Animation

What is ANIMATION?

• Definition:– A collection of static images joined together

and shown consecutively so that they appear to move.

• Animation is about storytelling by bringing things to life (making them move).

Cell VS Computer(Digital)

What is Cell Animation?

• Animators drew on semi-transparent sheets of vellum, or acetate cells (cellulose acetate) - they could see through the frame they were drawing to the previous frames.

What is Computer /Digital Animation

• Electronically generated movement of anything on your computer screen.

• Three different levels of digital animation: – Basic – Intermediate – Advanced

What is Digital Animation

• Basic – At the most fundamental level, animation consists of simple

transitions (wipes and dissolves between PowerPoint slides, for

example) and path animations (moving text and logos).

What is Digital Animation

• Intermediate – The next level up is cel animation (the method used in cartoons)

and special effects, which include all manner of distortions and color effects applied to a graphic, photo or movie.

What is Digital Animation

• Advanced– The most sophisticated level of digital animation is 3D animation.

Movies such as "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life" are the most prominent examples of what can be achieved through the latest computer technology.

– Ambitious designers can take advantage of these same tools to

manufacture some dazzling 3D creations of their own.

Creating Animation

• 2 step process for creating animations– Step 1: Planning – Step 2: Implementation

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

on

Story Board Example

Creating Animation

• Step 2: Implementation – Start production– Post-production– Test playback and review– Amendments– Delivery or packaging

• Understanding the 12 Fundamental principles of traditional animation techniques is essential to producing good computer animation.

1. Squash and Stretch

• Teaches basic mechanics of animation.

• Defines rigidity of material.

• Important in facial animation.

Squash and Stretch Cont.

• Can relieve the disturbing effect of strobing.

2. Timing and Motion• Gives meaning to movement. • Proper timing is critical to making ideas

readable.

Examples:1. Timing: tiny characters move quicker than larger ones.

2. Motion: can define weights of objects.

Heavy vs. Light Objects

QuickTime™ and aVideo decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aVideo decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

3. Anticipation

Preparation for an action

Example:

Goofy prepares to hit a baseball.

4. Staging

A clear presentation of an idea.

Some Techniques:

1. Use motion in a still scene or use of static movement in a busy scene.

2. Use of silhouettes (to the side)

5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action

1. Follow ThroughTermination part of an action.

2. Overlapping Action

Starting a second action before the first has completed.

Example: after throwing a ball

Example: Luxo Jr.’s hop with overlapping action on chord.

6. Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose Action

1. Straight AheadAnimator start from first drawing in the scene and

draw all subsequent frames until the end of scene.

2. Pose-to-Pose

Animator plans actions, draws a sequence of poses, in between frames etc.

7. Slow in and Out

Spacing of inbetween frames to achieve subtlety of timing and movement.

1. 3d keyframe comp. Systems uses spline interpolation to control the path of an object.

2. Has tendency to overshoot at extremes (small # of frames).

8. Arcs

• Visual path of action for natural movement.• Makes animation much smoother and less

stiff than a straight line.

9. Exaggeration

• Accentuating the essence of an idea via the design and the action.

• Needs to be used carefully.

Example: Luxo Jr. made smaller to give idea of a child.

10. Secondary Action

• Action that results directly from another action. • Used to increase the complexity and interest of a

scene.

Example:Body movement is the primary action, facial expression is the secondary action

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.

– Transform these into color and movement giving the characters the illusion of three-and four-dimensional life. Three

dimensional is movement in space.

12. Appeal

• Refers to what an audience would like to see.• Character cannot be too simple (boring) or too

complex.

Examples:

Avoid mirror symmetry, assymmetry is interesting.

Design of animation sequence

• Storyboard layout.• Object Definitions• Key Frame Seq.• Generation of in-between frame

H/W and S/w

• Adobe photoshop• GIF animator• 3D studio• Macromedia

Flash

• SGI -unic• PC• Macintosh

Authoring Principles for Animations for Presentations

1. Use parameterization at all levels of the system.

2. Treat animations as models - animations are treated as parameterized models that have a single parameter: time.

3. Build slides hierarchically

Animation Principles for Presentations.

1. Make all movement meaningful

2. Avoid instantaneous changes

3. Reinforce structure with transitions

4. Create a large virtual canvas

5. Smoothly expand and compress detail

6. Manage complexity through overlays – Do one thing at a time.– Reinforce animation with narration.– Distinguish dynamics from transitions.

Types of animation system

1. Scripting System - LISP, ASAS(Actor cript Animation Lang)

2. Procedural Animation.3. Representational Animation - Morphing4. Stochastic Animation - Fileworks/Waterfall5. Behavioral animation