2D CHARACTER ANIMATION

               THE TWELVE BASIC PRINCIPLES AND DIGITAL TOOLS

                                           FOR ANIMATION

Before the basic principles and tools are addressed, it is necessary and very important to first understand what animation is and where it originates from.

ANIMATION

This is an illusion generated from a series and swift sequence of immovable images, which are dissimilar in shapes and sizes. These illusions created by moving pictures are based on the phi phenomenon.

Animation is done in different formats, these include animated GIF, Flash animation and digital videos. Also there are a few traditional ways of making animations some of these include, flip books and moving pictures.

It is important to note that animation has existed since the days of the cave man till now. Today some reputable animation productions include Dream Works animation and Walt Disney pictures. People who make animations are referred to as animators.

TWELVE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION

There some basic principles to take into consideration when one is making an animation. 

Arcs

The natural movement of human beings and animals are in a circular form. In the process of making an animation these arcs are added to the animated character to give it a more natural movement which make them seem almost as real as actual human beings or animals. This principle is actually used in almost every animation with only a few exceptions which such as mechanical animations.

Slow-out & Slow-in

Normally when making an animation there is a large amount of drawings at the beginning pose of the story or animation, just a few for the middle pose and the same large amount of drawings at the last pose for conclusion. The speed of the  character strongly depends on the number of drawings of poses, the fewer they are the faster the animation becomes and the more they are the animation becomes slower. This principle make the animation seem more realistic. However , it is necessary to note that sometimes this principle is ignored to express shock, element of surprise and gag appeal.

Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose Animation

Straight ahead begins with the first drawing and connects from one drawing to another till the conclusion part of the scene.  Images from this principle are original and impulsive hence they are usually applied to fast wild action scenes. This principle however has a flow, which it is able to cause change in size, volume and proportions of the character.

Pose to pose on the other hand is a more planned out method. It consists of definite drawing made in intervals from the beginning till the end of the scene. This method has control over size, volume and proportions. When applying this method it is advisable to make use of an assistant, to help the animator plan and also draw some the characters. All the same most scenes apply a bit of both methods.

Squash and stretch

What this method does is, it adds weight to the animated character. It is best used in making dialogues and facial expressions. It is a method which is used very much and therefor making it necessary to be mastered.

Anticipation

This is an action which every real life action posses, it the action or movement of the character undertakes a major action, starting to run jump or the changing of expression. 

Staging

This concerns itself a lot with the pose of the character or it's actions. This is very important as it relates to the audience and makes them understand or easily identify the personality of the character. The effective use of a camera also helps in making the animation sequence. It is best to use one action at a time, also the background used must be minimal so it doesn't compete with the character in the story for the audiences attention.

Follow through and overlapping action

Follow through is when a character's main body stops whiles the other parts such as arms, hair and legs catch up with the main body of the character. Where as overlapping is when a character changes direction with either the clothes or the hair of the character keeps moving forward. To ensure a very good and effective overlapping, it is necessary to pay a lot of attention to timing.

Secondary action

This enhances the main  actions of a character by adding more dimensions to the character this enhance and supplements the actions of the character. The actions of the secondary actions must all act in unison.

Timing

This is usually done in two's or one's. Two's are usually used in making camera moves such as trucks and quick dialogue animations. Two's are often used in a lot of animation. Again it is necessary to note that the fewer the images the faster the movement of the character more images slow down the movement of the character. One way as an animator to improve your timing skills is to use the try and error method also studying actors performances and their body movements on stage also help improve timing skills.

Exaggeration

This is mistakenly perceived to be the distortion or extremely broad and violent action. It is not so all the time instead it is also like a caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes and actions. Movements from live action films can be adopted but these movements are rigid but in feature animation, the character's movements are broad to make them seem more natural.

Solid drawing 

This is the application of basic principles of drawing and the illusion of the third dimension into animation. Cartoons are drawn classically and transformed into color and adding a three dimension or for dimension illusion. Three dimensional illusion is a movement in space whiles four dimensional illusions is a movement in time.

Appeal

Like an actors charisma, an animation has appeal. No matter the role or purpose of the animation, it is necessary for it to have appeal. Early cartoons did not have this but as time passed things improved and advanced. In every story telling the features must be appealing to the eye and and the mind.

Digital tools

In the world today, a lot of animators have moved from analog tools such us drawing book to the use of more advanced digital tools such as flash. These advanced tools aid in the production of good and high quality animation. Also digital tools can exist in hardware form not only software some examples are electronic sketch pads and laptop computers.

Conclusion

In total one can say it is necessary to have these principles in mind to assist you in becoming the animator of everyone's choice. Also it is important that you are exposed to the digital tools to also help you build on your skills.

Reference

http://goanimate.com/video-maker-tips/4-popular-animation-software-tools/
http://www.inmagine.com/searchterms/digital%20tools-2.htm
http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_principles.html