Reflect on the 12 principles of animation

All principles are tools and they combine to create a successful animation. The most important thing is to know exactly what is required in animating the scene.

 

•Squash and stretch

Squash and stretch is really useful in facial expressions. It is often used as this tool can be applied in all types of animated characters.

•Anticipation

Anticipation can be an action or a gesture or a thought of the animated character and is used to prepare the viewer about what he is going to see and what is going to happen next.

•Staging

Staging helps the viewer follow the story of the film without being abstracted from something else. Staging is a useful tool and it should be used so the audience won’t get confused from too many actions.

•Straight ahead and pose to pose

First method, straight ahead is sometimes the only way to do fast actions and fresh animations. However by using this method there is a possibility to lose size, volume, and you can also miss time. On the other hand by using the method pose to pose size, volume and other proportions are better controlled and you can also make a well timed animation.

•Follow-through and overlapping action

Follow-though means that some parts are still moving when the main action/part has stopped. Nothing stops everything at the same time. Overlapping means that some parts again catch up the next action a few frames later.

•Slow in, slow out

Slow in and slow out is a way to soft the action and make It more real. One way you can achieve this by using the curve editor. However, sometimes the result is not the expected and the best way to have the exact result you are after is do frame-by-frame animation. It efficiently expresses surprised or shocked characters.

•Arcs

Arcs are gestures or lines of action. They give a good flow to the animation. The most important arc is the one is viewed from the camera.

•Secondary animation

Secondary animation is secondary actions that a character is doing working together with the main action. Actually it is all about adding depth to the animation.

•Timing

Timing is almost everything. The fewer the drawings are the faster the action is. On the other hand, more drawings make the action smoother. Timing holds all the elements of animation together. We have physical and theatrical timing. Physical timing is how objects should behave in the physical world and theatrical timing relates to action and performance.

•Exaggeration

Exaggeration can be expressed through movement, facial expressions, actions, poses, and attitudes. Exaggeration should be used and especially when the action should be wild and extreme.

•Solid Drawing

Solid design is about lines. The lines can be lines that describe the shape of a character or lines that describe the gesture of a character. Through solid drawing you give volume and weight to your animation.

•Appeal

All characters have appeal. All characters need a good design and a clear drawing that captures their personality. Also a character’s appeal has to be interesting to approach the audience.

 

Image available at: www.3dworldmag.com/files/2012/07/TDW127.t_fund.main_.jpg

Done