Stop motion animation

12 basic principles of animation

- Squash and Stretch

These are examples i have created.

This is the sense and weight and flexability are drawn to objects although the most important thing is the volume of the object does not change when squashed or stretched.

-Anticipation

Is used to prepare the audience for action and to make it look more realistic this technique can also be used for less physical actions such as a character looking off screen.

-Staging


this purpose is to direct the audience's attention and make it clear to the importance of the scene to what is happening or what is about to happen, also to keep the focus relevent and to avoid unnecessary detail.


-Straight ahead action and pose to pose


The straight ahead action means drawing out of a scene frame by frame to the beginning and the end, although pose to pose is involving with the drawing and key frames then later on fill the intervals later.


-Follow through overlapping action

Follow through means the seperate parts of the body will be moving after their character has stopped. Over lapping will mean that the tendency is different and the arm could move at a different timing to what the head is going to move at.

-Slow in Slow out


This principle means that the character will move inbetween to extreme poses like sitting down or standing up.


-Arcs

This exception is the mechanical movement which is typically in straight lines.

-Secondary Action


This action can be emphasized rather then the character taking away attention from the main action in the scene.


-Timing


Timing is critical for establishing a characters mood, emotion and their reaction, it can also creaste aspects from their personality.

-Exageration


Exageration, imitation of reality can look static and dull in cartoons. The level of it depends on whether one seeks realism which is a particular style.

-Solid drawing


The animator needs to be a skilled draughtsman and has to understand the basics of three-dimensional shapes, anatomy, weight, balance, light and shadow and more.


-Appeal

Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor.