Principles of Animation

Principles ofAnimation Dr. Midori Kitagawa University of Texas at Dallas Arts and Technology Program

Principles of animation • Created by animators at the Walt Disney Studios in the early 1930’s • Helped to transform animation from a novelty into an art form Still today • Guide production and creative discussions • Train young animators better and faster • Applicable to 2D/3D computer animation as well as traditional hand-drawn animation

Principles of animation From Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by Ollie Johnson and Frank Thomas • Squash and stretch • Anticipation • Staging • Straight ahead action and pose to pose • Follow through and overlapping action • Slow-in and slow-out • Arcs • Secondary action • Timing • Exaggeration • Solid drawing • Appeal

Physics Principles of animation Aesthetics • Squash and stretch • Follow through • Timing • Slow-in and slow-out • Secondary action • Arcs • Anticipation • Staging • Exaggeration • Solid drawing • Overlapping action • Appeal Production methods • Straight ahead action and pose to pose Presentation of action

Principles of animation Physics • Squash and stretch • Follow through • Timing • Secondary action • Slow in and slow out • Arcs

Squash and stretch • While many real world objects, e.g. a rock, have little or no flexibility most organic objects, e.g. a human body, have some flexibility in their shapes • When an object moves, its movement indicates the rigidity of the object

Squash and stretch • No matter how squashed or stretched out an object gets, its volume should remain constant

Follow through • Termination of action • Nothing stops at once • When the main body of a character stops all other parts continue to catch up it, such as arms, long hair, clothing, floppy ears, and a long tail

Follow through

Timing • Timing, i.e., the speed of an action, gives meaning to movement, both physical and emotional meaning • Timing affects the perception of mass of an object

Timing Timing gives meaning to movement A character looks first over the right shoulder and then over the left shoulder. Varying the number of inbetweens can imply: • 0: hit by a strong force and its head almost snapped off • 1: hit by something substantial, .e.g., frying pan • 2: has a nervous twitch • 3: dodging a flying object • 4: giving a crisp order • 6: sees something inviting • 9: thinking about something • 10: stretching a sore muscle

Timing Timing affects the perception of mass of an object • The slower the object moves the heavier it looks

Slow-in and slow-out • Spacing of inbetweens at extremes • Soften the action and make it more life-like Without slow-out With slow-out

Secondary action • Smaller motions that complement the main action, e.g. hair flows as a character turns its head • Increases the complexity and interest in a scene

Arcs • All actions, with few exceptions (e.g., motion of a mechanical device), follow an arc or slightly circular path • Especially true of the human figure and the action of animals • Arcs give animation a more natural action and better flow

Principles of animation Aesthetics • Exaggeration • Appeal • Overlapping action

Exaggeration • A caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes, and actions • Makes it more realistic and entertaining • Not arbitrary distortion of shapes nor making an action more violent or unrealistic

Exaggeration • “If a character is sad, make him sadder; if he is bright, make him shine; worried, make him fret; wild, make him frantic.” (Lasseter, 1987)

Solid drawing • Ability to draw weight, volume, and balance • Aesthetic sensibility for forms, textures, lights, and motions

Appeal • Animated characters must appeal to the audience. • They don't need to be lovely, cute and nice, but they must be interesting, somehow attractive. • Villains as well as heroes and heroines should have appeals

Appeal • A live performer has charisma; an animated character has appeal

Overlapping action • Starting a second action before the first action has completely finished • Keeps the interest of the viewer, since there is no dead time between actions

Overlapping action • "When a character knows what he is going to do he doesn't have to stop before each individual action and think to do it. He has it planned in advance in his mind." Disney

Principles of animation Presentation of action • Anticipation • Staging

Anticipation • Preparation for an action, e.g., when a character is about to jump, he first crouches to gain momentum and the takes off • Prepares the viewer for the action that will happen • Longer anticipation is needed for faster actions

Staging • Clear presentation of an idea, where the idea can be an action, a personality, an expression, or a mood • An idea should be unmistakably clear to the viewer

Staging • One idea at a time • A personality should be staged so that it is recognizable

Principles of animation Production methods • Straight ahead • Pose to pose

Straight ahead • Starts at the first drawing in a scene and then draws all of the subsequent frames until the end of the scene • Creates very spontaneous and zany looking animation • Used for wild, scrambling action

Pose to pose • Planned out and charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene • Action, size, volumes, and proportions are controlled than straight ahead • The lead animator will turn keys over to his assistant

Principles of animation • Another way to look at the principles

Principles of animation • Essential for 3D computer animation

Midori Kitagawa, Ph.D. midori@utdallas.edu

Principles of Animation