Animation Fundamentals - Exercises
30/08/2023 - 24/09/2023 // (Week 1 - Week 4)
Denise Anjali // 0342430
Animation Fundamentals // Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Exercises 1 & 2
LECTURES
Week 1: Module Briefing
To grasp the 12 animation principles.
Timing - learn the principles of timing to create an illusion of movement.
Spacing - slow in (deceleration) / slow out (acceleration)
Arc - gravity affects the movement, from straight line to an arc
Flexibility + Squash and stretch - move the physics of the object
Drag - things don't all move at the same pace
Follow through + Overlapping - nothing stops instantly, must have follow through motion, with varying timings
Appeal - make it look good
Solid drawing - design, drawing, illustration (how to create a great pose: line of action, silhouette, avoid tweening, weight, balance [contraposto]; have a 3d appearance - overlapping lines)
Character design requires a story - its personality, proportion, structure (construction drawing)
Background/ environment/ layout - supports the character and story (composition - rule of third, 1 point 2 point 3 point perspective drawing) (Exaggeration - broad action, make visual idea stronger) (Staging - positioning the backdrop, emotion, action, personality)
Walk cycle - poses (contact > down > passing > up > contact), timing (even)
Pose to pose - good for planning vs Straight Ahead - for flexibility
Animation stages - Rough (essence f the motion) and tie-down (cleaner, has character), clean-up (colouring)
Jump cycle - anticipation, follow through and overlapping, hold (paces the movement for clear timing)
Action - planning (rough drawing, tie-down, clean up, colouring), action video reference (key, extreme, breakdown, in between <- apply solid drawing principles)
Final project - action sequence, cut and editing (shot by shot), various types of shots, expression (whole face), lip sync (mouth shapes) [24 fps = 24 frames in 1 sec, on 1/2 has 1 drawing per frame/held for 2 frames] Storyboard > Rough > Tie Down > Clean up (weekly progress and improvement)
Recommended reading : Animator's Survival Kit / Illusion of Life
Week 2: Timing, spacing (slow in/ slow out) & arc
Typical frame rates: 24 fps (films), video formats 25 fps (PAL) 30 fps (NTSC)
On 1s - One drawing every frame (24 drawings per sec / 24fps)
On 2s - Two drawings every frame (12 drawings per sec / 24fps)
Spacing and timing refers to the closeness of the drawings across the frames which determine the speed of the motion. If many drawings overlap, the object is moving slow; if the drawings are far apart, the object is moving fast.
Slow in/slow out refers to how objects do not move at a constant speed and will increase in speed after slowing beginning the motion or when at the height of an arc.
Arcs are important in animation. Most things move in an arc rather than in a straight line and makes the movement more realistic and dynamic.
Week 3: Flexibility & Elasticity
Flexibility consists of the following animation principle. Elasticity is when the shape changes with the motion. Stretch when move and squash when making contact. When there is a jointed part (appendage), there will be drag. This is accompanied by follow through and overlapping motions. Examples would be of a tail or human hair.
Squash and stretch gives the illusion of elasticity of the material, flexibility of motion, and of bringing the object to life. Rules of squash and stretch: 1. Always maintain the volume of the object. 2. Make the transition gradual. Don't apply the same stretch all the way. Follow through involves the entire main object. Overlapping is the after of the follow through action.
Animation Techniques: Pose to pose - plan out the start and end pose of the main body. Uses keys, extremes, breakdowns and inbetweens.; straight Ahead - for flexible things. Gives flexibility to the object. Gives a spontaneous quality to unpredictable animation.
INSTRUCTIONS
Exercise 1: Bouncing Ball
After a demonstration on how to use Opentoonz, we were taught the steps of how to go about animating a bouncing ball. We started with creating the arcs that the ball would bounce along. Going frame by frame, we start with arranging the key frames then adding more frames that increase the timing.
Video 1.1: Ball outline + arc, Week 2
FEEDBACK
Denise Anjali // 0342430
Animation Fundamentals // Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Exercises 1 & 2
LECTURES
Week 1: Module Briefing
To grasp the 12 animation principles.
Timing - learn the principles of timing to create an illusion of movement.
Spacing - slow in (deceleration) / slow out (acceleration)
Arc - gravity affects the movement, from straight line to an arc
Flexibility + Squash and stretch - move the physics of the object
Drag - things don't all move at the same pace
Follow through + Overlapping - nothing stops instantly, must have follow through motion, with varying timings
Appeal - make it look good
Solid drawing - design, drawing, illustration (how to create a great pose: line of action, silhouette, avoid tweening, weight, balance [contraposto]; have a 3d appearance - overlapping lines)
Character design requires a story - its personality, proportion, structure (construction drawing)
Background/ environment/ layout - supports the character and story (composition - rule of third, 1 point 2 point 3 point perspective drawing) (Exaggeration - broad action, make visual idea stronger) (Staging - positioning the backdrop, emotion, action, personality)
Walk cycle - poses (contact > down > passing > up > contact), timing (even)
Pose to pose - good for planning vs Straight Ahead - for flexibility
Animation stages - Rough (essence f the motion) and tie-down (cleaner, has character), clean-up (colouring)
Jump cycle - anticipation, follow through and overlapping, hold (paces the movement for clear timing)
Action - planning (rough drawing, tie-down, clean up, colouring), action video reference (key, extreme, breakdown, in between <- apply solid drawing principles)
Final project - action sequence, cut and editing (shot by shot), various types of shots, expression (whole face), lip sync (mouth shapes) [24 fps = 24 frames in 1 sec, on 1/2 has 1 drawing per frame/held for 2 frames] Storyboard > Rough > Tie Down > Clean up (weekly progress and improvement)
Recommended reading : Animator's Survival Kit / Illusion of Life
Week 2: Timing, spacing (slow in/ slow out) & arc
Typical frame rates: 24 fps (films), video formats 25 fps (PAL) 30 fps (NTSC)
On 1s - One drawing every frame (24 drawings per sec / 24fps)
On 2s - Two drawings every frame (12 drawings per sec / 24fps)
Spacing and timing refers to the closeness of the drawings across the frames which determine the speed of the motion. If many drawings overlap, the object is moving slow; if the drawings are far apart, the object is moving fast.
Slow in/slow out refers to how objects do not move at a constant speed and will increase in speed after slowing beginning the motion or when at the height of an arc.
Arcs are important in animation. Most things move in an arc rather than in a straight line and makes the movement more realistic and dynamic.
Week 3: Flexibility & Elasticity
Flexibility consists of the following animation principle. Elasticity is when the shape changes with the motion. Stretch when move and squash when making contact. When there is a jointed part (appendage), there will be drag. This is accompanied by follow through and overlapping motions. Examples would be of a tail or human hair.
Squash and stretch gives the illusion of elasticity of the material, flexibility of motion, and of bringing the object to life. Rules of squash and stretch: 1. Always maintain the volume of the object. 2. Make the transition gradual. Don't apply the same stretch all the way. Follow through involves the entire main object. Overlapping is the after of the follow through action.
Animation Techniques: Pose to pose - plan out the start and end pose of the main body. Uses keys, extremes, breakdowns and inbetweens.; straight Ahead - for flexible things. Gives flexibility to the object. Gives a spontaneous quality to unpredictable animation.
INSTRUCTIONS
Exercise 1: Bouncing Ball
After a demonstration on how to use Opentoonz, we were taught the steps of how to go about animating a bouncing ball. We started with creating the arcs that the ball would bounce along. Going frame by frame, we start with arranging the key frames then adding more frames that increase the timing.
Image 1.1: Animation process with onion skin, Week 2
Video 1.1: Ball outline + arc, Week 2
I added colour to the ball and adjusted the timing and spacing further.
I rendered it without the arc to see how it would turn out.
Video1.2: Ball animation test, Week 2
Video1.2: Ball animation test, Week 2
I found that the landing of the ball was rather awkward and decided
to make it bounce out of frame instead by adding more arcs.
Video 1.3: Ball bouncing out of frame test, Week 2
Video 1.4: Final ball bouncing animation, Week 2
Video 1.3: Ball bouncing out of frame test, Week 2
Video 1.4: Final ball bouncing animation, Week 2
Exercise 2: Bouncing Ball with Tail
This exercise expands upon the previous by introducing new principles of animation. The bouncing ball now has squash and stretch while the tail uses follow through (drag) and overlap. First is to animate the ball bouncing with squash and stretch. The application of this principle mainly applies when the ball is about to make contact and when it bounces back up.
Video 2.1: Bouncing ball with squash and stretch, Week 3
This exercise expands upon the previous by introducing new principles of animation. The bouncing ball now has squash and stretch while the tail uses follow through (drag) and overlap. First is to animate the ball bouncing with squash and stretch. The application of this principle mainly applies when the ball is about to make contact and when it bounces back up.
Video 2.1: Bouncing ball with squash and stretch, Week 3
Once the ball's movement has been settled, its time to add
the tail to the ball. This requires more of a straight ahead
animation technique given that it is a more flexible
movement.
Video 2.2: Rough ball with tail animation, Week 3
Video 2.2: Rough ball with tail animation, Week 3
The final step was to clean up the tail animation and
add colour. I did this by drawing over the rough
animation on a different level.
Image 2.3: Cleaned-up ball with tail animation, Week 3
Video 2.4: Revised ball with tail animation, Week 4
Image 2.3: Cleaned-up ball with tail animation, Week 3
After feedback from the lecturer, I adjusted the arc
movement of the tail to flow more smoothly by making
sure that each frame overlapped slightly with the
previous. I also added another frame for the tail to
fall at the end of the animation.
Video 2.4: Revised ball with tail animation, Week 4
FEEDBACK
Week 4
Specific feedback: The curve of the tail during the contact
and squash section of the animation could flow smoother.
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