Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 1Brief History/Gesture Drawing/12 Principles

* Define Gesture Drawing- a series of quick drawings that represent an object or figure

* Explore Sketchbook* Learn Animation Desk tools

Practice- using Sketchbook to create gesture and 3 dimensional drawings that show movement and show characteristics of objects or figures

Tip: Keep lines loose and move pen

quickly

12 Principles of Animation

Squash and Stretch – give weight and flexibility to object

Anticipation – prepare for an action

Staging – direct viewer’s attention to what is important

Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose – either drawing frames straight

through or from key frames

Follow Through & Overlapping Action – movement is realistic & follows

physics principles

Slow in & Slow Out – more frames at beginning and end with less

in-between

Arcs – actions follow an arc

Secondary Action – action that supports the main action to add interest

Timing – number of drawing to promote realistic movement

Exaggeration – creating interest through pushing objects limits

Solid Drawing – volume and weight to drawings

Appeal – make character feel interesting

* Define Squash and Stretch- technique to give weight and flexibility to an object

* Explore use of principle in both objects and characters* Learn how to use Animation desk tools for frame rate and

duplicating objects

Project 1: basic ball bounce with attention to arcs and timingProject 2: Squash and Stretch challenges

Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 1Squash and Stretch Principle

Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 1Slow in Slow out & Anticipation Principles

* Slow in Slow Out- more frames at beginning and end with less in-between

* Anticipation- prepare for an action

* Practice – use principles together or separately to move a character or object on the page

Slow in Slow out

Anticipation

Animation Basics – Day 2Follow Through & Overlapping Action Principle

* Follow Through and Overlapping Action- used to create the illusion that a character follows the basic laws of physics- when the main body of the character stops all other parts continue motion to catch up to main body following the path of action

* Practice – use principle on a character that has arms, long hair, flowing clothing, floppy ears, or a tail

Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 2Timing and Exaggeration

* Timing- the number of drawings to promote realistic movement

* Exaggeration- creating interest through pushing objects limits

* Practice – use principles to move a character or object in a dramatic way

Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 2Character Drawing and Turn Around

* Solid Drawing- volume and weight to drawings

* Timing and Appeal- number of drawing to promote realistic movement and making a character feel interesting

* Practice – use principles in Sketchbook and Animation Desk to create a Character Sheet that shows character in multiple poses and various expressions. Take the same character and do a Turn Around to animate a 360deg view.

Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 3Emotions and Lip Sync

* Explore using exaggeration, timing, and squash and stretch to cycle through emotions and character mouth movement

* Learn how to use Animation desk sound recording tools

Project 1: create an object or character that has a face that can show at least 2 different emotions

Project 2: create an object or character that has a mouth and sync words with mouth movement

Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 3Walk Cycle

* Walk Cycle- character stays in same spot on the page but has the illusion of motion through body movement and background changes

* Practice – create a walk cycle for a simple character. Create a walk cycle with attitude

Animation Basics – Day 3Columbus Academy – Animation Basics – Day 3

Working as A Team

Create short animations or sketchbook stills, working as a team based off classic hyperbole:

“I have a TON of homework”“They ran like greased lightning”“This car goes faster than the speed of light”“You could have knocked me over with a feather”“I am so hungry I could eat a horse”“I had to walk 15 miles to school in the snow, uphill”“It was so cold, I saw polar bears wearing jackets“My feet are killing me”“You snore louder than a freight train”

Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 4Animation Desk Final Project

Discuss Creating a Storyboard

Please include the following in 30-60 second animated short:Squash and StretchEmotionSolid Drawing/CharacterExaggerationOverlapping ActionCharacter Walk or Turn

Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 5Stop Motion using iMotion

Stop motion (also known as stop frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object or persona appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence.

Dolls with movable joints or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Stop motion animation using plasticine is called clay animation or "clay-mation". Not all stop motion requires figures or models; many stop motion films can involve using humans, household appliances and other things for comedic effect. Stop motion using objects is sometimes referred to as object animation.

Practice: Getting a character to move* Walk* Run* Dance* Turn around* Slow walk* Full body expression

View: Examples of stop motionCreate: Make a moveable character from paper or clay. You can also use a pose-able figure Explore: Experiment with how your character moves and viewed from different angles

Columbus Academy - Animation Basics – Day 5Stop Motion using iMotion

Backgrounds in stop motion can be 2 or 3 dimensional. The animation still can be shot from overhead or straight on. Lighting can greatly impact your 3 dimensional stop motion. A creative story and a good environment can help bring your animations to life.

Create:

Use various items, tools, and lighting to create an environment to shoot your stop motion story. Make sure your characters or objects can be moved in your background.

Create:

Write a short story and develop a storyboard for your stop motion.