Fundamentals of Animation Unit
History of Animation Activity
Lascaux Cave- Famous for the paintings on its walls. Can be called the first animation.
Cartoon- Illustrations that depict an event or serve as satire.
Thaumatrope- A circular cutout with two pictures on each side. A thread on the ends allow you to spin the two sides to give the illusion of movement.
Phenakistiscope- A series of drawings on a flat disk that are spun by hand, emulating motion.
Zoetrope- A cylindrical device with holes on the sides. A strip of paper is put inside and spun.
Rotoscoping- Frame by frame tracing of footage to emulate realistic motion.
Colour theory is how well certain colours look when compared with each other.
RGB- Red, green, blue
CMYK- Cyan, magenta, yellow, black
HSV- Hue, saturation, value
Alpha- Transparency
Rotoscope Activity
Toon Boom Harmony and Animation Key Terms
Key Panels: Properties, Timeline, Tools, etc
Hot Keys- Keyboard shortcuts that make it easier to execute different commands (undo, redo, brush size etc.)
Paint Tools (unpainted, multiple paint across layers or timeline)
Cells
Exposure- The amount of time a single frame is shown
Frames- Individual drawings that make up an animation
Drawing Layers (Overlay, Line Art, Colour, Underlay)
Layers
Onion Skin- A mode that allows you to look at frame before and after your current one on a single layer
Working modes
Light table- Diffuses unselected layers to make it easier to see the current layer
Importing Media-
Original Clip
Line Test
12 PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION
Squash and Stretch- Gives an object the illusion of weight, volume, etc. based on how much the eye perceives it to "squash" or "stretch." Must maintain the same amount of volume when squashing or stretching (object thins when squashing, object shortens when stretching).
Arc- Objects often follow arcs or paths when moving (e.g. bouncing balls).
Timing- Manipulating the time each frame spends to amplify the effect of an object's movement.
Slow in/out- Gives an object's movement a sense of momentum by slowing the movement of an object at the beginning and end of a sequence (car accelerates and decelerates)
Staging- Using motion and visual cues to guide the viewer's eyes to the main subject of the scene
Appeal- Characters and objects must have an appeal (personality, design, etc.) to entice the viewer
Pose to Pose- Animating the frames by drawing the most extreme poses, then filling in the spots between each pose.
Straight Ahead- Animating each frame from start to finish.
Anticipation- Preparing the audience for an action to communicate the impact of said action (e.g. a character winding up for a punch)
Exaggeration- Exaggerating movement to make it seem more dynamic and appealing (e.g. a character becoming a flat pan upon having a heavy object fall on them)
Follow through- Loose parts of a moving object must follow through with its movement even after the main part has stopped moving.
Secondary Action- Actions used to emphasize the main action being portrayed (e.g. a clench fist whilst knocking on a door compared to using a relaxed hand)
Camera and Parallax
Parallax- Adds depth to a scene by moving separate elements at different speeds (foreground moves faster, background moves slower)
Top/Side View- Different views that allow you to manipulate objects or the camera within a 3D environment.
Camera- The frame in which the animation is viewed in. Can be manipulated.
Pivot Point- A point from which an object or camera rotates from.
Key Frame- The points from which a transition starts and ends.
