Timing for Animation
by Harold Whitaker and John Halas
Prefaced by John Lasseter:
"The principles of timing laid out in this book are more applicable (now) than ever before."
The Animator's Survival Kit
by Richard Williams
The definitive book on animation, from the Academy Award-winning animator behind Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Cartoon Animation (The Collector's Series)
by Preston Blair
" I've been in or near the cartoon business for 50 years and Preston Blair's "Cartoon Animation" played a big role in my education. " (view it on-line : www.freetoon.com)
Cartoon Animation (How to Draw and Paint series)
by Preston Blair
Walter Foster's classic How to Draw and Paint series provides aspiring artists with an exceptional array of art instruction books featuring all subject areas and media. Each title includes easy step-by-step exercises as well as finished illustrations or paintings that will inspire artistic talent in anyone.
Acting for Animators
by Ed Hooks, Brad Bird, Mike Caputo (Illustrator)
Acting for Animators covers a lot of ground that doesn't get addressed much in animation school. Sure, we're all told to make the character "live and breathe", but most of the info that follows that admonition is from an art perspective. Hooks draws on his acting training and experience to give a different set of tools animators can use to reach that goal. The information on psychological gestures alone is worth the cost of the book (there's something you don't hear about in your Maya classes).
The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation
by Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston (Contributor), Cllie Johnston
Equivalent to a Holy relic, this masterpiece of a book has inspired me, not only to appreciate Disney's work, but also the animators and animation in general. If you are considering entering the animation field, in particular working for Disney, then by all means purchase this book and read it thouroughly. 2 of the Old Nine Men, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, wrote this book sometime in the early eighties.
The Animator's Workbook
by Tony White
This book is one of the best all round books used to learn animation techniques; a perfect text for teachers. Animation techniques are illuminated from squash and stretch, to stop action puppet, to cell painting. Included is a great reference section for finding unique materials and building your own animation stand. This is more than a simple how to do manual. It is a companion to any future artist animator for it opens the reader to the sophisticated path of animation as tool articulate movements rather than simply as a squash and stretch manipulator of cartoon characters.
Animation from Script to Screen
by Shamus Culhane
Shamus Culhane is one of the world's best animators. He created the walk cycle of the seven dwarfs in snow white. He demonstrated each characters personality walking in a line. All the characters are in synch. Amazing. He explains the basics of animation. This book is a great way to understand the techniques of hand drawn animation
3D software tends to range in complexity and sophistication, although these days even the simplest 3D software is capable of impressive results. However, choosing the right 3D program is not a trivial matter, nor is it an easy one. There are many factors to take into account, and your choice will also depend on your intentions. Do you just want to dabble or include a little 3D rendering in your website? Perhaps you are a 2D designer and want to start incorporating 3D in your illustration work. Maybe you have learned about 3D using free software and intend to pursue 3D as a career. Here we will go over the options available in three general sectors of the market: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Most 3D programs are available as demo versions, so you can try them out and get a feel of how they work before committing any of your hard-earned cash.
Basic
At the bottom end of the market there are plenty of low cost, easy to use 3D programs. Because of the low cost and small market share, this is a volatile sector, with 3D applications popping into and out of the market quite rapidly. Some of these applications last a little longer than normal, while others vanish without a trace, so don't be surprised if any mentioned here are no longer available by the time you read this! Whatever the name, they all tend to follow the same basic path-making 3D as easy as possible, but without the power and finesse of the more expensive packages.
If you want something for nothing, there are a few freeware versions of 3D packages available. 3D Canvas from amabilis.com is a cut down version of the company's commercial 3D packages. It's a fully functional 3D application but is probably more suited to the intermediate 3D users or keen beginners.
Xara 3D is a typical low end 3D package, still going strong after multiple versions. Costing about $39, it's a PC-only 3D program that won't break the bank but is pretty limited as 3D programs go. Xara is great for quick logos and fun titles, but really that is about it.
Adobe Dimension is a plug-in for illustrator (Mac or PC) that generates rendered 3D objects from illustrator curves and text. Again, it's limited but very simple to use, and for some it's all that is needed.
Although more suited to intermediate users, Amorphium from ElectricImage Inc. is an esy to use 3D program designed to work in a very hands on way. If you want to sculpt 3D objects as if they were lumps of clay then render them very simply, it's a good way to go.
Poser is included here because it is so easy to use, but in fact it's usefulness extends right up to the pro level. It's a 3D character renderer and animator that lets you pose and animate ready-made, high quality 3D figures. It's very powerful, but it's not an all rounder- it does one thing only-but does it very well.
Intermediate
The quality of intermediate 3D software can vary, but there are a few things to bear in mind. Make sure the rendering is up to speed, and examine online galleries of the software, which you can usually find on the developer's site. This will usually give you a good idea of the quality on offer. Most of the programs are available as demo versions, so they can be downloaded for evaluation.
Strata's Strata 3D has a long history and is available for Mac and PC. It's a sturdy if slightly archaic 3D program, but it has found favor with many digital illustrators. It has some good rendering features, including radiosity, which are rare at the price. www.strata3d.com
Pixels is a Mac-only 3D program that offers advanced rendering and animation and robust modeling for a modest cost. It also features a renderer based on the REYES algorithm-the same one used in Pixar's RenderMan software.
Corel's Bryce 3D is an interesting 3D program. It's primarily a landscape rendering application, designed to produce skies, seas, and terrains in a very efficient way. It can be pressed into service as a more general purpose 3D tool, but lacks any serious modeling tools. www.corel.com
One of the best free 3D applications available is Blender. This program is a full featured 3D production package featuring the kinds of tools you'd expect to see in a mid to high end application.
Advanced
At the high end level of 3D applications, it's not so much the tools as their implementation that makes the difference, and each 3D application listed here has its own style of working. Some of these applications are costly, seriously powerful, and used for many high-end effects in movies and television.
Newtek's Lightwave 3D is a dual application featuring separate modeler/texturing and animation/lighting/rendering apps. Its quirky interface is deceptively powerful, and it offers one of the best quality renderers out there.
Softimage XSI combines sublime modeling with non-linear animation, scripting, and phenomenal rendering through tight integration with Mental Images' Mental Ray rendering software. It also features an integrated 2D/3D compositor.
Alias's Maya 3D is extremely powerful. Its node-based architecture enables complex animation and rendering linkages to be created and it offers a nonlinear modeling history, plus Mental Ray rendering.
Discreet's 3Ds Max has always been a popular choice. Its design is not as modern as Maya or Softimage but it holds its own, especially in the games production market, and comes with Mental Ray rendering as standard.
Houdini is a fully procedural animation system that takes the node-based architecture to the nth degree. Sublimely powerful, it's not for the faint hearted, but offers the kind of flexibility other applications only hint at.
The full suite of plug-ins for Cinema 4D takes it into the high end. With advanced radiosity rendering, sophisticated character tools, and a GUI based expression system, it's also one of the easiest high-end 3D apps to get to grips with.
Now, go forth and create!
Tips On Getting Started: there are a number of ways to start the process of learning animation. One is to buy books and teach yourself. The Bible of the industry is the "Illusion of Life" by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. The information and drawings in this book make it worth the fifty dollars or more that you will pay for it. These 12 principles became the gospel according to the nine old men of animation that worked with Walt Disney in founding the industry that you see today. Don't just read it; memorize it, learn it and use it every time you draw. There is no short cut for skills and knowledge. It all starts with heart and desire; do you have it?
THE 12 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION Paraphrased from the "Illusion Of Life" by Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston.(pp.47-69) Look these up and read the original version for a complete understanding.
1. Squash and stretch
2. Anticipation
3. Staging
4. Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose
5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action
6. Slow In and Slow Out
7. Arcs
8. Secondary Action
9. Timing
10. Exaggeration
11. Solid Drawing
12. Appeal
1. SQUASH AND STRETCH
This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. Also squash and stretch is useful in animating dialogue and doing facial expressions. How extreme the use of squash and stretch is, depends on what is required in animating the scene. Usually it's broader in a short style of picture and subtler in a feature. It is used in all forms of character animation from a bouncing ball to the body weight of a person walking. This is the most important element you will be required to master and will be used often.
2. ANTICIPATION
This movement prepares the audience for a major action the character is about to perform, such as, starting to run, jump or change expression. A dancer does not just leap off the floor. A backwards motion occurs before the forward action is executed. The backward motion is the anticipation. A comic effect can be done by not using anticipation after a series of gags that used anticipation. Almost all real action has major or minor anticipation such as a pitcher's wind-up or a golfers' back swing. Feature animation is often less broad than short animation unless a scene requires it to develop a characters personality.
3. STAGING
A pose or action should clearly communicate to the audience the attitude, mood, reaction or idea of the character as it relates to the story and continuity of the story line. The effective use of long, medium, or close up shots, as well as camera angles also helps in telling the story. There is a limited amount of time in a film, so each sequence, scene and frame of film must relate to the overall story. Do not confuse the audience with too many actions at once. Use one action clearly stated to get the idea across, unless you are animating a scene that is to depict clutter and confusion. Staging directs the audience's attention to the story or idea being told. Care must be taken in background design so it isn't obscuring the animation or competing with it due to excess detail behind the animation. Background and animation should work together as a pictorial unit in a scene.
4. STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE TO POSE ANIMATION
Straight ahead animation starts at the first drawing and works drawing to drawing to the end of a scene. You can lose size, volume, and proportions with this method, but it does have spontaneity and freshness. Fast, wild action scenes are done this way. Pose to Pose is more planned out and charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene. Size, volumes, and proportions are controlled better this way, as is the action. The lead animator will turn charting and keys over to his assistant. An assistant can be better used with this method so that the animator doesn't have to draw every drawing in a scene. An animator can do more scenes this way and concentrate on the planning of the animation. Many scenes use a bit of both methods of animation.
5. FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION
When the main body of the character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass of the character, such as arms, long hair, clothing, coat tails or a dress, floppy ears or a long tail (these follow the path of action). Nothing stops all at once. This is follow through. Overlapping action is when the character changes direction while his clothes or hair continues forward. The character is going in a new direction, to be followed, a number of frames later, by his clothes in the new direction. "DRAG," in animation, for example, would be when Goofy starts to run, but his head, ears, upper body, and clothes do not keep up with his legs. In features, this type of action is done more subtly. Example: When Snow White starts to dance, her dress does not begin to move with her immediately but catches up a few frames later. Long hair and animal tail will also be handled in the same manner. Timing becomes critical to the effectiveness of drag and the overlapping action.
6. SLOW-OUT AND SLOW-IN
As action starts, we have more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle, and more drawings near the next pose. Fewer drawings make the action faster and more drawings make the action slower. Slow-ins and slow-outs soften the action, making it more life-like. For a gag action, we may omit some slow-out or slow-ins for shock appeal or the surprise element. This will give more snap to the scene.
7. ARCS
All actions, with few exceptions (such as the animation of a mechanical device), 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. Think of natural movements in the terms of a pendulum swinging. All arm movement, head turns and even eye movements are executed on an arcs.
8. SECONDARY ACTION
This action adds to and enriches the main action and adds more dimension to the character animation, supplementing and/or re-enforcing the main action. Example: A character is angrily walking toward another character. The walk is forceful, aggressive, and forward leaning. The leg action is just short of a stomping walk. The secondary action is a few strong gestures of the arms working with the walk. Also, the possibility of dialogue being delivered at the same time with tilts and turns of the head to accentuate the walk and dialogue, but not so much as to distract from the walk action. All of these actions should work together in support of one another. Think of the walk as the primary action and arm swings, head bounce and all other actions of the body as secondary or supporting action.
9. TIMING
Expertise in timing comes best with experience and personal experimentation, using the trial and error method in refining technique. The basics are: more drawings between poses slow and smooth the action. Fewer drawings make the action faster and crisper. A variety of slow and fast timing within a scene adds texture and interest to the movement. Most animation is done on twos (one drawing photographed on two frames of film) or on ones (one drawing photographed on each frame of film). Twos are used most of the time, and ones are used during camera moves such as trucks, pans and occasionally for subtle and quick dialogue animation. Also, there is timing in the acting of a character to establish mood, emotion, and reaction to another character or to a situation. Studying movement of actors and performers on stage and in films is useful when animating human or animal characters. This frame by frame examination of film footage will aid you in understanding timing for animation. This is a great way to learn from the others.
10. EXAGGERATION
Exaggeration is not extreme distortion of a drawing or extremely broad, violent action all the time. Its like a caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes and actions. Action traced from live action film can be accurate, but stiff and mechanical. In feature animation, a character must move more broadly to look natural. The same is true of facial expressions, but the action should not be as broad as in a short cartoon style. Exaggeration in a walk or an eye movement or even a head turn will give your film more appeal. Use good taste and common sense to keep from becoming too theatrical and excessively animated
11. SOLID DRAWING
The basic principles of drawing form, weight, volume solidity and the illusion of three dimension apply to animation as it does to academic drawing. The way you draw cartoons, you draw in the classical sense, using pencil sketches and drawings for reproduction of life. You transform these into color and movement giving the characters the illusion of three-and four-dimensional life. Three dimensional is movement in space. The fourth dimension is movement in time.
12. APPEAL
A live performer has charisma. An animated character has appeal. Appealing animation does not mean just being cute and cuddly. All characters have to have appeal whether they are heroic, villainous, comic or cute. Appeal, as you will use it, includes an easy to read design, clear drawing, and personality development that will capture and involve the audiences interest. Early cartoons were basically a series of gags strung together on a main theme. Over the years, the artists have learned that to produce a feature there was a need for story continuity, character development and a higher quality of artwork throughout the entire production. Like all forms of story telling, the feature has to appeal to the mind as well as to the eye.
I hope this article gave you a better understanding about animation. You can visit a couple of links I found online for further reference
Let us salute the brave warriors of NSG & ARMED FORCES for their selfless sacrifice for our country and also pray for the souls of all those who lost their life at Nov. 2008 Mumbai attacks. Jai Hind
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