ANIMATION 101by Jeff Roth

WHAT IS ANIMATION

➤ Animation is the process of making the illusion of motion and the illusion of change by means of the rapid display of a sequence of images that minimally differ from each other.

➤ Tells or conveys a story

➤ Truly a labor of love

➤ Be prepared to spend a lot of time by yourself

➤ Is filmmaking but uses a different medium than live action films.

5 TYPES OF ANIMATION➤ Traditional animation (analog)

➤ 2D Vector based animation (digital)

➤ 3D computer animation (digital)

➤ Motion graphics (digital)

➤ Stop motion (analog)

TRADITIONAL ANIMATION➤ Animated on paper BY HAND

➤ 24 frames per second or fps

➤ Traditionally created on 2’s

➤ Meaning each frame is shown twice giving a total of 12 drawing per second

➤ 720 drawings per minute

➤ 54,000 drawings in a 75 minute film

➤ Very time consuming as each frame needs to be “captured” by a camera to be digitized

➤ More frames means slower movements, less means fast movements

2D VECTOR ANIMATION➤ Digitally drawn in computer

➤ Either 24 or 30 fps (30 for video)

➤ Flat drawings that use shading to create depth

➤ The computer interpolates some movements making it slightly less time consuming

➤ Software: Adobe Animate CC, Toonboom, After Effects with illustrator files

➤ A great place to start for beginners

3D COMPUTER ANIMATION➤ Characters and environments have 3

dimensional depth

➤ All assets (characters, props and backgrounds) are “modeled” inside the computer.

➤ Steep learning curve but helped increase the reality of films

➤ Highly used by the Visual Effects industry also

➤ Software: Maya, Cinema 4D

MOTION GRAPHICS➤ Not “technically” considered animation

because it doesn’t have a narrative

➤ Informative vs story based

➤ Consists mainly of text and shape animation

➤ Think Graphic Design in motion

➤ Software: Adobe After Effects

➤ Example: Student Design Awards Winner - Curiosity: Kinetic Typography

STOP MOTION➤ The oldest form of animation

➤ The most time consuming form of animation because:

➤ The Puppets need to be built with skeletons

➤ The puppets need to be moved in small increments and photographed one frame at a time

➤ If you mess up, you START OVER

➤ The lack of motion blur in puppet movements because they are still when the picture is taken

➤ Example: Fresh Guacamole by Pes

ANIMATION PRE-PRODUCTION PIPELINE➤ Script

➤ What story are we telling

➤ Concept Design

➤ What the characters will look like and what medium you will be using

➤ Storyboards

➤ Breaking the script down shot by shot so you know what the film will look like

➤ Rough Audio

➤ Recording dialogue to put over storyboards

➤ Animatic

➤ The storyboards are digitized and timed out with the rough audio to get a feel of the pacing

ANIMATION PRODUCTION PIPELINE

➤ Backgrounds and Layout Design

➤ Creating the environment your characters will exist in

➤ Animation

➤ This process varies depending on your medium {2D, 3D, Stopmo, Rotoscope}

➤ Rotoscoping traces over footage of an actor moving so the movements are hyperrealistic! Rotoscoping was used for the contemporary parts of my film “The Last 40 Miles”

ANIMATION POST-PRODUCTION PIPELINE

➤ Compositing

➤ This is where the visual effects are added to enhance the film

➤ Sound Effects

➤ Music and sound effects REALLY heighten the performance or scene

➤ Editing

➤ All the independent pieces of the film are put together and rendered out as a final film

➤ Here’s where the title sequence and credits are added also (Motion Graphics)

WHAT IS THE TIME SPAN FROM IDEA TO FINAL PRODUCT?

➤ That really depends on what medium you’re working in, how long you want the animation to be and how fast you work.

➤ I know that’s not the best answer but there are so many variables.

➤ This GSA government spending spoof took me 12 hours to animate but its mostly video clips with a few VFX i.e. we did not kill an elephant or unicorn

➤ This promo video for Engineers 4 Change took 35 hours to complete the artwork and animation, a voice track was provided when I started

➤ My award-winning film “The Last 40 Miles” took 2 years to complete from start to finish and cost $18,000 with everyone working for free except the rotoscope artist. It would have cost a lot more if everyone was paid.

HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME AN ANIMATOR?

➤ I went to the University of Texas - Austin for film school. While I was there I took a 2D animation course and I was hooked. I no longer needed a massive team to create my own films. With enough time and effort I could accomplish anything!

➤ Film shoots require a lot of people to make it happen. You CAN make a film with 1 person but its easier with 3 or more helping you out.

➤ I always loved animation and felt a sense to validate all those hours of my life spent watching cartoons. Now I was “doing research!”

➤ I chose to go to The Savannah College of Art and Design for graduate school (the college after college) to specialize in 2D vector animation.

WHAT IS THE EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS NEEDED TO GO INTO THE FIELD?

➤ If by “into the field” you mean to start making your own shorts, then the answer is none! Just start! Experience will make certain that every piece you work on gets you one step closer to mastery of the craft.

➤ If by “into the field” you mean working for an animation studio, definitely a high school degree and possibly a college degree or Masters degree.

➤ Ultimately it comes down to your portfolio. How skilled are you and what are your strengths? To have a solid portfolio work a little every day on your skills.

➤ If you enjoy character design, draw a new character every day. (Branch out from just

drawing Anime characters.) If you like drawing backgrounds, draw a new background every day. This will help develop your style.

➤ Read The Animators Survival Kit

WHAT SORT OF EDUCATION DID YOU NEED IN ORDER TO PROSPER IN YOUR CAREER?

➤ I have my Masters of Fine Arts in Animation. In 2002 I was 2 semesters from graduation and Youtube didn’t exist yet. I decided to finish my film degree at UT and go to animation grad school instead.

➤ At the time I found one-on-one instruction from an instructor far more valuable for my learning experience than simply reading a book.

➤ I use video tutorials a lot now, but getting feedback from a professional/teacher is always the best form of education. Learn from their experience.

➤ Experience is the best teacher. Start following tutorials online today and keep working at it relentlessly.

➤ It only takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a skill. Any skill.

➤ By the time you’re ready for a job in the industry if you spent 60 minutes a day drawing or animating 5 days a week for the next 5 years (until after high school graduation) you would have invested 78,300 hours towards your craft.