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The 12 Principles
timing and spacing: Timing is achieved in animation by using varying numbers of frames between the key poses and is used in an animation to get a sense of pacing to both movement and/or the animation as a whole or help to exemplify a characters emotions through the speed of their actions. Spacing is the amount of space between these frames giving a different type of movement to an object in the spread of frames, this can be used to add a sort of “ease in – ease out” effect to a particular movement as opposed to the point a-b effect that could be accomplished if the same frames were spaced out differently. Combined these two methods can give an animated element a sense a sense of realism and personality, giving it mass and/or urgency of movement as well as differentiating between the more artificial forms of motion and more natural acceleration.
anticipation: Anticipation is the practice of giving an animated object a subtle movement or shifts in stance that will foreshadow what is going to happen in a short time space to the audience, for example bending the knees before making a huge leap. Anticipation helps to make actions appear more realistic as a human doesn't often move from pose to pose, instead often readying and preparing their body first in order to get the most beneficial result from their action or simply because it is necessary to get a result at all.
straight ahead/ pose to pose:Straight ahead and pose to pose are two different methods of animation, pose to pose is the practice of creating the key poses of an animation and either drawing the in-between frames in later or in digital animation, allowing the software to calculate the necessary motion and implementing it itself (tweening) this style of animation is generally used in Maya. Straight ahead animation is the style stereotypically used in cell animation and is the practice of creating an animation frame by frame purely going forwards, while this method often supplies more control over an animation it is often much more time consuming.
arcs: Arcs are the most natural form of movement and as a result limbs and thrown objects commonly move in arcs and parabolic trajectories, speed and momentum often affect the course of arcs with slower moving objects having greater curvatures and faster moving objects moving over more straightforward trajectories. When an object deviates from its animation curve it appears unpredictable and inconsistent, therefore it is important – especially during pose to pose animation - that the motion remains fluid.
following through and overlapping action: Following through and overlapping action are a pair of elements in animation that help to add a sense of realism. Follow through actions are a bi-product of motion and apply to a characters more malleable and flowing ornamentation/accessories such as clothing and hair for instance if a character wearing a shirt with baggy sleeves moves his arm from one point to another his sleeve will continue to move for a short while after until its own momentum is spent. Overlapping action is a series of smaller actions that add up to a single flow of movement, for example when someone crosses their arms they generally start by bending their elbows to around 90 degrees (with the dominant hand moving first), followed by moving their shoulders and finally moving their arms in opposing arcs and interlacing their arms.
staging: Staging is the practice of putting a pose in the optimal position to view and extrapolate information from quickly and easily, it brings focus to any important elements and is accomplished through camera placement, the use of strategic lighting and or the placement of characters and objects in a frame. This principle is very important when considering what and how needs to be conveyed to the audience.
slow ins and outs: Slow ins and outs is essentially extrapolating and replicating acceleration and deceleration of motion to create more realistic animations and make them more authentic in the way they move. This technique also relates to spacing as it can be accomplished through strategic frame placement and spacing.
secondary action: Secondary actions are subtle background character animations that help to bring a character to life and support the primary animation without pulling focus from the primary action and distracting the audience. An example maybe something simple such as a moving chest as a character breathes after running for a long distance and they start to feel tired. Secondary action’s focus is to emphasize an action not just add lots of stuff and convolute the animation.
exaggeration: Exaggeration is typically more noticeable in cartoonish animations, and is generally used to make an animation more interesting and likeable. Exaggeration is the act of overly emphasizing and pushing the form and shape of an action, even though it will remain faithful to the original form and pose. While exaggeration is used in more realistic animation it is generally more subtle to make certain movements more noticeable to the audience. When pushed to its extreme on the other hand it is generally used more often for comedic effect. Either way exaggeration generally makes an action or movement more dramatic than its real life counter-part.
Squash and Stretch: Squash and stretch is a central principal to the point of being vital. Squash and stretch is the act of giving an object the appearance and sense of elasticity to help convey the mass and density and can be used on thrown objects to enhance the appearance of motion blur or to replicate the use and movement of muscles in a body. In unrealistic animation this technique can be used for comedic effect, however it can be utilized in realistic animation too, the primary difference between the two applications being that in exaggerated instances the squash and stretch ratio compared to the original size of the object doesn’t need to be related, in realistic animation on the other hand everything must stay in proportion otherwise the illusion will of reality will be punctured.
solid drawing: Solid drawing is the principle of taking three dimensional form into account when creating a character that has volume, weight and is anatomically accurate, this applies to both 2D and 3D animated projects. This principle helps to produce well balanced characters that produce a good lighting balance between lit and shaded when illuminated and more unobjectionable for the viewers.
appeal: Appeal is the animated character equivalent of charisma in real people and actors, the characters allegiance and morals don’t matter, whether the character is sympathetic or not doesn’t matter, it’s all about whether or not the character is compelling and interesting for the audience and whether they are an enjoyable character to watch for the type of role they fill/embody. This principle is generally accomplished via the use of character design such as the use of symmetry and asymmetry, and the poses the characters use.
The 12 Principles
timing and spacing: Timing is achieved in animation by using varying numbers of frames between the key poses and is used in an animation to get a sense of pacing to both movement and/or the animation as a whole or help to exemplify a characters emotions through the speed of their actions. Spacing is the amount of space between these frames giving a different type of movement to an object in the spread of frames, this can be used to add a sort of “ease in – ease out” effect to a particular movement as opposed to the point a-b effect that could be accomplished if the same frames were spaced out differently. Combined these two methods can give an animated element a sense a sense of realism and personality, giving it mass and/or urgency of movement as well as differentiating between the more artificial forms of motion and more natural acceleration.
anticipation: Anticipation is the practice of giving an animated object a subtle movement or shifts in stance that will foreshadow what is going to happen in a short time space to the audience, for example bending the knees before making a huge leap. Anticipation helps to make actions appear more realistic as a human doesn't often move from pose to pose, instead often readying and preparing their body first in order to get the most beneficial result from their action or simply because it is necessary to get a result at all.
straight ahead/ pose to pose:Straight ahead and pose to pose are two different methods of animation, pose to pose is the practice of creating the key poses of an animation and either drawing the in-between frames in later or in digital animation, allowing the software to calculate the necessary motion and implementing it itself (tweening) this style of animation is generally used in Maya. Straight ahead animation is the style stereotypically used in cell animation and is the practice of creating an animation frame by frame purely going forwards, while this method often supplies more control over an animation it is often much more time consuming.
arcs: Arcs are the most natural form of movement and as a result limbs and thrown objects commonly move in arcs and parabolic trajectories, speed and momentum often affect the course of arcs with slower moving objects having greater curvatures and faster moving objects moving over more straightforward trajectories. When an object deviates from its animation curve it appears unpredictable and inconsistent, therefore it is important – especially during pose to pose animation - that the motion remains fluid.
following through and overlapping action: Following through and overlapping action are a pair of elements in animation that help to add a sense of realism. Follow through actions are a bi-product of motion and apply to a characters more malleable and flowing ornamentation/accessories such as clothing and hair for instance if a character wearing a shirt with baggy sleeves moves his arm from one point to another his sleeve will continue to move for a short while after until its own momentum is spent. Overlapping action is a series of smaller actions that add up to a single flow of movement, for example when someone crosses their arms they generally start by bending their elbows to around 90 degrees (with the dominant hand moving first), followed by moving their shoulders and finally moving their arms in opposing arcs and interlacing their arms.
staging: Staging is the practice of putting a pose in the optimal position to view and extrapolate information from quickly and easily, it brings focus to any important elements and is accomplished through camera placement, the use of strategic lighting and or the placement of characters and objects in a frame. This principle is very important when considering what and how needs to be conveyed to the audience.
slow ins and outs: Slow ins and outs is essentially extrapolating and replicating acceleration and deceleration of motion to create more realistic animations and make them more authentic in the way they move. This technique also relates to spacing as it can be accomplished through strategic frame placement and spacing.
secondary action: Secondary actions are subtle background character animations that help to bring a character to life and support the primary animation without pulling focus from the primary action and distracting the audience. An example maybe something simple such as a moving chest as a character breathes after running for a long distance and they start to feel tired. Secondary action’s focus is to emphasize an action not just add lots of stuff and convolute the animation.
exaggeration: Exaggeration is typically more noticeable in cartoonish animations, and is generally used to make an animation more interesting and likeable. Exaggeration is the act of overly emphasizing and pushing the form and shape of an action, even though it will remain faithful to the original form and pose. While exaggeration is used in more realistic animation it is generally more subtle to make certain movements more noticeable to the audience. When pushed to its extreme on the other hand it is generally used more often for comedic effect. Either way exaggeration generally makes an action or movement more dramatic than its real life counter-part.
Squash and Stretch: Squash and stretch is a central principal to the point of being vital. Squash and stretch is the act of giving an object the appearance and sense of elasticity to help convey the mass and density and can be used on thrown objects to enhance the appearance of motion blur or to replicate the use and movement of muscles in a body. In unrealistic animation this technique can be used for comedic effect, however it can be utilized in realistic animation too, the primary difference between the two applications being that in exaggerated instances the squash and stretch ratio compared to the original size of the object doesn’t need to be related, in realistic animation on the other hand everything must stay in proportion otherwise the illusion will of reality will be punctured.
solid drawing: Solid drawing is the principle of taking three dimensional form into account when creating a character that has volume, weight and is anatomically accurate, this applies to both 2D and 3D animated projects. This principle helps to produce well balanced characters that produce a good lighting balance between lit and shaded when illuminated and more unobjectionable for the viewers.
appeal: Appeal is the animated character equivalent of charisma in real people and actors, the characters allegiance and morals don’t matter, whether the character is sympathetic or not doesn’t matter, it’s all about whether or not the character is compelling and interesting for the audience and whether they are an enjoyable character to watch for the type of role they fill/embody. This principle is generally accomplished via the use of character design such as the use of symmetry and asymmetry, and the poses the characters use.