SH1667

Animation Principles (Part 1)

I. Pose-to-Pose Animation
 A commonly used method of animation where one pose is made to move to another
pose (pose to pose).
 Allows an animator to map out an action in advance by charting out key poses (also
known as key drawings or just keys) into exposure sheets (also known as dope
sheets or timelines).
 Useful when a character in an animated scene must perform certain tasks within a
predetermined time or where a series of actions must synchronize accurately with a
recorded soundtrack.
 Helps ensure that characters arrive at a particular place on the screen at a precise
point in time.
 Basically describes WHAT happens in the scene, not HOW it happens.

A. Working Rough
 When developing key poses, it is a good idea to experiment with thumbnail
sketches first to refine the poses and ideas. Mostly these are nothing more than
quickly drawn scribbles (using a blue pencil) that provide a frame-by-frame, block-
by-block sequence of actions.
 The sketches provide a rough draft and rough map of the scene before any definite
details can be drawn in, saving time, work, and energy.

B. Planning Key Poses

 Background layouts will define an acting space while storyboard frames will
indicate the business (what is being done, what for, and the location) of each shot.
 Animators need to be acutely aware of the requirements of the script and the
particular actions and events that are necessary to progress the storyline.
 Characters or elements “act out” events as informed by an understanding of the
character's personality traits, visual design, and current emotional state.

C. Expressive Poses
 Good strong key poses emphasize and communicate the intent of an action more
efficiently than ill-considered ones. Strong keys lead to strong animation.
 It is, therefore, vital to spend time and thought working out the key poses until they
do their job as expressively as possible as it will pay dividends as if these work
well.
 Poses should have both function - depicting the physical extreme of an action or
setting up the character for an action to follow by loading its “parts” (limbs, muscles,
joints, etc.), and impact - an expressive pose with a dynamic quality that implies
what has gone before, what is about to come, and which registers and emphasizes
the inner emotional state of the character.

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II. Inbetweening
 Drawings which define the type of movement and the time that passes between each
key pose drawing or position.
 Also called tweens in USA cartoon animation studio jargon which makes an invented
verb, tweening.
 While key poses describe WHAT happens, inbetweens describe HOW it happens -
the nature and qualities of the movement between the key poses or the 'extremes' of
an action.

A. Timing and Spacing Inbetweens

 Allows actions to either “go slow” or “go fast” based on the spacing of frames.
 Provides different meanings, such as the illusion of weight, speed, and force.
 Evolved into the “slow-in”, “slow-out”, “ease-in” and “ease-out” principles
developed by Disney studios.
 Usually patterned on a given motion arc or path of action.

B. Motion Arcs
 Mostly used to depict natural or movement of a living being.
 Do not look “mechanical” like machine movement, which moves in a straight line.
 Often placed along a paths of action that describe curves or arcs.
 describe the path of action (travel) that things plot out when they move.
 Used with in-betweens to create a sense of flow, which is at the heart of all good
animation.

Reference:
 RMIT University, Center for Animation and Interactive Media – Pose to Pose
Animation (n.d.). Retrieved on April 19, 2017 at
http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_pose.html.
 RMIT University, Center for Animation and Interactive Media – Inbetweens (n.d.).
Retrieved on April 19, 2017 at
http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/inbetweens_01.html.

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