Of the 12 Principles of Animation, Which Is the Most Valuable? How Do You Apply It on the Job?

Man, that's such a tough question.

The truth is that you can't single out any one principle as "the" most important. In the past, I've said that animation is kind of like golf. Have you ever tried to golf? Well, I'm not much of a golfer, but I've learned enough to know that there are dozens of important things to remember during a golf swing, and eventually -- after a LOT of practice -- all of these different things become second nature, and they all tie into each other to create one thing -- a good golf swing.

You have to have your toes lined up just right, you have to have your shoulders angled just right, your hips need to be in a specific spot, and you have to swing the club up to a specific height/angle during the back swing. You have to be holding the club in a specific way, and bend your knee in a specific way, and shift your weight from one foot to another mid-swing in a specific way. You have to have one elbow bent just so, and pull with one arm while letting the other drag and steer, and you can't take your eye off the ball, etc.

But at the end of the day, all of those things are really just ONE thing, right? A golf swing.

Animation is EXACTLY the same way. You have to remember anticipation and overlap. Arcs and secondary animation. Force and dynamic posing. Overshoot and line of action. You have to remember squash and stretch and weight & balance and path of action and a million other things.

In the golf swing, if you forget ONE of those things -- say you have your toe pointed in the wrong angle -- then guess what? The ball goes haywire and it's a bad shot.

Animation is the same thing. If you remember everything above, but forget anticipation, then unless the style specifically demands a lack of anticipation, the shot is just plain wrong. It's bad. Because of ONE thing, even though you might have great overlap, beautiful arcs, and the most dynamic poses ever - it's still a bad shot.

We spend a lot of time at Animation Mentor breaking down all the various principles and then showing how they all relate to each other and tie together and morph into one big thing called Body Mechanics, which is basically just the idea of what moves what in the body, and WHY. Overlap, overshoot, force, path of action, etc. -- these are all just different ways of describing tiny facets of what makes our bodies move without falling over, and just as with golf, there's no one facet that is more important than the other.

I wish there was an easier answer, but the truth is that animation requires a serious study of ALL the principles, and the only way to create strong animation is to become extremely familiar with all of them, and -- more importantly -- with how they affect each other.

Best of luck!

Shawn :)

Free Webinar on Disney Legend Walt Stanchfield

We wanted to let you know that Animation Mentor is hosting a free webinar with Bobby Beck, CEO of Animation Mentor, Don Hahn, producer at Disney.

Don Hahn is a two-time Academy Award nominee and film producer responsible for producing major Walt Disney Animated films, including Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

He recently edited a two-book compilation of Disney icon Walt Stanchfield's drawings and teachings. Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes is the quintessential refresher for fine artists and film professionals, and a vital tutorial for students who are now poised to be part of new generation in the art form. If you’re interested in attending the webinar, click here to learn more.

In addition to the webinar, we’re also hosting a panel at Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego to discuss the launch of Drawn to Life.

The panel will be moderated by Don Hahn of the Walt Disney Studios and features renowned animators Glen Keane, Eric Goldberg, Tom Sito, and Ruben Procopio.

The event takes place July, 23, 2009 from 12 – 1 p.m.
http://www.animationmentor.com/comiccon/

What Has Been a Challenging Shot and How Did You Overcome It?

One of the most challenging shots I’ve done was the final scene of my sophomore film, “The Gift.” The film is about a little boy fishing with his grandfather and the shot in question was a pretty lengthy shot of the little boy waking up and realizing that he had caught a fish on his reel. He looks up at his grandfather before excitedly pulling the fish out of the water.

The reason why the shot was so hard and challenging was because I had two characters interacting for the better part of 700 frames. At the time, the shot felt quite insurmountable not only due to its length but also to the fact that the main character, the little boy, had to go from many different states of mind -- from being asleep, to waking up, to becoming quite excited and then finally catching the fish.

This is a shot that I overcame by doing meticulous planning. First, I used thumbnails to search for the most interesting and entertaining poses to sell the acting. Once I had these poses down, I blocked them in and got my general timing and overall feel for the entire shot.

At this point, I fleshed out the shot by adding breakdowns to see how fast or slow I should go into and out of my key poses. Once I was happy with the overall feel of the shot, it became a matter of taking each chunk of the scene and tying down the keys and breakdowns and then adding more in-betweens to smooth out the action.

Although it was done in 2D with pencil and paper, it really taught me that animating is very much like sculpting. You work on the broadest, most important elements first and add the little details later on. Similarly, in animation, you are mainly breaking a shot down to its most essential parts (finding your keys and main story-telling poses) and then slowly fine-tuning it as you go along. The advantage of this method of working is that you are afforded the chance of stepping back and assessing your work thus far and making necessary adjustments along the way.

To see “The Gift”, go to www.cchuareels.blogspot.com

Guest blogger Chris Chua

Do You Cheat to the Camera in 3D? Or Do You Avoid It to Avoid Problems with Rendering and Lighting?

Hi there -- thanks for the great question!

I have slightly mixed feelings about this now -- I used to say that you should cheat like crazy and all that mattered, at the end of the day, is how your animation looks from the camera's point of view. However, over time, I've found that the more correct I make my animation in 3D space, the better and more correct it looks from the camera. An added benefit is that it tends to be much easier to change/edit when the time comes or when changes are requested if I've animated it "properly" to begin with, and if you have any kind of cloth simulation or anything like that that will be done on top of your animation, it's going to look a lot better if you haven't cheated things.

So, nowadays I would recommend that you try to make your animation work in 3D space, BUT always keeping an eye on how it's going to look from the camera's point of view. Some things, like arcs, for example, should be especially considered specifically from the camera's point of view. However, I would also say that if you're having trouble getting something to work in 3D space, but it looks great from the camera, well -- you might as well just leave it alone and deal with it later, if/when you get a request from the Director to edit it, because no matter all the pros and cons, eventually the camera's point of view will be the only thing that really matters.

So yeah, there are lots of pros and cons either way, but these days I try to cheat as little as possible, though I do still cheat *something* in every shot, even if it's something "small" like specific arcs or something, and I *do* still have the occasional shot where I've cheated the whole thing like crazy in order to get the composition or staging that the shot needs...

Shawn :)

Tips on Becoming a Better Animator

Just as there are an infinite number of ways to animate a scene, there are just as many ways to improve as an animator. The ability to observe from life and reflect whatever it is we see in our work helps to make our art more personal and therefore enrich us as artists.

A great way to improve your powers of observation is by keeping a sketchbook and sketching from life as much as possible. This, to me, is the equivalent of a musician practicing their scales. An accomplished musician does not sit there and think about the next note they’ll be playing. Rather, they are more concerned with letting their passion and inspiration drive their performance. Similarly, it is beneficial for an animator to learn and absorb as much technical knowledge as possible so that they can instead focus on bringing convincing performances to life. If you constantly observe the world around you, you will have a better idea of what will make your animation feel more natural and true to life.

Learning from the masters is a great way to improve as well but don't limit yourself to just watching animation...live-action films are a goldmine because they offer a great deal of amazing performances that are fresh and avoid cliched animation acting. One thing I like to do is take a performance I admire and try to deconstruct it by thumbnailing all the key poses and analyzing what makes it work. By doing this, you can really distill the actor's work and learn a fresh approach to constructing a similar shot in animation.

Another important (and often hard thing to do) is to step away from your animation and try to enrich your life. Do anything that will inspire you, whether it is listening to music, going to a museum, seeing a theater performance or reading a book. It can be really easy to fall into a rut when you are animating all day so setting your work aside and recharging those creative batteries will do wonders for your scene.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid of getting feedback on your shots and have the attitude of a student. Show your shot to the people you trust and learn from their constructive critiques. KNOW that you are learning and improving as you do each shot and things don't necessarily have to be perfect each time out. Have fun! If you set realistic goals and enjoy yourself along the way, there is no doubt that you will constantly improve and surprise yourself with how much you are growing both artistically and personally.

Guest Blogger Chris Chua

What Is IK? How Do I Animate in IK but Avoid "That IK Look" in Certain Situations?

Great question!

I'm a big IK guy. I like IK, I like working with it, and hate the counter-animation that I feel I have to do if I try to use FK for the arms.

Yeah, yeah - I know, I know. Everyone likes FK for the arms. Good for you. Maybe someday I'll join your FK cult, but for now, I'm an IK guy. :)

So, how do you use IK without letting them LOOK IK?

Well, as far as I'm concerned, you've hopefully done some planning and know what your poses are going to be on what frames, at least generally speaking. If that's the case, then you're just going to a frame, sculpting your pose, and then saving a key on everything, and then moving on to do the same thing a few frames later or whatever, right?

Hopefully, that is the way you are working. If you are only in the first five or six years of being an animator or are a student, then I strongly believe you SHOULD be working that way.

So, if that's the case, then sculpting a pose with IK arms should look exactly the same as sculpting it with FK arms, right? As long as you are carefully crafting your breakdown poses to control the arcs of the arms, the overlap and follow-through, etc, -- then the IK and FK versions of the shot look look EXACTLY the same. Your breakdown poses on the arms and torso will probably need to be different, depending on IK/FK, but the end result should be identical.

If you are getting some kind of "IK look," then my guess is that you are letting the computer do too much for you. Remember, the computer is the dumbest in-betweener on the planet, and it will ruin you every chance it gets! You have to use the computer's in-betweening abilities wisely, and that basically means not letting it go more than a few frames (max) without having a key on SOME part of your character.

Remember, YOU control the arcs that your character's wrists take. YOU control the way that arm moves and looks! Don't let the computer trick you into feeling lazy. It likes to whisper in your ear and say, "Hey buddy... you don't really want to save all those keys do you? Why don't you let me handle it for you? It'll be awesome, and you'll finish quicker! Trust me!"

Don't trust him! He's a liar!!! He's trying to fool you! Just tell him to mind his own business, and make sure you've put the appropriate breakdowns in place to create the arcs and paths of action you are expecting.

Shawn :)

What Are Some Good Tips for Animating Brows?

Eyebrows are an integral part of facial animation and should be treated as such. They heighten and enhance the eyes, telegraphing your character's emotions. Since the brows frame your eyes, it becomes easy to read the eyes from a distance. An animator should be aware of and take advantage of this. There are several important things to remember when working with eyebrows:

1)Have clear, defined shapes that flow from one brow to another. Brow shapes should ENHANCE the eyes and never distract from them. Use strong simple shapes. Treat the brows as a connected, rhythmic wave instead of breaking them up into two separate shapes.

2)Treating the brows as frames for the eyes really helps to sell a character's emotion. Similarly, using the angle of the brows can also help direct the viewer where to look.

3)Show a character's change of thought or precede a move by having the brows move first. This is advantageous because it helps with anticipation and shows that the character is thinking. The other advantage is that you won't lose the face change while the character is moving.

4)Think of the flexibility and malleability of the face! Your animation will have an organic quality if you involve the brows during a blink or an eye shift. You don't always have to have a big shape change on the brows but even a tiny amount of movement combined with the eyes can go a long way in adding that extra layer of subtlety in your shot.

5)Don't overanimate!! Make your character's thoughts and intentions clear and readable by using only the necessary amount of brow shapes. Overanimating the brows can lead to the audience being confused about your character's thought process which may, in turn, compromise the clarity of your shot. You can often get a lot of mileage by working within one brow shape.

6)Analyze great acting. Study your favorite actor's performance to learn how they incorporate their brows into their craft. You will often be surprised at how little you have to move the brows to sell a performance. Again, this goes back to finding and sticking to as few browshapes as needed. Make sure it feels natural and keep things simple!

Have fun!

Guest Blogger Chris Chua

Do You Have Any Tips for Animators Who Live Outside of the United States on How to Get a Job in the States?

That's a tough one. It can be very difficult at times to come into the US on a Visa. There are a lot of factors, prime among them being how many visas the government is willing to allow and whether or not the studio you are applying to can afford a lawyer to get the visa situated for you.

However, one thing I know can help you get a job here: Awards.

If you are an award winning animator, recognized by institutions or film festivals or what have you -- these awards can make it much easier for the studio to argue your case and get you that visa. The way things work here is that if a studio wants to bring you to the US, the lawyers have to draw up the papers, apply for your visa, etc. There are application fees, lawyer fees, etc. This amounts to thousands of dollars. (I heard $7500 once, but I don't know how accurate that is). This money is NON-REFUNDABLE, so a studio, particularly any smaller studios, can't take the chance on an iffy visa application. If the visa is denied, they lose their money AND lose the artist they were hoping for.

However, if you have won awards through your work or through film festivals, be sure to let the studios know, because it increases your chances of getting a visa, which increases the chances that the studio will be willing to gamble on getting you that visa! Make sense?

So, my advice for international students who want to work in the US is this -- make a short film, make it amazing, get it into festivals, and win yourself some awards!

I know that's a tall order, and it might even sound impossible, but you know what? Someone is going to get their film into that festival. Someone is going to win an award. Someone is going to get their dream job.

Why can't it be you?

Good luck!

Shawn :)

Can You Provide Some Recommendations for Good Actors to Watch?

One of our readers named Magnus asked if I had some recommendations for actors to watch, specifically paying attention to their ability to deliver dialogue that looks like they are thinking it up on the spot. Here are a few of my favorite contemporary actors:

Ryan Gosling - Young Hercules has a knack for the quip. You never see the line in his face before it's delivered. Watch for his thought process in Half Nelson. Lars and the Real Girl is a little out there, but still good reference.
Mark Ruffalo - Didn't even know who this guy was until Eternal Sunshine, again look for the thinking process in his face, he only thinks if his character would be thinking.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - From humble character-acting in Twister, this guy has proven time and again that he is a master of dialogue. Check him out in Doubt, Charlie Wilson's War, and Capote. Skip MI3.
Sean Penn - The man needs no introduction. Milk, Mystic River, Dead Man Walking. Get the tissues.
Robert Downey Jr. - To me, RDJ is better at the off-the-cuff deliveries, more so than the deep thought process dialogue that some of the above actors are great at. So watch him more for the jokes, the quips, and the knee-jerk responses.

On the ladies side I've always loved Laura Linney, she did amazing in the "John Adams" HBO miniseries, and also in Kinsey.
Meryl Streep is an easy pick - almost anything you see her in you know what you are getting.
Bonnie Hunt is very underrated. She is also a master of the quip, maybe more so than the deep thought process dialogue. I liken her to Robert Downey Jr.
Rachel McAdams always brings it for me. Watch her for the transitions in her face as emotions change. If you want to go from happy to sad, do it her way.
Kathy Bates was great in Revolutionary Road, and though I haven't really liked her since Fried Green Tomatoes, I'm sure there's stuff in between.

That's all for now! Remember, the key to great dialogue is remembering that the character has to go through thought processes beforehand. They are either short, or long, depending on the line itself. So REALLY dissect your dialogue when you are working, and decide what kind of thought you are going to have to indicate in the face as the character prepares to speak.

Good Luck Magnus! Hope that helps!

Guest Blogger Kenny Roy