Still a work in progress. Mainly aiming at communicating weight.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
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Leonardo da Vinci wrote...
"The movements and attitudes of a figure should display the state-of-mind of him who makes them and in such a way that they cannot mean anything else."
Ian Lacey wrote...
"I'm not a big believer in "talent", if there is such a thing I think its just a tendency to be persistent, or to set your standards higher than the next person ... Even for the best, it doesn't just happen. It's the result of planning, self discipline and persistence."
Principles of Animation: A reference list for me to have up while I'm working
Character:
[ ] Appeal
[ ] Design for Animation
[ ] Architecture b4 Add-ons
[ ] Model Key poses
* [ ] LOA
* [ ] Power Centre
* [ ] Psychological Gestures
* [ ] Meaningful Symbolism
Animation:
[ ] Plan with thumbnails
[ ] Staging / Meaningful Framing
[ ] Key Frames
[ ] Timing, Spacing /Mah
[ ] Fill the Mah
* [ ] thinking
* [ ] intention
[ ] Anticpation
[ ] Squash and Stretch
[ ] Follow Through &;
[ ] Overlapping Action
[ ] Refine the Arcs
[ ] Offset Action
[ ] Exaggeration
[ ] Appeal in motion
modified from ...
Don’t illustrate words or mechanical movements
Illustrate ideas or thoughts, with the attitudes and actions
Squash and stretch entire body for attitudes
Change = Impact: If possible, make definite changes from one attitude to another in timing, LOA and expression
Animate the Thought: What is the character thinking?
It is the thought and circumstances behind the action that will make the action interesting
When drawing dialogue, go for phrasing. (Simplify the dialogue into pictures of the dominating vowel and consonant sounds, especially in fast dialogue
Lift the body attitude 4 frames before dialogue modulation (but use identical timing on mouth as on X sheet).
Change of expression and major dialogue sounds are a point of interest. Do them, if at all possible, within a pose. If the head moves too much you won’t see the changes
Don’t move anything unless it’s for a purpose
Concentrate on drawing clear, not clean
Don’t be careless
Everything has a function. Don’t draw without knowing why
Let the body attitude echo the facial
Get the best picture in your drawing by thumbnails and exploring all avenues
Analyse a character in a specific pose for the best areas to show stretch and squash. Keep these areas simple
Picture in your head what it is you’re drawing. Think in terms of drawing the whole character, not just the head or eyes, etc. Keep a balanced relation of one part of the drawing to the other
Stage for most effective drawing
Draw a profile of the drawing you’re working on every once in a while. A profile is easier on which to show the proper proportions of the face
Usually the break in the eyebrow relates to the highpoint of
the eye
The eye is pulled by the eyebrow muscles
Get a plastic quality in face — cheeks, mouth and eyes
Attain a flow thru the body rhythm in your drawing
Simple animated shapes
The audience has a difficult time reading the first 6-8 frames in a scene (don't do important movement in those frames)
Does the added action in a scene contribute to the main idea in that scene? Will it help sell it or confuse it?
Don’t animate for the sake of animation but think what the character is thinking and what the scene needs to fit into the sequence
Actions can be eliminated and staging "cheated" if it simplifies the picture you are trying to show and is not disturbing to the audience
Spend half your time planning your scene and the other half animating
How to animate a scene of a four-legged character acting and walking: Work out the acting patterns first with the stretch and squash in the body, neck and head; then go back in and animate the legs. Finally, adjust the up and down motion on the body according to the legs.
from ...
[ ] Appeal
[ ] Design for Animation
[ ] Architecture b4 Add-ons
[ ] Model Key poses
* [ ] LOA
* [ ] Power Centre
* [ ] Psychological Gestures
* [ ] Meaningful Symbolism
Animation:
[ ] Plan with thumbnails
[ ] Staging / Meaningful Framing
[ ] Key Frames
[ ] Timing, Spacing /Mah
[ ] Fill the Mah
* [ ] thinking
* [ ] intention
[ ] Anticpation
[ ] Squash and Stretch
[ ] Follow Through &;
[ ] Overlapping Action
[ ] Refine the Arcs
[ ] Offset Action
[ ] Exaggeration
[ ] Appeal in motion
modified from ...
Don’t illustrate words or mechanical movements
Illustrate ideas or thoughts, with the attitudes and actions
Squash and stretch entire body for attitudes
Change = Impact: If possible, make definite changes from one attitude to another in timing, LOA and expression
Animate the Thought: What is the character thinking?
It is the thought and circumstances behind the action that will make the action interesting
When drawing dialogue, go for phrasing. (Simplify the dialogue into pictures of the dominating vowel and consonant sounds, especially in fast dialogue
Lift the body attitude 4 frames before dialogue modulation (but use identical timing on mouth as on X sheet).
Change of expression and major dialogue sounds are a point of interest. Do them, if at all possible, within a pose. If the head moves too much you won’t see the changes
Don’t move anything unless it’s for a purpose
Concentrate on drawing clear, not clean
Don’t be careless
Everything has a function. Don’t draw without knowing why
Let the body attitude echo the facial
Get the best picture in your drawing by thumbnails and exploring all avenues
Analyse a character in a specific pose for the best areas to show stretch and squash. Keep these areas simple
Picture in your head what it is you’re drawing. Think in terms of drawing the whole character, not just the head or eyes, etc. Keep a balanced relation of one part of the drawing to the other
Stage for most effective drawing
Draw a profile of the drawing you’re working on every once in a while. A profile is easier on which to show the proper proportions of the face
Usually the break in the eyebrow relates to the highpoint of
the eye
The eye is pulled by the eyebrow muscles
Get a plastic quality in face — cheeks, mouth and eyes
Attain a flow thru the body rhythm in your drawing
Simple animated shapes
The audience has a difficult time reading the first 6-8 frames in a scene (don't do important movement in those frames)
Does the added action in a scene contribute to the main idea in that scene? Will it help sell it or confuse it?
Don’t animate for the sake of animation but think what the character is thinking and what the scene needs to fit into the sequence
Actions can be eliminated and staging "cheated" if it simplifies the picture you are trying to show and is not disturbing to the audience
Spend half your time planning your scene and the other half animating
How to animate a scene of a four-legged character acting and walking: Work out the acting patterns first with the stretch and squash in the body, neck and head; then go back in and animate the legs. Finally, adjust the up and down motion on the body according to the legs.
from ...