Animation Glossary

This is a short selection of words and phrases commonly used in UK Animation. For specific CGI glossaries giving many technical explanations, check out some of the books listed on www.skillset.org/animationor try the following link: www.hokum.freehomepage.com/content/glossary/glossary_anim.html 3-2 pulldown: Digital process required to extend 24 'fps' to 30 'fps' when converting from 'PAL' to 'NTSC' for US viewing. Accent: In timing a scene or shot, the most important action is called the accent. In animating, the most emphatic pose of an action is the accent. Both are often related to the soundtrack, eg. the downbeat of a conductor's baton. Anticipation: A movement that anticipates a specific action, often in the opposite direction of the intended action. Eg. when a golf player is about to to hit the ball, the backswing anticipates the main action. Arc: The path of an action. Most movement follows some kind of arc, as opposed to a straight line from A to B. Aspect Ratio: The relationship of width to height of a film or video frame. Specific examples include: Standard Widescreen cinema format is 1.85:1; High Definition TV and Widescreen TV is 1.77:1 (or 16:9 width to height); Regular Television (aka Standard Academy) is 1.33:1 (or 4:3). For a lot more information about aspect ratios and projection, refer towww.hypermaths.org/quadibloc/other/aspint.htm Bar Sheet: A chart marked up in frames and seconds on to which the 'track breakdown' can be transferred by the Editor. This is often used by the Director to plan scenes/shots. Boiling: Movement of lines or fluctuating colour, sometimes a deliberate style but often due to inaccurate inbetweens or uneven application of colour. Bouncing Ball: A preliminary animation exercise to study weight, timing and the basics of 'Squash and Stretch'. Breakdown: The middle drawing or pose between two keys. COSHH: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health. These regulations are very important in Model Making and Stop Frame. Camera Shake: Vibration created by filming artwork or models with calibrated degrees of camera movement in alternating directions. Clean up: Cleaning up or re-drawing the rough animation, referring to models sheets to ensure that the animation is 'on model', and preparing artwork for scanning or tracing. Comp-ing: Compositing or combining various elements to create the final image.

Cycle: Continuous action created by repeating a sequence of drawings or images, typically used for walks and runs. Cycles are also used in Effects Animation, eg. rain, snow, flags, etc.; in fact, anything that is repeated action. Describe the Curve (aka follow the arc): Follow a path of action. See 'Arc' Dope Sheet (proper name: Exposure Sheet. aka: X Sheet or Worksheet): Chart used by Director and Animator to time out action, identifying the numbering of the animation and giving all instructions relating to action planning, animation levels, camera moves, exposures, etc. There is one Dope Sheet for each 'shot or scene'. To Dope: To enter information on to a 'dope sheet'. Double bounce: In a normal walk cycle, there is only one pose per step in a downward position. For a double bounce, there are two down poses per step which gives a syncopated type of movement. (e.g. Mickey Mouse.) Extremes (see 'Keys') Facility House: Post-Production Company Fettling: Trimming and making seams on models or puppets after the moulding process. Doubles (aka Twos): Creating one image to be exposed for two frames of film. The standard way of working for good drawn animation. See 'Singles' for examples of when not to use Doubles. Field: In 2D drawn animation, the area of the drawing to be seen by the camera is referred to as the field size. The format of the field depends on the screen ratio at which the material is being shot. Field: A very basic explanation for the meaning in video is that there are two fields for each frame of film. One field contains the odd scan lines of the frame, the other contains the even scan lines. When run at the correct speed, a complete image is seen. (UK television runs at 25 fps, i.e 50 fields per second; U.S. television runs at 30 fps, i.e. 60 fields per second). For images that originate from a film frame, the two fields appear identical to one another, because they are both captured from the same source frame. For images recorded as video, the two fields look different, representing different moments in time, recorded 1/50th second after one another. Moving images that are 'field based', and generated on video, will appear smoother when motion is present than those generated from film but can lack the texture of film. Flipping: Holding a pile of drawings and flipping them repeatedly to check the animation prior to shooting a line test. Same principle as a flip book. Follow through: Actions have a natural follow through. A follow through is the continuation of movement after the main action. For example, in tennis, after the player serves, the arm 'follows through' the arc of the movement, after the ball has been hit. Fours: Creating one image to be exposed for four frames. This will create jerky animation. Four frames is the shortest number of frames that will be perceived as a hold so animation on fours can look like a series of short holds. Fps: Frames per second Twos (see 'doubles')

Frying: American for 'Boiling'. Keys (aka Key Poses, Key Drawings or Extremes): The keys are the extreme drawings or images of an action, produced by the animator to create the structure of the animation. Leica Reel: Similar to an animatic. Effectively a filmed storyboard to demonstrate the composition of scenes and overall pace of the film. (Name originated because early story reels were shot on Leica cameras.) LOD: Level of Detail. Model sheet: A page of sample poses of a character or prop, giving character details and expressions. Moving hold: Although there is no change in the movement, the image is redrawn to keep it alive. Multiplane (Camera): A set up of layers of glass above a table that allows a rostrum camera to travel a significant distance, pulling focus as the camera 'tracks in'. This is used to achieve a feeling of depth, i.e. background, middle ground, foreground. A famous example of a Multiplane Shot is the opening scene of Bambi. NTSC: National Television Standards Committee. N. America Television and Video format. Plays at 30 frames or 60 fields per second. Ones (see 'Singles') On model: Keeping the work in style, following established designs. Overlap: Occurs when not everything is moving evenly so, for example, the clothes or hair carry on the momentum once the body has stopped moving. Overlapping Action (see overlap) PPE: Personal Protective Equipment. Use of such equipment is very important in Model Making and Stop Frame. Paint Pop: When there is a paint mistake on a single frame, it creates a visual pop. PAL: Phase Alternate Line. This is the UK TV and Video format. It also applies in some other European countries. Plays at 25 frames or 50 fields per second. Pegbar: A thin strip, usually made of metal, on which are fixed three pegs, one oblong on both sides of a central round one. This provides an accurate system of registration when working on punched paper. Peg reinforcements: Animation paper can get worn being taken on and off the pegs regularly, so thin card or plastic reinforcements can be used to strengthen the punched holes in the paper. If the paper does not fit tightly on the pegs, the registration may not be good enough for certain accurate types of work. Peg Strips: Strips of paper or card, often self adhesive, in which peg holes have been punched. These can be used to add peg holes to unpunched paper or to move pegs to an irregular position for a particular camera set up.

Off the Pegs: An animator is 'off the pegs' when the animation drawings are taken off the peg bar. This can make it easier to draw a breakdown or an inbetween in an accurate position between two other drawings. It can also make it easier for animators to control shapes and volumes because they can adjust the position of one drawing on top of another. Plates: Sometimes referred to as Background Plates, these are the background elements, usually live action, to which CGI or drawn animation will be matched. Rendering In 2D drawn animation: Rendering is the process of adding animated texture to artwork. Rendering In CGI: Rendering is the process of out-putting a shot as a sequence of images and is the final stage of the computer production process. Rotoscope (In 2D drawn animation): Rotoscope can be used to describe a technique which utilises live action 'trace-offs' as a style of animation Rotoscoping (aka Tracing Off): In 2D drawn animation, Rotoscoping is the process of tracing off live action images, taking whatever is required from each frame. These 'trace-offs' can provide reference for movement or establish the points at which the animation interacts with, or matches to, the live action. Rotoscoping (In CGI): Rotoscoping is the process of tracing elements of live action images - characters, objects or backgrounds - frame by frame. The tracing is done with a vector line in order to obtain a sharp, clean matte. Mattes are needed to allow the final images to be manipulated and composited without affecting the rest of the frame. The technique is also used to make changes and fix mistakes; eg. a live action character has been shot with a red hat but now it has to be changed to green. A Roto Artist can trace every frame of the hat to enable the Compositor to change the colour. Rolling: Rolling four or five drawings between the fingers in order to view movement while drawings are anchored to the peg bar. SECAM: Sequential Couleur a Memoire. French Television and Video format, also used in some Eastern European countries. Plays at 25 frames or 50 fields per second. Scene or Shot? This can be a source of some confusion. In most, but not all, 2D drawn animation (including feature films, television series, shorts and commercials, etc), a scene is the footage between two cut points; the camera angle or amount of background usually changes with every scene. However, most CGI projects have adopted the live action interpretation of the word; a scene is the action that takes place in a single location and can be composed of several shots. So a shot can also be the footage between two cut points and there can be as many shots as are necessary to make up a scene. In this case, a scene usually takes place in a single environment but there may be several cuts (shots), changing angles, close-ups, long shots, etc. Sequence (see also 'Scene or Shot?'): Animation has traditionally been made up of scenes and Sequences. A sequence is a section of the film, made up of as many scenes as are necessary to tell that section of narrative. Shot or Scene? (see 'Scene or Shot?') Singles (aka Ones): Creating one image for every frame, which means 24 frames per second for film projection or 25 frames per second for UK television. There can be several reasons for choosing to work on singles: if the action is very fast, or the camera is panning, or the lip synch is crucial, or the animation is matching to live action or CG backgrounds that are moving every frame. Animating on singles takes longer but produces smoother movement.

Slow in/Slow out: If starting a movement from a hold or a stop, it is likely that there will be a gradual increase in the speed of the action (Slow out) to overcome inertia. Equally, at the end of a movement, the action slows to a stop (Slow in) unless the action is hitting something like a brick wall and has to stop instantly. Squash and Stretch: Any animate object or character can contract and extend to enhance a performance, improve timing, give elasticity and, often, to create humour. The 'Squash' extreme is a flattened pose and the 'Stretch' extreme is the same form in an exaggeratedly extended pose. But the volume should remain constant. In most cases, an in-animate object will not squash and stretch unless there is an implication that the object is alive. Stagger: Drawn or computer generated vibration Stagger Cycle: A 'cycle' of drawings or images that give the impression of vibrating movement. Straight Ahead: Animated movement created by a sequence of consecutive images as opposed to keys and in-betweens. Most often used for fast action. Strobing: As a result of certain incorrect camera speed to image size ratios, a blurred effect is created. This is Strobing and usually occurs when the camera is panning. It can be seen in all forms of film. In animation, it is sometimes caused by panning the camera on 'singles' but animating the action on 'doubles'. A similar effect can be created by moving the camera in or out on 'singles' over action that has been animated on 'doubles'. Threes: Creating one image to be exposed for three frames of film. This can be used when there is very little movement otherwise it can read as jerky animation. Timing (used in the context of Animation): Timing relates to the number of images required to create an action. The more images per action, the slower that action will be; and, conversely, the fewer images there are, the faster the action will be. Timing (used in the context of Direction and Planning): Timing relates to the structure of scene or sequence. It is what establishes action and performance, and paces the overall narrative. Trace back: Any part of a drawing that has not moved from the previous pose is traced very accurately on to the next drawing(s). This is always 'traced back' from the first drawing in the sequence to make sure it remains as steady as possible. This is done when it is more practical to trace back rather than introduce an additional held level. Tracing off (aka 'Rotoscoping'): Tracing elements of live action frames, either as reference or to define areas to which animation has to match. Track Breakdown: The soundtrack is broken down by the Editing Department to let the animator know what sound is happening on each frame of film. This may include a phonetic breakdown for dialogue and a beat breakdown for music and sound effects if animation needs to synch to the soundtrack. Track in or Track out (Truck in or Truck out in America): Moving the camera in or out. Turnaround: A page of sample poses of a character or a prop, drawn from several positions of a 360 degree rotation. Tweening: An abbreviation of Inbetweening, it refers to the middle pose or drawing between a breakdown and a key, or between two keys. More likely to be called Inbetweening in 2D drawn animation.