12 basic principles of animation
The main principles were designed to create an illusion or real life affect of a character or subject adhering to the basic laws of physics.
Squash and stretch:
Considered the most important principal. This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character in a kinetic motion. This principal can also be used in animating dialogue and facial expressions.
Considered the most important principal. This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character in a kinetic motion. This principal can also be used in animating dialogue and facial expressions.
This action gives the illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. Also squash and stretch is useful in animating dialogue and doing facial expressions. How extreme the use of squash and stretch is, depends on what is required in animating the scene. Usually it's broader in a short style of picture and subtler in a feature. It is used in all forms of character animation from a bouncing ball to the body weight of a person walking. This is the most important element you will be required to master and will be used often.
Anticipation:
Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more life like and realistic. For an object to rise or jump off the floor the object must first bend his knees; a tennis player making a shot has to swing the racket back first. The technique can also be used for less physical actions, such as a character looking off screen to anticipate someone's arrival/entry.
Staging:
Staging the animation means setting the scene attracting the viewer’s attention and focusing it on a particular subject or area of the screen before the action takes place. Attention towards the background and surrounding must be taken into account as not to disrupt the animation itself. 'Background and animation should work together as a pictorial unit in a scene'. Examples of this would be having the subject move suddenly to attract attention, colouring or lighting the subject to the extent where it stands out from the rest of the scene.
Straight ahead action and pose to pose:
These are two different approaches to the actual drawing process. "Straight ahead action" means drawing out a scene frame by frame from beginning to end, while "pose to pose" involves starting with drawing a few key frames, and then filling in the intervals later.[1] "Straight ahead action" creates a more fluid, dynamic illusion of movement, and is better for producing realistic action sequences. Size, volumes, and proportions are controlled better this way, as is the action.
[1] Wikipedia
Overlapping:
Overlap is when one action overlaps another. Applying this principal can make your animation flow nicely and have a nice rhythm. For example overlapping action is when the character changes direction while his clothes or hair continues forward.
Slow-out and slow-in:
The movement of the human body, and most other objects, needs time to accelerate and slow down. For this reason, animation looks more realistic if it has more drawings nearer the beginning and end of an action, emphasizing the extreme poses, and fewer in the middle. This principle goes for characters moving between two extreme poses, such as sitting down and standing up, but also for inanimate, moving objects, like the bouncing ball in the above illustration.
Arcs:
Secondary Action:
Giving a scene secondary action provides the scene with more life, and also gives the main action substance. A secondary actions main objective is to emphasize and help portray the main action rather then shadow it. However close ups in facials for example will tend not to have this action.
Timing:
This refers to the amount of shots/drawings within a frame for a single action, this relates to the speed of the film. To have the correct timing would mean the object would be 'obeying the laws of physics' providing a sense of realism. Timing can also help establish a characters personality i.e mood emotion and reactions.
Exaggeration:
Incredibly useful for animation this principle allows how realistic you want your animation to be. The definition of this principle first employed by Disney, 'was to remain true to reality, just presenting it in a wilder, more extreme form'. You need to be careful with exaggeration as too much can make your animation a bit extravagant so to have some restraint on the principle is necessary.
Solid Drawing:
This principle takes into account three-dimensional spaces. Using colour and movement this principle gives the character the illusion of three dimensional movement and life.
Appeal:
This refers to the charisma in an character or actor. All characters have to have appeal whether they're a hero or villain. Appeal includes easy to read design, clear drawing, and personality development that will capture and involve the audiences interest.
Anticipation:
Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more life like and realistic. For an object to rise or jump off the floor the object must first bend his knees; a tennis player making a shot has to swing the racket back first. The technique can also be used for less physical actions, such as a character looking off screen to anticipate someone's arrival/entry.
Staging:
Staging the animation means setting the scene attracting the viewer’s attention and focusing it on a particular subject or area of the screen before the action takes place. Attention towards the background and surrounding must be taken into account as not to disrupt the animation itself. 'Background and animation should work together as a pictorial unit in a scene'. Examples of this would be having the subject move suddenly to attract attention, colouring or lighting the subject to the extent where it stands out from the rest of the scene.
Straight ahead action and pose to pose:
These are two different approaches to the actual drawing process. "Straight ahead action" means drawing out a scene frame by frame from beginning to end, while "pose to pose" involves starting with drawing a few key frames, and then filling in the intervals later.[1] "Straight ahead action" creates a more fluid, dynamic illusion of movement, and is better for producing realistic action sequences. Size, volumes, and proportions are controlled better this way, as is the action.
[1] Wikipedia
Overlapping:
Overlap is when one action overlaps another. Applying this principal can make your animation flow nicely and have a nice rhythm. For example overlapping action is when the character changes direction while his clothes or hair continues forward.
Slow-out and slow-in:
The movement of the human body, and most other objects, needs time to accelerate and slow down. For this reason, animation looks more realistic if it has more drawings nearer the beginning and end of an action, emphasizing the extreme poses, and fewer in the middle. This principle goes for characters moving between two extreme poses, such as sitting down and standing up, but also for inanimate, moving objects, like the bouncing ball in the above illustration.
Arcs:
Most natural actions tend to follow an arched trajectory, and animation should adhere to this principle by following implied "arcs" for greater realism. For example a limb moving by rotating a joint, the only exception is the mechanical movement, which tends to move in a straight line.
As an object's speed or momentum increases, arcs tend to flatten out and broaden its turns. For example a roller skater moving at top speed would be unable to turn as sharply as a slower skater, and would need to cover more ground to complete the turn.
Secondary Action:
Giving a scene secondary action provides the scene with more life, and also gives the main action substance. A secondary actions main objective is to emphasize and help portray the main action rather then shadow it. However close ups in facials for example will tend not to have this action.
Timing:
This refers to the amount of shots/drawings within a frame for a single action, this relates to the speed of the film. To have the correct timing would mean the object would be 'obeying the laws of physics' providing a sense of realism. Timing can also help establish a characters personality i.e mood emotion and reactions.
Exaggeration:
Incredibly useful for animation this principle allows how realistic you want your animation to be. The definition of this principle first employed by Disney, 'was to remain true to reality, just presenting it in a wilder, more extreme form'. You need to be careful with exaggeration as too much can make your animation a bit extravagant so to have some restraint on the principle is necessary.
Solid Drawing:
This principle takes into account three-dimensional spaces. Using colour and movement this principle gives the character the illusion of three dimensional movement and life.
Appeal:
This refers to the charisma in an character or actor. All characters have to have appeal whether they're a hero or villain. Appeal includes easy to read design, clear drawing, and personality development that will capture and involve the audiences interest.
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