Principle of animation

1.3.1 Principle of animation

Simulating Physics

Squash and stretch, timing, secondary action, slow in and slow out and arcs establish the physical basis of ojects in the scene. An object posesses some of rigidity and mass. This is reflected in the distortion of its shape during action, especially a collision. The animation must support these notions consistently. Timing has to do with how actions are spaced according to weight, size, and personality of an object or character and with the physics of movement. Secondary action supports the main action, Slow in and Slow out and arcs are concerned how things move through space. When speaking of the actions involved, objects are said to "ease in" and "ease out". Such speed variation model inertia, friction and viscosity. Objects usually move in arcs, not in straight lines.

 

Designing aesthetically pleasing action

Appeal, solid drawing and follow through/overlapping action are principle in aesthetic design of an action sequence. The animator needs to make it enjoyable to watch actions. Actions should flow into one another to make the entire shot appear to continually evolve. Solid drawing refers to making the character look pliable and not stiff or wooden. Squash and stretch can also be used in this regard. Secondary actions and timing also play a role in designing pleasing motion.

 

Effectively presenting action

Oftehn the animator needs to employ exaggeration so a motion cannot be missed. Anticipation and staging concern how an action is presented. Anticipation dictats that an upcoming action. Staging expands on this notion of presenting an action so that it is not missed. Timing is involved to the extent that an action has to be given appropriate duration for the intended effect. Secondary action also be used for presentation of an action.

 

Production technique

Straight ahead versus pose to pose concerns how a motion is created. Straight ahead refers to progressing from a starting point and developing the motion continually. Physically based aniamtion could be considered a form of straight ahead processing. Pose to pose, typical approach in conventional animation, refers to identifying key frames and interpolating the intermediate frames.

 

1.3.2 Principles of filmmaking

Basic principles of filmmaking are how effective imagery is constructed.

 

Three-point lighting.

There is a standard set of three-light to illuminate the central figure in as cene. The key light is positioned up and to the side of the camera, pointing directly at the central figure. This focuses the observer's attention on what is important. The rim light is positioned behind the central figure and serves to highlight the rim, thus outlining the figure and making the figure stand out from the background. The fill light is a flood light positioned below the camera that fills the figure with soft light bringing out other details in the figure's appearance.

 

180 rule

when fliming a line of action, each figure should be showed with in isolation during the action. The 180 degree rule states that when showing the two figures, one after the other, in isloation.

 

Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds says that the interesting places to place an object are one third along the way.

 

Types of shots

Types of camera shots are categorized based on the distance from the camera to the subject. The distance based shots are extreme long range to extreme clouse-up. A low angle shot imparts a feeling of power or dominance to the subject. Conversely, a high angle shot presents a feeling that the subject is insignificant or subordinate.

 

Tilt

Tilting the camera can convey a sense of urgency, strangeness, or fear to the shot.

 

Framing

Framing refers to allowing enough room in the image for the action being captured.

Allow enough room so the subject does not fill the frame.

 

Focus the viewer's attention.

Draw the viewer's attention to what's important in the image using color, lighting, movement, focus, etc. The eye will naturally follow converging lines, the gaze of figures in the image, a progression from dark to light.

 

1.3.3 Sound

Sound is an integral part of almost all animation. Up through the 1920s, the early "silent films" were played in theater with live mood music accompaniment. That changed as soound recording technology was developed for film and video.

 

Audio recording techniques had been around fdor 30 years by the time moving images were first recorded on film. It took 30 years to play a sound track in sync with recorded action. Most formats record the audio on the same medium that records the image. For example, audio is recorded along the side of the images. Early format used optical or magnetic analog track, but recent format digitally print the sound track on the film. By recording the sound on the same stock as the film, the timing between the imagery and the audio is physically enforced. In some ofrmats, aseparate medium, such as CD, is used to hold the audio. This creates a synchronization issue during the playback.

In the case of video, audio tracks are recorded alongside the tracks used to encode the video signal.

In the early film and video, audio was recorded as a low bandwith resulting in very low-quality sound. Today's film and video technology provides four roles in a production: voice, body sounds, special effects, and background music.

 

Voice is recorded with the action because of timing consideration. Voices are recorded first and animation made to sync with it. Recording voices can be used to guide the animators to guide the animators when they create facial expressions and body language  that accompanies the speech.

 

Nonspeech sounds made by actors, such as rustling of clothes, footsteps are called body sounds. The recorded sounds are replaced by synthesized soundds, called foley. These sounds must be synced with the motions of the actors. The people responsible for the sounds are called foley artists. Special effects, such as door slams and revving of car engines, must also be synced with action, but with lesser precision than voice.

 

Recording background and mood music require no precise timing with the action. All the sounds other than voice are added after the live action or animation.