Animation Fundamentals

Mac 28th, 2022 - Jul 4th, 2022 (Week 1 - Week 14)
Rusydina Fazlin Athirah Binti Fauzi
Animation Fundamentals
Week 1 [March 29th, 2022]
Lectures

INSTRUCTIONS

Lectures

Week 1 - Animation Fundamentals Brief

Introduction to animation

March 29th, 2022

Today's class was filled with many insights into what animation is, and by that animation but in detail. Mr. Hafiz and Mr. Kamal conducted the brief with a short session where each student got to introduce themselves and what they expected from learning animation. It was interesting to know that there were many perceptions of expectations when it comes to learning animation for each student.

My expectation of learning animation is to hopefully be able to turn my self-written stories into animations.

Moving on, we started to indulge in what animation had to offer! Mr. Hafiz gave quite an interesting outlook and somewhat short explanations on the fundamentals and details of what animation is, how in hopes to the end of this course students will be able to watch an animation not as an audience but as a person that notices and understands the 12 principles portrayed by Disney.

All in all the first week of animation fundamentals was a short session where our lecturers guided the class on what to expect throughout the 14 weeks of this course. As seen in the excel sheet below:

Understanding Disney's 12 principles of animations

That's when we're going to dive into the first briefing on an important topic in animation fundamentals. Mr. Hafiz provided an article (as in in the weekly animation breakdown sheet) with the 12 animation principles. Specifically called 'Disney's 12 principles of animation'.

These principles of animation were first introduced by animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their book 'The illusion of Life: Disney Animation' and it was first released in 1981. The book examines the work of notable Disney animators from the 1930s to the present, distilling their approach to 12 essential principles of animation.

Mostly the 12 principles in animation are now well known to form the basics of all animation work but could also be applied relevant to a number of different fields. Though the most significant purpose is for animating a character, these rules are also useful in other situations, such as when using CSS animation to add motion to your interface.

The 12 principles of animation

Now we'll be taking a closer look into how these 12 principles in animation work and my understanding of the following with brief points along with simple visuals to support them. (All information referenced from this article.)

1. Squash and Strech

Figure 1.1 - Squash and Strech animation

"Think about how a bouncing rubber ball may react when tossed into the air: the ball stretches when it travels up and down and squishes when it hits the ground."

most important of the 12 principles of animation.
gives animated characters and objects the illusion of gravity, weight, mass, and flexibility. (when applied)

2. Anticipation

Figure 1.2 - Anticipation animation

"Consider how it might look if you were to jump in the air without bending your knees, or perhaps to throw a ball without first pulling your arm back. It would appear very unnatural (it may not even be possible to jump without bending your knees!). In the same way, animating movements without a flicker of anticipation will also make your motion seem awkward, stale, and lifeless."

helps to prepare the viewer for what's about to happen.
has the effect of making the object's action more realistic. (when applied)

3. Staging

Figure 1.3 - Staging animation

Staging in animation is a lot like composition in artwork. What we mean by that is, that you should use motion to guide the viewer's eye and draw attention to what's important within the scene.

it keeps the focus on what's important within a scene
it keeps the motion of everything else of non-importance to a minimum

4. Straight ahead action and pose to pose

Figure 1.4 - Straight ahead action and pose to pose animation

"With the pose to pose technique, you draw the beginning frame, the end frame, and a few keyframes in-between. Then you go back and complete the rest. This technique gives you a bit more control within the scene and allows you to increase the dramatic effect of the motion."

There are two ways to handle drawing animation: straight ahead and pose to pose.

Each has its own benefits, and the two approaches are often combined. Straight ahead action involves:

drawing frame-by-frame from start to finish, in regards of:

fluid
realistic movements
straight-ahead action

5. Follow through and overlapping action

Figure 1.5 - Follow through and overlapping action animation

"When objects come to a standstill after being in motion, different parts of the object will stop at different rates. Similarly, not everything on an object will move at the same rate. This forms the essence of the fifth of Disney's principles of animation."

This follow-through animation principle is an important part to understand when wanting an animation to flow realistically.

6. Slow in and Slow out

Figure 1.6 - Slow in and slow out animation

"The best way to understand slow in and slow out is to think about how a car starts up and stops. It will start moving slowly, before gaining momentum and speeding up. The reverse will happen when the car brakes."

When it comes to animation, the effect can be achieved by adding more frames at the beginning and end of an action sequence. It adds more life to an object when applying this principle in animation.

7. Arc

Figure 1.7 - Arc animation

"When working in animation, it's best to stick with the laws of physics. For example, when you toss a ball into the air, it follows a natural arc as the effects of the Earth's gravity act upon it."

Objects would usually follow an arc or a path when they're moving, and animations should reflect that arc.

8. Secondary action

Figure 1.8 - Secondary action animation

Secondary actions are used to:

support or emphasize the main action going on within a scene.
helps add more dimension to your characters and objects.

"For instance, the subtle movement of your character’s hair as they walk, or perhaps a facial expression or a secondary object reacting to the first. Whatever the case may be, this secondary action should not distract from the primary one."

9. Timing

Figure 1.9 - Timing animation

This principle of animation regards the laws of physics once again, and by applying it to animation with what we see in the natural world. In the case of focusing on timing.

"If you move an object more quickly or slowly than it would naturally move in the real world, the effect won't be believable. Using the correct timing allows you to control the mood and the reaction of your characters and objects. That's not to say you can't push things a little (especially if you're creating an imaginary world) – but if you do, be consistent."

10. Exaggeration

Figure 1.10 - Exaggeration animation

"Too much realism can ruin an animation, making it appear static and boring."

What this principle called 'exaggeration' does to animations is that it:

it makes characters and objects more dynamic
it pushes limits just beyond what's possible
to make an animation pop!

11. Solid drawing

Figure 1.11 - Solid drawing animation

It's quite important to understand the basics of drawing, it includes knowing how to draw three-dimensional spaces and understanding the form and anatomy, weight and volume, and light and shadows.

"While you can push the limits here, too, it's important to remain consistent. If your world has wonky doors and a warped perspective, keep that perspective throughout the entire animation. Otherwise, things will fall apart."

12. Appeal

Figure 1.12 - Appeal animation

In animation, characters, objects, and the world they live in need to appeal to the viewer.

This principle includes having an:

easy-to-read design
solid drawing
a personality

"There is no formula for getting this right, but it starts with strong character development and being able to tell your story through the art of animation."

The Illusion of Life | Principle of Animation | 12 Basic Principles of Animation

Week 2 - Principles of Animation Pt 1

A look into Metamorphasis

April 5th, 2022

Before we got into this week's lecture in class, Mr. Hafiz had the class indulge in a simple and short activity having all to do with metamorphosis. The first Mr. Hafiz carried out was to enlighten the class on what metamorphosis was all about.

Metamorphosis-

"Animation theorist, Professor Paul Wells, posits that 'Metamorphosis' - the ability for an image to literally change into another completely different image - is one of animation's most distinctive tropes."

-with the statement stated above Mr. Hafiz provided a few visuals for us to understand the animation fundamentals of transitions from an object to a new one and videos that we watch to see a metamorphosis in action, seen below:

Figure 2.1 - lady turns into ice cream (visual exp #1)

Figure 2.2- Escher metamorphosis (visual exp #2)

Figure 2.3 - transformation metamorphosis (visual exp #3)

Other than these visuals that supported this week's lesson, a video that displayed metamorphosis was shown during class to later share our thoughts and breakdown analyses.

Short Animated Film - "Good Books - Metamorphosis" by Buck

-with the explanation and understanding that the students grasped onto when it came to metamorphosis, he then let us watch a video on a Cartoon Network commercialized animation to breakdown and point out 3 animation qualities of metamorphosis (in other words where it happens) in the video seen below:

Find 3 parts where metamorphosis happens:

Figure 2.4 - metamorphosis breakdown analysis exercise, visual exp #1

0:09 - 0:10 Finn touches the sword, sword transforms the character into a much buff body

the sword starts to distort itself with its gelatinous shape forming into a much puffier cloud-like sword with a more slick design to the sword.
simple shapes stretch and are squashed, it follows through with their initial position into an another shape

Figure 2.5 - metamorphosis breakdown analysis exercise, visual exp #2

0:10 - 0:11 Character touches the sword again, spikes of blunted ovals turn the character into an ice-like figure (along with the sword)

Finn grabs the sword again after he was amazed by his physique, it turns him into another kind of physique, noticing maybe could be action lines that form on Finn’s left that burst into more elements filling the surroundings of the character
it focuses the blue (assuming its the character) spikes of flashy colors come out from this ice-like object turning into the character

Figure 2.6 - metamorphosis breakdown analysis exercise, visual exp #3

0:11 - 0:12 (with the touch of the sword) from an ice-like figure the character shapes into a more doodle-like drawing

small circles and other elements to fill the scene
the ice figure style of Finn stretches out and it abruptly cuts to a scene what seems to look like stairs frames later Finn appears along with the sword it seems like it kind of explodes

Week 3 - Principles of Animation Pt. 2

Adding a more physical look to an animated object in an animation

April 12th, 2022

During our third week in Animation fundamentals, the class presented their previous small exercise regarding the flipbook animation that Mr. Hafiz had assigned us in the second week.

We had a brief consultation where everyone showed their part of the small exercises to Mr. Hafiz to allow him to give us further insights into our attempts at a straight-ahead animation principle method using the flipbooks that's would morph into an existing object that was picked out into another.

Moreover, Mr. Hafiz covered the classes' further understanding of the 12 principles of animation, which was timing, slow in, slow out, squash and stretch, and motions of arcs.

Timing

Throughout the lecture notes provided by Mr. Hafiz, my outlook on this first topic of the 12 principles in animation is how timing works through drawings adding up between poses, which slows and smoothes the action animation. A perfect visual representation of those frames drawn out can be seen below:

Figure 2.6 - Timing in animation, poses & frames in-between.

A variety of slow and fast timing within a scene adds texture and interest to the movement.
Also, there is timing in the acting of a character to establish mood, emotion, and reaction to another character or to a situation.

Other than that, the timing of animation in-between frames or throughout frames could either mean slower or faster.

The lesser the frames the faster the motion of an object or a person in an animation and the more frames means the slower.

Figure 2.7 - frame timing.

As seen in the figure about, frames are added in between to smoothen out an animation motion that determines its speed of motion.

Slow in, slow out

The next principle of animation points us toward 'slowing in and slowing out' of an animated object or person, or even entity. This principle supports softening the action, resulting in it appearing more life-like.

Figure 2.8 - slow in and slow out, frames representation

Figure 2.9 - slow in and out animation

As seen in the figures above, the first one represents the frames in between that'll determine the speed of the movement, thus it lives up to the animation principle topic; slow in, slow out.

As action starts, we have more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle, and more drawings near the next pose.
Fewer drawings make the action faster and more drawings make the action slower.

This principle is also applied to the speed variations of an animation.

"The speed for any action is not constant such as the swinging action or a bouncing ball. The speed is either speeding up or slowing down. This is due to the exert rules of physics like the pull of the gravity, or loss of velocity, or weight and momentum."

Figure 2.10 - Slow in, slow out, speed variations

From my findings of digging deeper into understanding, this principle is how the variety of speed is put into the motion with different placement of frames as seen in the figure above as a prime representation.

Figure 2.11- slow in and slow out frame chart.

Figure 2.11 - slow in, slow out, frames in-between insight

-other than that, the figures seen above are a few other visuals regarding the speed variations of the slowing in and slowing out animation principle.

Squash and Strech

Moving into the fourth principle of animation, we have 'squash and stretch'. What can be understood from this principle is that it applied fluidity to an object in motion making it appear much more lifelike and realistic as well as less rigid. In a way, it also adds a sense of doubling the appeal when watching an animation. It has a heavy influence on emotion in a character, or simply enhances their facial expression.

Figure 2.12- squash & stretch frame reference.

Figure 2.13 - squash & stretch being applied to a character's facial expression.

It is used in all forms of character animation from a bouncing ball to the bodyweight of a person walking.
This is the most important element you will be required to master and will be used often.

Squash

Figure 2.14 - squashed ball frames.

"When a material is made of flexible substances (like rubber), it would be subjected to shapeshifting and this gives the animator the freedom to define the nature of the material’s mass. For example, when a rubber ball hits solid ground, it will squash itself."

Stretch

Figure 2.15 - stretched ball frames.

"In order to create the illusion of moving object with the presence of speed and velocity, an animator will stretch the material. Like the rubber ball for instance, before it could reach the ground, the ball’s shape would be distorted to an elongated shape, indicating the speed and distance covered. The longer it is distorted, the faster was the velocity."

Arcs of Motion

Finally, we move into the final topic of this week's lesson on further understanding the 12 principles of animation: the arcs of motion.

This principle is an action that follows an arc or slightly circular path to give a much more natural action and flow.

Figure 2.16 - hand movement arc

-from my understanding of this principle with the figure to support my explanation, is a movement of an object or a character, or an entity determines its movement with a particular arc or circular path making it look flowier. In other senses, the movement of the animation could make up the arc of motion.

Figure 2.17 - ankle movement arc

This is especially true of the human figure and the action of animals.
Think of natural movements in the terms of a pendulum swinging.
All arm movements, head turns and even eye movements are executed on an arc.

"Nothing in life moves in a perfectly straight line unless it is a machine and was calculated to do so. If you take a closer look around, you will find that everything moves in curves or arcs because of the center gravity pull." - Mr. Hafiz's lecture notes

Figure 2.18 - arcs of motion(left) vs no arcs of motion(right)

The same reference points are applied in the motion of liquids, which offers us information on their viscosity and purity. Non-arced movement appears sinister, constricted, or robotic.

-and that concludes the 3rd week's lesson on defining our understanding of the 12 principles of animation.

Week 4 - PUBLIC HOLIDAY

[April 19th, 2022] There were no classes held due to the Nuzul Al-Quran (Public Holiday).

Week 5 - Straight ahead and pose to pose

Animation principles identification

April 26th, 2022

Squash and Strech

Through this week's lessons, we indulged much further and went back and forth between the multiple animation principles to assist us during our projects in animation fundamentals. After Mr. Hafiz's brief elaborations and demonstrations during our lecture session. It was now the time to test our understanding of one of the animation principles, we had to identify from either one of the videos that Mr. Hafiz showed during our lecture.

Squash and stretch identification (Duet Animation by Glen Keane)

Figure 2.19 - Duet Squash and Strech animation identification #1

0:32 - 0:33 - child lands on the floor, body stretches, and gently impacts the ground

Figure 2.20 - Duet Squash and Strech animation identification #2

0:42 - 0:48 - puppy licks the boy's face as his face morphs from the gentle forceful licking from the dog

Figure 2.21 - Duet Squash and Strech animation identification #3

0:48 - 0:52 - dog and boy running/ making their way across the scene, body stretches and squashes

Figure 2.23 - Duet Squash and Strech animation identification #4

1:00 - 1:01 - The girl starts running and jumping, her body stretches out through her actions as she runs down the hill

After the exercise of identification of the animation principles in this short Animation; Duet. We indulged in learning all about what was identified in the exercise. It was a mixture of lessons regarding straight ahead, pose to pose and all subtopics covering anticipation, which is:

Secondary action
Follow-through
Overlapping

But that lesson of anticipation will be covered in the replacement class in week 6.

Let's start off by covering the animation principles of straight ahead and pose to pose.

1. Straight Ahead

The process of animating movements is straight ahead for spontaneous activities.

Other animation techniques, such as paper cut-outs, clay, paint-on-glass, charcoal on paper, and so on, employ the straightforward method, in which the animator begins at the beginning of a sequence and works his or her way through to the end.

Figure 2.24 - Straight ahead, traditional methods

In simpler words, the animation has this sense of it looking choppy, it moves in a motion that is straight ahead not having frames that fill in the gaps of a pose from the begging, mid, and end.

This technique is enjoyable to use, but it can be difficult to regulate because the technique is determined by the medium in which the animator creates images. It is a technique that can result in amazing moments of inspired spontaneity. Ideas emerge as one experiment with the material.

Figure 2.25 - Straight ahead, traditional methods

Figure 2.25 - Straight ahead, amazing results

Even though it can be quite a choppy process, there are still ways for straight-ahead animation in combination with the other animation principles to bring out the method's good sides of it.

Figure 2.25 - Straight ahead, claymation

However, when an animation misses a cue or is defective, it is difficult to correct and redo the faults because the cut-outs are out of sequence, the plasticine loses its form, or the painted image becomes smudged. What happens if one of our cut-outs or clay characters misses its cue? This is where posing comes in helpful.

More animated examples of straight-ahead animation:

Figure 2.26 - Straight ahead, frames #1

Figure 2.27 - Straight ahead, frames #2

To summarize the principle of straight-ahead animation is:

Straight ahead animation begins with the first drawing and progresses from drawing to drawing until the scene is completed.
This method can result in a loss of size, volume, and proportions, yet it does have spontaneity and freshness. This is how fast-paced, chaotic action sequences are created.
The process gives you complete control over the medium being employed, but errors are frequently destructive and difficult to correct.
If there is no intention of having appropriate control over animation, this is a fun tool to utilize.

2. Pose to pose

Pose to pose, on the other hand, focuses on more refined and planned actions.

This method places a strong emphasis on the usage of 'key poses' or 'key drawings,' in which the crucial postures of an animated character or item are first documented and sketched out. These drawings can also be used to illustrate an object's extreme points of motion, facial expressions, or mood.

Figure 2.28 - pose to pose, drawn frames #1

This technique of animating from one posture to the next, hence the term 'pose to pose' animation, allows the animator to plan out the action ahead of time with 'sign posts' by charting out these important poses onto 'exposure sheets' or 'dope sheets', or into the timeline of computer software.

Figure 2.29 - pose to pose, drawn frames #2

The 'key pose' technique is still the most popular way to animate. It is also the preferred way in most 2D and 3D digital animation packages nowadays. Sequences may be tried, individual poses can be reworked, and the animation can be enhanced gradually.

Figure 2.30 - pose to pose, 3D animated frame #2

The exposure sheet or timeline is constantly amended to ensure that the animation is photographed or produced correctly. This technique of production also gives a rational manner of breaking down work so that it can be passed on to other people in the production chain.

Figure 2.31 - pose to pose, 2D animated frame #2

More examples of pose to pose animated frames:

Figure 2.32 - pose to pose, 2D animated frame #3

Figure 2.33 - pose to pose, 2D animated frame #4

Figure 2.34 - pose to pose, 2D animated frame #5

To summarize the principle of pose to pose animation is:

Pose to Pose is more planned and scheduled, with important drawings completed at regular intervals during the scene.
The action, as well as the size, volumes, and proportions, are better controlled in this manner.
The most generally utilized approach for both 2D and 3D animation styles, but the results will lack unique variances when compared to straight-ahead style animation.

Week 6 - PUBLIC HOLIDAY (Eid Aidilfitri)

[May 3rd, 2022] There were no classes in session due to the Eid Aidilfitri (Public Holiday), although a replacement class was held on May 5th. (covering week 2's lesson)

Anticipation (Class replacement)

May 5th, 2022

The lesson that we covered in the 6th week was to cut back on the lesson in the second week, regarding anticipation, secondary action, follow-through & overlapping.

Let's begin with the first lesson Mr. Kamal introduced in class; Anticipation.

1. Anticipation

Anticipation plays out the movement of a character in an animation, it prepares the audience for a major action that will come into the scene, like running, jumping or even a change of expression.

Figure 2.35 - anticipation in movement + expression

Just like the animation principle squash and stretch, anticipation interrelates with it. In a way, it adds more dynamic when combined.

Figure 2.36 - anticipation in a character before running

Almost all real action, such as a pitcher's wind up or a golfer's backswing, contains some level of anticipation.
A forward action is preceded by a backward motion. The anticipation is represented by the backward motion.

Moreover, anticipation is an action that has three stages:

planning
execution
completion

Anticipation is the act of preparing for action. Anticipation is a powerful technique for predicting what is about to occur, just as seen in the figure below:

Figure 2.37 - anticipation in a character's action (reaction)

Anticipation dictates that if you must animate a character's action in a specific way, you should first have a little back movement in the opposite direction to make it more dynamic, the gif below is a prime example:

Figure 2.38 - anticipation in a character's action (backward movement)

3. Secondary Action

Secondary action, on the other hand, acts as an additional action that enhances the main action and even adds more dimension to a character's animation. The main actions get supplemented and/or re-inforced.

Figure 2.39 -secondary action in a character's main action

In simpler words and through my understanding, secondary action is also a way to display a character's emotions or the task they have at hand as seen in the gif above of a weight lifter. Pushing both his upper arms upwards adds interest and determination in order to lift the weights.

Figure 2.40 -secondary action in a character's main action (nervous man)

It also applies to this man, that probably is waiting for a text or contemplating making a call with the secondary of foot-tapping and hand tapping, showing he is anxious. Enriching the personality of a character.

In simple words regarding secondary action:

A secondary or subsequent action is caused by the primary action, in which all of these actions work together to create a more seamless animation.
Consider the action of fluttering a cloth. The primary action is arm swinging, with the cloth movement complementing it.

Figure 2.41 -secondary action in a character's main action (crying man)

The best way I could exemplify the point stated above is how the secondary action of the man crying is how he is holding a cloth in order to wipe his tears, while his crying is his main action.

Secondary action is also a quick and effective approach to increase the animation's interest by adding genuine complexity by supporting the impact of action by aesthetically unfolding a sequence of connected actions. These are more likely to be minor actions that assist the primary action.

4. Follow through & Overlapping

An animation principle that regards the actions accompanying movements when it comes to a halt or a stop.

Figure 2.42 -follow-through & overlapping (girl jumping)

A follow-through and overlapping as seen in the figure above, the girl on the left as a character her clothes and her hair reactions to the physics.

An action should never be completely stopped before beginning another.
Overlapping keeps a continuous flow between entire phrases of actions.
While anticipation is the preparation for an action, follow-through is the action itself.
Actions rarely come to a complete halt but are usually continued past their conclusion point.

While anticipation is the preparation for an action, follow-through is the action itself. Actions rarely come to a complete halt but are usually continued past their conclusion point. This typically applies to items that come after the main action, such as dress, hair, and so on. Consider it the aftermath of a major event.

Week 7 - Walk Cycle: Falling with Style

Animating a walk cycle

May 10th, 2022

In the 7th week of animation fundamentals, we delve into learning more about how we can improve our skills in adobe animate and that is through a walk cycle exercise. But first Mr. Hafiz gave us a small introduction and prepared us with the materials that we will use to carry out this animation exercise.

This lesson is heavily influenced by what a walk cycle is. A walk cycle is a series of animations that loops infinitely to create the illusion of a character taking steps. The gifs below are prime examples of these elaborations that were mentioned.

Figure 2.43 -walk cycle of a person

From the walk cycle seen above, each frame is a sequence that makes up the movement of the person seeming as if they are walking.

Figure 2.44 -walk cycle of a person, frame by frame

As seen above, these are the sequences of a walk cycle. which cuts back to the animation principle straight ahead and pose to pose. These two animation principles are a way to assist in making out the walk cycle.

Figure 2.45 -walk cycle of a person, frame by frame, breakdown

Falling with Style

A walk is actually a controlled fall. As a character is walking, they are moving their weight forward until they are off-balance, then putting a leg out to catch themselves. Reverse and repeat.

Each step is broken down into four poses.

Contact - Recoil - Passing - High Point

-with the basics and understanding of how a walk cycle is depicted, different kinds of walk cycles can be implemented like the gif below of Daffy Duck:

Figure 2.46 -walk cycle of Daffy Duck, a much angry walk

This method of analyzing a walk cycle will determine many different kinds of walks from many different kinds of characters, even objects believe it or not.

Finally, observe and analyze deeper into a walk cycle and apply animation principles like straight ahead and pose to pose. An additional animation principle can slowly be pointed out, which is arcs.

Figure 2.47 - Identifying arcs in walk cycles

We'll start to realize that a lot of human-like movements would have arcs that come into play. Somewhat a way to assist and have a reference when animators try to mimic and reanimate a human movement.

A final walk cycle breakdown to better understand animating walk cycles in adobe animate can be referred to in this video that was provided by Mr. Hafiz:

Other than just visual assistance in working out a walk cycle, a walk lateral document was provided to understand the breakdown of walk cycles, as seen below:

Week 8 - INDEPENDENT LEARNING WEEK

[May 17th, 2022] No classes were held since it was an independent learning week.

Week 9 - Solid Drawing

A look into solid drawing

May 24th, 2022

In this week's lesson, Mr. Hafiz thought us all about solid drawing which is a lesson that will bring forth into the following week (week 10) where we'll be carrying out solid drawings on a field trip to, KL Tower Petting zoo.

1. Solid Drawing

Solid drawing has its sub-topics to them, it makes what a solid drawing whole but each point has its own definition to it.

A clarity in 'solid drawing' is:

Drawing is giving a performance
Solid, 3 Dimensional drawing
Line of Action
Silhouette
Twinning & Parallel
Contrapposto & Twist
Poses with basic form
Bean and Robo Bean
Depth, Weight, and Balance

Mr. Kamal first showed the class a video of all the sub-topics mentioned which consists of a solid drawing and ways for us to visually understand them.

a. Line of action

A line of action is an imagined line that runs through a character, describing the direction and motion of his body and acting as the driving force behind the character's activity.

A strong line of action runs across the entire body, demonstrating the strength of the motion, unifying the pose, and making a distinct message.

Figure 2.48 - Line of actions

Line of actions is a way to not make your character have a boring stance, it adds dynamic to your character's personality and who they are and it makes it look very appealing to the audience.

Figure 2.49 - Lines of action and how they can be achieved

Lines of action as stated before. It adds dynamic to a character's pose, the figure below shows a prime example to understand it.

Figure 2.50 - Lines of action and their dynamic poses py1

Figure 2.51 - Lines of action and their dynamic poses pt.2

As seen, lines of action are a great way to determine a character's action and form of personality. Other than that, pushing the poses (the line of action) to see how far the dynamic of the pose can be more appealing.

Figure 2.52- Lines of action and pushing the poses.

Moving into the contrast that will be into animation when lines of action consist in it. The prime examples can be seen in the following figures below:

Figure 2.53 - Lines of action and animating contrast, pt.1

Figure 2.54 - Lines of action and animating contrast, pt.2

b.Silhouette

We'll be looking into the next sub-topic of solid drawing, which is 'silhouette'.

Figure 2.55 -silhouette, clear silhouette

Posing relies heavily on negative space or the empty area around your character. A variety of empty gaps between the arms and legs, as well as a beautiful juxtaposition of large and small areas, contribute to a dynamic silhouette and maintain the pose visually fascinating.

Figure 2.56 -silhouette, negative space

Figure 2.30 -silhouette, shape, and joint overlap

c. Contrapposto

The next subtopic has all its relations to do with proportions and that's what 'Contrapposto' is even in cartoons or drawings of characters that aren't humans, resembling a human's anatomy's proportion is important and a key element in determining the poses.

Figure 2.57 -Contrappoto example #1

In a way, it helps exaggerate your character's design while still being able to identify a human's anatomy proportion since it's something an audience is used to looking at. More examples of contrapposto can be seen below.

Figure 2.58 -Contrappoto example #2

Figure 2.59 -Contrappoto example #3

d. Poses

-with form

It is very important for a pose to have its form, it makes an animator or an illustrator identify with carrying out the particular pose.

Figure 2.60 -Poses with form #1

Figure 2.61 -Poses with form #2

Figure 2.62 -Poses with form #3

Figure 2.63 -Poses with form #4

-with bean form

other references used in drawing poses are posing with a bean form. When using a bean it helps simplify a human or character's body into the motion of the torso.

Figure 2.64 -Poses with bean form #1

Figure 2.65 -Poses with bean form #2

Figure 2.66 -Poses with bean form #3

Figure 2.67 -Poses with bean form #4

-with perspective

Poses to determine a perspective on a character are also one of the common poses that get illustrated.

Figure 2.68 -Poses with perspectives

-with foreshortening

poses that consist of foreshortening is to make a part of a character's body direction much closer to a view. It's somewhat related to poses with perspectives too.

Figure 2.69 -Poses with foreshortening

e. Weight and Balance

Weight and balance in a solid drawing of a character are just as important, I think in my view making sure a character's form to its design needs to have its weight but also its balance to it. To make sure the character's design doesn't exactly look out of place.

Figure 2.70 -Weight and Balance #1

Figure 2.71 -Weight and Balance #2

Week 10 - KL Tower Mini Zoo Excursion

Documentation of KL Tower Mini Zoo field trip

May 31st, 2022

There wasn't exactly a lecture that was held during the 10th week, Mr. Hafiz brought along a number of us (those who were able to attend) to an excursion at the KL tower mini zoo, where the idea of studying and analyzing and observing a variety of animal species to be implemented into our upcoming exercises (project).

The aim of the excursion is to have an idea of understanding shapes to skecth, draw, and illustrate out the animals into a character turnaround to later then be turned into a walk cycle of our chosen animals.

There was a huge variety of animals even at a mini zoo, below are only a few that were potential animals to draw out.

Red Scarlett Macaw

Meerkat

Bearded-Dragon

Prairie dog

Conure bird

All these animals seen above are only probably half of all the animals in the zoo. But from the images being displayed above, a way to identify and make up shapes to better draw out the shape of these animals' forms and bodies. Other than capturing images for our own reference, Mr. Hafiz provided a few materials for our better understanding of our next project exercises.

line of actions in bird body illustration

The body shape of the seal body

Shape and line of actions in dog species illustration

Rhinocerous head shaping head with form and line of actions

As seen in the image above, this is exactly the kind of goal that should be achieved on going out on the excursion with the chosen variety of animals from each student for our character turnaround. The first this that can be made up with the sketches are the dynamic former shape to draw out these animals as a reference and the sway and movement of lines to draw out the animals seen in the examples.

-moreover, Mr. Hafiz provided examples of how the character turnaround is to be displayed.

Cat Character turnaround

chipmunk's character turnaround, along with their facial expressions

Cat in aviator hat character turnaround

Just like the realistic drawings of the animals above, the character turnaround that the students are meant to plan out should at least have its exaggeration to it.

Week 11 - Movie Day

Viewing The Iron Giant through an animator's eyes

June 7th, 2022

During the 11th week of animation fundamentals, it was quite a chill class. Since we laid back and got comfortable watching a movie from the 1999s titled 'The Iron Giant'.

Class movie day, The Iron Giant (1999)

But even with being laid back a little during class, the purpose of watching the movie was to view the movie through an animator's eyes. To be able to identify the principles of animations within the movie that was played throughout.

Even after the movie ended, Mr. Hafiz gave a few acknowledgments on the cinematography on animation. How the transition to foreshadowing plays an important role in telling stories throughout the animation., for a way that the audiences get pulled into the story/animation even more.

Week 12 - Consultation week

Check-in progress on Project 3: Character turnaround

June 14th, 2022

There wasn't exactly a lecture that was held since its closing into a few more weeks of getting final projects completed for animation fundamentals. Since most of the students are occupied getting the third project prepared and completed, we mostly had a consultation session with Mr. Kamal on our character turnaround progress and a small tutorial session on how to begin the walk cycle animation of our chosen illustrated animal character.

A tutorial session with Mr. Kamal on Walk cycle animation:

Week 12, a tutorial session on walk cycle animation

The tutorial session was mostly to cover the basics of drawing out the walk poses and to be implemented them into our character on our own. Mr. Kamal provided tips and demonstrated a few tactics to approach when animating the walks onto the characters that we designed. Later on into next week (week 13), another consultation session will be carried out to cover our walk cycle progress and progress into our final project brief.

Week 13 - Consultation week & Final project brief

Check-in progress on Project 3: Walk Cycle, & lipsyncing and final animation compilation brief

June 21st, 2022

In the thirteenth week of animation fundamentals, the class started off with a small brief on our final part of the 3rd project which his to carry out an exercise where we animate lipsyncing on our chosen illustrated character. The audio can be of our any choice as long as the visibility of lip movement is seen on our character.

Moreover, another brief was elaborated by Mr. Hafiz on our final project where we compile all of our animation exercises throughout the past week into a 15 - 30 second clip overlaying it with the music of our choice to finish the projects and exercises for this module.

Week 14 - Lip sync consultation & Final project reminder

Consulting of lipsync exercise + mouth shapes demo

June 28th, 2022

We've finally arrived at the final week of the lectures on animation fundamentals and to start off the final class of this course, Mr. Kamal held a short consultation with each student to show our progress on a 3rd project which was our lipsyncing exercise.

-later on, there was a demonstration that Mr. Kamal carried out on animating mouth shapes for the chosen animal of a bird for certain students that can be seen below:

After a few assistance with Mr. Kamal's explanation and tips on the mouth shapes for animals with beaks, we went into a short reminder of what are the requirements for the final project of this course. Students are meant to compile each exercise (projects) that was done and carried out in class into a compilation to showcase our animated works, the purpose of this is a way to practice ways of showcasing our animated skills and understandings for the future internships for animation careers.

-and with all that done, the class ended and it was up to each student to complete their final works before the end of week 15 for submission.

That concludes the lectures on animation fundamentals class!

My sincere thanks to Mr. Hafiz and Mr. Kamal for their patience and compassionate ways of teaching the students and myself in this class the fundamentals of animation!

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