Animation + Video
Animation & Motion Design Guide
Animation & Motion Design Guide
Embedded Files
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
This guide provides a general introduction to the process of creating an animation or motion design.
Note: Used the attached release form when shooting live action and there are persons recognizable in the shot.
Project Ideas
Project Ideas
Informational: Explain something (see below)
Entertainment: Tell a 4-part story (see below)
Script Writing For Informational Video & Animation
Script Writing For Informational Video & Animation
Standard Story Outline
Standard Story Outline
Documentary and informational video is most effective when it engages the audience's brain in four deliberate ways.
Our Tribal brain
Our Primal brain
Our logical brain
Our knowledgable brain
Foe detailed guidelines and examples visit the i-See-U Socio-Emotional Design Guide
Script Writing Tips
Script Writing Tips
Stories don't have to start at the beginning… you can start in a more exciting place, then find your way back to the beginning later.
Every important scene or sequence of scenes should have a set-up and a pay-off and end on something that sums it up or reveals its essence.
What to Include in Your Script
What to Include in Your Script
Show, don't tell. Describe the actions that create the emotions, thoughts, or information. Don't list them.
Dialogue
Narration
Scene descriptions
Lighting/time-of-day notes
Acting / emoting direction
Accessibility
Accessibility
Media that will be released for public consumption is required to include a version with audio descriptions, or include voice-over and dialogue written in a Audio-Visual-Storytelling Style. See the example below.
Video Writing Example 1 (Standard Form)
(2 versions needed - one with audio description and one without):
Narrator says: Sometimes I wonder what my dog is thinking
Image shows: Person on their knees looking directly into a dog's eyes from 6 " away
Video Writing Example 2 (Visual Narrative Form)
(1 version needed - because the narrator describes the visual action):
Narrator says: Sometimes I stare directly into my dog's eyes, wondering what she is thinking
Image shows: Person on their knees looking directly into a dog's eyes from 6 " away
Affordance
Affordance
When users are consuming video, they should periodically be supplied orienting devices that reduce cognitive load. This can include:
Title cards.
Establishing scene shots.
A linear story structure.
A clear, narrative-driven visual hierarchy within each scene.
Script Writing For Entertainment Animation
Script Writing For Entertainment Animation
Overview
Overview
The story needs a premise and it needs a point of view, usually from one of the characters (the protagonist). In many successful films, the protagonist is confronted with a moral dilemma or a physical/emotional hurdle. Antagonists (other characters) can provide conflict in the story. Whether or not these things are resolved is up to the author.
Stories don't have to start at the beginning… you can start in a more exciting place, then find your way back to the beginning later.
Each character in a scene should have a need (motivation). Every important scene or sequence of scenes should have a set-up and a pay-off and end on something that sums it up or reveals its essence.
Standard Story Progression
Standard Story Progression
Life in Balance: the world in it's normal state
Set up: the problem is presented
Body: the problem is made worse (can have one, several or many parts)
Resolution: the problem solved, balance restored ... or not. The resolution should require one of the main protagonists or antagonists to make a moral decision in order to move the plot to its end point.
Standard Plot Lines
Standard Plot Lines
Overcoming an adversary
The quest
The journey & return
Comedy
Tragedy
Resurrection
Rags to riches
More Standard Film Plots
Character Development
Character Development
Important and fully developed characters can be complex and have conflict built into them via a persona that does not mesh well with their stereotype. Characters with smaller roles can be built strictly on archetypes and conventions.
What to Include in Your Script
What to Include in Your Script
Show, don't tell. Describe the actions that create the emotions, thoughts, or information. Don't list them.
Dialogue
Narration
Scene descriptions
Lighting/time-of-day notes
Acting actions
incorrect: 'they felt despair'
correct: 'they held their shaking head in their hands'
Accessibility
Accessibility
Media that will be released for public consumption is required to include a version with audio descriptions, or include voice-over and dialogue written in a Audio-Visual-Storytelling Style. See the example below. In the scene a person is on their knees and looking directly into a dog's eyes from 6 " away
Video Writing Example 1 (Standard Form)
(2 versions needed - one with audio description and one without):
Narrator says: Sometimes I wonder what my dog is thinking
Audio description narrator says: Person on their knees looking directly into a dog's eyes.
Video Writing Example 2 (Integrated Audio Description Form)
(1 version needed - because the narrator describes the visual action):
Narrator says: Sometimes I get on my knees and stare directly into my dog's eyes, wondering what she is thinking.
Affordance
Affordance
When users are consuming video, they should periodically be supplied orienting devices that reduce cognitive load. This can include:
Title cards.
Establishing scene shots.
A linear story structure.
A clear, narrative-driven visual hierarchy within each scene.
Pitching An Animation Concept
Pitching An Animation Concept
Your going to need to obtain funding or sell your concept to a production studio if you want it to get released through main stream or large indy channels. That means you will need to make something like a 2-SHEET so you are not just waving your arms around in the air. Click Here for a complete guide for making a 2 Sheet. This is an example created by KCAD DM student Kait Mayne.
Another Pitch method is a Pitch (or show) Bible. It contains a lot more detail and is sometimes not developed until a show is green-lighted for production. It is then used for all of the production writers and artists as a way to understand the show. Click here for the Wow Wow Wubzy example.
Resources for Pitching
Storyboarding
Storyboarding
Shot List
Shot List
Sometimes it's helpful to start with a written shot list... that is just an outline description of the shots (in order). If you have a script, you can simply integrate the shot list into it.
Overall Considerations
Overall Considerations
Include an establishing shot (usually at the beginning... but not always.
Changing the camera angle 180 degrees between shots can be disorienting... unless the scene environment and character positions have been well established in previous shots.
Leave space in the timing and dialogue for audio descriptions.
Camera Location Effects Emotion
Camera Location Effects Emotion
Close is intimate
Far is isolating or establishing
Medium is neutral
Up shot empowers the actors
Down shot diminishes the actors
Tilt is disorienting
Editing
Editing
Mix up the shots to support the narrative. Don't use one type of shot over and over in sequence.
Leave "lead room". For example, if a character is facing left, position them towards the right (leaving room in the scene for them to look into).
Pay attention to the lines of action. For example if a character exits stage left, have the next character in the next shot or same shot enter stage right. In other words, make the eye movements for your audience smooth not jerky.
Try to keep the focal point from the end of one shot to the beginning of the following shot in the same place (as often as you can).
Narrative Sound Design
Narrative Sound Design
Sometimes sound can tell parts of the story by itself. Example: a small bird on a tree branch hears the screech of a hawk. Even though the hawk is not in the frame, we know the hawk is there.
Include all text under the boards for all narration, dialogue and audio descriptions.
Include notes for special effects, scoring and foley
Considerations for Each Drawn Board
Considerations for Each Drawn Board
What is the location setting?
What are the persons, characters, props or vehicles in the shot?
Do you need to include element that show scale?
What type of shot (close-up, wide-shot, establishing shot, and so on) do you need? Camera Shot Guide?
Do any actors or vehicles need to move within a frame, and what is the direction of that action?
Do you need any camera movement to add motion to this shot?
Do you need any special lighting? The lighting depends on what type of mood you're trying to convey. It's best rough the lighting into the storyboard drawings.
Do you need any special effects? Special effects can include gunfire, explosions, etc.
How will we transition from the previous shot and to the next shot?
What is the dialogue?
Transitions
Transitions
Linear Cut (smooth & chronological)
Jump Cut (abrupt and/or not chronological)
Dissolve
Transition to/from black
Cut on motion (from action to action)
Cut on pause (opposite of cutting on action)
Storyboard Examples and Templates
Storyboard Examples and Templates
Universal Design Storyboard Template: (includes a google slides and Adobe Animate version)
Hitchcock's hidden scene transitions (look for the black in-betweens adjacent to body close-ups)
Leave room For Captions
Leave room For Captions
Visual Design
Visual Design
Scene Pixel Dimensions (Photoshop)
Scene Pixel Dimensions (Photoshop)
For final animation size: 1920 x 1080 (1080p)
Images that are off the stage will not be visible to edit
Fixed Camera: 3840 Width x 2160 height (3x size)(reduce to 1920 x 1080 prior to import
Camera truck or zoom in or out: 7680 width x 4320 height (6x size)
Camera truck or pan left-right: 7680 width x 2160 height
Scene Pixel Dimensions (Animate and Illustrator)
Scene Pixel Dimensions (Animate and Illustrator)
for final animation size: 1920 x 1080 (1080p)
Images that are off the stage will still be visible to edit
Motion Design Reference
Motion Design Reference
Character Animation Reference
Character Animation Reference
Animax Flash Rig Example (reference only... we don't rig characters like this anymore)
Visual Design Accessibility
Visual Design Accessibility
Use the tools below to ensure that your color choices will work weel for persons with color-blindness and other sight-impairments.
Universal Color Palette
The I-See-U universal color palette adjusts the saturation of colors to reflect the attention they will have across the red-green and blue-yellow color-blind spectrums.
Universal Color Themes
These I-See-U universal color themes will respond to any sight-ability or production method. There are no other color themes available that meet all of these criteria.
The Chromatic Vision App
The CVSimulator works well for assessing color fidelity for color-blind persons for software that does not have built-in color-blind proofing.
Animation
Animation
Animation Phases
Animation Phases
Plan on working on your animation in passes
Blocking: laying out the keyframes (including backgrounds, characters, text, iconography, etc.
Tween-ing: Adding the initial animation between the keyframes. Move objects and characters on arcs whenever possible. The speed of the camera, graphic element or character movement should reflect the energy desired in the scene or media.
Anticipation, Action, and settle: adding keyframes and or pauses just before and just after the planned animation segments. Also, motion can be forecasted and reflected before and after an action. For action sequences, it makes sense to cut on motion (cutting while assets are in motion)
Physics: Adding easing (accelerate/decelerate). Also, add realistic rotation points, secondary actions, multi-planing, and pinning (for flowing hair and clothing and subtle body movements).
Rhythm: adjust everything to optimize the storytelling and rhythm.
Eye path (Smooth transitions from shot to shot as often as possible)
Emotion - speed (Drama: slow) (typical-just moving the story along: medium) (Action & emphasis: fast)
Motion Design Tips
Motion Design Tips
The language of filmmaking works for motion graphics as well.
Consider each graphical asset to be a character in the animation.
Think of the backgrounds as worlds (locations)
Tell an emotional story instead of lining up a set of facts.
Now follow all the standard rules of filmmaking.
Resources
Resources
Disney's 12 Principles of Animation: Works for motion graphics and character projects.
Rio 2 Animation Process: Shows story boards, video reference, previous and final animation
Post Production
Post Production
Is sometimes completed in software that is different from that used for the original creation. Here are some post-production techniques
Compositing scenes together
Color correction for consistency across scenes
Color shifting for mood
Special effects
Accessibility:
Accessibility:
There are two ways to caption animation and video. One is traditional captioning, added after-the-fact and the other is when the captions are integrated organically into visuals. Learn more about captioning on the I-See-U design Guide.
Sound Design Planning
Sound Design Planning
Sound Design
Sound Design
Sound design does half the work in animation and video.
Sometimes sound can tell parts of the story by itself. Example: a small bird on a tree branch hears the screech of a hawk. Even though the hawk is not in the frame, we know the hawk is there.
Here are some other sound resources in the DLC:
Sound Types
Sound Types
Not every sound type is needed for every segment or scene. Part of the design processes is deciding which will will be used, when and for what purpose:
Environment (traffic, wind, nature, etc.). Establishing place
Foley (footsteps, impact, glass breaking, etc.). Integrating realism
Effects (cartoon boing, laugh track, instrumental accents, etc.). Humor and story-telling.
Voice (narration, live action, lip sync, etc.). Information, dialogue and story-telling
Score (instrumental song, band recording, etc.). Setting the mood.
Theme (song usually played during titles and sometimes in the animation). Branding
Sound Accessibility
Sound Accessibility
Sound can be used to tell parts of the story for the sight-impaired including integrated Audio Descriptions
Example: Prairie Home Companion live radio broadcast video
Theme Song: 00:05 - 00:10 (setting up the cowboy genre)
Foley: 03:07 - 3:15 (traveling by horse)
Scoring: 03:23 - 3:50 (setting sense of mood)
Environment 04:50 - (piano &laughing in a saloon)"The Lives of the Cowboys" - 9/22/2012
Sound Design Execution
Sound Design Execution
Make a Sound Design Plan
Make a Sound Design Plan
A written sound design plan is like a script for sound. This example shows what a sound design plan for an interactive project might look like. For motion graphics, film and video, the designer would break the plan down by scene instead of section.
Start/Next/Prev/Pull Down Menu Btns
Effect: click
All Btns in left side box
Effect: click (different from GUI Btns)
Pause Btn
None
"About Section"
Voice: Narrator reading the text for both pages (female student)
"Next and Previous" section
Score: 3 (2 second) looping instrumentals with different moods (happy)(sad)(angry)
"Play" section: ellipse animation
Foley: car acceleration and tire burnout - 1 second
Spatial Sound
Spatial Sound
This is a simple concept: objects/people that make noise of any kind can have their volume adjusted according to their distance from the camera.
Sound Volume Hierarchy
Sound Volume Hierarchy
Think about the importance of the each sound you are using. Generally, the volume of each sound will be balanced accordingly. This volume hierarchy can be shifting continuously. For instance you may "duck" (lower the volume) a musical score to allow a voice-over narration to dominate the hierarchy. Then when the voice over is finished, raise the volume of the score again. In your sound design plan, list the the sounds in order of importance.
Balancing Levels & Reducing Noise
Balancing Levels & Reducing Noise
The final step of sound design is balancing, which involves:
Checking and adjusting volumes as the user experiences them. There should be a hierarchy of volume that compliments the visual hierarchy.
Limiting the low and high range for consistent quality on a range of speakers.
Reducing ambient noise when needed
Guide created by KCAD professor Bill Fischer
Google Sites
Report abuse