Let's talk about something else for a bit.

It's still about animation, just not about my project work :P

So I saw this recently and I think it's got to be one of my favourite animation.


It's a lovely, magical piece that is only enhanced by the wonderful music. I like how it's not crisp and neat because it gives it a textured look which is actually really nice. The animation itself is amazing, I only wish I could do something like that in my second year (this animation was done by someone in their second year at CalArts). The way this piece works in harmony with the music very much reminds me of Okami the video game. Clover Studios, the company that made Okami, doesn't exist anymore but it produced beautiful games and my favourite was Okami. Another (and the biggest) reason Crayon Dragon reminds me of Okami is the way doodles and art trailer behind the running character. Okami has a similar thing, only with nature and it changes with the character's running speed (plain grass - slowest, small blooms and grass, big blooms - fastest). This trailer has the best example of that run (difficult to find a video sample of it without it being bad quality or someone talking over it!)

Okami Trailer

Animation in games is just as interesting as the animation in feature films and shorts. The two are treated a bit differently but if done well both can look just as awesome. Though there's not so much detail in the animation in this game (e.g. all but the main character's faces don't really move, just squash and stretch when talking, even then that doesn't always happen), the cutscenes are well animated enough to tie in with the high level of style and music. Like the Orange Flower Dance for example! Yes it's very silly (one of many bits of humour in the game) but you can see a lot of animation principles there such as Timing and Slow in and Slow out. The weight isn't quite there but generally you don't see an old man breakdancing! Still, I think it's good for what it is and it suits the game style. Now on to another animation by a group of students fueled by peanut butter sandwiches! Firstly, I love the painted textures and backgrounds. I really like some of the 2D effects they've put in to. I've seen a few animations with 2D effects in, including a one or two of the group work animations this year at uni, and I think it's a really nice and stylish way of adding effects like smoke. Obviously it should suit the style of the 3D animation (which as far as I've seen it has) but it works really well when done right, like in this animation. Next thing is when things get trippy and the roads go all curly. I have no idea how they could have achieved that but it looks fantastic. The animation of the characters is great too, I like the contrast between them (one thing and noodly, the other big and stocky). Really interesting style of animation!

Follow Through and Overlapping Action: Research

For my animation principles presentation on the 12th, I have to focus on 'Follow Through' and 'Overlapping Action'.

Everything doesn't move at the same time. A character does not stop after finishing an action and then move to do the next. Hair, ears or loose skin, for example, will fall behind a few frames due to only being attached to the main action rather than part of it. How it moves depends on other principles such as weight, sometimes referred to as 'Drag'. This is overlapping action.

To 'Follow Through' basically refers to the movement following a main action. For example, when a character stops moving, everything doesn't stop at once. Any clothes, loose skin, hair or even limbs make take a few frames to catch up and reach their stopping point because they may move individually to the skeleton.

Here is a short, simple video on this principle:




I also looked up the principle in 'The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation' by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston:

I watched 'Mickey's Grand Opera', particularly Donald Duck's movement (though the principle is present in all the characters shown) and you can see that though he holds his position sometimes he doesn't actually stop moving. His arms are usually doing different things from each other and his legs are walking this way and that. By following this principle his movement is much more life-like, or more accurate to how movement works in real life.




Richard Williams' 'The Animator's Survival Kit' very simple but effectively explains Follow Through and Overlapping Action:

For my presentation, I am thinking of including this particular image to illustrate the principle. I have added my own notes over the image below to show the flow of movement. I may draw over the clean image in my presentation as I think that would be the most effective and interesting way to explain the principle.

References in order:
# Animation Training Video. Linked from Youtube, created by http://www.animatortraining.com
# Pages from 'The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation' by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.
# 'Mickey Mouse: Mickey's Grand Opera' video. Linked from Youtube, created by Disney, 1936.
# Pages from 'The Animator's Survival Kit' by Richard Williams.