SKM 4200Computer Animation

Chapter 1: Introduction

About the course

• 2-hours of lectures per week• 3-hours of lab per week*• Prerequisite: SKM3200• Evaluation– 1st test 15%– 2nd test 15%– Lab 15%– Project 25%– Final exam 30%

100%

About the course• 1st test (15%)

– Topics covered from weeks 1-3– To be held on the 5th week, during class hours, God willing

• 2nd test (15%)– Topics covered from weeks 5-10– To be held on the 11th week, during class hours, God willing

• Final exam (30%)– Comprehensive… Tests your understanding of what’s been

learnt from weeks 1-14 – I have no idea when… – But God willing, from weeks 15-18

About the course• Lab (15%)

– Demonstrators Mr. Nabil and Ms. Siti Khadijah– Small assignments will be given/completed during lab sessions– To be completed and submitted to demos by 11:59am on Fridays of the

same week– Late submissions will not be entertained

• Final project (25%):– In a group of 3-4 people– Submit group name/members: Class time 3rd week– Finalize and submit idea/story synopsis: Class time 6th week– Submit storyboard: Class time 9th week– Final project due: 14th week (2D / 3D animation) – Late submissions will be penalized… and if too late, will not be entertained

Topics covered in this chapter

• Fundamentals of Animation– Definition– Persistence of Vision– Frame rate– Key Frames

• The Animation Process– Traditional (Disney’s way) – Computerized animation

• The 11-basic principles of animation

Definition

• What is animation?– A group of consecutive static images rapidly

displayed to create the illusion of motion• So in all, animation “tricks” into believing that

what we are viewing is actually alive, i.e. animated

Persistence of Vision• Explanations:

– Where a rapid succession of images (one after the other), is said to be retained by the visual system

– Basically, the eye is ‘thinking’ of one thing while it sees another thing…

• The theory suggests that an image persists for a certain period of time after the original exposure– You might have experienced this yourself after looking too long at neon-light signs

• Examples:– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdGnn9JzdOE&feature=related - Thaumatrope– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSrDnIVgVv0&NR=1&feature=fvwp - Cut out flipbook– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yacvvtl4Z20&feature=related – Barack Obama Illusion– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3yarT_h2ws - Things - Zoetrope

• All these made possible based on the basic principle of Persistence of Vision

Frames

• What are frames?– Static images/pictures– The basic visual building blocks in animation– When sequentially displayed one after the other,

produces animation– Note: Frames must be sequentially displayed fast

enough so that effective animation is produced…• Which brings us to the concept of frame rate

Frame-1

Frame-2

Frame-3

Frame-4

Frame-5

Frame-6

Frame-7

Frame-8

Frame-9

Frame-10

Frame-11

Frame-12

Frame-13

Frame Rate

• How many static images are produced/displayed within a specific duration of time

• Normally expressed in frames-per-second (fps)– Different TV standards define different frame rates– Although this term normally relates to digital video, the

same concept applies to animation especially when converting analogue to digital animations…

• Determine the smoothness of the end result– Lower frame rates cause a jerky effect– Higher frame rates make the final animation smooth

Keyframes

• Frames that defined the starting and ending points of an action– A few keyframes are created over a short period of

time– A succession of keyframes do not produce the

illusion of motion (with keyframing being the exception)• This requires “in between” frames to be drawn (in the

classical sense) or generated (for 2D/3D computer animation)

Keyframes

Example: http://www.3dmax-tutorials.com/graphics/il_animation_traditional-2.jpg

From the main webpage: http://www.3dmax-tutorials.com/Animation_Concepts.html

Keyframes

In betweens

Keyframes

Example (Walk Cycle Keyframes)

Contact Down Pass Up

Keyframes• Applying only the keyframes for animation -

http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83&page=2

Keyframes• Same set of keyframes, but with in-between frames added

The Animation Process

1. Storyboarding 2. Recording dialogue3. Rough, colorless sketches4. Inking department5. Painting department6. Background 7. Photographing8. Adding dialogue (and editing)9. Release

The Animation Process

• Storyboarding– The idea/concept of the story is discussed and confirmed by the director(s)

and animators– Characters, storyline, actions…

Image courtesy ofMr. Md Nabil Zawawi

(SMM2005 – Chapter 5 (Animation)

The Animation Process- http://www.justdisney.com/animation/animation.html- Please visit this website

The Animation Process

• Recording dialogue– Before the animation is done– Allows animators to know what the character is saying– Simplifies modeling of facial gestures, mouth movements, limb movements

etc.

http://www.awn.com/imagepicker/image/4357

http://lightstoneanimation.com/Images/dialogue.jpg

The Animation Process

• Rough, colorless sketches– Lead animators draw the keyframes, which are normally quite messy. Gaps (action,

movements) are left in between keyframes

– In between animators then “fill in the blanks” to finish the scenes

http://haribololz.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/traditional-animation-2/

The Animation Process

• Inking department– The drawings are copied onto Cels (clear celluloid acetate material)– Example:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Animation_example-inked_drawing.png

The Animation Process

• Painting department– Painters at the painting department will apply the pre-mixed colors on the backside of

the Cel– Example:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Animation_example-key_cel.png

The Animation Process

• Background– Background images are then added adhering to the particular scene– Cels are transparent… therefore the backgrounds will be visible– Backgrounds can either be static, moving, or multi-planed

Background of clouds from: http://mashfreaks.com/backgrounds/Clouds/tile_cartoon_clouds.jpg

The Animation Process

• Background– Video on multi-planed background -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d4-AUwkKAw&feature=player_embedded - Moving Backgrounds

The Animation Process

• Photographing– Using a camera, facing down – Camera captures each frame of the animation (can go up to hundreds of thousands,

depending on the animation’s duration)

• Dialogue is added The whole animation process can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OebUzEhSLBI&feature=related - Making Of Disney's Snow White

HOMEWORK: Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJX0EoHx3w8– Something might just come out in the exam about this…

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation1. Squash and Stretch2. Timing3. Anticipation4. Staging5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action6. Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose Action7. Slow In and Out8. Arcs9. Exaggeration10. Secondary Action11. Appeal

Reference to be downloaded (Please pay close attention to Sections 2.1 until 3.0!!!: JOHN, L. (1987) Principles of traditional animation applied to 3D computer animation. SIGGRAPHComputer Graphics, Volume 21, Pages 35-44.

The link below might only work within UPM:

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.93.811&rep=rep1&type=pdf

1. Squash and Stretch– Defining the rigidity and mass objects via shape distortion to convey

flexibility– Gives illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves– Useful in animating dialogue and facial expressions– Reduce the effects of strobing

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

Using Squash and Stretch to convey flexibility of the characters

2. Timing– The speed of an action– Gives meaning to movement• Conveys the properties of the object whether it’s heavy,

light, big or small (e.g. heavier objects moves slower• Object motion can give an idea of its weight• Consider Video_1 and Video_2

– http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/animation/character_animation/principles/timing.htm

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

2. Timing– No in-betweens - the character has been hit by a strong force

and its head almost snappedd off– One in-between - the character has been hit by something

substantial, .e.g., frying pan– Two in-betweens - the character has a nervous twitch– Three in-betweens - the character is dodging a flying object– Four in-betweens - the character is giving a crisp order– Six in-betweens - the character sees something inviting– Nine in-betweens - the character is thinking about something– Ten in-betweens - the character is stretching a sore muscle

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

3. Anticipation– Action involves: PREPARATION, THE ACTION and

TERMINATION– Prepares the viewer/audience for the upcoming action…

(gives a hint of what the character will do)– Leads their minds to what will

or might happen next!!!

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

http://www.officialpsds.com/images/thumbs/Road-Runner--Wile-E-Coyote-psd36956.png

4. Staging– Presentation of an idea so that it is unmistakably clear– Audience’s view must be directed to where it needs to be

so the idea is conveyed and not missed– Don’t include too many ideas at a time

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action– The termination of an action…

• Actions often do not end abruptly• Dog Running and Falling -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgcw2d4wFQw - Follow through and overlapping action

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

6. Straight Ahead and Pose-to-Pose Actions– Straight Ahead

• More spontaneous• Animator knows how the scene should go along, and how it tallies

with the storyline• Requires high creativity

– Pose-to-Pose• Actions are planned• Charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene• Size, volumes, and proportions are controlled better this way, as is

the action.

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

7. Slow In and Out– Spacing of in between drawings (frames) between the extreme poses– Fewer in-betweens make the action faster and more in-betweens

make the action slower– Slow-ins and slow-outs soften the action, making it more life-like

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/animation/character_animation/principles/bouncing_ball_example_of_slow_in_out.htm

8. Arcs– Describes the visual path taken by an object from one extreme pose to

another– Smoothens the animation (compared to moving in a straight line)– Sometimes an arc can be a straight line, e.g. something falling from

the sky

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

Image courtesy ofMr. Md Nabil Zawawi

(SMM2005 – Chapter 5 (Animation)

9. Exaggeration– Exaggeration is not extreme distortion of a drawing or extremely

broad, violent action all the time– It’s like a caricature of facial features, expressions, poses, attitudes and

actions– Exaggeration in a walk or an eye movement or even a head turn will

give your animation more appeal…

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZfuIfdBJC2s/S1Vb1Rhe4cI/AAAAAAAAAjU/aO_NnYkmkKA/s400/corny1.jpg

10. Secondary Action– Action resulting directly from another action (motion occurring as a

consequence of another previous motion)– Adds realism

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

http://www.animationbrain.com/follow-through-overlapping-2d-animation-principle.html

11. Appeal– A live performer has charisma. An animated character has appeal.

Appealing animation does not mean just being cute and cuddly. All characters have to have appeal whether they are heroic, villainous, comic or cute.

– Appeal, as you will use it, includes an easy to read design, clear drawing, and personality development that will capture and involve the audience¹s interest.

The 11 Basic Principles of Animation

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/img/pix/woody100701_414x450.jpg

How Pixar does it?• This is where you come in• First Assignment (due 10:00am before the next class)

• TASK: In a group of 2, prepare a write up (in your own words… and in English) of the whole animation process– Subtask-1: Search the Internet– Subtask-2: Write up the report in MS word or any word processing software of your choice

• Deliverable: Only doc, docx or pdf will be accepted. Please take note

– SEND TO: skm4200@gmail.com• Subject heading: matrix1[ ]matrix2[ ]assignment1

• [ ] indicates a space• Please follow this subject heading naming convention, or else 1-mark will automatically be deducted

from your assignment