IntroductionWelcome| 00:00 |
(music playing)
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Hi I'm George Maestri and welcome to
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Foundations of Animation.
Now this course is just a good overview
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of the basic principles you need to know
to animate just about anything in either
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2D or 3D.
We're first going to go over some of the
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basic laws of motion.
So, you know how things move.
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And then we're going to talk about
animation software.
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And we're going to talk about this a
little generally.
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And this should apply to both 3D and 2D.
And then we're going to go over some of
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the basic principles of animation as to
how to make your animation look better.
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And then we're going to go over some of
the basics of timing.
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As well as how to animate for weight and
size and to music.
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So, without further ado, let's get
started with Foundations of Animation.
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1. Physics and MotionUnderstanding forces and motion| 00:00 |
As an animator, your job is to move
things.
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So, understanding how things move is
important.
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Our first law of motion is that an object
at rest tends to stay at rest.
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This means that an object will simply sit
still until something gets it moving.
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And once it is moving, it will continue
to move until another force acts upon it.
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So, force creates motion.
Our second law is that, when a force acts
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upon an object, that object's velocity
will change at an increasing rate.
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This change is called acceleration.
Acceleration can work both ways.
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You can accelerate something to a faster
speed or you can accelerate it in the
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opposite direction to slow it down.
When an object accelerates, it simply
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means that the object moves faster and
faster until the force is removed.
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Forces can also be used to accelerate an
object to move it in a different direction.
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And once the force is removed the object
tends to stay in motion and the first law
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takes over.
The object moves in a straight line at a
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constant velocity.
The third law of motion is that all
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forces exist in pairs.
If I push on something that thing also
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pushes back.
So, for every action, there's an equal
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and opposite reaction.
For example, take two objects that strike
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each other.
The object that is moving exerts a force
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on the stationary object, causing it to
accelerate and move.
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But the original object also gets a push
from the object that hits, causing it to
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move back as well.
The distance that the original object
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moves back is dependent on it's mass, the
heavier the object, the less it will move.
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To sum up, forces are what move objects.
Object accelerate when force is applied
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and objects also push back when force is
applied.
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Heavier objects resist motion more.
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| Momentum and mass| 00:00 |
When we take a closer look at the loss of
motion, we'll see that force and mass are
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intimately related.
The more mass of an object, the harder it
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is to accelerate.
In other words, heavy objects are hard to move.
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That's pretty obvious.
So heavy objects will take longer to get
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up to speed and longer to stop.
Lighter objects can obviously change
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direction more quickly.
In animation, objects have no inherent mass.
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They're basically drawings or groups of
pixels on the screen; they're images.
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The audience might be able to make a
guess about how massive an object is by
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its image.
But until it moves, they're really only guessing.
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Here we have two simple objects.
Until the objects move, we have no idea
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how massive each one is.
When this ball bounces off an object, we
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perceive it as light.
This is also good demonstration of the
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third law of motion, equal and opposite
reacition.
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When this ball moves through other
objects, we perceive it as heavy.
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The ball itself didn't change.
The only thing that changed was the
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motion of the ball.
So, to sum up, the way an object moves
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informs the audience about it's mass.
As an animator, you need to be aware of
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this and be sure your objects move
according to how heavy you want them to be.
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| Friction and drag| 00:00 |
In the real world, nothing moves
perfectly.
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Some objects will resist motion more than
others.
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The resistance of an object to motion is
called friction.
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A simple example would be a car making a
turn.
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If however, the road is covered in ice,
the car will slide.
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This is because ice is slippery, meaning
it has low friction.
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Pavement on the other hand has a higher
coefficient of friction.
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So just as we saw with mass, the way an
object moves, informs us about the object.
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In this case, the audience learns about
the object surface, because of how it moves.
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Another example would be an inclined
plane and a box.
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If the box has no friction against the
plane, it moves smoothly.
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If the surfaces have more friction, the
box moves differently.
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You can also combine these two to make a
surface that appears slippery at the top
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but not at the bottom.
Friction does not only happen between
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sliding surfaces.
There are many other forms of it.
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One of the most common is air resistance
where an object's motion is affected by
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the invisible air around it.
This connects the object to its
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environment and also shows a part of the
environment which is not normally visible.
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So, the way an object moves not only
tells us about its mass, but also about
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its surface and what it is made of.
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| Center of mass| 00:00 |
Now let's take a look at center of mass.
Now some objects that you animate will be symetrical.
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Other objects will have more stuff on one
side than the other.
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They will be asymmetrical.
Now the distribution of mass in an object
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will effect how it moves and particularly
how it rotates.
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When animating, you need to know the
center of mass of your objects.
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The center of mass is exactly that.
The point on the object where the mass is centered.
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This is also the point where the object
naturally balances.
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Now with animating oddly shaped objects,
it may be tricky to find the center of mass.
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Most 3D software has a function to center
the objects pivot to its volume, which
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can work in many instances.
Now when a force is applied to an object,
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we need to be mindful of where that force
is acting in relation to its center of mass.
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If the force is inline with the center of
mass the object will not rotate.
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A force applied away from the center mass
will cause that object to rotate.
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And the further away that force is
applied, the more force will go towards
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rotating the object rather than moving
it.
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When animating objects, please pay
attention to how the center of mass is distributed.
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This will inform your audience as to how
your object is built.
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2. Animation SoftwareX, Y, and sometimes Z| 00:00 |
When modeling drawing or animating in the
computer, we need to create a
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representation of the world in software.
We do this by splitting the world into axes.
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If you're doing flat animation, you will
only have two dimensions, x and y.
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This is much like a piece of paper, or a
computer screen.
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X is usually represented as left and
right, while y is up and down.
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3D animators get a third dimension, the z
dimension which allows for the simulation
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of depth.
The z axis is usually depicted as forward
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and back but this can depend on how
you're looking at the scene.
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Forward and back from this viewpoint is
left and right from another viewpoint.
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It's all relative.
If you only have two dimensions to play
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with, depth can be simulated by using
standard perspective tricks.
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Objects that are further away are simply
scaled or drawn smaller so they look
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farther away.
By animating the object getting larger in
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perspective it appears to move towards
the camera.
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Now, when animating, each motion you have
will happen on one or more axes.
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If we animate along one axis, the object
moves in a straight line.
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Two axes can create motion on a plane.
And three axes will move in real-world space.
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Understanding axes is important when you
start to animate because your motion will
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be a combination of movements along x, y,
and possibly z.
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| Working in different frame rates| 00:00 |
Animation and time are intimately
related.
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Animation is basically art that changes
over time.
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When animating you need to be intimately
aware of time and how it is divided up.
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Typically, animation is shown on a screen
of some sort, either a movie screen, TV
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screen or a computer screen.
Each of these formats has it's own frame
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rate or way of dividing up time.
Film, the grandfather of all animation
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mediums, runs at 24 frames per second.
All of the classic cartoons and almost
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all theatrical releases are animated at
this speed.
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Video for broadcast and cable has a frame
rate of either 30 or 25 frames per second.
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Video on a computer screen can be any
number of frame rates.
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From 10 to 15 per seconds for low quality
video, or up to 60 frames per second or
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higher for some video games.
With all of these frame rates, how do you
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know in which to animate?
The answer may be as simple as animating
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to the format in which you want to
distribute.
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If you're a motion graphics animator and
all you do is video, then you might
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animate at that frame rate.
If you're animating for multiple mediums
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however, then you may have to be more
strategic.
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In this case, often the best rate to
animate is film or 24 frames per second.
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This frame rate has the benefit of being
able to be transferred to 30 frames per
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second and higher without much fuss.
Going the other way may be more difficult.
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Another reason to animate in 24 is that
it divides up time nicely.
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A half second is 12 frames and a quarter
second is six frames.
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At 30 frames per second, these values
don't divide up so easily.
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A quarter second, for example, is seven
and a half frames.
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Because this boundary falls in the middle
of a frame, you have to decide between
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seven or eight frames, and neither of
which is precise.
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One more thing to consider is the
audiences perception of frame rates.
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Higher frame rates look more realistic
perceptually, but that may not mean better.
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Often we're in the business of creating
alternate realities, and a higher frame
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rate may not communicate that reality as
effectively.
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| Understanding keys and keyframes| 00:00 |
Animation is about change.
To animate something you have to change
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it over time.
This change can be position, rotation, or scale.
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It can also be for other attributes such
as color, transparency, or anything else
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that can be changed.
To animate something you have to tell the
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software what is changing and how.
This can be done through keys or key frames.
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A key is simply the position or state of
something at a specific point in time.
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When you have more than one key, you
define a change.
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This could be a change in position, to
move something.
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Or it can be a change in rotation, scale
or anything else.
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As you add more keys the animation
becomes more complex.
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The software interpolates the object's
position between the keys.
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This is called an in-between.
When animating motion, the keys are
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usually set for the individual axes.
You could set a key for X alone for a
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straight-line motion.
When Y is added you get two-dimensional motion.
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If you're animating in a 3D package you
can animate in Z as well.
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One of the big benefits of computer
animation is the ability to edit
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animation quickly.
Keys allow you to do this very quickly.
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One way to edit animation is to change
the timing.
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This can be done by moving individual
keys to a different point in time.
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The exact process of doing this depends
on software, but some packages allow you
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to rearrange keys on the timeline.
Others have a window where this is done.
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Most software will allow you to cut, copy
and paste keys.
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This could be great for creating
repetitive motion or cycles.
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Simply copy the keys for a motion and
paste them further down the timeline.
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So, to sum up, keys allow you to define
changes in an object over time.
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These can be used to create animation and
editing these keys can be used to edit motion.
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| Understanding animation curves| 00:00 |
Another way to edit animation is to use
animation curves.
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We learned how the space between two keys
is called an in between.
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The computer calculates how to move the
object in between the frames.
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If you want to take control of the in
between, you can do this using animation curves.
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Most professional animation software has
some way to edit the curves that define
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the in between.
These can take different names; curve
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editor, animation editor, graph editor,
and so on, but they all work pretty much
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the same.
They start with a simple animation curve
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like this.
Time is along the horizontal axis.
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Values along the vertical.
The curve controls how the object changes.
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As this object moves in time, its curve
indicates position.
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The slope of the curve indicates the
speed of change.
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Higher speeds create a steeper slope.
Slow changes have a gentler slope.
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By changing the shape of the curve, we
can change how fast or slow an object
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moves during the in between.
We can use a number of tools to edit the
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shape of the curve and the resulting in
between.
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Probably the most common is the Bezier
handle, which is much like those found in
| | 01:21 |
drawing software.
Manipulating the handles changes the
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slope and character of the curve and the
resulting in between.
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When animating motion, each axis will
typically have it's own curve.
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So, motion in x is controlled by one
curve, y in another, z in a third.
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This is important, because many packages
will overlay animation curves and you
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need to understand which is which.
In most 3D animation packages, x is red,
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y is green and z is blue.
Now some software will have preset curves
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that can be applied to all or part of an
animation curve.
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A linear curve looks like a straight line
and changes a value at a constant rate.
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Slow in and slow out adds a curve that
cushions the animation.
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Step curves look like a square wave and
jump from value to value.
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This is good for things that animate on
and off such as the brightness of a light.
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So, whether you use presets or manipulate
the animation curves yourself, remember
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that animation curves control the space
In between the keys.
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By changing the shape of the curve, you
change the in between.
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| Creating animation paths| 00:00 |
In addition to keys and curves, we can
animate objects using other methods.
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One of these is an Animation Paths.
Most but not all software supports this feature.
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An Animation Paths is simply a line or a
curve.
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The curve defines a path that the object
follows through the scene.
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This is simply another way of defining
motion.
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The path can be drawn freehand, or it can
be extracted from another object such as
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a roadway.
This can get the object to stick to the
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road without too much effort.
Changing the shape of the path changes
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the motion of the object.
When animating an object along a path,
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you need to define where the object is
along the path.
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In most software, this is done using a
key.
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The key defines how far into the path the
object is positioned.
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Depending on the software, this number
can be a percentage or a specific distance.
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Another issue that arises with Animation
Paths is the orientation of the object to
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the path.
Do we want the object to align itself
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with the path, or do we want it aligned
to the world?
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This can be controlled using the
software.
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So, to sum up, Animation Paths are simply
a curve that the object follows.
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It is just one of many tools animation
software provides to make animation easier.
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| Working with hierarchies| 00:00 |
Many objects in the world are comprised
of assemblies or multiple parts that are
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connected together.
These can be mechanical assemblies,
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anatomical assemblies such as a skeleton
or other assemblies such as planets
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orbiting a star.
When animating such systems, we can
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define the connections between the
objects using hierarchies.
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The hierarchy tells the computer what is
connected to what.
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Hierarchies have a tree-like structure,
much like the folders on your computer's
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disk drive.
Let's take a look at a mechanical assembly.
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As with all hierachies, one object or
node is the parent node or the root.
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Below that, are children, and below those
can be more connections, or more children.
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These parent child relationships define
the order of connection.
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So, if you move a parent, the children
follow along.
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Moving a child, however, does not affect
the parent.
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When an object is a child, its position
is always relative to its parent.
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The child does not have to be physically
or visually connected to the parent.
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The parent child relationship works even
if the objects are far apart.
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In a solar system, the moons orbits the
planets, and the planets orbit the star.
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The star is the parent of the planets,
and planets are the parents of their moons.
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When constructing a hierarchy you need to
make sure you have a parent child
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relationship that works for the intended
animation.
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A motion graphic, for example, may have
some letters follow another letter or
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another object.
So when animating with hierarchies, think
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about which object will provide the main
motion and organize from there.
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Now regardless of how you organize your
hierarchies, they can be very helpful in
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organizing animation.
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| Setting pivots and rotation| 00:00 |
When animating rotations or scale, you
need to define an object's pivot point.
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Pivots are software-defined points that
are used in rotation and scale.
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When rotated, the object rotates around
its pivot.
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If you want the object to rotate around
its center of mass, place the pivot there.
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Most 3D software has a function to center
the object's pivot to its volume.
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There are times however, when you want
the object to rotate around a different point.
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In that case, you just move the pivot to
the desired spot.
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Now the same thing happens with scale.
We can scale around the center or around
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another point.
Now pivots do not necessarily need to be
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on the object itself.
A pivot placed off the object can allow
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it to rotate around an external point,
such as in this orbit.
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Pivots are very important when it comes
to hierarchies.
| | 01:03 |
When we have an assembly of objects, they
often need to rotate around specific points.
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This assembly doesn't work right when the
pivots are centered to the parts.
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Moving the pivots to the connection
points however, make it all work properly.
| | 01:19 |
So, pivots are very important to making
your objects rotate and scale properly.
| | 01:26 |
Be sure to align your pivots to their
intended points before you start animating.
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3. Principles of AnimationSlow in and slow out| 00:00 |
When animating objects we usually want to
move them naturally.
| | 00:04 |
When there's a change in speed or
direction it is because of a force acting
| | 00:09 |
on the object.
This force will cause the object to
| | 00:13 |
accelerate and decelerate because of
Newton's laws of motion.
| | 00:17 |
Consider an object that is stationary.
When a force is applied to the object it accelerates.
| | 00:23 |
To put it more simply, the object goes
from stationary to slow, to faster and
| | 00:29 |
faster still.
In animation terms this is called a
| | 00:33 |
slow-in because the object goes into the
motion slowly.
| | 00:38 |
When objects decelerate they slow to a
stop for the same reasons they accelerate.
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They're presented with an opposing force
that slows the motion in the opposite
| | 00:49 |
direction, often to a stop.
In animation terms this is known as a
| | 00:54 |
slow-out because the object comes out of
its motion slowly.
| | 00:58 |
We've seen slow-in and slow-out before as
animation curves.
| | 01:03 |
You can see that as the curve changes
during the slow-in, the objects accelerate.
| | 01:09 |
Constant speed is a straight line.
Slow-out is a curve representing deceleration.
| | 01:15 |
Stop is a flat line.
If we were to remove the slow-in and
| | 01:20 |
slow-out we would have a linear curve and
the object would start and stop abruptly.
| | 01:26 |
Comparing the two you can see the
difference.
| | 01:30 |
To sum up, adding a slow-in and slow-out
to an animation can make it behave more realistically.
| | 01:36 |
This is because it makes the object
appear as though it is being acted upon
| | 01:40 |
by external forces.
| | 01:42 |
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| Arcs in animation| 00:00 |
When things move in nature, they often
don't follow a straight line.
| | 00:04 |
Instead they move in arcs.
This is because there is rarely one force
| | 00:09 |
acting upon an object.
As we've seen, when one force acts upon
| | 00:13 |
an object it accelerates inline with the
force.
| | 00:17 |
When two or more forces act upon the
object, the object accelerates in
| | 00:22 |
multiple directions, causing it to move
along an arc.
| | 00:26 |
The most classic example of this is an
object effected by gravity.
| | 00:30 |
Here a rocket takes off and moves in a
straight line.
| | 00:34 |
When the force of gravity is added, the
rocket eventually falls to earth.
| | 00:39 |
The straight line motion becomes a curve.
Add in other forces such as wind and the
| | 00:44 |
shape of the curve changes.
A simpler example might be a car making a
| | 00:49 |
right turn.
In order to do this the car must
| | 00:52 |
decellerate along one axis and accelerate
along another.
| | 00:57 |
When you combine these two motions the
car sweeps out an arc as it turns.
| | 01:03 |
Arcs can also result from objects being
connected.
| | 01:06 |
Fruit on a tree blowing in the wind sways
along an arc.
| | 01:11 |
This is because the branch and the fruit
act as a pendulum.
| | 01:15 |
The fruit is constrained to an arc like
motion.
| | 01:19 |
Even simple animations can benefit from
moving in arcs.
| | 01:23 |
An object coming in on a straight line
may appear mechanical and harsh.
| | 01:28 |
Add in an arc and we get a more natural
motion.
| | 01:32 |
This object is flowing out on multiple
axis and we can see this on the animation curves.
| | 01:38 |
Arcs are the natural way to move objects.
If you have objects that are affected by
| | 01:43 |
nature, they will most often move along
arcs.
| | 01:47 |
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| Overlap and follow-through| 00:00 |
Overlap and follow through are very
important animation principles that will
| | 00:03 |
add life to your projects.
Overlap basically means that things in a
| | 00:08 |
system don't always move at once.
If you move one part of a system, the
| | 00:13 |
rest of the system moves along.
Here we have a simple ball on a string.
| | 00:17 |
If we apply force to the top of the
string, it pulls the string to the right.
| | 00:23 |
If the ball follows along exactly with
the string, the whole system doesn't look natural.
| | 00:27 |
Looks like one solid mass.
In reality, the ball wouldn't move
| | 00:32 |
exactly with the string.
The ball wants to stay put, it takes a
| | 00:36 |
while for the ball to accelerate to the
string's speed.
| | 00:41 |
This causes the ball to drag behind the
string by a few frames.
| | 00:45 |
When this drag is added, the ball looks
more natural.
| | 00:50 |
The heavier the ball, the more it drags
behind.
| | 00:53 |
If the string moves the other way, the
ball has to change direction.
| | 00:58 |
This means it has to decelerate to 0, and
accelerate in the opposite direction.
| | 01:03 |
This again causes the ball to lag behind
the motion of the string.
| | 01:07 |
The ball follows through to match the
motion of the string a few frames later.
| | 01:13 |
When these motions are cycled, you can
see how the motion of the ball overlaps
| | 01:17 |
and follows through.
We can extend this concept to multiple
| | 01:21 |
objects to create more complex chains.
Here we have 2 balls on 2 strings.
| | 01:26 |
When the first string is moved, the first
ball follows as before.
| | 01:31 |
But the second string doesn't get moving
until the first ball moves.
| | 01:35 |
This causes the second ball to drag
behind, even further.
| | 01:41 |
The concept, however, is exactly the
same.
| | 01:44 |
The second ball is simply following the
same rules as before.
| | 01:47 |
It also wants to stay at rest and it also
takes a while to get moving.
| | 01:53 |
Because the force applied to it happens
later, we get even more overlap and
| | 01:58 |
follow through.
This can extend to as many objects as you want.
| | 02:04 |
When you get a chain of objects moving,
you can see how they start to create a
| | 02:08 |
whip-like motion, much like a blade of
grass swaying in the breeze.
| | 02:13 |
This is because, even supposedly solid
objects are made of smaller parts, and
| | 02:18 |
these parts behave much in the same way.
If you move the bottom of an object, the
| | 02:22 |
force may take a while to get to the top,
causing the object to bend as it moves.
| | 02:29 |
This effect applies to a lot of different
areas of animation.
| | 02:32 |
It will affect the ponytail of character,
as much as an antennae of a dune buggy.
| | 02:36 |
So to sum up, when you animate objects
that are connected together, as well as
| | 02:41 |
flexible objects, be sure to include
overlap and follow through in the animation.
| | 02:46 |
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| Squash and stretch| 00:00 |
Many things in nature are not rigid and
have some degree of flexibility.
| | 00:05 |
This means that not all parts of an
object will move at once.
| | 00:09 |
Take for example a simple balloon.
When the balloon hits the wall, the front
| | 00:14 |
part of it stops, but the back end keeps
going and runs into the mass in front of
| | 00:20 |
it, causing the object to squash.
Stretch is simply the opposite of squash.
| | 00:26 |
If we pull the object, the front moves
first and the rest follows along later.
| | 00:32 |
This is very similar to overlap and
follow through, but within the object itself.
| | 00:38 |
Squash and stretch can be used to add
life to animation.
| | 00:42 |
When a flexible object changes direction,
accelerates or deccelerates, the mass of
| | 00:48 |
the object will respond first at the
point where the force is applied.
| | 00:53 |
The rest of the mass will follow later.
When animating squash and stretch in a
| | 00:57 |
computer, there are many ways to get this
effect.
| | 01:01 |
The simplest way is to simply scale the
object.
| | 01:05 |
When an object squashes, you scale it
down along the direction of the force.
| | 01:10 |
Then scale up the rest of the object
along the other axis.
| | 01:14 |
The opposite is true for stretch.
Scale up in line with the force and down
| | 01:20 |
along the other dimensions.
Many packages have other tools to
| | 01:25 |
manipulate the volume of an object and
can be used in squash and stretch.
| | 01:29 |
There may be squash and stretch modifiers
or effects, lattice deformations can be used.
| | 01:36 |
Skeletons and bone systems can also be
used.
| | 01:40 |
Now regardless of how you squash and
stretch objects, be sure to maintain the
| | 01:44 |
volume of the objects.
If the volume of the object changes, that
| | 01:50 |
object will appear to shrink and grow.
Remember we are simply rearranging the
| | 01:56 |
matter within the object.
We are not adding or subtracting mass.
| | 02:01 |
So squash and stretch can be used to
simulate the way a flexible object
| | 02:08 |
respond to force.
And however you squash and stretch an
| | 02:12 |
object, be sure to maintain that object's
volume throughout the motion.
| | 02:17 |
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| Anticipation| 00:00 |
Anticipation is something that happens
quite a bit with characters, but also can
| | 00:04 |
be used in non-character animation.
Anticipation anticipates a move by moving
| | 00:10 |
an object slightly in the opposite
direction, before the main motion.
| | 00:15 |
A good example would be a catapult.
The catapult is pulled back before it
| | 00:20 |
throws a projectile forward.
Pulling back stores more energy that is
| | 00:25 |
released quickly.
This also happens with characters.
| | 00:29 |
A character will crouch down before
jumping.
| | 00:32 |
This stretches the leg muscles so they
can tighten up to give the jump more energy.
| | 00:37 |
Anticipation does not need to be limited
to these types of objects.
| | 00:42 |
It can be used in any type of animation.
So, an object that moves to the right,
| | 00:47 |
may do a quick move to the left
beforehand.
| | 00:50 |
This can add a bit more life to the
animation.
| | 00:54 |
Another way to use anticipation is to
direct the audience's attention.
| | 00:58 |
When an object anticipates, it is the
same as saying, look over here.
| | 01:03 |
That way the audience is looking at the
object when it does the main motion.
| | 01:07 |
Anticipations need not be big.
The human eye is sensitive to slight
| | 01:13 |
changes in position.
Even a small anticipation will be noticed.
| | 01:18 |
Anticipation can also be combined with
squash and stretch to give a more extreme
| | 01:23 |
and fluid effect.
Anticipation is a great way to add life
| | 01:29 |
to your animations.
It is also a way to direct your
| | 01:32 |
audience's attention to what is important
in the scene.
| | 01:36 |
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| Exaggeration| 00:00 |
Now that we know some of the basic
principles of animation, we can start to
| | 00:04 |
play with the rules and have some fun.
When we animate, sometimes we try to
| | 00:09 |
mimic reality.
And other times, we want to heighten
| | 00:12 |
reality or caraciture it.
In cases where we go beyond reality,
| | 00:16 |
exaggeration will be needed.
One example might be a bouncing ball.
| | 00:21 |
In reality, the ball will bounce very
simply and follow the laws of motion.
| | 00:26 |
If we want to exaggerate it, we can use a
number of techniques.
| | 00:31 |
The first is squash and stretch.
By exaggerating the shape of the ball we
| | 00:35 |
can stretch it as it flies through the
air.
| | 00:38 |
And squash it, when it hits the ground.
These shapes are exaggerated, but when
| | 00:43 |
played back at speed, they look pretty
good.
| | 00:46 |
Another way to exaggerate is with timing.
If we hang the ball in the air for a bit
| | 00:52 |
longer than it should, we create a bit of
tension.
| | 00:56 |
As the ball hits the ground, an extreme
change in shape will create a high degree
| | 01:00 |
of contrast.
This amplifies a visual and makes you
| | 01:03 |
feel like the ball is hitting with more
force.
| | 01:07 |
Combined with squash and stretch we now
have a much more stylized and exaggerated
| | 01:11 |
bounce than the original.
Now this is just a very simple example,
| | 01:16 |
but exaggeration is a very important
concept in animation.
| | 01:21 |
As animators, we're primarily
storytellers.
| | 01:24 |
And often the best stories are a little
big bigger than reality.
| | 01:28 |
Exaggeration helps a lot when telling
these types of stories.
| | 01:32 |
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| Staging| 00:00 |
Staging is how animation is presented to
the audience.
| | 00:04 |
It is a very important concept in
animation but probably one of the most general.
| | 00:10 |
Remember when you create animation your
screen is your stage.
| | 00:15 |
You need to stage your motions on the
screen so that everything is clear to the audience.
| | 00:20 |
A bouncing ball for example needs to be
staged so that the audience can see the motion.
| | 00:25 |
If we angle the camera improperly, the
story does not get told.
| | 00:31 |
In addition to camera angle the actual
arrangement of objects on a stage can
| | 00:35 |
help tell a story.
A lot of this is rooted in design theory
| | 00:39 |
as well as Basic Filmmaking.
The arrangement of objects on the screen
| | 00:43 |
can have an effect on the audience.
The object that is most important for
| | 00:47 |
example may be surrounded by other
objects or set off in the composition.
| | 00:53 |
A close up of something will have a
different feel than something that is
| | 00:57 |
staged far away.
Another important thing to consider is
| | 01:01 |
where your objects will be moving on the
screen.
| | 01:03 |
You need to give your objects room to
move so that they're in the clear and the
| | 01:09 |
audience can see them animate.
Your backgrounds and lighting also can
| | 01:13 |
have an effect on staging.
Placing an object against the same color
| | 01:18 |
background will obscure it.
This may be the desired effect, however
| | 01:22 |
if you want your object to pop, you may
need to change the background.
| | 01:27 |
The same is true for lighting.
As objects move through lights they will
| | 01:32 |
have different looks.
And this can affect your staging.
| | 01:35 |
Now these are just a few simple examples
of how staging can affect animation.
| | 01:40 |
But when you animate make sure to stage
your action so that everything is clear
| | 01:45 |
to the audience.
| | 01:47 |
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|
|
4. TimingThe importance of timing| 00:00 |
Since animation is a time-based medium,
developing a good sense of timing is very
| | 00:05 |
important to creating good animation.
Timing is what gives meaning to the motion.
| | 00:11 |
The speed at which things happen affect
the perception of the scene and give it mood.
| | 00:18 |
Good timing starts at the project level.
We have a length to our project, whether
| | 00:23 |
it is a 30-second commercial or a 2-hour
movie.
| | 00:27 |
The timing of scenes within that project
helps to tell the story.
| | 00:32 |
Within a scene, we have the timing and
blocking of the action within the scene.
| | 00:38 |
And each action can be broken down into
parts.
| | 00:43 |
Timing in animation is very similar to
music.
| | 00:46 |
The individual scenes can be seen as
verses, courses, or movements.
| | 00:50 |
The individual notes of music can be seen
as the individual actions within the scene.
| | 00:56 |
As with music, each action must be timed
properly, so it appears at the right pace
| | 01:02 |
and the audience can absorb it.
A good example might be a rocket taking off.
| | 01:08 |
If it's an experimental rocket, we don't
know if it will explode on launch.
| | 01:12 |
We have the timing of the countdown,
which builds tension, then we have a
| | 01:17 |
pause, when we hit 0, and the rocket
takes off.
| | 01:22 |
Another example might be a character in
animation.
| | 01:26 |
We have a character that goes through a
few poses, touches something hot, reacts,
| | 01:30 |
then recoils.
The timing of these motions affects how
| | 01:34 |
the scene plays.
If the reaction is slow, then perhaps,
| | 01:38 |
the character is slow.
Faster timing gives a slightly different effect.
| | 01:43 |
When developing a sense of timing, the
first thing you need to do is observe.
| | 01:47 |
Watch how things move and time them.
A stopwatch can be very helpful as can a
| | 01:52 |
video camera.
If you have to create a specific motion,
| | 01:55 |
act it out or find reference to view.
These have been some broad examples of
| | 02:00 |
timing, but as we'll see, timing is
important from the film level all the way
| | 02:05 |
down to the individual frame.
| | 02:08 |
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| Animating cycles| 00:00 |
When animating things that are
repetitively timed, it is often best to
| | 00:04 |
use cycles.
There's several ways to create cycles
| | 00:07 |
using animation software.
Some of this will depend on the software.
| | 00:12 |
One way to create a cycle is to simply
copy keys.
| | 00:17 |
Here, we have a simple animation that we
can cycle.
| | 00:20 |
If we wanted to continue, we can simply
copy the keys of the animation further
| | 00:25 |
down the timeline.
This repeats the animation for another cycle.
| | 00:30 |
If we want more cycles, then we can copy
both sets of keys to create four cycles.
| | 00:36 |
Now, when copying keys in this manner,
it's important to look at how the last
| | 00:40 |
key matches up with the first.
Here, we have a 24-frame animation with
| | 00:45 |
keys at the beginning and the end.
If we want to cycle it, we need to make
| | 00:50 |
sure that the keys at the end are
identical with the ones at the beginning.
| | 00:55 |
Well, the easiest way to do this is to
copy and paste the first keys to the end
| | 00:59 |
to make sure it is identical.
And it's also important to look at the
| | 01:03 |
animation curves to make sure that
everything cycles smoothly.
| | 01:07 |
If the curve on the end of the last key
does not match up with the other keys,
| | 01:11 |
you can get a jump in the animation.
This method, while easy to understand,
| | 01:16 |
does not offer much flexibility when
editing animation.
| | 01:20 |
We not only have to edit the first set of
keys, but we either have to edit the
| | 01:24 |
subsequent keys or recopy them.
A more elegant way is to work with
| | 01:29 |
animation curves.
Many packages offer ways to automatically
| | 01:33 |
cycle animation.
We have the ability to do a simple cycle
| | 01:38 |
or do a ping pong to go back and forth.
Cycle with an offset cycles the
| | 01:43 |
animation, but also adds an offset, which
allows the animation to repeat but also
| | 01:48 |
move forward.
All of these methods are similar to how
| | 01:52 |
you would create a cycle by copying keys.
You need to make sure that your keys and
| | 01:57 |
the associated curves line up.
Now, regardless of how you create cycles,
| | 02:02 |
they can be very important, because they
create repetitive timing and motion for
| | 02:07 |
your scenes.
| | 02:08 |
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| Animating to audio and music| 00:00 |
There are many times when animation needs
to be synced with a soundtrack.
| | 00:03 |
Animating to music is a very good example
of this.
| | 00:07 |
When animating to music, you often need
to sync up the animation to the beat of
| | 00:11 |
the music or to a specific phrase.
We do this by reading the track.
| | 00:18 |
(MUSIC) Tracks are usually read by slowly
listening for the audio while looking at
| | 00:22 |
the waveform.
This is often known as scrubbing.
| | 00:25 |
Some animation applications support this,
but you can also use video editors or
| | 00:31 |
dedicated audio programs.
It's best to have an application that
| | 00:35 |
allows you to scrub interactively.
When animating to music, many times, it's
| | 00:40 |
best to start by figuring out the tempo,
that way you can animate to the beat.
| | 00:45 |
Now, here's a bit of audio.
(MUSIC) By scrubbing the waveform, we can
| | 00:52 |
hear the beats (SOUND).
If the beats are strong, we can even see
| | 00:57 |
them in the waveform (MUSIC).
If our audio application supports frame
| | 01:05 |
rates or timecodes, we can see how many
frames between beats.
| | 01:10 |
If not, we can still figure it out.
For music with a drum track, we usually
| | 01:14 |
find the main hit of the kick or the
snare drum, to find the beat.
| | 01:20 |
In this case, the snare hits are one
second apart.
| | 01:23 |
Since there are two snare hits per bar,
we have 120 beats per minute.
| | 01:31 |
This means that if we animate to this
speed, our animation should sync up to
| | 01:35 |
the music.
Animating at 24 frames per second gives
| | 01:39 |
us 48 frames per bar and 12 frames per
beat.
| | 01:43 |
If we animate these multiples, (MUSIC)
things should sync up.
| | 01:49 |
There are time when music will not fall
so evenly on frame boundaries.
| | 01:54 |
In these cases, we need to approximate.
If the music is faster, we may have to
| | 01:59 |
animate at 10 or 11 frames per beat.
We may also need to add an extra frame
| | 02:06 |
here and there to keep things in sync.
If the music does not have a well-defined
| | 02:13 |
beat, getting in sync may be a little
more subtle.
| | 02:16 |
In this case, scrub (SOUND) through the
audio to find specific sections that need
| | 02:20 |
to sync up and note their time.
When you animate, be sure to hit the
| | 02:25 |
motion on this time.
And because you're animating on a
| | 02:29 |
computer, if you don't quite sync up on
the first try, you can simply change the
| | 02:34 |
timing until it matches.
Animating to music is a bit of a
| | 02:39 |
technical challenge.
But once you get the hang of it, a sound
| | 02:41 |
track can be an excellent guide for
animation.
| | 02:44 |
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|
|
ConclusionGoodbye| 00:00 |
So, this concludes Foundations of
Animation.
| | 00:03 |
I'm George Maestri from Lynda.com, and I
hope this course was useful and helped
| | 00:07 |
you to understand the process of
animation a little bit better.
| | 00:11 |
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
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