Monday, October 27, 2008

Where Do You Draw the Line on Exaggeration?

As a creature animator who has worked primarily on hyper real content, exaggeration is a constant issue in my work. For example, just a few days ago, my animation supervisor told me my shot was an “eleven,” and he wanted me to take it down to an “eight.” What he meant by this was that the creatures in my shot were too energized. I was breaking the boundaries of believability within the context of this particular project and the edit. While my characters moved mechanically correct, and even the actions in their performances were good, everything was too bouncy, too fast, too BIG! Maybe this would have been fine if I was making a cartoon. Knowing where to draw the line between over exaggerated and contextually believable is part and parcel of a creature animator’s job. The only real difference between a cartoony animator and a creature animator is in how far the principles can be pushed.

Anticipation vs. Action
In cartoons, the relationship between the speed and size of an anticipation versus the subsequent action can be played with and manipulated to create a wide variety of different emotional responses. You might have a slow and big anticipation showing heaviness and a building of power, followed by an unusually fast action, thus creating a strong contrast in physics and timing. Or the opposite might be the case. A character takes a quick leap off a ledge and then hits a long moving hold as he hovers in mid-air over the precipice. Obviously with hyper real animation these kinds of timing relationships must still exist between antic and action, but the contrast must be toned down to the point that real world physics exists unquestionably in the mind of the viewer. And this is no easy task! This is very often why viewers can watch realistic CG animation and come away feeling something looked odd or unnatural about the performance. They may have no clue why they feel this way, and more often than not it is because as animators we have somehow failed to create motion that can deceive what the human mind is already an expert at, namely the scrutiny and perception of the physical universe. (As a side note, these issues segue into the Uncanny Valley, and are the source of why so many movies to date have failed to convince the viewer that humans can exist seamlessly and believably as CG characters.)

Striking a Pose
In cartoony animation there is a great deal of emphasis placed on hitting a pose to elicit an emotional “signal” to the viewer. A character expressing fatigue might inhale deeply, hitting a long upward and expansive anticipation, followed by a quick compression of the body and lungs, his shoulders and head slumping downward and striking a strong exhaustion pose. Since the origins of classical animation, we have become experts at breaking down the structure of poses to understand how they can elicit various emotional responses from the viewer. In hyper real animation we concentrate much less on striking poses. Of course, the methodology and work flow that goes into creating animation will have very minor differences between a cartoony project and a realistic one. We still block our shots in very much the same ways (a cartoony animator may block in stepped while a realistic animator may block in spline), making sure the blocked performance has all the necessary key poses to convey the narrative. But our main goal is to create a fluid and organic performance based in reality, and is less about punching an emotion on a given frame; so more time and energy at even the earliest outset is placed on the breakdowns and inbetweens. What do I mean by this? Most creature animators I have worked with choose to block in spline. From the very beginning of our shot we need to place a great deal of importance in understanding how the weight, mass and energy of a character unravel through the performance. It is less about striking emotive poses and more about offsetting and layering the motion so that it never feels like parts of the character are landing at the same time. The parts of the character have to be perfectly grounded in physical reality, so that there is a constant justification for how muscles, bones, tendons, and organs react through the movement.

I could go on and on scrutinizing how different animation principles are handled differently between animation styles that favor strong exaggerated movement and those that do not. The point is that exaggeration is a constant give and take in the type of animations I have done throughout my career. Under some circumstances we may need to push a pose much harder than is physically realistic, but more often than not this is for technical reasons. A pan on a camera may be softening the look of a pose from that particular angle, or a character may be unflatteringly foreshortened and need to be “cheated” to make sense. As a general rule, exaggeration is a good thing if it brings life and energy to the performance, but it quickly becomes a bad thing when that part of the human brain rejects it as “weird” or unnatural. That's when we know we've gone too far or have simply interpreted the physical world incorrectly.

Guest blogger Aaron Gilman

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Brilliant post, thank you very much for sharing this knowledge. As a game animator I sometimes struggle with how much to adhere to the principles and how much of them apply to this more realistic style. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts about this if possible.

Thanks again! :D

Jason Fittipaldi said...

Excellent and informative post Aaron! It's really nice to hear ideas from animators who work in different areas of the field.

Graham Ross said...

Great post. I'd love to hear more about realistic creature animation. Much of the discussion of animation tends to focus around exaggerated motion. I love this kind of stuff, but sometimes there's a demand for realism and I'd love to know more about that.

Emilie said...

Hi Aaron!
As always, reading your articles is very inspiring and a great way to recharge the batteries.

I love this post! There is one of the 12 principles I find realism is very picky on: appeal. It probably goes back to the uncanny valley post... but then it's hard even with cartoony animation... finding the right balance for what the design calls for is a very delicate decision!

Looking forward to read more of your articles! :)
All the best!

Em.

Unknown said...

Kondiloma akuminatum ialah vegetasi oleh Human Papiloma Virus tipe tertentu, bertangkai, dan permukaannya berjonjot. Tipe HPV tertentu mempunyai potensi onkogenik yang tinggi, yaitu tipe 16 dan 18. tipe ini merupakan jenis virus yang paling sering dijumpai pada kanker serviks. Sedangkan tipe 6 dan 11 lebih sering dijumpai pada kondiloma akuminatum dan neoplasia intraepitelial serviks derajat ringan. Kondiloma akuminatum ialah vegetasi oleh Human Papiloma Virus tipe tertentu, bertangkai, dan permukaannya berjonjot. Tipe HPV tertentu mempunyai potensi onkogenik yang tinggi, yaitu tipe 16 dan 18. tipe ini merupakan jenis virus yang paling sering dijumpai pada kanker serviks. Sedangkan tipe 6 dan 11 lebih sering dijumpai pada kondiloma akuminatum dan neoplasia intraepitelial serviks derajat ringan segera kontak kami untuk mendapatkan obat kutil kelamin manjur

teguh wibowo said...

Obat wasir Obat ambeien pengobatan wasir cara mengobati wasir Obat wasir Obat ambeien pengobatan wasir cara mengobati wasir Obat sipilis pengobatan sipilis cara mengobati sipilis sipilis
Obat sipilisampuh

Unknown said...

Obat ambeien herbal de nature
Cara mengobati wasir dan ambeien
obat tradisional wasir dan aman
cara alami mengobati wasir ambeien
obat herbal wasir atau ambien
cara mengatasi wasir ambeien saat hamil
cara tradisional mengobati wasir/ambeien
obat tradisional wasir atau ambeien
obat kutil kelamin ampuh tanpa operasi
obat kutil kelamin mujarab
obat kutil kelamin medis
obat kutil kelamin paling murah
obat menghilangkan kutil kelamin
obat menyembuhkan kutil kelamin
obat tradisional menyembuhkan kutil kelamin
obat minum untuk kutil kelamin
Obat kencing nanah atau sipilis
obat tradisional buat kencing nanah
obat buat penyakit kencing nanah
obat antibiotik buat kencing nanah
obat herbal buat kencing nanah
obat apotik buat kencing nanah
obat kencing nanah gonore
obat gonorrhea kencing nanah

teguh wibowo said...

Obat herpes
Obat wasir herbal tanpa operasi
Obat wasir herbal stadium 4 tanpa operasi
Cara mengobati wasir dan ambeien
Obat ambeien ampuh sembuh dalam 5 hari
Pengobatan ambeien keluar benjolan tanpa operasi
Pengobatan wasir stadium 4 tanpa operasi
Obat wasir untuk ibu setelah melahirkan
Obat wasir tradisional yang ampuh
Cara ampuh atasi wasir pada wanita
Obat yang bagus untuk wasir
Obat de nature khusus untuk wasir stdium 4
Cara mengobati wasir tana perlu operasi
Pengobatan wasir dan ambeien mujarab
Pengobatan wasir tanpa operasi
Obat wasir dan ambeien stadium 4
Obat penyakit wasir herbal De Nature
Obat untuk wasir pada ibu hamil
Cara mengobati wasir yang parah tanpa operasi
Obat ambeien tradisional
Obat wasir herbal De Nature
Obat wasir ambeclear

John said...

birkenstocks
gucci
fitflops
coach outlet online
adidas uk
coach outlet online
polo ralph lauren outlet
mulberry handbags
coach factory outlet online
chi flat iron
20170321yuanyuan

Unknown said...

bottega veneta outlet online
kate spade uk
christian louboutin outlet
valentino shoes
coach outlet online
coach factory outlet
ray-ban sunglasses
lacoste polo shirts
louis vuitton outlet stores
cheap oakley sunglasses
20170328caihuali

chenlina said...

chenlina20170516
rolex watches for sale
cleveland cavaliers jerseys
ralph lauren uk
mavericks jerseys
christian louboutin uk
prada sunglasses
coach outlet
michael kors uk
michael kors bags
seahawks jerseys

Unknown said...

ralph lauren outlet online
coach outlet store online clearance
adidas sneakers
michael kors
cubs jerseys
adidas outlet store
coach outlet store
michael kors handbags outlet
kate spade bags
louboutin pas cher
170520yueqin

Unknown said...

20170523 junda
lebron shoes
prada sunglasses for women
ralph lauren uk
cheap jordans for sale
mlb jerseys
ralph lauren shirts
rolex uk
christian louboutin shoes
cartier watches
coach outlet

minh said...

Tác dụng và công dụng của nuoc sam han quoc samsung
:

nuoc hong sam han quoc 6 nam tuoi rất tốt cho những người trong thời gian điều trị bệnh và sau khi ốm dậy, những người có thể trạng yếu vì uống nước hồng sâm sẽ giúp tăng cường sức khỏe, bồi bổ cơ thể. Có tác dụng làm chậm quá trình lão hóa, bồi bổ cơ thể toàn diện, nhanh chóng giúp làm đẹp da, kéo dài tuổi thanh xuân.

✔ Giảm stress, giúp tinh thần, đầu óc tỉnh táo, làm việc hiệu quả, dẻo dai. Nhất là đối với những người thường xuyên làm việc với máy vi tính, người làm việc nặng, người mới ốm dậy, không ăn uống được, kích thích não hoạt động, tăng cường phát triển trí, giảm stress.

✔ Hỗ trợ các bệnh nhân bị tiểu đường: Nhờ vào thành phần Saponin trong hồng sâm sẽ giúp loại bỏ các chất gây tăng đường huyết, từ đó làm hạ đường huyết.

nước hồng sâm hàn quốc 6 năm tuổi
Phòng chống và làm giảm sự phát triển của tế bào ung thư, ức chế sự phát triển của tế bào ung thư.

✔ Điều hòa huyết áp hiệu quả, đặc biệt với người bị cao huyết áp, huyết áp thấp, phòng chống các bệnh về tim mạch, đột quỵ.

✔ Đối với gan thì sâm nước có tác dụng đào thải độc tố, giải độc gan, hạ men gan, hỗ trợ các bệnh về viêm gan, xơ gan.

5689 said...

zzzzz2018.8.7
football soldes
pandora jewelry
coach outlet
canada goose jackets
pandora jewelry outlet
coach outlet online
coach outlet online
yeezy boost 350
adidas outlet
football pas cher