Animation
This is one of the greatest things about working with a program like Maya. To Animate means to bring life to. In these following lessons we will be taking all of the projects that we have accomplished thus far and start to make a film with them.
The Twelve principles of Animation
Once upon a time there was a brand new medium that had come upon the stage of our collective consciences, Animation. Early innovators and leaders in this new industry became to be known as the "Nine Old Men". These "Old Men" sat down and began to codify what separated good animation from great animation. They came up with the 12 Principles of Animation. I love to teach every young student these principles as they are precious concepts for any young student to understand before they begin to approach animation. I focus on a couple of them more than others, and these I offer up on this page.
1. Stretch and Squash
Stretch and squash is one of those greatest things that makes animation believable.
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.
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. Antipcipation
I have heard it once said that Anticipation is telling your audience what you are going to do and then doing it. For example if a character is going to throw a baseball the character needs to "wind up" by pulling his arm back first and pauses (telling what the audience what you are going to do), before he then throws the ball with all that he has (then doing the action).
Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more realistic. A dancer jumping off the floor has to bend his knees first; a golfer making a swing has to swing the club back first. The technique can also be used for less physical actions, such as a character looking off-screen to anticipate someone's arrival, or attention focusing on an object that a character is about to pick up.
Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more realistic. A dancer jumping off the floor has to bend his knees first; a golfer making a swing has to swing the club back first. The technique can also be used for less physical actions, such as a character looking off-screen to anticipate someone's arrival, or attention focusing on an object that a character is about to pick up.
3. Follow through and overlapping action
Follow through and overlapping action is the basic idea that no ever part of a body moves solidly together like a robot. As my arm swings when I am walking my forearm will resist the movement making my elbow bend as the forearm drags behind. My hand will do the exactly thing just reactor slower than the forearm.