Animation

Adrian D. Gaborno
BFA-3B

What is Animation?
Animation is the art of creating a series
of differing images that create the
appearance of movement when played in
rapid succession over time.

Websters: The act or process of imparting

life, spirit or motion.
Art in movement
The art of movement

Movement
Movement makes static drawings come
alive.
It is the quality of the movement (the
life) that matters, not the quality of a
particular image or drawing or frame of
film.
Whether it is a drawing or a lump of clay,
the animator places life and meaning
into the material by making it move!

What does it take to be an Animator?

A fascination with the way things move.
Sharp observational skills
A willingness to be an actor!
Problem solving skills
Lots of patience
A little bit of perseverance!

How do pictures move?

A trick of the human eye and the brain
Obviously, the images dont actually
move!
The illusion of movement is created by a
physiological phenomenon called
persistence of vision.

Persistence of Vision
Light is captured by
the eye
The image is focused
upon the retina (at the
back of the eye).

The brain reads and interprets the image.

The brain retains the image slightly longer
than it is actually registered on the retina.

Timeline: A History of Animation

1828 The Thaumatrope
A simple mechanical toy that created the
illusion of movement was made popular by
Paul Roget.

1844 - Theatre Optique, Paris

Emil Reynaud opens his Theatre
Optique in Paris. The
Praxinoscope contained mirrors
placed on an inside column that
reflected out the sequential drawings
that were on the inside of the drum.
He was able to project 80 frames
without changing reels and could
project 10 to 15 minute "films". But
the advent of film drove him out of
business and in 1910 he threw all his
equipment into a river and died
destitute in a sanatorium in 1918.

1893 - The Kinetoscope

Thomas Edison invents the Kinetisocope. Reels of
celluloid were stretched over a set of wheels that passed
in front of a viewing window. Only one viewer at a time
could watch.

1894 First Copyrighted

Film
Thomas Edison
copyrights the
first motion
picture, The
Record Of A
Sneeze.
Thomas Edison
opens his
Kinetiscope Parlor
in New York.

1906 First example of Frame-By-Frame Animation

James Stuart Blackton makes Humorous

Phases Of Funny Faces. This film is usually
considered the first known example of
animation as some of the drawn
sequences are shot frame-by-frame.
Blackton used a combination of blackboard
and chalk drawing and cutouts to achieve
animation.

1926 Adventures of Prince Achmed

Adventures Of Prince Achmed, a onehour shadow puppet film was released.
This film is considered to be the oldest
surviving feature-length animated film.

1928 Mickey Mouse is

born!

Steamboat Willy, starring a

little mouse named Mickey,
opens in New York in
November 1928. It is the
first successful animated
film with sound. It made
Mickey Mouse a star and
launched the Disney
Studios.

1932 Animation Wins an Oscar

Flowers And Trees, by Disney

Studios, won the first Academy
Award for Animation. This film
was the first to use three strip
Technicolor in animation.
Line & Cell Animation
becomes the standard animation
technique for the next 60 years!

1993 Stop-Motion Animation

Nightmare Before
Christmas, by Tim
Burton, is released. A
departure from
traditional cell
animation. Uses stopmotion object
animation.

1994 A Billion Dollar Animation

The Lion King is
released by Disney.
This animated film
made over $1 billion in
theaters. It became a
world-wide
phenomenon!

1995 Computer Animated Film

Toy Story, is the first
computer animated
feature film released
and it takes in more
money at the box
office than any other
film in 1995.

Overview: Traditional
Animation

Early 2D Animation: Used traditional

techniques

Early 3D Animation: Neglected

traditional techniques.

Understanding the Fundamental

principles of traditional animation
techniques is essential to producing good
computer animation.

1. Squash and Stretch

Teaches basic
mechanics of
animation.

Defines rigidity of
material.

Important in
facial animation.

Squash and Stretch Cont.

Can relieve the

disturbing effect
of strobing.

2. Timing and Motion

Gives

meaning to movement.
Proper timing is critical to making ideas readable.

Examples:
1.Timing:tinycharactersmovequickerthan
largerones.
2.Motion:candefineweightsofobjects.

3. Anticipation
Preparation for an action

Example:
Goofypreparestohitabaseball.

4. Staging
A clear presentation of an idea.

SomeTechniques:
1. Usemotioninastillsceneoruseofstaticmovement
inabusyscene.
2. Useofsilhouettes (to the side)

5. Follow Through and

Overlapping Action
1. Follow Through
Termination part of an action.
Example:afterthrowingaball
2. Overlapping Action
Starting a second action before the first has
completed.
Example:LuxoJr.shopwithoverlapping
actiononchord.

6. Straight Ahead Action and

Pose-to-Pose Action
1. Straight Ahead
Animator start from first drawing in the scene and
draw all subsequent frames until the end of scene.

2. Pose-to-Pose
Animator plans actions, draws a sequence of
poses, in between frames etc.

7. Slow in and Out

Spacing of in
between frames
to achieve
subtlety of timing
and movement.

1. 3dkeyframecomp.Systems
usesspineinterpolationto
controlthepathofanobject.
2. Hastendencytoovershootat
extremes(small#offrames).

8. Arcs

Visual path of action for natural

movement.

Makes animation much smoother and

less stiff than a straight line.

9. Exaggeration
Accentuating the essence of an idea via
the design and the action.
Needs to be used carefully.

Example:LuxoJr.made
smallertogiveideaofa
child.

10. Secondary Action

Action that results directly from another
action.
Used to increase the complexity and
interest of a scene.

Example:
Bodymovementistheprimary
action,facialexpressionisthe
secondaryaction

11. Appeal
Refers to what an audience would like to see.
Character cannot be too simple (boring) or
too complex.

Examples:
Avoidmirrorsymmetry,
assymmetryisinteresting.

What techniques used for Wally

B.?

What do you think Wally Bs

going to do?

The Action:
Zooooooooooommmm!

Termination: Poof! Hes

gone!

Role of
Personality
Animators first goal is to entertain.
Success of animation lies in the
personality of the characters.

Conclusion
Hardware/Softwarearesimplynotenough,these
principlesarejustasimportanttoolstoo.

Advantage of Graphics

Help in communication.

May save words by showing things that would otherwise need many.

Externalize internal knowledge

I. Reduces the burden on memory and processing by off-loading.
II. Makes underlying structures and processes transparent.

Used carefully can facilitate comprehension, learning, memory,

communication and inference

Graphics are not always effective.

(text vs graphics)

Criteria 1:
Congruence Principle

The structure and content of the external

representation should correspond to the
desired structure and content of the
internal representation.

Why Do Animations Fail?

1.

Animations may be hard to perceive.

2.

Animations may be comprehended

discretely.

3.

Not universally preferred and often

require expertise for understanding.

Adrian D. Gaborno
BFA-3B
Prof. Ferdinand Doctolero
Animation