INBET WEENING CHARTS AND BREAKDOWN DRAWINGS SLOWING IN AND SLOWING OUT THIRDS. KEY POINTS SUPERIMPOSITION ARCS ‘TRACEBACKSJovcescing producing the drawings inbetween the key drawings—is of fundamental importance to the success or failure of animation technique.An inbetween isa drawing that i usually exactly between two extremes, oF key drawings. Consider for example, a ball rolling fom A to C. : ‘The inbetween of A to Cis () = @® | Ifthe animaror wants more inberweens between the key drawings (say, 110 9), they would appear 2s oes Ee) Ina stadio, inbetweening is done by the assistant. I is essential that the assistant accurately carry out what the animator has indicated, even when inberweening under pressure. Bad inberweening can turn a potentially ex- callent piece of smooth animation into a staccato movement, iting (0 the eye, Sloppy inbetweening has to be redone, costing the studio money, ‘threatening the production schedule, and creating additional work for two people, who should be moving on to other things. Obviously, the funda ‘mental requirement of inbetweening js accuracy.Charts and Breakdown Drawings —| “To tel the assstane just how many inberweens are needed between two keys the animator draws a chart on the frst key (drawing 1). © (©) @ 3 7 ‘Drawing (5) is indicated in parentheses because iis the fist nberween to be done between I and 9 the key drawings, which are circled) Its called the breakdown drawing. ‘When the breakdown is completed, the assistant must putin the wo ine berween drawings: drawing. 3 inthe middle of 1 and (5), and drawing 7 in ‘the middle of (S) and 9. ate ao T 3 7 ‘When al che inbetween drawings are completed, each is shot separately in Sequence on a rostrum camera (usually two frames of film for each draw ‘ng although for more sophisticated work it soften necessary to do one drawing per frame’. There can be any numberof equal inberweens between, two Key drawings, but usually the animator does not leave the assistant ‘more than three consecutive inbeeweens at any one time. Often the ani- ‘ator draws the breakdown drawing, to help the assistant z a=~ |aol Ia and. Out Sometimes, the animator wants the movement to low down o to sped up berwezn two Key drawings, In this ase, the key chart drawn diferendy Always rememier thatthe mote drawings used to predocea movement, the slower the movement wil be: Conversely, the fewer drawings within a movement, the faster twill be, Therefore, if the animator places more in berweens atthe end ofa movernent twill apear to slow down shen fied The chart would lok ike this O @ s @ 7 setup is known aa slowrin, because the action is slowing in to the final key position. (Note thar the breakdown drawing is number 3 in this chart) Ion the other hand, the animator places most ofthe inberwcens at the beginning of the movement, and wants the action to speed up as i moves, this is known as slowing out. (Note chat on the chart the break: {down drawing is now number 7.) ® 5 @) @ 3 Sometimes, in a longer movement, the animator may want the action t0 speed up, then slow down, between ro key positions. This s known as a slowing-out and slowing-in movement. In this situation, to help the as sistant, che animator would probably draw the breakdown drawing, aswell a5 the two key deawings. 5 2 Glee, 3 5 Remember that the key drawings ae always circled, and the breakdown drawing is always in parentheses,Sometimes an animator wants an even movement between two key draw ings, but can use only two inbetweens 0 accomplish this because the soundtrack limits the time for the action. In tis case, che animator chacts the two inherweens on thirds—thar is, each is positioned one-third ofthe way between two keys. Oo .% © ‘Thirds ace rately used, however tis often just as easy to use ether a slow: in or a slow-out. (3) 6) or 5 3 Nevertheless if third is unavoidable, iti unfair forthe animator to leave the assistant to position it, unless it is extremely simple. The animator should always draw in one of the thirds before passing it on for i betweening. This saves alot of time (and hair tearing) forthe assistant. If the animator does not indicate one of the thirds, itis reasonable for the assistant to ask the animator for guidance on this initial placement‘Obviously, animators do not always draw docs moving, and a great deal of change in shape and form may take place between two key drawings. For ‘example, one shape (1) may cura into another (9) in even inberweens. @ ‘The chart will then read: (8) In this example, the assstan has to use visual judgment to finda series of key poins that link the important midpoints berween the two shapes. The assistant lightly marks these points (usually in blue pencil) before making. the final breakdown drawing. Having accurately plotted the key points, the assistant then links the key points in a smooch, natura line, which con- stitutes the finished breakdown drawing. After the breakdown drawing is ‘completed, the inbetween are achieved in an identical way—with 3 drawn berween Fand (5), and 7 drawn becween (5) and 9.Ifthe shape s changing, itis almost always necessary fo the postion of one key to be differen from the position ofthe next key. The fist shape might be in one part of the sccen and the transformed shape in another area. In this situation, even greater visual judgment mast be exercised by the sistant First, the center point ofthe two shapes must be lightly dawn in blues then the center key point of the breakdown drawing is marked nits separate sheet of paper. = =O rarer ‘The assistant then removes the breakdown drawing and the top key draw- ing from the pegs. The top key is superimposed over the bottom key so that the shapes’ centers align, one above the ote. The top key is then lightly taped down with camera tape, away from the drawing area, Next, the breakdown sheets superimposed over the two key drawings (again, center above center) and taped down, CENTERS ALIGNED are ‘When doing this, che assistant mast make sue that ll three sheets remain perfectly square to one another. If one sheet twists in any diction, there ‘will be a twist in the final breakdown drawing—making it inaccurate “Afterall tree sheets have been secured, the breakdown drawing is com pieced, The sheets are chen untaped and replaced on the registration pegs, and a quick visual check is made for any possible error. The breakdown drawing should now be perfectly placed; the inbetweens can then be ealeu- Jared and drawn, using the same procedures, o Seer, = SS Often, however, itis not possible to use the center asa point of reference when marking the key points berween two Key drawings. In this ease, the assistant must again use visual judgment to estimate the approximate posi- tions of the moving form and mass, and mark them lighcy in blue in the relevant inbetween postions on the breakdown sheet. Obviously, if there Are similar points of design inthe so key drawings, the assistant i greatly Aided in assessing the key point. If, for example, a cube is moving into a pyramid, che base wil have common key points—the comers—but the top will not. Marking the key points for the base is therefore easy, but the assistant must assess the rest. A lightly drawn breakdown assessment might appear as: o = = oO = iving made this assessment, the assistant superimposes the drawings (key points over key points). The breakdown drawing can then be completed ‘more accurately, eliminating potential visual errors.Iris often necessary forthe animator to make the action move alongan ars, ‘or curved path of action, This makes it much more diffult for the as- “To do the breakdown drawing, the assistant must remember that the pen- ‘dulum is swinging on an a. This time, fr the superimposition, he shoots ‘of paper must be placed out-of-square (using the arm and the center of the pendulum circle as the key points for aligning the drawings). The final Ibreakdown drawing can be completed as before, and—if it is conrect—the inherweens can be done in the sime way.Tracebachs. Tes always ivtaring to see parts of the animation suddenly freeze, while other parts ofthe scene are frely animated, This sudden freeze occurs when a held drawing is used. Its preferable (although more expensive from a budgetary point of view) fr che assistant to trace back the stationary parts of the breakdown, or inbetween, from one or the other of the two keys in ‘question, Basically this means thatthe assistant must precisely race, on all the inberweens, the parts ofthe ation tha are not moving. Although these nonmoving parts could be placed on a held cel for economy, when filmed the traceback drawings have life, which the held drawing does not, "To work petfecty, the tracehacks must be extremely accurate. When doing tracebacks, the drawing to be traced should be taped down at the edge opposite the registration pes. This eliminates inaccurate tracing due to slippage ofthe paper caused by the movements of the drawing hand, —_ ae The golden rue af traccacks i that they should always be traced from dhe original key, indicated by the animator, and never from any of the in beween drawings subsequently produced, Failure to follow this re always resulls in inaccuracies.Assignment Copy the ewo key drawings shown here and inbetween each action as indicated by the chart insteuctions. Then film each drawing oa twos (ewo frames per drawing). Shoot the drawings consecutively, 1 to 9, then back Look for jumps, kicks, or any other inaccuracies that disrupe the smooth ‘movement of the action. from 9 to 1, without a break. Repeat this six times without interruption. - ‘When viewing your tests, try to run them over and over again on a loop.