12 principles of animation Flashcards
Squash and Stretch
Animated objects will get longer or flatter to show speed, momentum, weight and mass. For cartoonish artstyles, this is also used for character movement, like a character landing or shaking their head, and changes in character expressions, like a character’s head elongating when their expression shows sudden surprise. Squash and stretch doesn’t change volume, however, which should remain consistent.
Squash and Stretch is much less prevalent in realistic styles, although it does happen in poses, like a character’s arms outstretched for balance and legs bending to absorb the shock of a fall.
Anticipation
When an animated character prepares for an action to prepare the audience and make the action look more realistic. The more preparation, the more power in the action. Anticipation makes movement look more natural, like a character crouching before jumping into the air. Ancitipation should also be clear to the user.
Anticipation is also used to give cues to the user about what a character is about to do- like attack or run. In games where attacks must happen very quickly, like street fighting games, anticipation movements are also done very quickly, with very few frames.
Staging
The presentation of any idea (including actions, moods, personalities and expressions) so its completely and unmistakeably clear. This applies to character actions, timing, camera position and setting. We want to be in complete control of where the audience is looking. The camera is often far away for big actions and close up for expressions.
The main action should be clear and simple. There shouldn’t be too much happening in the background that will compete for user attention, and actions should happen one at a time so the user knows what to look at. The main action should be happening along the camera’s centreline or one of its third lines. Generally, if text is displayed, it should be displayed long enough for the user to read it three times.
Straight ahead & pose-to-pose
Straight ahead: making one frame, then the next, then the next and so on.
Pose to pose: making first key frames (the start and end frames), then extreme frames (the greatest extent to which an action will be animated), then breakdown frames/poses (the in-between frames).
Pose to pose is generally preferred for animating, especially in 3d when the program will fill in the breakdown poses. Straight ahead is often used for unpredictable movement, like fire or particle effects, and the overlapping action between a body and its extremities, like hair- although the body is usually first animated with pose to pose.
Follow through and overlapping action
Follow through (FT): where body parts continue to move after the main body has stopped moving
Overlapping action (OA): the offset in movement between a body and its parts
Generally, the tip of an appendage is the last to catch up and might go a little further before coming back to rest.
A greater degree of FT/OA shows greater momentum and/or flexibility, and lesser mass and weight, and vice versa. FT/OA are often used to make movement appear more natural. They can be used to give a player feedback on an action. Physics simulators are often used for FT/OA, especially when animations are very rapid.
Slow in & slow out
Where things start to move slowly, accelerate, and then decelerate before stopping, rather than maintain a constant speed.
There are several factors that determine whether this occurs or not, so it should be used carefully. Organic movement without external actors often uses slow in/slow out, like a character starting to sprint, then pulling to a stop. Mechanical movement rarely uses slow in/slow out, nor does the sudden transfer of momentum- a bullet starts moving when it is propelled by exploding gunpowder and stops when it hits something, so it won’t use slow in or slow out.
In cartoonish styles, slow in/slow out can be exaggerated to emphasize key poses.
Arcs
Where a character or part moves in a circular path (an arc) rather than a linear one. Arcs can be added to most character movements and make those movements look more organic, as organic parts (like limbs) typically rotate at their joints to move. This can be done by giving one movement axis an arc, and leaving the other two with slow in/slow out. In drawing, arcs can be added to very fast movements as a smear- this can also be done with VFX. In 3d, arcs are typically accomplished by rotating bones to create movement, as in a walk cycle.
Secondary action
A character has secondary animations/gestures that support and add more dimension to the primary action. For example, a character might swing their arms while walking (the movement of their legs being the primary action). Secondary action shouldn’t dominate or obscure the primary action, but it can’t go unnoticed either. A crying character might wipe away a tear, as a tear by itself might go unnoticed, but the hands shouldn’t cover the face.
Timing
The personality and nature of an animation is greatly affected by the number of frames between each main action.
The less frames, the faster the action, and vice versa. Larger forms tend to move slower, and smaller ones tend to move faster.
Timing also greatly affects a game’s feel. PvP games, where every second could be used shooting somebody, tend to have very fast movements to make the characters immediately responsive. In contrast, slower movements can be used to give a realistic, majestic, or laid-back feel to the game or character.
Exaggeration
Where every action, pose and expression is exaggerated to increase the impact it has on the viewer. Exaggeration makes actions more convincing, rather than more distorted. When motions are quick, the frames need to be even more exaggerated, like a surprised expression being stretched out of proportion as its only displayed for a 30th of a second. In cartoon styles, its better to err on the side of exaggerated.
This has much less prevalence in realistic styles, where exaggeration is done a little if at all.
Solid drawing
Forms must feel like they’re in 3d space by having form, weight and balance. A sphere should be drawn with circular lines. 3D forms next to eachother should overlap, like cuffs on sleeves.
Only a few aspects of solid drawing apply in 3d: symmetry should be avoided, as should twinning (where two arms or legs move identically). The movement of body parts should be slightly offsetted.
Appeal
Characters should be unique, interesting and likeable.
In cartoony styles, the interesting parts of a character (like eyes, noses, mouths etc) will be enlarged, while less interesting parts will be shrunk. Bodies and heads will be shaped differently.
