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Animation NC II Quarter 2 Week 2

Identify traditional drawing requirements for animation
 SELF-LEARNING HOME TASK (SLHT)

Subject: 2D Animmation NCII Grade: 11/12 TVL/ICT Quarter : 2 Week: 1

School: CORDOVA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL District: Cordova

MELC: LO 1. Identify traditional drawing requirements for animation

1.4 Basic principles of animation

1.5 Drawing equipment and materials

1.6 Knowledge in Identification of Storyboard,

layout and model sheet

Competency Code: ICT 216300

INFORMATION SHEET 2

INFORMATION SHEET 2

PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES

2.1 12 Basic Principles of Animation

The 12 basic principles of animation is a set of principles of animation introduced by the

Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book The Illusion of Life: Disney
Animation. Johnston and Thomas in turn based their book on the work of the leading Disney
animators from the 1930s onwards, and their effort to produce more realistic animations. The
main purpose of the principles was to produce an illusion of characters adhering to the basic laws
of physics, but they also dealt with more abstract issues, such as emotional timing and character
appeal.
The book and its principles have become generally adopted, and have been referred to as
the "Bible of the industry. In 1999 the book was voted number one of the "best animation books
of all time" in an online poll. Though originally intended to apply to traditional, hand-drawn
animation, the principles still have great relevance for today's more prevalent computer animation.

1. Squash and stretch

The most important principle is "squash and stretch", the
purpose of which is to give a sense of weight and flexibility
to drawn objects. It can be applied to simple objects, like a
bouncing ball, or more complex constructions, like the
musculature of a human face. Taken to an extreme point, a
figure stretched or squashed to an exaggerated degree can
have a comical effect. In realistic animation, however, the
most important aspect of this principle is the fact that an
object's volume does not change when squashed or stretched. If the length of a ball is stretched
vertically, its width (in three dimensions, also its depth) needs to contract correspondingly
horizontally.
2. Anticipation

An action occurs in three parts:

1. the preparation for the action - this is anticipation
2. the action

3. the termination of the action

Anticipation is the preparation for an action such as a jump or a punch. For example, a
character will squat down before pushing his body and legs up into a jump. The stronger the
anticipation motion, the more cartoony and fluid the animation will be. The smaller the
anticipation, the stiffer the animation will be.

Actions in animation happen very fast. For example,

throwing a ball can take only two or three drawings to
complete, which is not enough time for the audience to see
and grasp what is happening. However, if the character
winds-up and then pauses before the pitch, the events
taking place become a lot clearer to the audience.
A properly timed anticipation can enable the viewer to
better understand a rapid action, e.g., preparing to run and
then dashing off-screen.
Anticipation can also create the perception of weight or mass, e.g., a heavy person might put their
arms on a chair before they rise, whereas a smaller person might just stand up.

3. Staging
This principle is similar to staging as it is known in theatre
and film. Its purpose is to direct the audience's attention,
and make it clear what is of greatest importance in a scene;
what is happening, and what is about to happen. Johnston
and Thomas defined it as "the presentation of any idea so
that it is completely and unmistakably clear", whether that
idea is an action, a personality, an expression or a mood.
This can be done by various means, such as the placement
of a character in the frame, the use of light and shadow,
and the angle and position of the camera. The essence of
this principle is keeping focus on what is relevant, and avoiding unnecessary detail.
4. Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose Action

Straight Ahead Action in hand drawn animation is when the animator starts at the first drawing
in a scene and then draws all of the subsequent frames until he reaches the end of the scene. This
creates very spontaneous and zany looking animation and is used for wild, scrambling action.

Pose-to-Pose Action is when the animator carefully plans out the animation, draws a sequence of
poses, i.e., the initial, some in-between, and the final poses and then draws all the in-between
frames (or another artist or the computer draws the inbetween frames). This is used when the
scene requires more thought and the poses and timing are important.

This is similar to keyframing with computer graphics but it must be modified slightly since the
inbetweens may be too unpredictable. For example, objects or parts of objects may intersect one
another. Computer keyframing can take advantage of the hierarchical model structure of a
complex object. Different parts of the hierarchy can be transformed at different keyframes. For
example, in a jump, translation keyframes can be set for the entire model in the X and Z directions.
Then other rotation or translation keyframes can be set for portions of the model, e.g., the legs
and arms.

5. Follow through and overlapping action

These closely related techniques help

render movement more realistic, and give
the impression that characters follow the
laws of physics. "Follow through" means
that separate parts of a body will
continue moving after the character has
stopped. "Overlapping action" is the
tendency for parts of the body to move at
different rates (an arm will move on
different timing of the head and so on). A
third technique is "drag", where a
character starts to move and parts of him take a few frames to catch up. These parts can be
inanimate objects like clothing or the antenna on a car, or parts of the body, such as arms or hair.
On the human body, the torso is the core, with arms, legs, head and hair appendices that normally
follow the torso's movement. Body parts with much tissue, such as large stomachs and breasts,
or the 16 loose skin on a dog, are more prone to independent movement than bonier body parts.
Again, exaggerated use of the technique can produce a comical effect, while more realistic
animation must time the actions exactly, to produce a convincing result.
Thomas and Johnston also developed the principle of the "moving hold". A character not in
movement can be rendered absolutely still; this is often done, particularly to draw attention to the
main action. According to Thomas and Johnston, however, this gave a dull and lifeless result, and
should be avoided. Even characters sitting still can display some sort of movement, such as the
torso moving in and out with breathing.

6. Slow In and Out

This refers to the spacing of the inbetween frames at maximum positions. It is the second and
third order continuity of motion of the object. Rather than having a uniform velocity for an object,
it is more appealing, and sometimes more realistic, to have the velocity vary at the extremes. For
example, a bouncing ball moves faster as it approaches or leaves the ground and slower as it
approaches leaves its maximum position. The name comes from having the object or character
"slow out" of one pose and "slow in" to the next pose.

This is usually achieved by using splines to

control the path of an object. The various spline
parameters can be adjusted to give the required
effect. In 3D Studio this is controlled by the
parameters Ease To and Ease From in the Key
info window (from the Track info window). When
these are zero, there is a constant velocity in
either direction, i.e., to/from the keyframe. When
Ease To is set to a higher value, the motion is
faster as it leaves the previous keyframe and
slows as it approaches the current keyframe.
When Ease From is set to a higher value the
motion is slower leaving the current keyframe
and speeds up as it approaches the next
keyframe. The tick mark spacing shows the
velocity with closer tick marks indicating a slower rate and spaced out ones indicating a faster
rate.

Examples:

• Ease To/From both set to 0 (bounce0.flc)

• Ease To/From both set to 50 (max value)(bounce1.flc)

There are other potential problems with spline controlled movements. Because of the nature of
splines, there may be an overshoot effect, For example, look at box1.flc. The upper box was
keyframed to just touch the top of the bottom box, but because of the properties of the spline
curve, it overshoots and goes into the lower box. There are three other parameters that control the
approach to/from keyframes.

Tension controls the overall shape of the spline curve. Continuity equally affects the angles at
which the spline enters and leaves the keyframe. Bias affects the overshoot or undershoot of the
motion through the keyframe.

7. Arcs
Nearly every movement follows a slightly circular path. If
not movement would be mechanical and stiff. So in
animations the movement is designed along arcs. The arcs
can be drawn in with key frames so that the movement can
be guided along to create a more naturalistic feel. If
inbetweens do not follow the arc that the key frames are on,
it will terminate the essence of the movement.
8. Secondary action

This is an action that directly results from another action. It

can be used to increase the complexity and interest in a scene.
It should always be subordinate to and not compete with the
primary action in the scene. An example might be the facial
expression on a character. The body would be expressing the
primary action while the expression adds to it. Another
example would be the trailing electrical cord of Luxo, jr.
Adding secondary actions to the main action gives a scene
more life, and can help to support the main action. A person walking can simultaneously swing
his arms or keep them in his pockets, he can speak or whistle, or he can express emotions through
facial expressions. The important thing about secondary actions is that they emphasize, rather
than take attention away from the main action. If the latter is the case, those actions are better
left out. In the case of facial expressions, during a dramatic movement these will 18 often go
unnoticed. In these cases it is better to include them at the beginning and the end of the movement,
rather than during.

9. Timing

The speed of an action, i.e., timing, gives meaning to movement, both physical and emotional
meaning. The animator must spend the appropriate amount of time on the anticipation of an
action, on the action, and on the reaction to the action. If too much time is spent, then the viewer
may lose attention, if too little, then the viewer may not notice or understand the action.

Timing can also affect the perception of mass of an

object. A heavier object takes a greater force and a
longer time to accelerate and decelerate. For example,
if a character picks up a heavy object, e.g., a bowlng
ball, they should do it much slower than picking up a
light object such as a basketball. Similarly, timing
affects the perception of object size. A larger object
moves more slowly than a smaller object and has
greater inertia. These effects are done not by changing
the poses, but by varying the spaces or time (number
of frames) between poses.

Timing can also indicate an emotional state. Consider a scenario with a head looking first over the
right shoulder and then over the left shoulder. By varying the number of inbetween frames the
following meanings can be implied:
• No in-betweens - the character has been hit by a strong force and its head almost snappedd off

• One in-betweens - the character has been hit by something substantial, .e.g., frying pan

• Two in-betweens - the character has a nervous twitch

• Three in-betweens - the character is dodging a flying object

• Four in-betweens - the character is giving a crisp order

• Six in-betweens - the character sees something inviting

• Nine in-betweens - the character is thinking about something

• Ten in-betweens - the character is stretching a sore muscle

10. Exaggeration

Exaggeration is an effect especially useful for animation, as perfect imitation of reality can look
static and dull in cartoons. The level of exaggeration depends on whether one seeks realism or a
particular style, like a caricature or the style of an artist. The classical definition of exaggeration,
employed by Disney, was to remain true to reality, just presenting it in a wilder, more extreme
form. Other forms of exaggeration can involve the supernatural or surreal, alterations in the
physical features of a character, or elements in the storyline itself. It is important to employ a
certain level of restraint when using exaggeration; if a scene contains several elements, there
should be a balance in how those elements are exaggerated in relation to each other, to avoid
confusing or overawing the viewer.

11. Solid drawing

The principle of solid — or good — drawing, really
means that the same principles apply to an animator as to
an academic artist. The drawer has to understand the
basics of anatomy, composition, weight, balance, light and
shadow etc. For the classical animator, this involved taking
art classes and doing sketches from life. One thing in
particular that Johnston and Thomas warned against was
creating "twins": characters whose left and right sides
mirrored each other, and looked lifeless. Modern-day
computer animators in theory do not need to draw at all,
yet their work can still benefit greatly from a basic understanding of these principles.

12. Appeal

Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor. A

character who is appealing is not necessarily sympathetic — villains or monsters can also be
appealing — the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is real and interesting.
[There are several tricks for making a character connect better with the audience; for likable
characters a symmetrical or particularly baby-like face tends to be effective.
2.2 Animation Techniques

Animation is the process by which we see still pictures MOVE. Each picture is shot on film one at
a time and is shown at the rate of 24 pictures per second making the pictures appear to move.

Why do we see these images as moving?

The reason our eyes are tricked into seeing movement can be explained by the ‘Persistence of
Vision’ theory.

The persistence of vision theory:

Our brain holds onto an image for a fraction of a second after the image has passed. If the eye sees
a series of still images very quickly one picture after another, then the images will appear to move
because our eyes cannot cope with fastmoving images - our eyes have been tricked into thinking
they have seen movement.

The Moving Hand Theory:

You can do this by waving your hand in front of your eyes very fast. You will seem to see several
hands at once. Try doing this in front of a television screen when it is switched on. You will see
even more images of your hand because the television is actually flickering. By waving your hand
in front of it you make your eyes very confused about what they are actually seeing.

Basic techniques used in animation:

1. Drawn Animation.
2. Cutout Animation.

3. Model Animation.

4. Computer Animation.
5. Others.

Drawn Animation:

This covers any form where another replaces one drawing in a sequence. Each drawing is slightly
different from the one before. It works the way a flipbook does. These animated films are made up
of thousands of drawings which are shown on screen very quickly one after the other.

Cutout Animation:
This covers any form of animation where cutout shapes are moved around or replaced by other
cutouts. Flat objects like buttons, matchsticks and string can alsobe used in this form of
animation. Cutouts can also be laid on top of drawings.

Model Animation:

This involves the filming of puppets or any form of three-dimensional models. The materials used
could include plasticize, clay or wire - in fact anything that can be bent or formed into another
shape. The puppets are positioned and filmed before being moved ever so slightly and filmed again.
These shots are put together as a piece of film and will give the impression of the models moving.
Computer Animation:

Animation has historically been produced in two ways. The first is by artists creating a succession
of cartoon frames, which are then combined into a film. A second method is by using physical
models, e.g. King Kong, which are positioned, the image recorded, then the model is moved, the
next image is recorded, and this process is continued.
Using a rendering machine to produce successive frames wherein some aspect of the image is
varied can produce computer animation. For a simple animation this might be just moving the
camera or the relative motion of rigid bodies in the scene. This is analogous to the second
technique described above, i.e., using physical models. More sophisticated computer animation
can move the camera and/or the objects in more interesting ways, e.g. along computed curved
paths, and can even use the laws of Physics to determine the behavior of objects.

Others:

Pose-to-Pose Animation:
Some animations for television were made on pose to pose basis because of budget constraints. In
pose-to-pose animation purpose of creating and animating is served, but does not enhance it.
However, animations for features demand more appeal, where pose-to-pose animation does not
serve any purpose of producing the feature. Pose-to-pose animation does not serve any purpose of
producing the feature. Poseto-pose animation is widely used for stylized animation productions.

Full Animation

Full animation implies a large number of drawings per second of action. Some action may require
that every single frame of the 24 frames within the second is animated in order to achieve an
illusion of fluidity on the screen. Neither time nor money is spared on animation. As a rule, only
TV commercials and feature length animated films can afford this luxury.

SELF-CHECK 1

A. Identify the animation principle used in the following example. Write your answer on a
separate sheet of paper.

__________________1. __________________2.
__________________3.

__________________4.

__________________5.

B. Illustrate the following scenario and tell what principle of animation is used. Draw your
answer in the empty frame.

1.Mister Moonface is alarmed when opening a package. Stretching his face before returning to its
normal shape this adds to the emotion in the scene.

___________________________________________________
2. Mister Moonface’ cape blows out behind him as he walks. When he comes to an abrupt halt,
the cape continues moving forwards, wrapping around him, before falling into its natural
position.

___________________________________________________

C. Given the 12 principles of animation above, draw 3 animations showcasing your

understading of 12 different Principles of animation.

Animation 1 – Squah & Strech

Animation 2 – Anticipation

Animation 3 – Straight Ahead / Pose-to-Pose

References:

https://hivestudio.net/the-uses-of-
animation/#:~:text=Animation%20is%20used%20to%20create,accurate%20look%20at%20bones
%20etc. https://www.coursehero.com/file/41767685/Learning-Module-1-2D-Animationpdf/

http://www.andrewnourse.com/MA/Animation_principles.pdf
Prepared by: Verified by:

RYAN JAY T. YASUMORI MANNY P. SUMALINOG

ICT Teacher SHS Grade11 – Coordinator

EVELYN G. MALUBAY
Principal I