12 Principles of Animation (Mohammed)

12 Principles of Animation

First introduced by Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston, the 12 Principles of Animation are used to make it seem that animated characters were adhering to the laws of physics. The 12 Principles of Animation are used often & are still used today.

Squash and Stretch

Squash and Stretch is one of the most important principles of animation. Squash and stretch gives the character some elasticity & the illusion of mass, flexibility, gravity & weight.

In this example (see image above) we see a ball is about to hit the ground, keep in mind that the ball is in its normal shape. When it lands, the ball kind of squashes down and bounces back up. As it bounces we see the ball reforming into shape as it bounces off the ground. That is an example of squash and stretch.

Anticipation

Anticipation is another principal often used in animation. It prepares the audience for what's about to happen next. 

The GIF above is a perfect example of anticipation, the character bends their knees before jumping, which can give the audience an understanding of what the character's about to do. We then see the character spring up &  land back down & absorbing the impact of the landing.

Anticipation is also used in other segments of animation, for example in cartoons where a heavy object is dropped on to a character, how do we know this? Well when we see a shadow growing and growing right where the character is, we anticipate that something big and heavy is about to drop onto said character and that it's coming from a height. I used this GIF as an example, below to support my point.

Staging

Staging in animation helps to guide your audience to important moments in a scene. You should be keeping focus on what actually happens in a scene and, keep the less intriguing moments in a scene in the background and/or a minimum. Staging is a way to layout your scenes before actually & thoroughly animating the characters. You should layout the composition, the shot sizes, who the characters are in the scene, what actions would they be doing & where would they be (location) etc., it can be really effective as you don't have to think about shot sizes, composition when actually animating. A perfect example is a clip from a progression reel of the  Disney, Pixar's movie Ratatouille. (Timestamp: 0:18, see link below)

Pixar's Ratatouille Progression Reel (layout)

Straight Ahead & Pose-to-Pose

Straight ahead is a process of drawing frame by frame from start to finish. It can be very beneficial if you're aiming for fluid & realistic animations.

Pose-to-Pose animation is another process of animation where you draw the beginning & end frame, and draw the frames in between 

This example above is a diagram which shows the many poses that make up a walk cycle. This is from the Richard Williams: Animator's Survival Kit.

We see the many different poses which make up a walk cycle from the "Contact" pose where the  heel of the right foot, lands first, then you've got your "Down" pose where the whole of the right foot is planted on the ground and the other foot is about to lift off the ground. 

Also keep in mind of the knees in the poses. In the "Down" pose we see the knees bend down in order to make for the "down" pose.  

You've, then, got your "Pass Position" pose where the right foot is still on the ground but the right leg is now straight up.

Moving on from "Pass Pos" is the "Up" pose. Where the stickman lifts his left foot and the right leg is pushed back a bit. Keeping notice of the right foot is about to lift off the ground. 

Then we're back onto the "Contact" pose but this time, the heel of the LEFT foot hits the ground first and we see 3/4 of the right foot lifted off the ground. 
 

Follow Through and Overlapping

Follow through is when objects don't stop dead when a character comes to a standstill. Parts of an object will stop at different rates.

Overlapping if a character is walking, their arms & legs and head moving at different rates.

For example hair, loose clothing and arms may continue to move forward a bit when a character stops. 

In this example above, we see a paper bag moving from one side to another. As it moves, the top part of the bag is stopping a bit slower than the rest of the bag. That is an example of follow through. An example of overlapping is shown when the, bag stops, the top part sways side to side for a bit.  

Slow In and Slow Out

The idea of an object gaining momentum from being stationery to being in motion. 

For example when you start a car, and you start accelerating, it'll take time for it to get up to 60mph. It doesn't go up instantly.  

https://youtu.be/3jNiNctcQ4c?t=232 (embedded timestamp)

In the YouTube video ( see link or video above, timestamp is 3:52) there's a character from Monster Hunter who swings their hammer. As it's really heavy the animation picks up slow but,  gradually picks up speed as the character pounds the hammer to the ground. 

Another similar example is used in Team Fortress 2 where the Heavy swings his minigun around when you're in Class Select Menu.

As you can see, the Heavy has a bit of difficulty swinging the minigun , it starts off slow but, the animation picks up speed and we see him tackle that difficulty and swings it with confidence.

Arc

Is another principle of animation which obeys the laws of Physics. It tends to follow a path or an arch when moving. In animation, it's necessary for the animation to obey the laws of physics so, it looks more natural. 

For example, when animating a ball dropping to the ground, the ball in real life usually follows in an arc, naturally. 

So, when animating, you should implement Arc. 

Secondary Action

Emphasises and gives support to the main action. However, it should not distract or take way the main action. A good example is from  Terminator 2: Judgement Day "Factory" Trailer

This example (see video above) is a perfect representation of a Secondary Action. As the T-800 (the robot-skeleton in the trailer) bends it's forearm, we see the bicep piston move, inwards too. And, the piston bend is subtle and doesn't take away the main action of the forearm bend. It keeps it's subtleness yet, adds a realistic touch & emphasises the action, really well.     

Timing

Timing is essential in animation. Timing refers to a number of frames/drawings for an action. Timing can also be referred to as the speed of an action. The more frames you have in your animation the slower the action, the less frames the faster the action. Timing can be used to show how heavy or light an object can seem. For example; if you see an animation of a ball dropping to the ground, if the animation has less frames, it will drop quickly, which can make it seem heavy. If add more frames in the animation. 

In this example, we see two different air vehicles animated; a blimp & a fighter jet. As you can see the blimp has more frames in it's animation sequence as blimps in real life, they're really slow. So, in order to recreate a blimps speed in an animation, it would require more frames. On the other hand, a fighter jet are quite fast & speedy so, in order to recreate that speed in an animation, use less frames.

Exaggeration

Is the process of over-exaggerating movements or design. It can make the animations seem more dynamic and hard-hitting. In cartoons it is used a lot! 

 

In this clip from the Looney Tunes, we see Daffy punching Elmer Fudd. You can see that Daffy pulls his arm way back to make it seem he's generating a huge force. Then, you see the arm thrust forwards, very quickly and the arm is double the length.  as he punches Elmer really hard and Elmer flies back to his boxing ring. This makes the audience seem Daffy has generated so much force & power in that one punch due to that exaggerated movement. 

Solid Drawing

Solid Drawing is a principle of animation in which you need to be good, or at least decent, at drawing. You need to be, at least decent, at  drawing 2d & 3d objects & characters, lighting  understanding anatomy, weight, volume, lights & shadows. 

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