curriculum artcurriculum-teacherguide...

Toon Boom Studio 7.1Art Curriculum - Teacher Guide

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Toon Boom Studio 7 Art Curriculum - Teacher Guide

2 Copyright © 2013 Toon Boom Animation Inc. All rights reserved.

Legal NoticesToon BoomAnimation Inc.4200 Saint-Laurent, Suite 1020Montreal, Quebec, CanadaH2W 2R2

Tel: +1 514 278 8666Fax: +1 514 278 2666

toonboom.com

Disclaimer

The content of this guide is covered by a specific limited warranty and exclusions and limit of liability under the applicableLicense Agreement as supplemented by the special terms and conditions for Adobe®Flash® File Format (SWF). For details,refer to the License Agreement and to those special terms and conditions.

The content of this guide is the property of Toon BoomAnimation Inc. and is copyrighted.

Any reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Trademarks

Toon Boom® and Toon Boom Studio® are trademarks owned by Toon BoomAnimation Inc. All other trademarks are theproperty of their respective owners.

Credits

Technical Writer: Shabana Ali, Marie-Ève Chartrand, Annie Rodrigue, Liven Tam, Anouk WhissellTechnical Editor: Peter Cawthorne, Pamela Grimaud, Liven TamArt Development: Shabana Ali, Marie-Ève Chartrand, Tania Gray, Annie Rodrigue, Anouk WhissellTechnical Reviewer: John Payne

Publication Date

2013-03-14

Copyright © 2013 Toon BoomAnimation Inc. All rights reserved.

PCUR201TBS71EN-T

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

http://www.toonboom.com/

Toon Boom Studio 7.1Art Curriculum - Teacher Guide • Contents

Copyright © 2013 Toon Boom Animation Inc. All rights reserved. 3

ContentsToon Boom Studio 7.1Art Curriculum - Teacher Guide 1

Legal Notices 2

Contents 3

Chapter 1: About the Teacher Guide 7

About Toon Boom Studio 8

About the Art Curriculum 9

Who is this Curriculum Intended For? 9

What is the Goal? 9

What is the Approach? 9

What Topics are Covered? 9

How is the Curriculum Organized? 10

Teacher Guide 10

Student Guide 10

About the Lessons 11

Activities 14

Sample Material 16

Assets and Sample Material 16

Chapter 2: Evaluation Grids 19

Why Grade? 20

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, History of Animation 21

Evaluation Criteria 21

Evaluation Key 21

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Animation Techniques 22


Evaluation Key 22

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Animating Basic Shapes 23


Evaluation Key 24

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Timing 25


Evaluation Key 26

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Squash and Stretch 27


Evaluation Key 27

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Anticipation, Drag and Overlapping Action 29


Evaluation Key 29

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Character Design and Construction Sheet 31


Evaluation Key 32

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Animating a Jumping Character 33


Evaluation Key 34

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Animating a Walk Cycle 35


Evaluation Key 36

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Breaking Down a Character and Animating It 37


Evaluation Key 37

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Bone Animation 39


Evaluation Key 40

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Stop-Motion Animation 41


Evaluation Key 41

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Basic Multiplaning and Sceneplanning 42


Evaluation Key 43

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Take 44


Evaluation Key 44

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Visual Breakdown and Lip-Sync 46


Evaluation Key 46

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Storyboard and Staging 48


Evaluation Key 48

Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Adding Effects 50


Evaluation Key 50

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Toon Boom Studio 7.1Art Curriculum - Teacher Guide • Contents


Chapter 2: Exams 51

Exam - History of Animation 52

Correction Grid - History of Animation 56

Exam - Animation Techniques 58

Correction Grid - Animation Techniques 61

Exam - Animation Workflow 62

Correction Grid - Animation Workflow 66

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



About Toon Boom StudioToon BoomAnimation Inc. has many years of experience developing tools for animators. Vector technology, a deepunderstanding of the animation process, and a commitment to the needs of animators are the backbone of our products.

Toon Boom Studio represents the culmination of years of research and development to create a desktop tool thatanimators can learn and use with ease to produce broadcast quality animation.

Toon Boom Studio embodies the workflow of the animation studio and provides tools that parallel those used in atraditional environment. Students of animation trained on Toon Boom Studio will feel perfectly confident in transitioning toeither a traditional or digital studio environment.

Here is a shot of the Toon Boom Studio interface. This is the default workspace, where you can draw, paint, animate, setthe timing, create effects, and do your compositing.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Chapter 1: About the Teacher Guide • About the Art Curriculum


About the Art Curriculum

Who is this Curriculum Intended For?This curriculum is intended for secondary, or post-secondary school students who wish to get a taste of traditional,tradigital (paperless) and digital cut-out animation.

What is the Goal?The goal of this curriculum is to give students an introduction to animation, at which point they will be able to decide if theywould like to pursue further training towards a career in a professional animation studio.

What is the Approach?Through this curriculum, students will not only learn to use Toon Boom Studio animation software, they will also learn aboutthe animation process. Further, instead of studying technical documents, the student will learn the software in a hands-onmanner by completing the various activities and exercises included in this curriculum.

This courseware introduces all of themost popular animation principles, drawing concepts and production tips. It alsoincludes a brief introduction to the history of animation, and to the various animation techniques and types of animationworkflow.

The idea behind this curriculum is to seamlessly integrate Toon Boom's software into your course plan and to support theeffort of teaching animation at an early age.

By the time your students complete this course, they will be comfortable using Toon BoomAnimation's technology, as theywill have worked with it in a practical context to successfully complete all the animation exercises.

This courseware is not meant to be a software learning curriculum; rather it is an animation curriculum assisted by the use ofToon BoomAnimation's technology.

What Topics are Covered?Here are themain topics covered in this curriculum:

Introduction to the History of Animation Digital Cut-out Animation

Introduction to Animation Techniques Bone Animation

Introduction to AnimationWorkflow Stop-Motion Animation

Animating Basic Shapes Digital Scene Setup

Timing Multiplane

Squash and Stretch Acting

Anticipation, Drag and Overlapping Action Take

Character Design Breakdown and Lip-sync

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Character Construction Sheet Animating a Traditional Two-leggedWalk-cycle

Animating a Jump Output and Rendering

Animating a Traditional Four-leggedWalk-cycle Storyboarding and Staging

How is the Curriculum Organized?This curriculum consists of two books, Teacher Guide and Student Guide, and related samplematerial.

Teacher GuideThe Teacher Guide is intended only for the teacher. It contains explanations related to the lessons, activities and outlines, aswell as all the examinations, evaluation grids, and correction grids for the student workbook.

Here is what you will find in the Teacher Guide:

• Activities on page 14

• Evaluation Grids on page 19

• Exams on page 51

Student GuideThe Student Guide contains seventeen lessons and all the theory and activities for the entire course. With this guide, thestudent has all the tools needed to learn and practice his or her animation skills.

Each Student lesson includes the following sections:

Lesson Objectives—This list of objectives outlines the point of each lesson in bullet-point form and guides the student tothe specific areas they should focus on. It is a good idea to have the students review this list again once they have completedthe lesson to see if they have absorbed all the key ideas.

• Total Lesson Time—The number of classes recommended to complete the lesson.

• User Guide References—A list of related topics pertaining to the software are indicated here to providesupplementary technical information for the lesson.

• Recommended Basic Training Videos—If you or your school has purchased the Toon Boom Studio Basic TrainingVideos set, then here is where you will view the videos related to the lesson in that section.

Lecture Notes—Key concepts about animation that relate directly to the lesson students are following. Since thisinformation is common knowledge in the animation world, it is important for students to familiarize themselves with.

• Further Reading—At the end of each section, relevant chapters from various animation books are recommended,fromwhich the students will learnmore about the concepts introduced in that section.

• Further Viewing—If the students have access to animationmovies at home, or a cartoon specialty channel,encourage them to watch themwith an analytical eye to see how each film uses the concepts outlined in the coursematerial. In some lessons, we suggest some notable examples that are easy to acquire, rent, or borrow from alibrary.

Activities—No lesson is complete without a chance for students to apply the new concepts they have just learned. It isalways best to learn by doing in order to gain a good grasp of any new idea or technique. With that inmind, we haveincluded projects in Toon Boom Studio for students to practice on.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Material Provided for this Lesson— Look for the Toon Boom Studio projects, packaged specifically for use with some ofthe lessons.

About the LessonsTheworkload in this course will vary depending on the number of topics you wish to teach, what the focus of your particularcourse is, and the duration of each class.

The curriculum is split into lessons to make your task easier. These lessons are composed of theory and activities sections.

If your classes are short in duration, consider asking the students to read the theory section of the lesson as homework.Doing so allows students to return ready and able to tackle the lessons featured in the next class.

Themain activities in each lesson are explained in depth and feature detailed, step-by-step instructions that enable bothstudent and teacher to clearly grasp the topic at hand. Once these activities are done, the student can complete the extraactivities as homework. Though less detailed than the class portion of the lesson, these activities permit the student topractice and apply the techniques learned during class time.

Lesson 1 History of Animation The history of animation is rich with innovation, beginning inthe nineteenth century and continuing right through to thepresent day. The earliest animation techniques employedoptical toys, followed by the creation and development of anim-ated film. The great cinematic achievements that we see todayare the result of ongoing artistic and technological exper-imentation and discovery.

Lesson 2 Animation Techniques Animation can be created using very simple tools, such as apencil and paper, by advanced computer systems, or by allmanner in between. Here you will find an introduction to thevarious techniques available when it comes to creating ananimated film.

Lesson 3 AnimationWorkflow Studios follow a meticulously organized system to developtheir movie from script to screen. Here you will see a list of allthe staff members necessary to an animation team, what isrequired of each and also the different types of workflow stu-dios can follow while in production.

Lesson 4 Animating Basic Shapes Start with basic shapes to create characters and objects andthen add the details. Basic shapes include circles, squares,rectangles, and ellipses. Students will use these shapes tocreate objects with volume, such as cylinders, cubes andspheres.

Lesson 5 Timing Timing is an essential element of animation. Storydevelopment, gags, reactions and character development alldepend on a clear sense of timing to be effective.

Lesson 6 Squash and Stretch (The Bouncing Ball) Continuing our analysis of animated motion, wewill examinethe concept of squash and stretch, then apply it by drawing abouncing ball. This is where students will learn how an object'smaterial can affect how it changes inmotion.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Lesson 7 Anticipation, Drag and OverlappingAction

Anticipation, drag and overlapping actions add life toanimation and are key factors for any student of animation tofamiliarize themselves with. Anticipation helps the viewer tounderstand what is coming next, while overlap and dragdemonstrate the physics of how objects that are linkedtogether, move together.

Lesson 8 Character Design and ConstructionSheet

Learn important concepts about character design, such asexpressing the nature of a character through its physicalcharacteristics. Students will discover how to create acharacter construction sheet, the authoritative reference thatreveals a character from all angles, in a variety of poses, anddisplaying a number of expressions.

Lesson 9 Animating a Jumping Character Deconstruct the elements of motion further by drawing yourcharacter of basic shapes jumping.

Lesson 10 Animating a Walk Cycle Awalk cycle typically consists of two steps that the animatorreuses to create an extended walk. Cycles are animationshortcuts that reduce the amount of required work. The walkcycle is not just about the legs, however; the posturing of therest of the body reveals a lot about the character and is animportant factor that students will learn to consider.

Lesson 11 Breaking Down a Character and Anim-ating It

Breaking a character down into several pieces, students will berigging or one piece to another to animate it.

Lesson 12 Bone Animation The Bones tool lets students create a skeleton over a characterby using the various Bone tools. Students can then animate theskeleton and the bitmap, or vector-based body parts, willmove with it.

Lesson 13 Stop-Motion Animation By taking a series of pictures of toys and figurines in differentposes, students will create a sequence of moving images calledstop motion animation.

Lesson 14 BasicMultiplaning and Sceneplanning Here wewill explore a Multiplane space, where one can createa background in several layers, spread the layers out along theZ-axis and thenmove the camera through this environment tocreate an impressive illusion of depth perspective.

Lesson 15 The Take Taking a break from the physics of motion, wewill focus on theacting required to convey what an animated character is think-ing.

Lesson 16 Visual Break-Down and Lip-sync This lesson provides an introduction to the analysis of dialogueand lip-syncing.

Lesson 17 Storyboard and Staging Storyboarding is the scene-by-scene breakdown of each shot,indicating themain position of the character, as well as how theshot changes. Staging is the layout of elements in the scene tocreate the greatest impact while focusing the audience's

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



attention onwhat is most important about the shot.the shotchanges. Staging is the layout of elements in the scene tocreate the greatest impact while focusing the audience'sattention onwhat is most important about the shot.

Lesson 18 Adding Effects Students will add the final enhancements to their animationwith effects, such as blur, drop shadow, natural effects (rain,snow), and masking.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Why Grade?A very important part of this curriculum is the series of Evaluation Grids that accompany each of the activities. The criteria ofthese evaluations covers not only the animation principles included in the activities, but also technical competence, quality ofexecution and other important pedagogical criteria.

Grading is an important way to communicate feedback to students of the Art Curriculum, giving them an indication of theircompetence and serving as a source of motivation. By providing feedback on their learning, students can become aware ofwhat they understand, what they do not understand, and identify areas that need improvement. For teachers, theevaluations serve as a benchmark of your performance in teaching the curriculum. Your success as a teacher turns studentsinto topnotch animators ready to make the leap into the workplace.

In this section you will find an Evaluation Grid corresponding to each lesson.

Note: There is no corresponding evaluation grid for Lesson 3: AnimationWorkflow.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Chapter 2: Evaluation Grids • Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, History of Animation


Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, History ofAnimationThis grid is designed to evaluate the student’s work following the completion of the lesson.

Below are the standard criteria based on technical competence, quality of execution and organization, as well as questionsrelating to the activities covered in the guide.

Student Name:

Class:

Grade or Year:

Date:

Evaluation Criteria

Grade Grade

General Class Work Activity Related

Overall organization of work Completes all tasks

Neatness Uses imagination

Follows a logical process Uses design and colour

Asks questions Activity: Build Your Own Thaumatrope

Diligence Understands task

Understands task Understands mechanism

Evaluation Key1 = Exceeds Expectations: Student has consistently demonstrated knowledge and practices, attitude and cooperationwith other students.

2 = Meet Expectations: Students has attained all the necessary knowledge and skills.

3 = Needs Improvement: Student has attained some of the knowledge and skills taught in class, but not others. Somework needs to be done.

4 = Unacceptable: Student's knowledge, work, and attitude is below average; needs additional training.CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Chapter 2: Evaluation Grids • Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Animating Basic Shapes


Student Evaluation: Lesson 1, Animating BasicShapesThis grid is designed to evaluate the student’s work following the completion of the lesson.

Below are the standard criteria based on technical competence, quality of execution and organization, as well as questionsrelating to the activities covered in the guide.

Student Name:

Class:

Grade or Year:

Date:

Evaluation Criteria

Grade Grade

General Class Work Uses the Brush tool to create shapes

Overall organization of work Experiments with Brush size

Neatness Delivers project file on time and with initials

Follows a logical process Activity Related

Asks questions Completes the tasks

Diligence Uses imagination

Understands task Uses design and colour

Software CompetenceActivity: Drawing andManipulating BasicShapes

Understands how to open and create scenesfor theWelcome Screen

Produces clean, non-scratchy strokes

Executes commands from the top and quickaccess menus

Draws volumetric shapes

Navigates the Camera view using the SwitchView and View Navigation toolbars

Draws manipulations of volumetric shapes

Understands which toolbar contains the Draw-ing, Sceneplanning, Playback and Timelinetools

Knows how to add, close, dock and undock win-dows and views

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Toon Boom Studio 7.1Art Curriculum - Student Guide

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Toon Boom Studio 7.1Art Curriculum - Student Guide • Contents


ContentsToon Boom Studio 7.1Art Curriculum - Student Guide 1

Legal Notices 2

Contents 3

About the Art Curriculum 17

About Toon Boom Studio 18

The Toon Boom Studio Art Curriculum 19

Lesson Breakdown 20

What is in Each Lesson? 20

What are the Lessons About? 21

What Are the Required Tools? 22

Where Can I Find More Information? 22

Will There Be Homework? 23

Lesson 1: History of Animation 25

Lesson Objectives 26

Total Lesson Time: One Class 26

Lecture Notes 27

History of Animation 27

In the Beginning 27

What is an Optical Toy? 27

What is Persistence of Vision? 27

The Zoetrope 28

The Thaumatrope 28

The Flip Book 29

The Praxinoscope 29

The Movie Camera 29

Winsor McCay and Gertie the Dinosaur 30

The Peg Bar 30

The Rotoscope 31

The Many Innovations of the Walt Disney Studios 31

Activity: Build Your Own Thaumatrope 32

You will need: 32

How to make a Thaumatrope 33

Lesson 2: Animation Techniques 35


CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Toon Boom Studio 7 Art Curriculum - Student Guide



Lecture Notes 37

Animation Techniques 37

Traditional Animation 37

Full Animation 38

Limited Animation 38

Rotoscoping 38

Digital Animation 39

Digital Cut-out Animation 39

Paperless Animation 39

3D Animation 40

Motion Capture 40

Stop-Motion Animation 40

Puppet Animation 41

Claymation 41

Cut-out and Silhouette Animation 42

Object Animation 42

Sand Animation 42

Activity: Research a New Animation Technique 43

Lesson 3: Animation Workflow 45



Production Staff and Outsourcing 47

Production Staff Descriptions 47

Animatic Editor 47

Animation Director 47

Animation Supervisor 47

Animator: Cut-out 47

Animator: Tradigital 48

Art Director 48

Assistant Director 48

Background Layout and Posing Artist 48

Background Painting 48

Casting Director 48

Voice Director 49

Character, Prop and Location Designer 49

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Character and Prop Breakdown Artist 49

Clean-Up Artist: Tradigital Animation 49

Colour Editor 49

Colour Stylist 49

Colourist: Ink and Paint 49

Compositor 50

Director 50

Editing Co-ordinator 50

Editing Department Manager 50

Effects Designer: Computer Generated 50

Effects Designer: Hand-drawn 50

Information Technology (IT) Professional 50

Library Manager 51

Line Producer 51

Music Director 51

Music Editor 51

Production Assistant 51

Production Co-ordinator 51

Scene Organization Manager 52

Render Operator 52

Scan Operator 52

Scene Set-up Artist 52

Sound Editor 52

Supervisor 52

Storyboard Artist 52

Storyboard Revision and Clean-Up 52

Story Editor 52

Technical Director 53

Xsheet Technician 53

Production Outsourcing Duties 53

The Recording Studio 53

Post-production Facility 53

Second Unit Production 53

Workflows 54

Traditional Workflow 55

Starting the Project 56

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



The Script 56

Pre-Production 56

Designs 56

Dialogue and Nat Pause 56

Storyboard 56

Animatic 56

Colour Styling 57

Production 57

Background Layout and Posing 57

Background Colouring 57

Animation and Line-test 57

Line-test 57

Scan 57

Exposure Sheet 58

Ink and Paint and Compositing 58

Post-Production 58

Cut-out Workflow 59


The Script 60

Pre-Production Variants 60

Designs 60


Storyboard 60

Animatic Reel 60

Colour Styling 61

Production 61

Background Layout 61


Character and Prop Breakdown 61

Library Management 61

Scene Set-up 61

Animation 61

Compositing 62

Post-Production 62

Tradigital Workflow 63


CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



The Script 64

Pre-Production Variants 64

Designs 64


Storyboard 64

Animatic 64

Colour Styling 65

Production 65

Background Layout and Posing 65


Animation and Dialogue 65

Inking, Painting and Compositing 65

Post-Production 65

Lesson 4: Animating Basic Shapes 67


Total Lesson Time: Two Classes 68

User Guide References 68

Basic Training Video Recommended 69

Lecture Notes 70

Starting Toon Boom Studio 70

Welcome Screen 70

Creating a New Project from the Welcome Screen 71

Opening a Project from the Welcome Screen 72

Discovering the Interface 73

Interface Components 74

Menus 75

Toolbars 76

Views 76

Interface Highlights 77

Camera View 78

View Navigation Toolbar 79

Switch View Toolbar 79

Drawing Tools Toolbar 80

Sceneplanning Tools Toolbar 80

Timeline View 81

Timeline View Toolbar 81

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Interactive Playback Toolbar and Play Menu 82

Playback Controls 82

Play Menu 82

Managing Views 83

Adding a New View 84

Closing a View 84

Undocking and DockingWindows and Views 85

Undocking 85

Docking 86

Moving the FloatingWindow Around the Desktop 86

Swapping Views 87

Managing Toolbars 87

Showing or Hiding Toolbars 87

Moving Toolbars 87

Interface Navigation 88

Drawing Basic Shapes 89

Drawing Basics 90

Drawing in the Drawing or Camera View 90

Drawing View 90

Camera View 90

DrawingWith the Brush or Pencil Tool 91

Brush Tool 91

Pencil Tool 91

Sketching, Tracing and Erasing 92

Sketching 92

Tracing 94

Erasing Part of a Drawing 96

Further Reading 97

Activity: Drawing andManipulating Basic Shapes 98

Material Provided for this Lesson 98

Exercise: Drawing Basic Shapes 98

Lesson 5: Timing 101





CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Lecture Notes 103

The Importance of Timing in Animation 103

Arcs and Path of Action 104

Laws of Motion and Easing 105

Keyframes, In-betweens and Timing 106

Onion Skin 107

Further Reading 107

Further Viewing 107

Activity 1: Experimenting with Space and Time 108


Exercise: Experiment with Space and Time 108

Activity 2: Drawing the Pendulum 111


Exercise: Drawing the Pendulum 111

Extra Activity 1: Animating the Playground 114

Extra Activity 2: Observation and Timing 115

Lesson 6: Squash and Stretch (The Bouncing Ball) 117





Lecture Notes 119

Squash and Stretch 119

Pose-to-pose vs. Straight-ahead Animation 119

Further Reading 120

Further Viewing 120

Activity: Animating a Bouncing Basketball and Bowling Ball 121


Exercise: Drawing a Bouncing Basketball and Bowling Ball 121

Lesson 7: Anticipation, Drag and Overlapping Action 125





Lecture Notes 127

Anticipation 127

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Drag and Overlapping Action 128

Further Reading 128

Activity 1: Animating a Bouncing Ball with a Tail 129


Exercise: Drawing a Bouncing Ball with a Tail 129

Extra Activity: Waving a Flag 133

Lesson 8: Character Design and Construction Sheet 135


Total Lesson Time: Three Classes 136



Lecture Notes 138

Character Design 138

Character Model Sheets 140

Relative Size of Characters and Props 141

Further Reading 141

Activity 1: Drawing a Character Construction Sheet 142


Exercise: Designing a Character 142

Step 1: Imagine a Character 142

Step 2: Drawing a Skeleton Foundation 142

Step 3: Adding Basic Shapes and Volume 143

Step 4: Drawing Different Poses 145

Activity 2: Expanding the Design of the Character 147

Step 1: Sketching the Character 147

Step 2: Tracing the Character 148

Extra Activity: Deconstructing a Character 153

Lesson 9: Animating a Jumping Character 155





Lecture Notes 157

Deconstructing a Jump 157

Anticipation 158

Push 158

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Impact 159

Further Reading 159

Activity 1: Making the Character Jump 160


Exercise: Making Your Character Jump 160

Activity 2: Animating a Four-legged Animal Jumping 163

Extra Activity: Jumping Around 164

Lesson 10: Animating aWalk Cycle 165





Lecture Notes 167

Analyzing the Walk 167

Walk Cycles 167

Deconstructing a Walk Cycle 168

Further Reading 169

Further Viewing 169

Activity: Making Your Character Walk 170


Exercise: Making Your Character Walk 170

Extra Activity 1: Walking Around 173

Extra Activity 2: How Do These Characters Walk? 174

Lesson 11: Breaking Down a Character and Animating It 175





Lecture Notes 178

About Cut-out Puppets 178

Character Selection 178

About the Breakdown 179

Further Reading 180

Further Viewing 180

Activity 1: Breaking Down a Character 181


CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Exercise: Breaking Down a Character 181

Activity 2: Reattaching a Character's Parts 184

Activity 3: Animating a Cut-out Character 187


Exercise: Animating a Cut-out Character 187

Lesson 12: Bone Animation 189




Lecture Notes 191

About the Skeleton Effect 191

Character Selection 192

Planning the Breakdown 192

Preparing the Image Layout 193

Activity 1: Rigging the Skeleton 194


Breaking Down a Character 194

Building the Skeleton 195

Setting Up the Timeline 195

Adding Bones 196

Assembling the Skeleton 199

Modifying the Bones 199

Setting the Influence Area 200

Modifying the Influence Area 200

Parenting Bone Chains 202

Activity 2: Animating a Skeleton Rig 204


Assembling the Character 204

Animating Bones 206

Extra Activity: Experimenting with Bone Animation 209

Lesson 13: Stop-Motion Animation 211




Lecture Notes 213

What is Stop-motion Animation? 213

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Gathering Your Characters 214

Setting Up Your Background 214

Setting Your Image Capture Settings 215

Setting the Image Capture Options 215

Image Capture 217

Capturing Images in an Existing Layer 218

Further Reading 218

Further Viewing 219

Activity: Animating Figurines 220


Exercise: Animating a Figurine 220

Lesson 14: Basic Multiplaning and Sceneplanning 223


Total Lesson Time: Three Classes 224



Lecture Notes 225

Creating Motion and Depth Before Computers 225

Multiplaning Digitally 226

Understanding Your Own Multiplane 226

Further Reading 227

Further Viewing 227

Activity 1: Setting Up the Multiplane Space 228


Setting Up the Multiplane Scene 228

Activity 2: Moving the Camera 233

Animating the Camera 233

Extra Activity: Moving Your Character in 3D Space 236

Lesson 15: The Take 237





Lecture Notes 239

Acting 239

Understanding the Take 240

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Anticipation 241

Reaction 241

Further Reading 241

Further Viewing 241

Activity 1: Performing Different Takes 242

Activity 2: The Flour Bag's Expressions 243

Activity 3: Animating a "Take" Shot 244


Exercise: Animating the Flour Bag Performing a Take 244

Lesson 16: Visual Break-Down and Lip-sync 249





Lecture Notes 251

Visual Breakdown 251

Lip-sync and Phrasing 253

Mouth Charts 254

Understanding the Way We Speak 255

Further Reading 255

Activity 1: Breakdown and Lip-sync 256


Importing a Sound 256

Decoding your Sound 257

Assigning the Mouth Shapes 259

How to SwapMouths 259

Playing Back and Exporting 260

Extra Activity: Animating Your Dialogue 262

Lesson 17: Storyboard and Staging 263



Lecture Notes 265

Storyboarding 265

Staging 265

Creating a Good Storyboard 265

Bad Storyboarding 266

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Good Storyboarding 268

Further Reading 270

Activity: Storyboard Your Dream Scene 272

Exercise: Storyboard Your Dream Scene 272

Lesson 18: Adding Effects 273


Total Lesson Time: Four Classes 274


Lecture Notes 275

Creating Drop Shadows 275

Masking Elements 276

Creating Blur Effects 277

Creating Nature Effects 278

Activity 1: Creating Drop Shadows 279


Exercise: Creating a Drop Shadow 279

Activity 2: Masking Elements 284


Exercise: Making Part of a Scene 284

Activity 3: Creating Blur Effects 287


Exercise: Blur 287

Exporting a Movie 291

Activity 4: Creating Nature Effects 292


Exercise: Making it Rain 292

Customizing the Rain 294

Glossary and References 297

Glossary 298

References 310

Books 310

Films 310

Television Series 311

Websites 311

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Lesson 1: History of Animation • Lecture Notes


Lecture NotesIn this lesson, you will learn about:

• History of Animation below

History of AnimationThe history of animation is rich with innovation, beginning in the nineteenth century and continuing right through to thepresent day. The earliest animation techniques employed optical toys, followed by the creation of animated films. The greatcinematic achievements that we know today are the result of ongoing artistic and technological experimentation anddiscovery.

In the BeginningMany of the nineteenth century inventions designed to animate images were initially created as amusements for children.Most of these were optical toys that in time grew more sophisticated, resulting in a form of entertainment that provedpopular with everyone. These toys are:

• The Zoetrope on the next page

• The Thaumatrope on the next page

• The Flip Book on page 29

• The Praxinoscope on page 29

What is an Optical Toy?An optical toy is an item that uses persistence of vision to fool the eye into perceiving a series of still images, one shownquickly after the other, as a continuous moving image.

What is Persistence of Vision?Persistence of vision is when your eye's retina retains an image for a fraction of a second, before replacing it with a newimage. If the images before you aremoving fast enough, you will have the impression that you are seeing both images at thesame time.

This persistence of vision allows us to "fill in" movement from one image to the next when viewing media on screen, which isusually filmed at 24 frames per second. In animation, it is also typical for an animator to use 24 images for one second ofscreen time.

We recommend that you, as a beginning animator, use 12 frames per second when you are working on the activities in theArt Curriculum.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



The Zoetrope

The zoetrope creates the illusion of a moving picture. The first zoetrope was created in China, while themodern zoetrope,essentially a cylinder with vertical openings around the circumference, was invented in 1834 by EnglishmanWilliamGeorgeHorner. Affixed to the inside edge of the circumference are a series of pictures that, when viewed through the openings ofthe spinning cylinder, appear to form a seamless moving image.

The Thaumatrope

This optical toy was invented by the English physician John A. Paris in 1825. The thaumatrope is a simple disc with twodifferent pictures on each side. Strings are attached to each side of the disc and when pulled, the disc spins and the imagesappear to merge, creating a single illustration.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Lesson 2: Animation Techniques • Lecture Notes



• Animation Techniques below

• Traditional Animation below

• Digital Animation on page 39

• Stop-Motion Animation on page 40

• Sand Animation on page 42

Animation TechniquesThere aremany different animation techniques that an animator can use to bring his ideas to life.

Animation can be created using very simple tools such as a pencil and paper, advanced computer systems, or withmanyoptions in between.

Here is an introduction to the various techniques available when it comes to creating an animated movie.

Traditional Animation

Traditional animation usually refers to animation hand-drawn on paper. It was the process used for most of the productionsthroughout the 20th Century.

An animator would first draw characters, layout and backgrounds on paper. Each drawing in the animation would beslightly different from the one before it and the one following it, creating the illusion of movement when everything is putonto film.

Once all the animation has been drawn on paper, it would then be photocopied or retraced onto transparent acetatesheets, called cels. After the line art is transferred onto the cels, paint would be applied to the images, using a colour chartthat was pre-determined for each character or element of themovie. Cels were essential to drawn animation since it freedup the animator from having to draw every element in the film on one single layer of paper. Instead, by using cels, eachelement had its own layer and could be animated separately.

With today's technology, this traditional animation technique of using cels to colour animation drawings is outdated. It isnow possible to hand-draw animation, then scan the drawings to colour them digitally using computer software such asToon Boomproducts. So, contemporary animation has become a mix of traditional and digital techniques.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Lesson 5: Timing •


Lesson 5: Timing

This lesson includes the following sections:

• LessonObjectives on the next page

• Lecture Notes on page 103

• Activity 1: Experimenting with Space and Time on page 108

• Activity 2: Drawing the Pendulum on page 111

• Extra Activity 1: Animating the Playground on page 114

• Extra Activity 2: Observation and Timing on page 115

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Lesson Objectives

Total Lesson Time: One ClassThis lesson describes the basics of timing.

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Understand the concept of frames-per-second

• Understand arc and path of action

• Understand the affect of gravity on the action of an animated object

• Know the difference between ease-in and ease-out

• Know how changes in the exposure of a drawing affects the timing of an element

Activity 1: Experimenting with Space and Time on page 108

Activity 2: Drawing the Pendulum on page 111

Extra Activity 1: Animating the Playground on page 114

Extra Activity 2: Observation and Timing on page 115

User Guide References

Chapter Name Topic

Chapter 7: Layers and Timing Understanding the Timeline and Exposure Sheet Views

Layers and Columns

Navigating Between Frames and Columns

Managing Drawings

Chapter 8: Traditional Digital Animation Traditional Animation Tools

Animating Traditionally

Basic Training Video RecommendedIf you own the Basic Training video set, here are the suggested videos for this lesson:

Video Name Section Timing

5 - Traditional Animation Light Table 0:02:25CURRIC

ULUM S

AMPLE



Keyframes, In-betweens and TimingKeyframes are the significant poses in a character's action, such as the first and last positions in a jump.

In-betweens are all of the drawings between the keyframes; they progress the action from one keyframe to another.

Themore drawings there are between keyframes, the slower the action will appear. This is becausemore drawings meansthat there is more time to complete the same action.

In animation, space = time. Themore space there is between drawings, the faster the action will appear to progress. Theless space there is between drawings, the slower the action will appear. Basically, when two drawings are far apart, the timeit takes to go between them appears shorter than the time taken to go between two drawings placed close together.CURRIC

ULUM S

AMPLE



9. In theOnion Skin toolbar, click theOnion Skin button to turn off onion skinning.

10. Click the Play button on the Interactive Playback toolbar to watch how the ball moves.

11. Clear the Experiment01 layer and duplicate the layer three times. Rename your layers so you have the following:Experiment01, Experiment02, Experiment03, Experiment04.

12. Try filling up the following exposures:

‣ Experiment01 (choppy):

‣ Experiment02 (ease-in/acceleration):

‣ Experiment03 (ease-out/deceleration):

‣ Experiment04 (anticipation):

13. After you have completed these experiments, show the rest of the elements in the scene and see how they resembleyour experiments.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Lesson 7: Anticipation, Drag and Overlapping Action • Lecture Notes


Lecture Notes

Anticipation, drag and overlapping actions help give a natural, realistic feel to your animation. Anticipation helps the viewerto understand what is coming next. Overlap and drag add fluidity to your work.

In this lesson, you will learn about:

• Anticipation below

• Drag and Overlapping Action on the next page

• Further Reading on the next page

Anticipation

• Actions in animation happen very fast. For example, throwing a ball can take only two or three drawings tocomplete, which is not enough time for the audience to see and grasp what is happening. However, if the characterwinds-up and then pauses before the pitch, the events taking place become a lot clearer to the audience. Therefore,anticipation is an important element in the timing of any animation.

• Before a character takes any kind of action (unless completely surprised), the character must think and plan. Acharacter that is about to jumpmight first crouch down low and then push off with its feet. Anticipation also givesinsight into the thoughts of a character.

• Anticipation allows the audience to clearly see what a character is doing and understand what the character isplanning, so that each action does not come as an abrupt surprise.

Youmight consider getting someone to demonstrate anticipation and resulting actions, or get into the habit of acting out,in front of a mirror, the action you want to draw.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Lesson 7: Anticipation, Drag and Overlapping Action • Activity 1: Animating a Bouncing Ball with a Tail


Activity 1: Animating a Bouncing Ball with a TailIn this exercise, you will add life to a bouncing ball. Turn your ball into a character by adding an appendage that will dragand overlap during the course of the animation. It could be a tail, ears, a cape...you choose!

Material Provided for this LessonThe Lesson 7 samplematerial contains two elements.

• Path: The path of action.

• Jumpball: A series of drawings animating the action of the ball-with-tail, anticipating the jump, jumping, landing, andwith the tail behaving appropriately along the way.

Exercise: Drawing a Bouncing Ball with a Tail1. Start Toon Boom Studio.

2. In theWelcome Screen, name your project Ball_with_a_tail followed by your initials.

3. In the Timeline view, click the Add New Elements button and select Drawing from themenu. For a refresher on

theWelcome Screen, refer to Animating Basic Shapes on page 67, Creating a New Project from theWelcome Screenon page 71.

4. Rename both layers. The first layer should be named Ball, and the second layer should be named Path.

5. Using the Brush tool located in your Drawing Tools toolbar, draw the path of action for your character, including

the timing in the Path element.

You now need to extend the exposure of the path drawing you just did.

6. In the Timeline view, click on the drawing cell, then right-click and select Extend Exposure.

The Extend Exposure window is displayed.CURRIC

ULUM S

AMPLE



7. In the Extend to Frame field, type 24. This is the number of frames you want to extend the cell to.

8. Using the Brush tool located in the Drawing Tools toolbar, draw the key poses for your character in the Ball

element. Start by drawing the ball, then draw the tail. Remember, because of the overlapping action, the tail will bedragged along by the ball and should be animated to show this.

9. To draw the in-betweens, click Onion Skin button on theOnion Skin toolbar to see the previous and next frames

of your animation.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Activity 2: Reattaching a Character's Parts

In this activity, you will reattach the character's pieces to animate it. To do so, you will connect your layers one toanother in the Timeline view. Reattach the character's limbs to the body by creating hierarchies in the Timeline viewwindow. For example, attach the forearm to the arm and the arm to the body.

To attach a layer to another one, simply drag the layers one onto the other in the Timeline view.

To attach one layer to another one:

1. In the Timeline view, select the layer you want to attach to another one. For example, select the forearm layer toattach it to the upper arm.

2. Drag the selected layer ONTO the layer to which you want it attached.

3. Once the layer is attached to another one, it is pushed to the right and a Collapsing arrow appears.

4. If the piece you connected should be in front of the layer to which it is attached, you can bring it to the front usingkeyboard shortcuts.CURRIC

ULUM S

AMPLE

Lesson 11: Breaking Down a Character and Animating It • Activity 2: Reattaching a Character's Parts


‣ In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform tool.

‣ In the Camera view, select the part you want to bring to the front.

‣ Hold down the [Alt] key and press the [DownArrow] key to nudge the drawing forward. Doing so moves thedrawing very slightly forward. If you press the key several times, the drawing will move forward evenmore. Youcan also use the [Up Arrow] key to push the drawing back.

‣ Repeat the whole process until every piece is connected.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Lesson 13: Stop-Motion Animation • Lecture Notes



What is Stop-motion Animation? below

Gathering Your Characters on the next page

Setting Up Your Background on the next page

Setting Your Image Capture Settings on page 215

Image Capture Image Capture on page 217

Capturing Images in an Existing Layer on page 218

Further Reading on page 218

Further Viewing on page 219

What is Stop-motion Animation?No drawing is required for stop-motion animation. With this technique, you need only gather various objects to be featuredin a series of pictures. You position the object, snap a picture, thenmove the object slightly and take a new picture,continuing the process until the object has reached its final destination. Once you view the pictures in sequence, the objectwill appear to bemoving, or animated.

Some people also refer to stop-motion animation as Claymation.

Stop-motion animation can be achieved with almost any object. Some of themost popular materials used are:

• Clay

• Figurines

• Pinscreen

• SandCURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Some of the key animators and companies that helped develop the stop-motion animation technique are:

• Eliot Noyes, Jr. (Clay or theOrigin of Species (1965), HeMan and She Bar (1972)

• NormanMcLaren (Pioneer in stop-motion animation exploration)

• Jacques Drouin (Pinscreen Animation)

• Industrial Light & Magic (Special Effects andModels such as Star Wars,1977 to 1983, and Indiana Jones, 1981 to1989).

• Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit Series)

Gathering Your Characters

When deciding on characters, it is best to look for or create figures that have ball and socket joints for full rotarymovement.Just like a cut-out puppet, you want to be able to move your principle character at the shoulders, legs, knees and elbows ifpossible. If you choose to create or use characters that have less mobility, your animationmight look a little stiff, which isnot necessarily a bad thing if this is the look you wish to achieve.

Setting Up Your Background

Do you prefer a 2D or a 3D background? Either way, you will have to plan accordingly. If you would like a 3D background,then build one from scrap material and found objects. If you would like a 2D background (cartoon, video footage, etc.), thenyouwill need to set up what is known as either a blue or green screen.

A blue or green screen is a piece of solid coloured material, that when used as a backdrop, can easily be selected and colourkeyed out in Toon Boom Studio. Once the screen colour has been keyed out, it will appear as if your toys and figurines werefilmed against a transparent background. On a new layer in the software, you can create an animated 2D background orimport a piece of video footage.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



Activity 1: Setting Up the Multiplane Space

In this activity, you will learn how to set up a multiplane scene in preparation for camera moves.

Material Provided for this LessonThe Lesson 14 samplematerial contains:

• Multiplane Flat: The drawings of a background are separated on several layers, but are still on the same plane. Youwill use this background to experiment withmultiplaning.

• Multiplane No CameraMovement: The drawings of a background separated on several layers have beenstaggered in depth. You will use this background to experiment with camera movements.

• Completed Scene: A completed multiplane scene that you can compare your work with once it is finished.

You should not look at the last two projects until you have finished your experiments.

Setting Up the Multiplane SceneTo setup the multiplane scene:

1. Open the undone samplematerial in Toon Boom Studio.

2. From the File menu, choose Save As and resave the project, adding your own initials at the end.CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Lesson 14: Basic Multiplaning and Sceneplanning • Activity 1: Setting Up the Multiplane Space


3. If you are not already there, click the Camera view icon, located at the top-right corner of the Drawing view.

4. Examine the background that appears in the Camera view.

All the elements appear jumbled and it is difficult to see what the scene should look like. This is because the Timelinelayers stacking order is being taken into consideration, instead of the Z-axis position of any of the drawings. Becauseof this, drawings on layers situated at the top of the Timeline stack appear in front of those drawings that are onlayers situated further down the Timeline stack.

5. In the Timeline view, take a look at the existing layers and what they represent in the Camera view. You can hide alayer to see what it is in the Camera view.

Here is what is contained on some of the layers:CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Lesson 17: Storyboard and Staging • Lecture Notes



• Storyboarding below

• Staging below

• Creating a Good Storyboard below

• Bad Storyboarding on the next page

• Good Storyboarding on page 268

• Further Reading on page 270

Storyboarding and staging are related concepts. Look at various animation stills and analyze the staging. How are theprops and characters arranged? Is it effective? Then watch an animated sequence and work out how it would bestoryboarded.

Storyboarding• Storyboarding is the planning of each shot, themain position of the character as well as how the shot changes.

• When you are working in an animation team, detailed storyboarding is essential so that everybody knows how a shotdevelops, what is taking place, and how the characters will act.

• It is important to keep scene directions clear.

• Consider the pacing of a scene and the number of shots that it will require. Quick cuts between shots creates a fasterpace. Longer shots with less cuts results in a slower pace. What is going on in your scene that determines orinfluences the timing of the action/shots?

Staging• Staging is the layout of elements in the scene, arranged in such a way as to create the greatest impact and focus theaudience's attention onwhat is most important about the shot.

• Pictures pass the audience's eyes very quickly, often too quickly to register all the details. Keep it simple in order tohelp viewers focus on the important elements.

• Elements in your scenemust work together: background, scenery, and characters. Styling the scene is another taskthat requires considerable thought to create a coherent scene andmovie.

Creating a Good StoryboardTake a look at these examples of storyboarding. First, we show an example of poor storyboarding, followed by an exampleof a good, well-considered storyboard.CURRIC

ULUM S

AMPLE



Bad StoryboardingThis set of examples demonstrates the wrong way to draw a storyboard, the reasons why it is wrong, and somesuggestions on how to improve it.

Shot 1a: This opening shot is a profile shot. Notice how flat everything seems. It is always best to use shots that revealvolume, like 3/4 angle.

Shot 1b: This shot is even worse. Notice the composition. The character and the box are both way over to the left, while therest of the frame is empty. Youmust be aware of empty space, and try to arrange the scene in interesting ways.

Shots 2a and 2b:Well, at least we have changed the camera angles. However, this shot is still flat. Notice how noperspective is used, and how the character's feet sit directly on top of the floor. And is there a reason why we are still so faraway?

Most importantly, when did she pick up the box?Was it in shot 2a or 1b?

Storyboards primarily serve a technical function by letting you know what hapens and when. Never leave out importantactions like "picking up the box" from your storyboards.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

Lesson 18: Adding Effects • Lecture Notes



• Creating Drop Shadows below

• Lecture Notes above

• Creating Blur Effects on page 277

• Creating Nature Effects on page 278

Adding effects to your animation is the crowning touch to all your work! It lets you enhance your animation by giving theillusion of movement, shadows, and natural phenomena, such as rain or hail.

Creating Drop Shadows

Adrop shadow is a visual element that you can add to elements in your scene to give it more contrast, depth and realism.Themost convincing drop shadows closely follow the shape of the element on which you applying it and are usually grey incolour. However, you can always change the colour and shape of the shadow based on the kind of effect you have inmind.

Also, it helps if the scene has a light source, such as the sun or a lamp, that makes it obvious that there should a dropshadow. Once created, the drop shadow will follow your animation even if youmodify it.CURRIC

ULUM S

AMPLE



Masking Elements

Hiding part of your animation, calledmasking, is a great way to manipulate your scene, making elements appear in front ofor behind certain objects. To do this, you will be using the Clipping effect, or mask effect. For example, if your backgroundis a picture of the seabed with seaweed in front of it, youmay want your animation to move between the seaweed and therest of the images instead of passing in front. To do this, you will need to create a drawing of the zone in which you wantyour animation to appear and connect it to a Clipping effect. This drawing is called amask.

The Clipping effect will hide any portion of your animation outside of themask drawing that you create. Keep inmind,though, that it will hide it, not delete it. Your animation remains intact.

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE



GlossaryAlpha channel

The image's channel carrying the transparency information. An image already has three channels: red, green, blue (RGB).The alpha channel is the fourth channel (RGBA). Thematte, or the transparency information, is stored in this fourth channel.An imagewithout an alpha channel is always opaque.

Animatic

An animatic is a movie with sound that is developed from the storyboard. The storyboard panel is exposed for the durationof the scene and at times, the characters are placed on a trajectory to indicatemotion. The camera moves are alsoanimated. The animatic is used to determine the rhythm of a project and provides a good overview of the project beforebeginning production.

Animation

A simulation of movement created by displaying a series of pictures or frames.

Anime

An animation style known for its sinister and dark feel; popular in Japan.

Arc

Action rarely occurs in a straight-forward manner; rather it typically unfolds in what storytellers refer to as an arc. Thepurpose of a story arc is to move a character or a situation from one state or scenario to the next.

Aspect ratio

The aspect ratio is the relationship between the width and height dimensions for any scene, frame or film format. Thetelevision ratio is 4:3 and the widescreen ratio is 16:9.

Auto-feed

Automated method of feeding drawings to a scanner in whichmultiple drawings are stacked into a sheet feeder. When theuser activates the scanner, the drawings are scanned consecutively, without further user intervention.

Automatic Lip-sync Detection

Toon BoomAnimate can automatically map drawings in an element to themouth chart you have generated for a sound.This can save timewhen you are lip-synching a voice track.

Axis

An axis is an imaginary line around which an object rotates.

For 2D graphics, there are two axes:

• X which is horizontal

• Y which is vertical

For 3D graphics there are three axes:

• X which is horizontal

• Y which is vertical

• Z which is for the depth

CURRICULU

M SAMPLE

curriculum artcurriculum-teacherguide...

Documents