How to Start Animating Your Characters : 4 Principles

BaM Animation
25 Nov 202116:16
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThis animated video dives into the fascinating world of character animation, breaking down four fundamental principles that are crucial for bringing characters to life. Starting with the concept of 'easing,' which mimics the natural acceleration and deceleration of objects, the video demonstrates how to create more realistic motion. 'Overshooting' is then introduced, a technique where objects exceed their final position before settling, adding a dynamic flair to movements. 'Squash and stretch' is highlighted next, emphasizing the elasticity of characters by exaggerating their shape changes during motion. Lastly, 'anticipation' is discussed, a principle that involves a brief pause before an action to enhance clarity and engagement. The video guides viewers through practical exercises, starting with a simple ball bounce and progressing to more complex movements, using a hand as an example. It also touches on the process of animating a detailed character, starting with a stick figure as a base, and the importance of reference and dynamic spacing. The summary concludes with the animator's personal journey, emphasizing the necessity of practice and the iterative process of refining animations to achieve a polished final product.

Takeaways
  • 🎨 **Animation is a Skill**: While drawing skills help, animation is a different skill set that requires its own learning and practice.
  • 🚀 **12 Principles to 4**: The video simplifies the 12 principles of animation into 4 key principles to focus on for beginners: easing, overshooting, squash and stretch, and anticipation.
  • 🛠️ **Easing in Animation**: Easing refers to the acceleration of an object, making movements more natural by gradually increasing or decreasing speed.
  • 🔁 **Dynamic Spacing**: The spacing between frames determines the speed of motion; close frames for slow motion and far apart frames for fast motion.
  • 🎭 **Overshooting Adds Life**: An object going past its final position and then snapping back can make animations appear more lively and less robotic.
  • 🧼 **Squash and Stretch**: Emphasizing the elasticity of objects by exaggerating their shape changes during movement can convey a sense of organic motion.
  • ⏳ **Anticipation Sets the Stage**: A slight hesitation before a movement can prepare the audience for the action, making it more impactful.
  • 🤔 **Practice Makes Perfect**: Start with simple exercises like a ball bounce and gradually move to more complex animations to build up skills.
  • 📈 **On Twos for Speed**: Animating on twos, where each drawing is held for two frames, can make faster motion appear smoother and is less time-consuming.
  • 📏 **Key Poses as Framework**: Establishing key poses first provides a strong foundation for the rest of the animation, ensuring consistency and clarity of motion.
  • 🖌️ **Tracing and Shifting**: Tracing parts of a model sheet and shifting them to fit new poses is a useful technique to maintain consistent character volume.
  • 🔍 **Onion Skinning and Flipping**: Using onion skinning to see the motion of forms and flipping between key frames can help refine and smooth out animations.
Q & A

  • What is the first principle of animation discussed in the script?

    -The first principle of animation discussed is 'easing,' which refers to the acceleration of an object, such as a car gradually speeding up rather than instantly going from zero to sixty.

  • How does the concept of 'dynamic spacing' relate to the principle of easing in animation?

    -Dynamic spacing is used to create acceleration or easing by adjusting the distance between each drawing. Close drawings create the illusion of slow motion, while drawings that are far apart represent fast motion.

  • What is 'overshooting' in the context of character animation?

    -Overshooting is when an object in motion goes past its final resting point and then snaps back into place, adding a sense of life and energy to a character's movement.

  • How does 'squash and stretch' contribute to the animation of a character?

    -Squash and stretch is a principle that emphasizes elasticity by exaggerating the change in shape of a character as it moves. It helps convey the movement more effectively and adds a sense of organic, malleable motion.

  • What is 'anticipation' in animation and how does it help in storytelling?

    -Anticipation is a principle where a character shows a brief hesitation or preparation before performing an action, like winding up for a pitch. It helps communicate actions to the audience by preparing them for the next action, making the movement more natural and the acting clearer.

  • Why is starting with a stick figure beneficial when animating a complex character?

    -Starting with a stick figure allows animators to establish the basic movement and proportions of a character before adding the complexity of detailed drawings. It serves as a simple blueprint or guide for the final animation.

  • How does the animator ensure consistency in volume when drawing key poses?

    -The animator uses a technique called 'trace and shift,' where they trace certain elements from a character's model sheet and then adjust them to fit the new pose, ensuring that the volume and proportions remain consistent throughout the animation.

  • What does 'on twos' mean in the context of traditional animation?

    -'On twos' refers to the practice of holding each drawing for two frames, reducing the number of drawings needed per second from 24 to 12. This technique is often used to create the illusion of faster motion.

  • How does the animator add secondary motion to the character, such as the bouncing of the ears?

    -The animator adds secondary motion by adjusting specific frames to create additional movement, like the ears bouncing, which enhances the overall animation and makes it more dynamic and lifelike.

  • What is the purpose of 'onion skinning' in the animation process?

    -Onion skinning is a technique that allows the animator to see multiple layers or frames at once, helping them to track the movement of different parts of the character and ensure that the motion is smooth and consistent.

  • Why is the cleanup process of animation considered more time-consuming than the rough animation?

    -The cleanup process involves refining the rough animation, ensuring that every detail is accurate, and that all elements move smoothly together. It requires meticulous attention to detail and can be quite laborious, often taking much longer than the initial animation stage.

  • How does the animator ensure that the motion in the animation looks smooth?

    -The animator pays close attention to the movement of forms over time, uses onion skinning to track the motion, and may draw arc guides to help with tracking specific details. Additionally, they may use smears to convey very fast, blurry motion and ensure that the smear matches the motion arcs for a realistic effect.

Outlines
00:00
🎨 Introduction to Character Animation

The first paragraph introduces the complexity of character animation and the challenges faced by beginners. It emphasizes that while drawing skills are beneficial, animation is a distinct skill set that requires understanding movement principles. The video aims to simplify the learning process by focusing on four fundamental principles of animation: easing, overshooting, squash and stretch, and anticipation. These principles are crucial for creating natural and lively animations. The paragraph also mentions the importance of practicing these principles through exercises like animating a bouncing ball, which is a foundational exercise for budding animators.

05:00
🚀 Applying Animation Principles

In the second paragraph, the focus shifts to applying the discussed animation principles to create a more dynamic and engaging character. The animator demonstrates how to use easing for a more natural motion, overshooting to add life to movements, and squash and stretch to emphasize elasticity. Anticipation is also highlighted as a way to prepare the audience for an upcoming action, making the animation clearer and more engaging. The paragraph concludes with a comparison between a basic hand movement and one that incorporates all the principles, showcasing the significant difference in quality and appeal.

10:01
🎭 Developing a Character Animation

The third paragraph delves into the process of developing a character animation. It starts with creating a rough key pose animation using stick figures as a guide. The animator then refines the animation by adding breakdown poses and in-between frames, ensuring smooth transitions and maintaining the character's volume. Techniques like onion skinning and using arc guides are discussed to achieve smoother motion. The paragraph also touches on the use of smears to convey fast, blurry motion. Finally, the animator talks about the cleanup process, which involves refining the rough animation into a clean, colored version, and the importance of coloring each frame for traditional animation.

15:01
🌟 Completing the Animation and Encouraging Practice

The final paragraph acknowledges the gap between simple animations like ball bounces and complex character animations. It stresses the importance of practice in filling this gap, as this is a skill that cannot be taught in a single video. The paragraph encourages viewers to use the channel as a starting point to try new things and offers additional resources, including other videos and a second channel with time-lapse content. It also invites viewers to send in their art for a redraw and to join the community for further engagement and learning.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡Character Animation
Character animation refers to the process of creating the illusion of life and movement in a character through a sequence of images. It is a complex subject that goes beyond static drawing, as it involves understanding the principles of movement. In the video, the animator discusses the challenges and principles of character animation, using a cat as an example to demonstrate these principles.
💡12 Principles of Animation
The 12 principles of animation are a set of guidelines introduced by Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas to help create more realistic and appealing animations. The video simplifies these principles to four essential ones for beginners to grasp the basics of animation. These principles are crucial for understanding how to make an animated character's movements look natural and engaging.
💡Easing
Easing in animation refers to the gradual acceleration and deceleration of movement to simulate natural motion. For instance, a car cannot instantly go from zero to sixty, and neither can an animated character. In the video, the animator uses the concept of easing to make the cat's movements look more realistic by adjusting the spacing between frames to create a sense of acceleration and deceleration.
💡Overshooting
Overshooting is an animation principle where an object goes past its intended stopping point and then quickly snaps back, adding a sense of energy and exaggeration to the movement. The video demonstrates this principle by adjusting the final frames of the cat's animation to make it appear as though the cat is moving with more life and vigor.
💡Squash and Stretch
Squash and stretch is a principle that emphasizes the elasticity and flexibility of animated characters or objects. It involves changing the shape of a character to convey the impact of a movement. In the video, the animator uses this principle to make the cat's movements appear more organic and dynamic, such as when the cat's hand is depicted as stretching before moving to its final position.
💡Anticipation
Anticipation is a principle used in animation to prepare the audience for an upcoming action. It often involves a slight pause or a movement in the opposite direction before the main action. In the video, the animator uses anticipation by having the cat's hand move slightly backward before it moves forward, which helps to communicate the action more effectively to the viewer.
💡Dynamic Spacing
Dynamic spacing in animation is the technique of varying the distance between frames to control the speed of an action. Closely spaced frames represent slower motion, while widely spaced frames indicate fast motion. The video demonstrates dynamic spacing by showing how the ball's fall is animated with frames that start close together and then move further apart to create a sense of acceleration.
💡Stick Figure
A stick figure is a simple drawing that represents a figure with minimal detail, using lines to depict the basic structure. In the context of the video, the animator uses a stick figure as a starting point for animating the cat. This approach simplifies the animation process by first establishing the basic movement and proportions before adding detail to the character.
💡Onion Skinning
Onion skinning is a technique used in animation that allows an animator to see multiple layers or frames at once, typically with a degree of transparency. This helps in judging the continuity of motion and making adjustments. In the video, onion skinning is used to ensure that the forms of the cat move smoothly and to make incremental adjustments to the in-between frames.
💡Smears
Smears in animation are frames that depict a blurred or streaked image to convey fast motion. They are used to suggest speed and the inability to see the object clearly due to its rapid movement. The video mentions smears as a way to add a stylistic touch that conveys super-fast motion, such as when the cat's feet are slammed down, creating a squashed effect for one frame and then a pop-up motion.
💡Looping
Looping in animation refers to creating a sequence that can repeat seamlessly. It is an important aspect of animation for videos or sequences that are meant to cycle without a noticeable break. In the video, the animator discusses how to make the cat's dance animation loop properly by moving the beginning frames to the end and ensuring a smooth transition.
Highlights

Animation is a complex subject, especially character animation, which can feel like drawing a moving target.

The video breaks down four key motion principles to help beginners start learning how to animate.

Easing is a principle that describes how objects accelerate or decelerate, similar to a car's movement.

Overshooting is a technique where an object goes past its final point and then snaps back, adding life to character movements.

Squashing and stretching emphasize the elasticity of characters and objects, making them appear more organic.

Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, like a wind-up before a pitch.

Good motion in animation is characterized by interesting and dynamic movement.

Starting with a ball bounce is a foundational exercise for learning animation.

Dynamic spacing in animation creates acceleration or easing by adjusting the distance between frames.

A turnaround is a technique used to analyze a character from all angles before animating.

Using a stick figure as a base for complex characters simplifies the animation process.

Reference materials are crucial for accurate and realistic animation movements.

Looping an animation requires moving the beginning frames to the end and refining the transition.

Secondary actions, like the bouncing of ears, can be added to enrich the animation.

On twos animation technique involves holding each drawing for two frames, reducing the number of drawings needed.

Tracing and shifting is a useful technique in animation for maintaining consistency and volume.

Breakdown poses are used to define the movement between key poses, often closer to the starting position due to easing.

Onion skinning is a technique that allows animators to see the previous and next frames to create smoother motion.

Smears are used to convey fast, blurry motion in animation.

Cleaning up the rough animation involves checking every detail to ensure smooth and consistent motion.

Traditional animation requires coloring each frame, which can be streamlined using tools like paint buckets and palettes.

Transcripts

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Character AnimationAnimation PrinciplesMotion TechniquesKeyframe AnimationSquash and StretchOvershootingEasingAnticipationTraditional AnimationArtistic LearningCreative Process