12 Principles of Animation

 

     Hey guys, we now move on to more animationish stuff.  We are doing a tutorial (In Digital Tutors) where we have to practice moving a rigged character and then setting key frames.  It is pretty interesting so far, but it is also a little bit more time consuming than I thought before.  I am doing the "Exploring Animation in 3ds Max: Climbing a Wall" tutorial.

     First we started our character in a starting pose.  Mission (simple):  To climb the wall!

 

 

 

 

 

     Alright, it's 3 in the morning, I'm going to bed, but here is what I did today.  =]

 

     I then finished blocking out the key frames in the animation.

 

     (No I wasn't thinking about ice cream).  I watched the rest of the videos and saw how you can tweak little things in your animation in order to get a smoother animation that looks more convincing/realistic.  I learned in this course the importance of accurately blocking out your animation with key frames so that it will be easier to animate the rest of it later.

     I found out later that this set of wall tutorials wasn't really part of the 12 Principles of Animation.  So here is where I started on the 12 Principles of Animation courses.

     The first course l I watched was, "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Squash and Stretch". I learned in this video what a skin morph can do to make your muscles look and react realistically.  I also learned that squashing and stretching an object can give it more fluid and interesting motion.

     I then picked another tutorial principle called, "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Arcs".

I learned in these videos that arcs can improve your characters motion, 

that is is sometimes better to work on improving your arcs in small parts at a time,

and the importance of subtle arcs in your animation.

     The next principle I decided to look at was, "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Solid Drawing."  I learned a few things about Solid Drawing:

1.  Working with timing and balance can greatly improve the look of your animation. 

2.  In Solid Drawing you are trying to refine the animation to it's final stage so that you can pass it on to the next artist who needs to work on it.

 

3.  Study the figure to make sure that there is no IK locking or intersecting geometry.



     I then tried my hand at the Secondary Action principle by watching, "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Secondary Action."

     1.  I learned that adding secondary actions can bring a character to life, but that it is more useful if it is used in subtle ways.  If your secondary action is more prominent than your other actions it can be more of a distraction than a help.

 

     2.  In a project file that I was given, they had you add a slight head swivel (from right to left) so that the character would have more purpose.

     I decided to watch "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Timing and Spacing."  Here is what I learned:

1.  Using Timing and Spacing can give your animation more impact.

 

2.  How to make a convincing accusatory gesture.  (Just Kidding)



 

3.  Using exaggeration in Time and Spacing can produce satisfactory results in animation.

 4.  The weight of an object can also effect Timing and Spacing.

5.  The importance of blinks in animation.

     Next came watching the "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Anticipation" course.  These videos showed me that: 


     1.  Adding in a little extra movement inbetween keyframes can be critical for anticipation build.

     2.  Using subtle actions can help a scene appear less static.

     3.  Anticipation can bring humor to your scene. 

 

     4.  I learned how to offset frames and move the arms and eyes controls.



 

 

     5.  Lastly, making little changes inbetween keyframes can help your animation appear less jerky.

     The videos for "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Staging" looked cool; so I choose it next.

     1.  First we have to set up the staging by blocking out our camera shots.

 

     2.  Then we have to make sure that our character blocking is strong by looking at its silloutte.

 

     3.  Finally, make sure that there are no inconsistancies in your scene (like an intersecting hand on the countertop; I fixed it).

     I decided that my next animation principle to learn would be "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Ease In and Ease Out".  I learned:

     1.  That ghosting can be useful for checking if a characters motion is easing in and out instead of having jerky robotic movements.

     2.  Ease In and Out shouldn't be in certain situations like heavy impacts (Example: if your werewolf gets shot by something at a high speed you wouldn't want him to fall in a slow motion).

     3.  Learning when to use ease in and out is important (Example: the speed of someone blinking could imply their mood).

     4.  Learning when to ease in and out is almost like learning how to use appropriate timing for actions in your animation.

     The next tutorial course on my list was, "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Follow-through and Overlapping".  I learned:

     1.  It is good to check an animation for consistancy.

 

     2.  Using Follow-through and Overlapping can make an animation convincing.



 

     3. There are advantages with working with the Spring Controller.

     4.  Adding weight to a specific area can make an animation more believable.

     (Only 3 more to go!)  Then I moved on to "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Pose to Pose and Straight Ahead".  Okay, here is what I got from this course:

     1.  Blocking out your animation into keyframes is a good way to start when animating a scene. 

     2.  (I continued blocking in the scene from this point).

     3.  (Almost there).

     Here is a quick video just to show what blocking out animation in 3ds Max is like.

"Pose to pose is stricter and more organized, whilst straight ahead action is looser."

     As the instructor so wisely stated, "so why not combine both!?"  If you block out an animation using pose to pose and straight ahead action you can get some of the advantages of both.  If you block out parts of your scene with strict organized poses and use a few fast, fresh, and sporadic poses of straight ahead action you can create an evenly balanced animation.  You can also refine the animation later.

     Here I added some anticipation by tilting the character back and down and uncurling his fingers.

 


     (So close!  2 more!)  I picked out "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Exaggeration" for my next video course.  I am finding out more and more as I do this videos that they all seem to flow together.  There are a lot similarities in multiple principles that help an animation look more entertaining.

     1.  You can exaggerate an action to make it more dynamic.

     2.  Exaggerate a figure's actions to make an animation more appealing (The video isn't as pixely as it looks in this still photo).

 

 

     3.  Exaggeration can give a character personality (even in a walk cycle).

 

 

     (Playing around with the eye and brow controls can help too).

 

     WOOOHOOO!!  Last animation principle!  The final principle I decided to watch was, "Exploring Animation Principles in 3ds Max: Appeal".  Here is what I learned:

     1.  Working with your character's movements and posture can really add personality and appeal to your animation.

Before

 

After

    
     2.  Keep thinking about what you can change to sell the emotion of the moment.  Keep tweaking little things in your animation (It really does help!)

Before



 

After

     3.  Creating a successful breakdown is also important for creating appeal in animation.

Here is a short video showing what I learned about breakdowns.



     4.  The curve editor can great save you time when trying to tweak your animation.  It takes a little while to get used to, but I can definitely see its usefulness at this time.  It can help you as you try to create smooth transitions and thus more appealing animation(s).

     5.  The composition on your scene also adds to an animation's appeal.  It was suggested in this course that creating a camera and trying to frame what's in your shot can help you set up your scene.  Make it so your scene tells a story.

     6.  Also part of composition is the distance an object or objects are from your camera.  In this case it could show the significance of the character who is more important.

     7.  Lastly, taking the time to refine your animation can create something that will entertain your audience.  Here is a video showing my loss for words at this amazing animation that I barely created.

Yeah, I have no idea what I'm talking about hahahaha.

I learned a lot from these courses, but will have to keep practicing using the principles I learned in them.  Will I one day become a master animator!!??  We shall see...  ;)