Presentation 1, Week 10

The first presentation for 3D Computer Animation class.
Had to pick a short clip of an animation and identify 3 examples of the 12 principles of animation.
The choice was Pixar Animation Studios' 2003 film "Finding Nemo", distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, and directed by Andrew Stanton.

First example was Squash and Stretch, the pufferfish, at 0:02.

The second example is Staging, Marlin (Nemo's dad) sees Nemo dead in the plastic bag, at 1:27.

The third example is Arcs, Gill gets shot out of the volcano, at 2:03.

Finding Nemo

Additional examples of the 12 principles of animation are:

Follow Through & Overlapping Action, Darlas' hair, at 0:16 and other various parts of the scene, and the dentist's clothes, at 0:33. As well as the water plants in the fishtank.

Other examples of Squash & Stretch are the plastic bag Nemo was in, at 0:42 and other various parts of the scene. And more pufferfish  at 1:57.

Week 9: Progress Report

I have progressed farther than this but once again I had trouble getting to open the recent saved file on my computer. 

Week 9: Arcs

One of the twelve principles of animation is Arcs. Arcs are created by movements that go from one point to another. In animation most movements done create arcs. It is mostly organic beings or things that created these arc movements. These arc movements are more evident in human and animal animation. Arc movements give the animation more realistic and fluid movement. Geometric forms such as robots and mechanical things tend to make linear and stiff movements. In real life humans also make body movements in arcs. We might not notice it but our arms move in arcs back and forth when walking. Our legs move this way as well. When we raise our arms. When we make a fist with our hand our fingers move in arcs. Even our heads. It is obvious when we move our heads up and down but when we turn our heads from one side to the other it moves in an arc form even though it looks like it turns in a linear path. In real life speed can affect arc movements. A slow car can make a sharp turn as opposed to a fast speeding car that will need more ground to make a turn. A plane naturally is always flying at high speeds therefore needs a lot of space to make a turn. In animation a plane can be animated flying fast and making abrupt arc maneuvers in little space and this will make the plane look erratic and cartoony because it is ignoring the laws of physics.


Wikipedia
Minyos: Animation Notes #5 - 12 Principles of Animation
Animation Toolworks

Week 8: Final Progress

Final progress so far.

Week 8: Animation Principle of Anticipation

The animation principle of anticipation is exactly what the word means. It is expecting something.

This is the preparation to something that's about to happen in a scene. The prime examples of anticipation are when a pitcher winds his arm back to throw a ball or a golfer swinging back to hit the golf ball. But in fact, it is all over animation in almost every animated feature, TV show, etc. It is something so many people never notice unless you learn about animation. But it is everywhere. I myself did not notice this principle. I never noticed until now that I'm learning about the principles of animation. A few Anticipation examples that I can think of are when a bomb is about to go off and a character closes their eyes and covers their ears with their hands. The anticipation here is covering their ears and closing their eyes because this bomb is about to go off. One cartoon character that comes to mind that uses this principle a lot is the Coyote from Looney Tunes in his never-ending pursuit of the Road Runner. When he runs of the edge of something he stays suspended in the air for a second or two meanwhile his face turns all terrified because he knows what's about to happen. That's the anticipation to him eventually falling hundreds of feet down a canyon or something. Or when one of his traps backfire on him and a big boulder is falling about to crush him. He looks up and his face turns into a terrified face right before the boulder lands on him. I also learned that anticipation is cut out as a comic effect. The anticipation is not present so what's about to happen can be a surprise. Like a big boulder suddenly falling on top of the Coyote. It has happened. The Coyote never saw it coming. This can be referred to as a 'surprise gag'.

Week 8: Observe People Walking

In my observation of many people walking I have noticed the way people walk are based on or because of their weight mostly. A thin person looks to walk with a more straight posture it seems. Their steps are more fluid because of their lighter weight and also seems like their weight isn't shifting as much with each step. Their hip movement is not as noticeable as a heavier person walking but their up and down motion can still be noticed. A tall thin person walks about the same except looks like the taller person makes longer steps when walking. A thin female seems to walk making smaller steps and because of this sometimes they look like they walk fast. Their up and down hip movement is more noticeable than males' because of their wider hips. Also, males' back and forth arm swing movement look straight forward and backward. Females' back and forth arm swing movement move around their hips. A heavier person's walk is much different in that their weight distribution between steps is move evident. Their weight shifts towards the leg that is about to make the forward step. Also, heavier people's walk look like slower motion movement than a lighter person in weight. I've notice that athletic people look to be more lighter on their feet and sometimes their walking looks more fluid. A very short person's up and down movement is very visible when walking and obviously their steps are shorter, therefore, look like a slightly fast walk. I've noticed also people's walk are affected by the stuff they're wearing. One example is females wearing high heel shoes walk almost like with a jerky type of movement sometimes. Their feet moving inward with every forward step is very visible with females wearing high heel shoes in particular. Another example is youngsters wearing pants way below the belt line. Many of these people's walks look very stiff like they're walking without moving their knee joints and simply by only moving their hips and legs back and forth. Almost like the way Frankenstein walks. In my observation of people walking I noticed something that maybe it's obvious to many people but I never thought about. People walking in downtown Chicago walk at fast paces because most likely they have somewhere to get to, therefore, their walk doesn't look as natural or as normal as people who are taking a stroll in the park or someone who is simply walking to the store.

Week 8: Walking Cycle Video Reference

Here are a couple of video references. I chose a few.

Robot Arm Animation

Here is my Robot Arm animation assignment done.