ANI1

Workflow
Create storyboard
Find / record sound
Create Animatic

Use sound to get timing right.

Previz

1. Storyboard
Get the main story down on paper.
Write small captions to know what's
going on.
Draw thumbnails of your scene
Doesnt have to be good looking, but
emotions help.

2. Animatic
A storyboard with timing.
Sets the flow of your
animation

3. Previz
Pose the character.
Use your animatic.
Stepped tangents to block scene.

4. Animate
Keys, storytelling keys >
Extremes >
Breakdowns or Passing positions >
In-betweens

Twelve Basic Principles of Animation

1 - Squash and stretch

Change form of the object
but not volume and mass.

Anticipation
Prepare a motion
Gives the audience
the chance to prepare
themselves

Directs audiences attention

Anatomical motivation:
a muscle must extend before
it can contract

Staging
Present the idea so it is unmistakably clear.
Stage actions in silhouette.

Pose-to-pose and Straight ahead action

Remember! Its the same principle!

Straight ahead
- We start drawing and see what happens
Pose to pose
- First the storytelling drawings the keys
Then the extremes and other important
poses.

Follow through and Overlapping action

Remember! Its the same principle!

Follow through
Sub components keep moving after
the main object stops. Ex a flag, a tail
or a hand moving after the arm in a
walk cycle.

Overlapping action
A motion should never stop
before a new one starts. Ex.
Move the head from left to right >
Shoulders > Uppbody > Waist > Feet

Slow-in and Slow-out

A human being never
instantly get to max walk
speed.
And never instantly stops
in the spot.

Example to the right, a

ball comes to a stop.

Arc motion
Rotation of a joint
Character bobbing up and down
in a walkcycle
A hoof of an animal walk cycle

Secondary action
Remember! Not the same as Follow through and Overlapping action!

A person animated in a walk cycle can

whistle, scratch her head or check her
watch.
The main animation is walking.
The Secondary action is her sub actions!

The important thing about secondary

actions is that they emphasize, rather
than take attention away from the main
action.

Timing (and spacing)

You know you want to animate a
movement, the question is not
about whether you should do it,
its when!
Regarded as one of the most
important animation principle
Get it right in the animatic.

Exaggeration
- Is used coordinated with Anticipation and Staging.
If a character is sad, make him devastated. If hes happy, make him overjoyed!

Solid drawing
Means that the render is in harmony.
Right choice of colour, poses and scene
composition.

Make use of existing guidelines, such as the

golden section.
Can also be applied to modelling and rigging.
Nothing out of the ordinary should happen when
you animate the rig. Character must be modelled in
a way that works for the animation.

Appeal
A live performer has charisma. An
animated character has appeal.
Appeal does NOT mean that a character
must be cute and likeable!
Appeal means that a character should be
easy to read and capture the interest of
the audience

New principles for 3D

computer animation

Limited animation
Means that you dont have to animate the same object over and over.
If you have a static background or a character that's not in the scenes point of
interest, you might be able to not animate that object each frame.
Greatly reduces the need for in-betweens.

Cinematography and editing

Remember! Its the same principle!

Cinematography:
Camera movement. The actual filming of a movie.

Editing:
The process that takes the footage filmed by cinematographers and cuts them
up in sequences.

Facial animation

Animation and rigging of the

face is something thats
extremely hard to do as
theres no actual joints
underneath the skin
Its all muscles and tendons

Visual styling
Has a significant impact on rendering, on
animation techniques and overall production
complexity.
Natural styling? Handdrawn, toon shaded?

Blend motion (IK/FK, physics, scripts)

Have a character raise its arm with FK,
and then in the next step, have it reach
for an apple with IK.
Not valid when you use IK to walk and FK
to raise its arms.
Must use on same limbs!

Animate a character fighting, then turn

on physics to make it fall like a physics
ragdoll.

User controlled animation

Controlling your animation with an external controller.
Ex. Mouse, keyboard, game controller.

To make a limb animate when you hit the Q button.

Maybe its easier to animate?

Extra tips

Line of action

A solid line throughout the

whole body mediates more
power in the animation.
Stability and balance in the force
(of the movement)

Key in moderation
Getting hard to read curves?

Might be better with set key on

one channel.

Long render times?

Render in low resolution does nothing to the overall animation,
only presentation
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