is being deformed it must still appear to retain its volume

21. 12 Fundamental Principles
Secondary Action
An action which adds to and enriches the main action and adds more dimension to the scene
Should be staged so as not to overpower the main action
Character sitting talking at a table
Secondary action may be the characters thumbs twiddling
Should be more and ‘felt’ more than noticed immediately

22. 12 Fundamental Principles
Follow Through + Overlapping
Follow through is like anticipation but at the end of an action. When the main body of the character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass of the character e.g. long hair, floppy ears or a long tail
Overlapping action is an action caused by another
If a character changes direction, a number of frames later, his clothes & hair will follow in the new direction. Timing becomes critical to the effectiveness of overlapping action.

23. 12 Fundamental Principles
Follow Through + Overlapping

24. 12 Fundamental Principles
Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose Action
2 basic methods of creating animation SAA + PPA
SAA: Animator draws or sets up objects one frame at a time until the sequence is complete
Can yield a fresh look but can be difficult to time correctly & tweak
PPA: Setting up key poses & then drawing or generating in-between images – key frame approach
Excellent for tweaking or timing
Generally a hybrid approach is applied to contemporary animation

25. 12 Fundamental Principles
Staging
This is presenting an action or idea so that it is easily understood
Objective of staging is to lead the viewers eye to where the action will occur so that they do not miss anything
This can be achieve by the framing of the camera, the positioning of the character, the flow lines of the character’s line of actions, and also movements.
Present only one idea so as not to upstage

26. 12 Fundamental Principles
Solid Drawing
Every frame in an animation should be able to stand out on its own as a solid drawing.
Solid in-betweens are just as important as solid keys. Without solid drawing, animations can appear to morph or dither as they change in quality.
Once you can pause an animation at any time and the frame can stand out on its own as an individual piece of still art – you have achieved solid drawing

27. 12 Fundamental Principles
Appeal
Appeal means creating something that the audience will want to see.
This is equivalent to charisma in a live actor.
A scene or character should not be too simple (boring) or too complex (can’t understand it).

28. What Animation Is Not Animation is not blindly copying motion
Animation is not the use of motion capture + other techniques to make graphics move
Animation requires the artist to interpret and create something that is more than the original

29. Further Reading
‘Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation’, J. Lasseter, Pixar, July, 1987