These parts can be inanimate objects like clothing or the antenna on a car, or parts of the body, such as arms or hair. A third, related technique is "drag", where a character starts to move and parts of them take a few frames to catch up. "Overlapping action" is the tendency for parts of the body to move at different rates (an arm will move on different timing of the head and so on). "Follow through" means that loosely tied parts of a body should continue moving after the character has stopped and the parts should keep moving beyond the point where the character stopped only to be subsequently "pulled back" towards the center of mass or exhibiting various degrees of oscillation damping. Sequence of photos taken by Eadweard Muybridge.įollow through and overlapping action is a general heading for two closely related techniques which help to render movement more realistically, and help to give the impression that characters follow the laws of physics, including the principle of inertia. Follow through and overlapping action įollow through and overlapping action: the galloping race horse's mane and tail follow the body. It is still important to oversee this process and apply the other principles. The use of computers facilitates this method and can fill in the missing sequences in between poses automatically. In computer animation Ĭomputer animation removes the problems of proportion related to "straight ahead action" drawing however, "pose to pose" is still used for computer animation, because of the advantages it brings in composition. A combination of the two techniques is often used. "Pose to pose" works better for dramatic or emotional scenes, where composition and relation to the surroundings are of greater importance. On the other hand, it is hard to maintain proportions and to create exact, convincing poses along the way. "Straight ahead action" creates a more fluid, dynamic illusion of movement, and is better for producing realistic action sequences. Straight ahead action scenes are animated frame by frame from beginning to end, while " pose to pose" involves starting with drawing a few key frames, and then filling in the intervals later. These are two different approaches to the drawing process. The essence of this principle is keeping focus on what is relevant, and avoiding unnecessary detail. This can be done by various means, such as the placement of a character in the frame, the use of light and shadow, or the angle and position of the camera. Its purpose is to direct the audience's attention, and make it clear what is of greatest importance in a scene Johnston and Thomas defined it as "the presentation of any idea so that it is completely and unmistakably clear", whether that idea is an action, a personality, an expression, or a mood.
This principle is akin to staging, as it is known in theatre and film. The technique can also be used for less physical actions, such as a character looking off-screen to anticipate someone's arrival, or attention focusing on an object that a character is about to pick up. A dancer jumping off the floor has to bend the knees first a golfer making a swing has to swing the club back first. While originally intended to apply to traditional, hand-drawn animation, the principles still have great relevance for today's more prevalent computer animation.Īnticipation: a baseball player making a pitch prepares for the action by winding his arm back.Īnticipation is used to prepare the audience for an action, and to make the action appear more realistic. In 1999, The Illusion of Life was voted the number one "best animation book of all time" in an online poll done by Animation World Network. The book has been referred to by some as the " Bible of animation", and some of its principles have been adopted by traditional studios. The main purpose of these principles was to produce an illusion that cartoon characters adhered to the basic laws of physics, but they also dealt with more abstract issues, such as emotional timing and character appeal. The principles are based on the work of Disney animators from the 1930s onwards, in their quest to produce more realistic animations. Book cover of Disney Animation: The Illusion of Lifeĭisney's twelve basic principles of animation were introduced by the Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation.
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