Reading

Required:

Š John Lasseter. Principles of traditional

animation applied to 3D computer animation.
Proceedings of SIGGRAPH (Computer Graphics)
21(4): 35-44, July 1987.
Recommended:

16. Animation principles Š Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, Disney

animation: The Illusion of Life, Hyperion, 1981.

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Character animation Animation Principles

Goal: make characters that move in a convincing The following are a set of principles to keep in mind:
way to communicate personality and mood.
1. Squash and stretch
Walt Disney developed a number of principles. 2. Staging
3. Timing
Computer graphics animators have adapted them to 4. Anticipation
3D animation. 5. Follow through
6. Overlapping action
7. Secondary action
8. Straight-ahead vs. pose-to-pose vs. blocking
9. Arcs
10. Slow in, slow out
11. Exaggeration
12. Appeal

We will consider each...

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Squash and stretch Squash and stretch (cont’d)

Squash: flatten an object or character by pressure or

by its own power.

Stretch: used to increase the sense of speed and

emphasize the squash by contrast.

Note: keep volume constant!

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Squash and stretch (cont’d) Squash and stretch (cont’d)

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Squash and stretch (cont’d) Staging

Present the idea so it is unmistakably clear.

Audience can only see one thing at a time.

Useful guide: stage actions in silhouette.

In dialogue, characters face 3/4 towards the camera,

not right at each other.
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Timing Timing (cont’d)

An action generally consists of anticipation, the

action, and the reaction. Don't dwell too long on any
of these.

Timing also reflects the weight of an object:

Š light objects move quickly

Š heavier objects move more slowly

Timing can completely change the meaning of an

action.

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Anticipation Anticipation (cont’d)

An action has three parts: anticipation, action, Amount of anticipation (combined with timing) can
reaction. affect perception of speed or weight.

Anatomical motivation: a muscle must extend before

it can contract.

Prepares audience for action so they know what to

expect.

Directs audience's attention.

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Follow through Follow through (cont’d)

Actions seldom come to an

abrupt stop.

Physical motivation: inertia

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 Straight-ahead vs.
Overlapping and secondary action
pose-to-pose vs. blocking
Overlapping action Straight ahead: proceed from frame to frame without
planning where you want to be in ten frames. Can be
One part intiates (“leads”) the move. Others follow in wild, spontaneous.
turn.
Pose-to-pose: Define keyframes and "inbetweens".
Hip leads legs, but eyes often lead the head.
Blocking: Computer graphics animators adaptation
Loose parts move slower and drag behind.
Š Start key-framing at the top of the hierarchy.
Overlaps apply to intentions. Example: settling into
Š Refine level by level.
the house at night.
Š Keyframes for different parts need not happen
Š Close the door at the same time.
Š Lock the door
Š Take off the coat
Š etc...
Each action doesn't come to a complete finish before
the next starts.

Secondary action

An action that emphasizes the main point but is

secondary to it.

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Arcs Slow in and slow out

Avoid straight lines since most things in nature move An extreme pose can be emphasized by slowing
in arcs. down as you get to it (and as you leave it).

In practice, many things do not move abruptly but

start and stop gradually.

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Exaggeration Appeal

Get to the heart of the idea and emphasize it so the The character must interest the viewer.
audience can see it.
It doesn't have to be cute and cuddly.

Design, simplicity, behavior all affect appeal.

Example: Luxo, Jr. is made to appear childlike.

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Appeal (cont’d) Appeal (cont’d)

Note: avoid perfect symmetries. Note: avoid perfect symmetries.

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Current trends in animation Geometric modeling and instrumentation

Current trends in animation: Building characters with the right shape and control points
is time consuming..
Š Geometric modeling and instrumentation
Š Realistic rendering Want the “right” set of controls
Š Physical simulation
Š Control points
Š Controllable simulation
Š Muscle groups
Š Digital humans
Š Blending example expressions
Š “Instrumentation” controls

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Realistic rendering Realistic rendering (cont’d)

Research in rendering materials accurately is ongoing.

Recent progress in Bi-directional Subsurface Scattering

Distribution Functions (BSSRDF’s) is changing the look of
everyday things…and skin.

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 Physical simulation Physical simulation (cont’d)

Some effects are too difficult to model by hand (fire, snow,

steam, rustling trees, hair, cloth, etc.)

Can do simulation (both physical and non-physical)

Š Particle systems
Š Fluid flow and turbulence modeling
Š Rigid body dynamics
Š …

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Controllable simulation Controllable simulation

Want to have some interactive control.

Example: insert cloth wrinkle here.

Š How do you merge this with the physical simulation

without starting over?

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 Digital humans
Motion capture
Making realistic human bodies and faces and
animating them is really hard.
Example-based methods using motion capture and
scanned shape data hold some promise.
Digital humans: motion capture
Š Making a realistic human body motion is hard
Š Solutions
• Computer vision using raw video footage
– Typically not accurate enough
• Special sensors that give joint angles and/or positions
– wires get in the way
Š Cover person with white or retroreflective targets
like ping pong balls
• Have to handle occlusions

Motion processing

Š Motion data is often noisy Æ filter it with smoothing

filter.
Š Can apply a variety of filters
Š “Re-targeting” motion is challenging
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Digital humans: facial animation

Future input device: performance driven facial

animation

Š animator makes faces

Š video camera watches
Š computer processes in real time
Š character's face comes to life
Š animators are actors!!

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