Finalising the Rig

• Naming
• Organising your scene into layers
• Creating Sets
• Locking and Hiding Channels
• Referencing your rig for animation

Animation Principles

As we move into the animation production phase of this module it would be a good idea to re-familiarise yourself with the 12 principles of animation

The 12 Principles of Animation:

1. Squash and Stretch

Gives a sense of weight and flexibility to drawn objects. It can be applied to simple objects, like a bouncing ball, or more complex constructions, like the human face. The most important aspect of this principle is the fact that an object's volume does not change when squashed or stretched. If the length of a ball is stretched vertically, its width needs to contract correspondingly.

2. Anticipation

Anticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action. Bending knees before jumping or swinging arm back before throwing a ball. It can also refer to preparing the audience for something about to happen - such as a character looking off-screen to anticipate someone's arrival.

3. Staging

This principle is akin to staging in theatre. Its purpose is to direct the audience's attention, and make it clear what is of greatest importance in a scene

4. Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose

These are two different approaches to the actual drawing process. "Straight ahead action" scenes are animated frame by frame from beginning to end, while "pose to pose" involves starting with drawing a few key frames, and then filling in the intervals later.

5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action

Two closely related techniques which help to render movement more realistically, and help to give the impression that characters follow the laws of physics. "Follow through" means that parts of a body should continue moving after the characters centre of gravity has come to a stop. These parts keep moving beyond the point where the character stopped and then come back to rest a fraction later. "Overlapping action" is the tendency for parts of the body to move at different rates.

6. Ease In and Ease Out

The movement of the human body, and most other objects, needs time to accelerate and slow down. For this reason, animation looks more realistic if it has more drawings near the beginning and end of an action, emphasising the extreme poses, and fewer in the middle.

7. Arc

Most natural action tends to follow an arched trajectory, and animation should adhere to this principle by following implied "arcs" for greater realism.

8. Secondary Action

Adding secondary actions to the main action gives a scene more life, and can help to support the main action. A person walking can simultaneously swing their arms or keep them in their pockets, speak or whistle, or express emotions through facial expressions.

9. Timing

Timing refers to the number of drawings or frames for a given action, which translates to the speed of the action on film. On a purely physical level, correct timing makes objects appear to obey the laws of physics; for instance, an object's weight determines how it reacts to an impetus, like a push.

10. Exaggeration

Accentuating the essence of an idea via the design and the action. Representing reality in a wilder, more extreme way.

11. Solid Drawing

The principle of solid drawing means taking into account forms in three-dimensional space, or giving them volume and weight.

12. Appeal

Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor. A character who is appealing is not necessarily sympathetic – villains or monsters can also be appealing – the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is real and interesting.

The following course on Linda Covers the subject it in great detail:

The following videos also explain the principles very well:

We will look at each principle in turn during our stages or animation production.

Animation Preproduction

Having finalised your animation ideas for the brief and worked out a rough schedule you should now be underway with your preproduction - this includes all the tasks needed before you can start animating.

• Storyboard

Create a story board for each of your animation ideas. Pay attention how you intend to stage the animation. Think about what camera angles will help deliver your ideas. Your drawings should cover the main key stages of your animation.

• Animatic

One you are happy with your story board, scan in the drawings and transfer them to editing software to time it out. The brief is for 40 seconds of animation, so this is a necessary stage to ensure you are creating the right length of work.

• Reference

Take video reference for your animations and edit it to fit your animatic.

• Assets

Collect your assets needed for your animation. Rigs and any other models you will need

• Layout

Reference your rig into a scene and create each shot of your animation, Roughly pose the character according to your storyboard and position the camera.

ANIMATION PRINCIPLE:

Staging

As you story board and layout your animations you will need to pay close attention to staging.

make sure the camera is positioned to clearly show your action.

consider how you can cut around the action to increase the drama of your sequence

consider how the close ups and wides angle shots, as well as shooting from above or below the character will effect things.

Staging is direction. Pay attention to the cinematography and shot making in the things you watch.

http://floobynooby.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-cinematography-of-incredibles-part-1.html