Facial expressions

I had already created a similar file prior to this but I had to make another one because I had lost it. I tried improving on my first attempt by trying to make creases in the forehead and chin. I could still improve by forming a more realistic head shape and doing more with the cheeks.

12 Principles Of Animation

12 Principles of animation

1. Squash and stretch - an animation technique used to give weight and volume to a character. It works giving objects and characters elasticity when moving and changing facial expression.
   
   
2. Anticipation - preparation for an action about to be performed by a character. E.g. pulling back the arm to throw a punch. 
3. Staging - poses, actions and positions of characters and objects should relay the  overall mood of a scene to the audience. 
4. Straight ahead and pose to pose animation - 2 different approaches to the drawing process. Straight ahead action is drawing frame by frame whereas pose to pose is drawing the key frames with intentions of adding frames between them later.
   
5. Follow through and overlapping action - 2 similar techniques that add the impression that the animated characters obey the laws of physics. Follow through is when loose body parts continue moving when the rest of the body stops. Overlapping action describes when different body parts move at different speeds.
   
6. Slow-out and slow-in - the acceleration and deceleration of animated characters and objects.
   
7. Arcs - Natural actions usually follow an arc so this should be copied in animations.
   
8. Secondary action - This helps to bring a character and scene to life as it emphasises the main action occurring. 
   
9. Timing - The amount of frames in an action and how they far they are spaced from one another.
   
10. Exaggeration - This is a technique to reinforce the notion of 'non-reality'. Actions that are too realistic can be considered dull in an animation so this technique is used simply to make actions more interesting.
    
11. Solid drawing - Giving a drawing volume by accounting for 3D space.
    
12. Appeal - In a nutshell, appeal to a cartoon character is what charisma is to an actor. This doesn't necessarily mean they are sympathetic, all it really means is that they are interesting to the audience.
    
    
    

Walk cycle

I created the walk cycles using Adobe Animate. The first I tried recreating Jack Skellington's walk from "The Nightmare Before Christmas." I think if I had persevered and made a longer walk cycle it would have been better. I also think I could have improved as the figure started shrinking halfway through the animation.

The second animation is of a fox. I tried experimenting with a 4-legged walk cycle. I had trouble synchronising the legs so I had to add tweens so the timing was right. I still think they could be better synchronised and that the body (especially the shoulders and head) should move more but for a first effort, it wasn't terrible.

Frame by frame - Jack in a box

To create this animation I used Adobe Animate. I used the onion skin function to make it easier to keep the positioning, size and shape of the drawings more consistent.
 I tried to use elements of timing when it came to the opening of the lid. However the animation of the crank could have been smoother when it started slowing down. I could do this by adding more frames between the existing ones rather than just keeping some frames still for longer.
 Overall, it wasn't a bad start but I feel like if I had added more animation on the jack in the box (i.e. making it bounce after it had emerged from the box) it could have turned out much better. The actual art could have been improved had I used a mouse or drawing tablet rather than a trackpad.

2D Animation - Pre-production

2D Animation

Stages of Pre-production

Mind Map

https://intelligentheritage.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/mind-map-museum-technologies-2/

A mind map is a helpful tool used to create a visual representation of the thought process, ideas and pitches that go into planning an animation. With a mind map, one can start with a simple idea but by branching off with other ideas, comparing and linking to others and changing what they don't like, they can end up with a more complex, richer and overall better idea and outline for planning and research.

                       
                                            

Concept Art

http://www.neoseeker.com/nico/concept_art/

Concept art is how ideas for characters are illustrated. There are multiple steps in the process of choosing the final design. Starting with a few quick sketches and then refining them, the team/artist then chooses one design and develops it further either for 2D or 3D (as a model). This is where characters are first drawn and where they are edited and improved.

Environment design

https://www.behance.net/gallery/8010533/Environment-Design-Animation

Environment design is to setting as concept art is to characters. It is exactly what it sounds like - the design of the environments and places in an animation. It is essential as the environment is where the character will be and without an environment, there is no story. Even the lack of an environment is still technically an environment (having a character traverse a world with nothing inhabiting it could still make for a good story; however, having no character at all makes it more difficult to evoke feeling in an audience. In fact, Disney was famous for wonderful backgrounds and their ability to create mood in each scene. 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oyzBquuOULMC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=environment+design+animation&source=bl&ots=MHTsl9UICw&sig=Te8-GashkCszjZDSDs-CH1g6YMI&hl=en&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjlw8DAl57PAhWiIMAKHR6zCaQQ6AEITjAM#v=onepage&q=environment%20design%20animation&f=false

Model sheets and expression sheets

http://www.awn.com/tooninstitute/lessonplan/model.htm

http://characterdesignnotes.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/disneys-tangled-character-design.html

Character model sheets are templates for characters which provide information about their sizes, proportions, design and structure. A good model sheet should give someone all the information needed for someone other than the original artist to draw it. Model sheets are made more useful by showing the character at differnet rortations and performing different actions. It also helps to write a short bio for the character. Expression sheets are similar but show the different expressions of a character (e.g. Sad, happy, angry, ill etc.).

http://www.awn.com/tooninstitute/lessonplan/model.htm

Storyboards

http://www.floobynooby.com/comp1.html

A storyboard is a graphic representation of how an animation/video will play. It uses boxes (in which images are then drawn) which represents each of the shots. A storyboard should focus more on story than the actual drawings but the images should be clear enough to be able to deduce what is happening (although there is nothing wrong with writing notes below to help clarify what each shot is of).

Mood boards

http://galaxy-entertainment.weebly.com/moodboard.html

Mood boards are used to convey overall themes, concept and style. This is done through images and usually used to visually represent a designer's ideas to a client, team or employer. This prevents the need to waste effort on creating something from scratch only to be informed that it isn't what they were looking for. In short, it saves precious time and gets your ideas across.

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2008/12/why-mood-boards-matter/

Animatics

An animatic is pretty much just an animated storyboard. The purpose of an animatic is to bring a storyboard to life with the correct timing, pace and order without wasting the resources to make a whole animation. It is a planning tool for animations and helps to bring the dialogue, sound effects and images of an animation more easily than actually animating an entire scene while still planning.    https://www.bloopanimation.com/animatic/