Common Terminology for 3D Animation

Jumping into animation presents its own language that can leave you scratching your head at
times if youre not quite sure what the terms mean. Use this list of the most used animation
terminology to help you while learning and to start creating your own animations.

Keyframe

Timeline

Keyframe

Timeline

Keyframe

The timeline shows the frame numbers

within your scene and can be adjusted to
any frame length desired. This is where
the frames can be seen and adjusted.
You will also have the ability to play your
animation directly in the 3D application
with the timeline.

A keyframe is basically the building block for

all animations. In 3D animation you must
create a keyframe to lock down a movement
in time. When a keyframe is created it tells
the computer where you want to have a
change in movement. You need at least two
keyframes for the computer to know the
change that you want to make.

24 FPS
Frame rate
The frame rate is the amount of frames per second. Its important to find out what frame
rate your animation needs to be on before starting any animation, so you can be sure your
animation will be timed right. For example, in film the frame rate is 24 frames per second,
meaning 24 different images are displayed over the course of 1 second. As one of the more
common frame rates, 24 frames per second is a great frame rate to default to if youre not
sure what frame rate your project needs.

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ANIMATION TERMS

12 F = .5 S

Poses
A pose in animation
represents how the
character is positioned. You
can think of a pose the same
way a statue is posed. Except
in animation there are
many poses that make up
the animation. If you were
to freeze an animation at
any point in time, whatever
position that character is in
could be considered a pose.

S Shape

Backwards C Shape

Line of Action
The line of action is an invisible line that can be drawn along a characters pose. Typically
there will be a few main lines for a pose, a C shape, a backwards C shape, and an
S shape. When posing out your character youll want to ensure you have a strong line
of action that typically resembles one of these shapes to help you establish a dynamic
pose. An unappealing line of action would be a simple straight line that flows from your
characters head to their feet.

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ANIMATION TERMS

C Shape

Breakdown

Blocking is an animation
technique where the most
important story telling
poses are created to
establish the placement of
character or object and how
they will move in the scene.
This technique is used very
early on in the animation
process and helps tell the
story of the animation.
Blocking is often the first
step in pose-to-pose
animation.

A breakdown describes how

the character or object is
going to get from one pose
to the other. A breakdown
can be considered a type
of inbetween but a very
specific one. When you have
a pose on frame 1 and a
different pose on frame 10
the next step would be to
add in a breakdown.

Inbetweens
Not to be confused with a
breakdown. An inbetween
basically fills in what is
happening between the
breakdowns for pose A
and pose B. In computer
animation often times
the inbetweens will be
created by the computer.
In traditional 2D animation
there were often times
assistants to the animators
called inbetweeners that did
this fill in work.

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ANIMATION TERMS

Blocking

Moving Holds

Twinning is a term used when one half of

a characters body mirrors the opposite
half producing an unnatural symmetry.
Twinning can be avoided by simply offsetting
a characters pose on one half of its body
ever so slightly from the other half. Avoiding
twinning in your animation is one of the first
steps in creating appealing posing. Twinning
can be a very quick fix, simply by adjusting
the position of the arms or legs.

A moving hold in animation means that a

character freezes or moves very slightly in
a particular pose for whatever length of
time that you have set for it. Moving holds
are used in animation to help break up
the movement, and add to an emotion a
character is trying to compose. Moving holds
should be used sparingly and only where
needed. If there are too many moving holds
it can give the animation a stop and go feel.

Polish Pass
The polish pass refers to the very last step in an animation. This is the point when an animator
will add in the very small finishing touches to the work. Things like eye movements, finger
adjustments, tracking arcs, etc. are all usually animated in the polish pass after all of the main
movements have been finalized.

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ANIMATION TERMS

Twinning

Gimbal Lock
In computer animation gimbal lock is the loss of one degree of rotation in a joint. In computer
animation this means that there has been a significant amount of rotation that has passed the
180 degree mark, and the computer doesnt understand which direction you want to rotate. This
will look like a very fast rotation hiccup when your animation is played back. To avoid gimbal lock
make sure you choose a rotation order that would be suitable for your animation. The rotation
order allows you to reevaluate how each axis reacts as an object is rotated. Certain applications
also include tools that reinterpret rotation values that cause gimbal lock in order to help iron out
discontinuities in animated-rotation data sets.

Breaking joints basically refers to rotating

joints in the opposite direction to its normal
bending. In the real world this wouldnt
be physically possible without actually
breaking a joint. In animation bending the
joints in the opposite direction will add a lot
of flexibility to a movement, and is typically
used for a more cartoony style animation.
Since youre only breaking the joint for
a frame or two when played back at full
speed it isnt noticeable.

Learning basic 3D animation terminology will greatly help your early

animation journey. Find more animation posts here and make sure to
check out our growing library of 3d animation tutorials from industry
professionals to really ramp up your learning.

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ANIMATION TERMS

Breaking Joints