Principles of Animation
We will be working through a few activities to build foundational animation skill sets.
You will be asked to recreate a 2 Cube Jump Animation, where the first action causes the second cube to react, by possibly sliding forward and then taking off like a rocket.
Within your animation you are to apply the following Principles of Animation, Anticipation, Squash & Stretch, Slow out and Slow In, Arcs, as well as Timing and Spacing.
Please watch the linked videos below for an overview, keeping in mind that the principles can to all be applied like a checklist, it will take time and years of practice to develop your skill sets as an animator.
A note about the Principles of Animation, it is thanks to Walt Disney that hired and challenged his animators to create the illusion of life, by delivering animations through the the lens of performance and entertainment. At the time when the principles were being explored and developed, they were at the time a close guarded studio secret. Eventually, animators moved around from studio to studio, applying aspects of the principles and developing their own interpretation accordingly.
I won't be asking you to ever memorize the 12 classical principles of animation, nor will you have to have all 12 principles in every animated shot; however through the activities you will build your learning in stages and apply the principles accordingly.
You will be asked to recreate a 2 Cube Jump Animation, where the first action causes the second cube to react, by possibly sliding forward and then taking off like a rocket.
Within your animation you are to apply the following Principles of Animation, Anticipation, Squash & Stretch, Slow out and Slow In, Arcs, as well as Timing and Spacing.
Please watch the linked videos below for an overview, keeping in mind that the principles can to all be applied like a checklist, it will take time and years of practice to develop your skill sets as an animator.
A note about the Principles of Animation, it is thanks to Walt Disney that hired and challenged his animators to create the illusion of life, by delivering animations through the the lens of performance and entertainment. At the time when the principles were being explored and developed, they were at the time a close guarded studio secret. Eventually, animators moved around from studio to studio, applying aspects of the principles and developing their own interpretation accordingly.
I won't be asking you to ever memorize the 12 classical principles of animation, nor will you have to have all 12 principles in every animated shot; however through the activities you will build your learning in stages and apply the principles accordingly.
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Left Side: Initial Blocking of Import moments in your animation
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Right Side: Incorporating Anticipation, Squash & Stretch, and Holds.
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Goal of this Activity: Learning animation foundational skill sets while applying the Principles of Animation in an activity, as well as incorporating the method of Pose to Pose animation workflow. Important Animation Principles such as Timing and Spacing as well as Holds will be applied, we need time for the audience to see the action; we don't tend to go from one action to the other, rest in between movements will help sell your performance.
Technical in Graph Editor Skills, such as duplicating keys, adding holds, copying and pasting keys, moving keys in the timeline,
(This activity will also give you the foundational skill sets to create a character jump in the future.)
Technical in Graph Editor Skills, such as duplicating keys, adding holds, copying and pasting keys, moving keys in the timeline,
(This activity will also give you the foundational skill sets to create a character jump in the future.)
Instructions WIP
1-Move the Red Cube towards the Green Cube.Remember to Press S to Stamp a Key.
2-Slide your player on the Timeline half way between the two actions and raise it on the Y axis, forming a curved path of action, creating an arc simulating a possible jump action- Press S right after.
3-Select the Green Cube and move it away from the Red Cube, towards the right(Camera Right)- Press S to Stamp a Key.
4-Select the Green and this time move it up on the Y axis out of Frame,Press S to Stamp a Key.
5-Work on your overall timing, it doesn't have to work, we just want to avoid the "Floaty Feel" of all your movements. Further down in the stages of our work, we will strive to make our shot exagerated, by making the actions faster, resulting in Snappy Animation; this will be done after applying Anticipation, Squash, Stretch and Holds of our movements.
5-Remember "Save As" every stage of your progress with descriptors of what attempted to accomplish.
for example, CubeAnimation_01_Blocking, CubeAnimation_02_RoughTiming, CubeAnimation_03_Anticipation, CubeAnimation_04_Squash&Stretch...
7-Let's add Anticipation towards the first Cube Movement as per my storyboard directions.
8-Then add Squash, Hold, then Stretch, Hold, as per my storyboard directions.
9-Follow the same workflow directions stated in my storyboard planning guide-Thanks!
Please Create numerous Play Blasts showcasing your process and progress as you work through the requirements and directions noted above.
Deliverables: Progression Play Blasts with final Rendered shot frame by frame with lighting showcasing your final work- frame size 1920 X 1080
Start with a slate introducing your final animation with your name, Exported Rendered Shot, Slate progression of your work using your Play Blasts, Slate End Credits.
1-Move the Red Cube towards the Green Cube.Remember to Press S to Stamp a Key.
2-Slide your player on the Timeline half way between the two actions and raise it on the Y axis, forming a curved path of action, creating an arc simulating a possible jump action- Press S right after.
3-Select the Green Cube and move it away from the Red Cube, towards the right(Camera Right)- Press S to Stamp a Key.
4-Select the Green and this time move it up on the Y axis out of Frame,Press S to Stamp a Key.
5-Work on your overall timing, it doesn't have to work, we just want to avoid the "Floaty Feel" of all your movements. Further down in the stages of our work, we will strive to make our shot exagerated, by making the actions faster, resulting in Snappy Animation; this will be done after applying Anticipation, Squash, Stretch and Holds of our movements.
5-Remember "Save As" every stage of your progress with descriptors of what attempted to accomplish.
for example, CubeAnimation_01_Blocking, CubeAnimation_02_RoughTiming, CubeAnimation_03_Anticipation, CubeAnimation_04_Squash&Stretch...
7-Let's add Anticipation towards the first Cube Movement as per my storyboard directions.
8-Then add Squash, Hold, then Stretch, Hold, as per my storyboard directions.
9-Follow the same workflow directions stated in my storyboard planning guide-Thanks!
Please Create numerous Play Blasts showcasing your process and progress as you work through the requirements and directions noted above.
Deliverables: Progression Play Blasts with final Rendered shot frame by frame with lighting showcasing your final work- frame size 1920 X 1080
Start with a slate introducing your final animation with your name, Exported Rendered Shot, Slate progression of your work using your Play Blasts, Slate End Credits.
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Cube Animation Introduction
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Overshoot Rocket Take-Off
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Set Camera to Orthographic View
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Export Camera Animation
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3D Animation Unit
Theme: Super Mario Side Scroller Animation
Stage 01: Research Backgrounds for your animation, following the link below.
Gaming Background Mario Stock Illustrations – 615 Gaming Background Mario Stock Illustrations, Vectors & Clipart - Dreamstime
Sketch your rough background from images you have referenced.
Stage 02: 3D Model your Background, using simple 3D Primitives, such as Cubes, Cylinders, and Spheres, incorporating Editing mode to tweak forms using Vertices, Edges and Polygons to refine your models. Continue with simple colouring and lighting your scene, in preparation for the next stage of animation.
Stage 03: Animation Practice Exercises with Mr. Balian
Stage 04: Plan and Execute your Animation
Theme: Super Mario Side Scroller Animation
Stage 01: Research Backgrounds for your animation, following the link below.
Gaming Background Mario Stock Illustrations – 615 Gaming Background Mario Stock Illustrations, Vectors & Clipart - Dreamstime
Sketch your rough background from images you have referenced.
Stage 02: 3D Model your Background, using simple 3D Primitives, such as Cubes, Cylinders, and Spheres, incorporating Editing mode to tweak forms using Vertices, Edges and Polygons to refine your models. Continue with simple colouring and lighting your scene, in preparation for the next stage of animation.
Stage 03: Animation Practice Exercises with Mr. Balian
Stage 04: Plan and Execute your Animation
