04.04.24 - .23 (Week 1 - Week ?)

Janaan Ahmed (0353333)

Animation Fundamentals/ Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Exercises

Lectures

Week 2: Timing & Spacing, Slow In & Slow Out, Arcs

TIMING

The rhythm of where things happen (e.g. the 'boink' of a bouncing ball)

Frame Rate (generally 24fps)

Animating on:

1's - for fast movements
2's - standard

Key poses determine flow of storytelling:

Extreme (key)
Breakdown
Inbetween

SPACING

Spacing between points determines speed of animation.

Slow In: Deceleration
Slow Out: Acceleration
Constant Speed: Thirds, Halves

Fig: Timing Chart (from lecture notes)

ARCS

Determines path + movement of object
Organic movements tend to follow arcs
Smears for fast movement

Aspect Ratio, Size, Playback:

4:3, 16:9 for digital

720p (Standard HD)
1080p (Full HD)

Size minimum 2K (2000px) for film

Playback: mp4, quicktimes, vlc

Adobe Animate Shortcut Keys

F5: Insert Keyframe
[Shift] + F5: Remove Keyframe
Export as Quicktime or MPEG4
CTRL + drag frame to extend

Week 3: Squash & Stretch, Drag, Follow Through & Overlapping

SQUASH & STRETCH

Best used in cartoony styles
Will result in Uncanny Valley if used in realistic animation
Gives information about object's elasticity/weight/material
Facilitates flexibility of motion + gives life to animation
Muscle and Flesh

FOLLOW THROUGH*

How parts of the body continue to move after it stops
Joined parts, appendage (arm, spine, leg)

OVERLAPPING*

Offset of timing between main body and its other parts
Helps break up animation to make it interesting
Joined parts, appendage (arm, spine, leg)

DRAG*

Delaying movement of body parts in relation to main body
Amount of drag indicates mass of object (eg. feather/antenna)

*All 3 describe different aspects of the same thing.

When main body moves, tip of appendage is last to catch up.
Upon stopping, tip follows furthest before settling back
Add appendages after completing main body

Week 4: Appeal, Solid Drawing & Character Construction

APPEAL

Live actors have charisma, animated characters have appeal.

Things that boost appeal:

Dynamic design: shape language
Proportion: emphasise aspect of character that defines their personality
Silhouette: keep it simple for readability
Simplify: details overwhelm.
Line of Action: dynamic poses that suggest character's attitude
Colour

SOLID DRAWING

Consider the form of the object in 3d space: gesture > structure > detail
Silhouette suggests character + pose (incorporate positive & negative space). Shape and joint overlap
Line of action for dynamic poses: contrapposto (shoulder + hip rotation) and s/c-curve. Push your poses! Animating contrast

Straight: static, balanced, no action
S Curve: relaxed/ balanced no action
Unbalanced: suggests movement/action

Avoid twinning pose (symmetrical + stiff)
Twist poses: upper + lower torsos
Weight & Balance: suggest size + weight
Bean + robo-bean form: simplify motion of torso
Consider perspective + foreshortening

Week 5: Layout & Composition for Animation

STAGING

1. Character

Action (jump, run, etc)
Expression (happy, sad, etc)
Personality: (age, gender, attitude) refer to script/ story brief

2. Environment

Mood (happy, sad, gloomy)
Prop Design
Lighting
Effect (rain, thunder)

3. Camera

Framing (CU: to capture expression, FS: action)
Angle (low: superior, high: weak)
Rule of Thirds

The action on stage depends on:

Timing: Step by step to present your ideas in action
Overlapping: e.g: hair, skirt
Pause: Chapter, period, comma (based around hold and timing)

EXAGGERATION

Action (line of action comes into play)
Emotion (sad: sadder, happy: ecstatic, wild: chaotic)
Style (Realistic or Cartoony: exaggeration + squash & stretch)

CHARACTER DESIGN

The character's internal features inform the external features
Internal features are shaped by story point
Internal features:

Personality
Belief
Philosophy

External features

Proportion (age)
Construction
Outfit

ENVIRONMENT DESIGN

Perspective

1 point
2 point
3 point

Composition

Rule of Thirds
Framing

Establishing Shot (ES): location
Full Shot (FS): be mindful of safe action, head room, space for action
Medium Shot (MS): focused more on dialogue, consider head room
Close-Up (CU): focused on facial expression to show emotion
Extreme Close-Up (ECU): according to story e.g: eye, watch

Colour

Emotion
Depth: affects value

Week 6:

tba

Week 7:

tba

Instructions

Exercise 1: Bouncing Ball Animation

INSTRUCTIONS

PROCESS

Arcs are first drawn to indicate the ball's path. Next extremes (key poses) are plotted: the points of 'boinks' (contact) and highest points of the arc. (The arcs get smaller as the ball loses its kinetic energy). Breakdowns are then made (midpoint of keys) and in-betweens are spaced accordingly for the ball's slow-ins and slow-outs.

Fig 1.1: All Frames

Fig 1.2: Animated Gif

POST FEEDBACK:

There were issues with the centering of the ball towards the beginning within the arc. The number of frames towards the end of the ball's bouncing is also reduced with the ball's loss of momentum. Favour is used instead of directly halfway.

Fig 1.3: Post Feedback Frames

Fig: 1.4: Post-Feedback Result GIF

FINAL OUTCOME:

Fig 1.5: Final Outcome w/ arcs (5/5/24)

Exercise 2: Squash & Stretch Ball with Tail

INSTRUCTIONS

PROCESS

We use the same file from exercise 1 and begin to alter the shape of the ball.

Stretch poses are most extreme right before contact. It is immediately followed by the squash pose on contact (although by preferred stylistic choice we can add the unaltered ball first). I personally like when stretch is immediately followed by squash. The same process is repeated along the ball's path, but the degree of squash and stretch decreases as the ball loses its momentum. Maintain the original shape only at the extreme poses i.e. try to keep breakdowns oval.

Fig 2 .1: Still Frames Squash & Stretch

Fig 2.2: Squash & Stretch GIF

The tail is drawn using the straight-ahead method, ensuring the tail connects on each frame along its path.

Fig 2.3: Tail Frames (rough)

Fig 2.4: Tail Animation Rough GIF

Afterwards the cleanup lineart is done on a new layer, and colours adjusted.

Fig 2.5: Tail Cleanup All Frames

Fig 2.6: Tail Animation Cleanup GIF

POST-FEEDBACK:

At the first peak, the tail could follow the arc a bit more to lessen the jerkiness of the movement at this point.

Fig 2.7: Problematic area

Fig 2.8: Fixed frame

FINAL OUTCOME:

Fig: Ex 2 Final Outcome (11/5/24)

Feedback

EXERCISE 1

make sure object is centered within arc
can reduce number of frames towards end (as ball loses momentum)

EXERCISE 2

The tail at the first peak should follow the arc a bit more, otherwise the movement will look jerky
Overall good, sir liked the ending

Reflection

Experience

I find this to be a fairly simple, straightforward, and good set of exercises to get acquainted with some of the basics. The straight-ahead animation of the tail was a bit tricky for me though.

Observation

It's interesting to play around with the spacing of the inbetweens to better understand the motion of the ball. Having an understanding of some basic physics definitely helps. I found the cleanup of the tail to be a little time-consuming because the fluid motion of the roughs is often lost in the lineart stage.

Findings

Even though things are easy at this stage, it's important to be structured and organised when planning your animations to avoid fixing tedious mistakes along the way (especially when there will be more frames involved in the upcoming projects). Stiff arm movements result in stiff drawings, so I believe it's essential to keep things light, swift, and fluid especially while doing roughs.