12 Principles Of Animation
(1) Squash and Stretch (7) Arcs
(2) Anticipation (8) Secondary Action
(3) Staging (9) Timing
(4) Straight Ahead Action and Pose to
Pose
(10) Exaggeration
(5) Follow Through and Overlapping (11) Solid Drawing
Action (12) Appeal
(6) Slow in and Slow Out
Squash and Stretch
Squash and Stretch gives the illusion of weight to an action. For realistic animated
characters squash and stretch is subtle, but for stylized characters squash and stretch can
create extreme distortion.
Squash and Stretch
One important concept to keep in mind
when creating squash and stretch is to
maintain volume. If you consider a sack
of flour, when you push down on one
part of the back the flour moves to
another part of the sack. This is the
same way squash and stretch should be
handled on a character.
Squash and Stretch
The method used to squash and stretch a character is based on how the character is
rigged. The character does not have to deform to produce squash and stretch. When a
character takes a step and falls forward with the step they crouch down to simulate the
weight falling on the front foot.
Different Methods of Creating Squash and Stretch
• Posing the Skeleton
• Scaling
• Skeletal Deformation
• Lattices and other Deformers
• Dynamics
Anticipation
Anticipation prepares the viewer for an action that the animated character is about to
perform. When an animated character is going to make a long jump for example they
wind up and and move backward before they make a move forward toward the jump.
Anticipation is used for “announcing the surprise” in addition to building suspense for
any action that is about to occur.
Follow Through and Overlapping Action
When a characters main body comes to a stop, there is still movement in other parts
of the character like hair and arms. The weight from the main body is transferred to
the other parts of the body and they continue to move even the the main body has
come to a stop.
Staging
Staging is the “presentation of any idea so that it is completely and unmistakably clear.” An
animated characters location and position should clearly communicate to the viewer the
attitude and mood of the character in that particular scene. Staging directs the viewer’s eye
toward the intended action or “story point”.
Mise en scène
Staging is about the translation of the mood and motivation of a scene into character
positions and actions, including camera locations. Staging is sometimes referred to as
Mise en scène. Mise en scène can be defined as everything that appears before the camera
and its arrangement which include sets, props, actors, and lights.
Slow In and Slow Out
In order to animated action more life-like, animators put more frames at the beginning
and end of an action with fewer in the middle during the main action. This allows the
viewer to clearly see the strong poses during an action.
Slow In and Slow Out
Slow In and Slow Out is achieved by slowing the beginning and the end of a character
action while at the same time speeding up the motion in between. Holding the beginning
and end of the action also creates anticipation and follow through.
Arcs
The actions of most organic objects follow an arc or circular path rather that an linear
path. Arcs create a visually pleasing action with better flow. When a character’s head
turns, arm moves or jumps the motion is created in a circular path
.
Arcs
Linear motion that does not follow an arc comes off as sinister, constrained or
mechanical. In order to give animated character more organic motion, animators pay
specific attention to the paths of motions.
Secondary Action
Secondary action reinforces the main action. When a character is walking the basic walk
is the main action and arm swings, head, hair, and neck movement are thought of as
secondary action.
Secondary Action
Secondary actions are small motions that complement the main action of the shot.
They are usually created after the main action has been animated. Once the dominant
action of shot is completed, subtle motion is added to accentuate the main action.
Timing
The amount of key frames in an animation determines the amount of time needed for the
action to take place. It is important for the action to not be too fast or too slow or it will not
read correctly. The length of time needed for an action take place can also be used
communicate a characters attitude or personality.
Timing
Timing is the exact moment and amount of time a character spends performing an action.
Adjusting timing allows animators to add emotion and reason to a character’s motions.
Character actions can be moved to different points in the timeline or the action can be
sped up or slowed down.
Exaggeration
Exaggeration is the caricature of realism. In order to convey that a character is
performing an action, an animator needs to create a convincing performance by
exaggerating the action. This involves pushing the action to extremes without distorting
it from its original intention.
Key Frames
Keyframes are key moments that define an animated sequence. This process is based on traditional
hand drawn animation where an animator draws the key positions of an animated sequence. In
betweening is the process of filling in all the frames in between the key frames. In some cases a more
experience senior animator creates all of the key frames for a sequence, and then a junior animator goes
in a fills in all the frames in between.
Key Frame Interpolation
In most 3D software packages key frame interpolation is used to fill in the frames in between key
frames. This process involves averaging the animation information of the key frames to find the
characters position at a position in time in between the key frames.
Linear Interpolation
Linear interpolation is the simplest form of key frame animation. Linear interpolation
averages the animation information from each keyframe and produces evenly spaced in
betweens. This can produce mechanical looking motion due to the fact that abrupt changes
in speed and direction occur at every keyframe. In the graph editor linear interpolation
creates straight lines that connect keyframes to one another.
Curved Interpolation
Curved interpolation averages the animation information from each key frame taking into
account the change in variation over time. In the graph editor this produces a smooth
curve that connects the key frames. By default most 3D packages use curved interpolation
to create the frames in between key frames.
Animation Reference
Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair
The Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard
Williams
The Illusion Of Life by Frank Thomas and
Ollie Johnston
Animals In Motion by Eadweard
Muybridge
The Human Figure in Motion by
Eadweard Muybridge
*Digital Character Animation 2 by
George Maestri