Computer animation is only a relatively recent development.The first 3D images where generated by William Fetter in the 1960’s and in 1986 Pixar released its first 3D Animation with Ed catmull as the Chief Technical Officer. “…At Pixar, he was a key developer of the RenderMan rendering system used in films such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo…” Wikipedia
Animation is making an inanimate object or drawing appear to move by rapidly displaying a series of pictures of it, each one in a slightly different position. Some computers can take a picture and automatically make it appear to move in certain ways. This is a form of animation sometimes called pseudo-animation. Cowan, L., 1996. The Illustrated Computer Dictionary and Handbook. Enrich, San Jose. p17
‘stage actors act in the present and fleeting moment and animators create an illusion of a present moment’ Ed Hooks
Laws of physics,weight and volume.
Artist Brilliantly animates ‘This Is America’ using Apple computers from the ’80s
Donald Glover’s “This Is America” is one of 2018’s most iconic songs — from its striking imagery, to its choppy dance sequence. Animator Wahyu Ichwandardi, also known as Pinot, has been documenting his attempt to capture Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” choreography since the beginning of June. Using ancient software, he created a dance sequence straight out of 1985.
FREE ANIMATION RIGS with Animation Mentor The Online Animation School. You asked for a free Maya® rig. And now there are TWO! Stewart and Squirrels are professional-quality rigs that are available to the entire Animation Mentor community (you!).
Animation You Might Have Missed in 2016
Anime for Beginners: 20 Pieces of Essential Viewing
Animation in Australia
Animated films allow audiences to go beyond the realistic world to an out-of-world experience based on sound and visual art forms. Animation has unique strengths in exploring metaphors and creating larger than life characters. In Australia, this has led to animation being popular with political cartoonists and comedy writers, as well as animators musing on personal relationships, the environment and the place of the individual in a world of thought and dreams. For nearly one hundred years, Australian animators have contributed to the world of animated film.
SYNDEY ANIMATION PRODUCTION GROUP Most animators have, in some part, a dream of creating their own production. Sitting down with a bunch of like minded creatives and coming up with an idea for an animated series or feature. The cherry on top would be that it can generate enough income to allow the production of more. Maybe you’re inspired by children’s TV like Pepper Pig or Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom? Or potentially you’d like to create something more along the lines of Rick and Morty, Bojack Horseman or South Park? Or, are animated feature films your thing?
OZANIMATE showcasing AUS+NZ Animation
Porter, Eric Ernest (1911–1983)
The History of Animation
The human imagination is limitless and sometimes our creative minds come up with stories and subject matter that just can’t be achieved with real actors, props and costumes. Cue animation: the art of bringing images to life. The techniques that created these animations, once painstaking, has made leaps and bounds thanks to advances in technology.
Notes on Animation: The Thief and the Cobbler
History of Animation Part 1
History of Animation Part 2
History of Animation Part 3
A Brief History of Film- Animated Documentary
The Animation Process From 1938
Animation Industry at a Glance: Checking the pulse for health and opportunities – David Z Autodesk
History of Cel Animation
Imagine – From Pencils To Pixels (BBC 2003)
Russian president and animation: What happened in May 2017? Morevna Project
TL;DR: Russian government is going to provide ~$2 000 000 to support development of animation software in Russia and our efforts to redirects those funds into open-source development.
Google+ OpenToonz This is software for producing a 2D animation. It is based on the software “Toonz”, which was developed by Digital Video S.p.A. in Italy, customized by Studio Ghibli, and has been used for creating its works for many years. Dwango launches this OpenToonz project, in cooperation with Digital Video and Studio Ghibli.
OpenToonz Experimental for Windows. This is an experimental version of OpenToonz for Windows containing many new features that aren’t yet part of the main version.
KRITA 4 digital painting application is a free and open source project with improved vector tools, SVG support, a new text tool, Python scripting and much, much, much more. Also, there is a new project management system in there for comics that potentially could be pimped out even more and used for storyboards.
Krita 4 Release Video
Episode 1: Bryan Konietzko & Michael Dante DiMartino | Nick Animation Podcast
12 PRINCIPLES of ANIMATION
CGWORLD “Animation Style” -12 basic principles of animation-
THE ILLUSION OF LIFE on tumblr
The 12 basic principles of animation were developed by the ‘old men’ of Walt Disney Studios, amongst them Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, during the 1930s. Of course they weren’t old men at the time, but young men who were at the forefront of exciting discoveries that were contributing to the development of a new art form. These principles came as a result of reflection about their practice and through Disney’s desire to use animation to express character and personality. from cento lodigiani
12 Principles of Animation
1. Squash & Stretch – 12 Principles of Animation
2. Anticipation – 12 Principles of Animation
3. Staging – 12 Principles of Animation
4. Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose – 12 Principles of Animation
5. Follow Through & Overlapping Action – 12 Principles of Animation
6. Slow In & Slow Out – 12 Principles of Animation
7. Arcs – 12 Principles of Animation
8. Secondary Action – 12 Principles of Animation
9. Timing – 12 Principles of Animation
10. Exaggeration – 12 Principles of Animation
11. Solid Drawing – 12 Principles of Animation
12. Appeal – 12 Principles of Animation
Gameplay Animation Bianca Basso walks through Maya tips and tricks for animators, from getting your setup animation-ready to animating a character walk and run cycle.
Flour Sack Animation Test
Animation- Bouncing Ball Explained
tutorial-1 : bouncing ball: Dermot O Connor, animator, occasional cartoonist, indie film-maker.
ALAN BECKER – Animating Walk Cycles
ALAN BECKER – Animating Run Cycles
3D Animation Masterclass: Basic Walk Cycle Tutorial
Maya: Basic Walk Cycle 1
How to Animate Jurassic World’s T-REX – Ep 10
Animating a Jump Tutorial Part #269
Duplo Bear
Quadruped Locomotion Tutorial
Animal Gaits for Animators Stephen Cunnane
How to Animate a Ryu Solar Plexus Strike From SFV
People react to being called Beautiful
THE STORY OF MARTIN LUTHER
After 500 years, Martin Luther finally gets his own animated film! A completely and utterly accurate history lesson about Martin Luther The film was produced on the occasion of the 500-year anniversary of the church reformation by Tumblehead, an animation studio based in Viborg, Denmark.
CHARACTER ANIMATION
The talented staff at Trix, a full service production company based in Lisbon, Portugal, has been perfecting this craft for more than 20 years – and the experience shows! From storyboarding to animating, Trix infuses characters with life and humanity and tells charming short stories in 2D and 3D planes. Reduced, yet impressively pointed visual design and skillful art direction are hallmarks of their productions, which manage to evoke emotions with no need for many words.
We recently had the pleasure to chat with the core team involved in what executive producer and creative director João Sacadura refers to as a “dream job”: A short, character-driven animation for a globally active Portuguese initiative, illustrating the importance of education. Check out the spot below and continue reading to learn about its innovative and bold creation and the creative minds responsible.
Study for Fifteen Points / I, 2016
Motors, custom driver electronics, custom software, aluminium, LEDs, computer
712 x 552 x 606 mm
Le Laboratoire
Keith Lango an absolute legend in the animation industry has released his entire animation masterclass library. These were hot property back in the days when computer animation was still relatively new. There’s over hundreds of hours of content here, I would highly recommend every student check out this wonderful material. I’m an animation filmmaker and teacher. In my 15+ years in animation I’ve worked on a variety of animated properties and projects, ranging from Academy Award nominated short films to video game cinematic movies, television, home video, feature film, online content and commercial advertising. I have also mentored and taught animators over the years with web & video tutorials as well as hands on training.
ANIMATION – BREATHING LIFE INTO CHARACTERS Bill Buckley.
Animators are story tellers, character performance, actors. Include visuals to showcase together with the animation along with animating the scene, the camera and put the character in a scene showing how they can navigate through the environment.
Need to direct the characters, compose the character to show a large and imposing as a bad buy. What makes him look like a bad guy, the poses to sell the scene. How do you know what their feelings are.
Two questions, what do they want and what to they feel about everyone else in the scene and how do you convey that. How will the character carry itself. Put all of this into the narrative, the storytelling.
Remember the principles of animation, explore and use them and separate with different shots. The importance of slight anticipation, a little bit of what they are about to do, a slight hint of what they are going to do. Remember the small detail, a couple of frames that will sell the characters performance. Such as the hand on the wall and how it just brushes off or a little head shake. Convey weight, anatomy and likeness of the character.
The use of contrast, not a lot of monitions rhythm, slow to fact, change the tempo.
Show solid foot placement, matching speed and matching tone and composition.
Getting something to work in a virtual environment, is different from a usual environment. Get a physical reaction from the audience, camera represents the player, need to get in there and do it. An energy that happens when it works and you get a reaction from people.
Figure drawing is important, can go about it in many different ways. Highly realistic, shadows, weight, pushing the gestures and comes down to poses. Work out the mechanics of the poses, how far can they be pushed before they become too cartoonish. Get the feeling of emphasis, ‘C’ shapes, weight of objects, how they are held. Shapes of the characters, sense of rhythm, organic shape, graphic elements and shapes of what makes that person.
WALT STANSFIELD Disney Figure Drawing
His big message is to draw the action not the model. The drawing tells the viewer what someone is doing rather than purely describe the person.
The Evolution of Adobe Flash: From 1996 to 2010
1ucasvb’s lab original math and physics visualizations
Animation Group – Sydney Long Form Animation Production Group
Sydney Animation Production Group
Animation: From Script to Screen Paperback by
ANIMATOR vs ANIMATION
Animation Challenges
Centre for Animation and Interactive Media
Animation Artists
Animation Group – Sydney Long Form Animation Production Group
Animation Physics
Animation Mentor
Animation Methods
Animation for Sculptors
Animator’s Survival Kit
Animation Tips, Tricks and Techniques
Animation World Network
Animate TV Anime News Network
Amos Yee
BEHIND THE ANIMATIONS OF HORIZON ZERO DAWN, WITH NIEK NEERVENS
Walt Disney Sample Portfolio – On Animation
Cartoon Solutions
Cartoon Smarts tradigital Animation
Endless References
Get The Ultimate Value Guaranteed To Increase Your Animation Performance. The ultimate 3d animators motion reference kit. Large library. Explore movement, action and reaction with walk cycles, jump, kick, lift, push and many more. All clips featured in RealTime, Slow-motion and Grid Overlays.
JUNGLE BOOK
Animation Supervisor, Gabriele Zucchelli walks us through MPC’s stable of wild processes and techniques for ‘The Jungle Book,’ and reveals what’s got him so excited for the future of his profession. With more that 2000 animators and digital artists tagged for Disney’s ‘The Jungle Book,’ it’s unsurprising that the new-again classic broke ground both on screen and behind the scenes. And with a directive for ‘relatable realism’ that pushed artists beyond their usual animation duties, the film may well have irrevocably broadened the future role of Animator.
Natan Dvir’s art of the commuter
Newgrounds Animation Wiki
– Flash Tutorials on Newgrounds
Animation in Flash with Andy Sykes:
Andy Sykes is an award-winning independent animator, illustrator and self-published author, based in the UK.
Hexjibber Channel Intro with Andy Sykes
Disney Animation #TechTuesday Moana Water progression:
1. Animators give water motion using a simplified character rig
2. Simulation adds real-life physics to make the water believable
3. Effects and Lighting brings the scene to life.
This amount of depth, detail and artistry went into every frame.
Quadruped Walk Cycle Tutorial
READY-MOTION stylized walk and run cycles offer greater expression and flexibility, going beyond
the technical-realism that motion-capture delivers. High quality animations can be easily transferred to your own rigs using Autodesk Mayas powerful re-targeting tools and our easy to use script . You can apply professional animation cycles to your custom rigged characters in minutes .
RIP, adobe flash (sorta)http://www.angryanimator.com/word/
Sydney Animation Production based in Sydney, Australia is an animation community learning how to produce animation.
The Lego Movie, Interview with Animal Logic link
Interview with Aldric Lopez – 2018 Feature Animation Runner-Up
Make sure it is only your best work, if you think one of your pieces is not as good as others then polish it or take it out, you are only as strong as your worst piece. And finally have fun with it, don’t feel to stressed about what rank you get just try to show your best work and keep improving every time you participate, and always remember to have fun doing what you love.
Kinovea
is a video player for all sport enthusiasts, Slow down, study and comment the technique of your athletes or of yourself. It is 100% free and open source.
Ng’endo Mukii is a force. Catch a flicker of her animations, and you’ll feel tinges of fire and emotion. There’s something sensuous, almost tactile to her videos, beckoning senses beyond the eyes to join in on the viewing experience. However beautiful or raw the subject matter might be, however familiar or distant the substance is to your own lived circumstances, Ng’endo knows how to enrapture audiences.
Bernoulli Effect
HISTORY OF FELIX The 13″ Felix the Cat figure made of paper mache was placed on a record player turntable and was broadcast using a mechanical scanning disk to an electronic kinescope receiver.
ANDREW COPE and SAM LANYON JONES: tokyo plastic
TOKYO PLASTIC specialize in directing character, narrative and performance animation.
Over the past decade they have created commercials for clients including Toyota, Nokia, and Nike, have directed a series of successful short films, have produced several highly sought after designer toys and have had exhibitions of their work in Japan, Berlin, New York and L.A.
In the last few years they have started bringing their unique brand of character animation to apps; the latest of which ‘Pushing Inc’ has just launched on the Apple Store.
LIP SYNC
Lip-Synching For Animation: Basic Phonemes
On-Line Metronome
Moho Pro 12
Everything you need to make amazing, professional animation. Moho™ Pro 12 (formerly Anime Studio Pro) offers the most powerful 2D rigging system of the market and mix it with traditional animation tools, allowing to get professional results easier and faster.
The Odd 1s Out
What I use:
-I draw my pictures Paint Tools Sai and I edit videos in Adobe Premiere.(really? You don’t use any animation software??) (Yeah, I know it’s very low level animation.) (I’m trying to get better shutup)
-I have a yiynova mvp22u v3 tablet and a Smudge Guard Glove.
-I record on a Shure sm7b, I have an Scarlett 2i 4 Audio interface and this thing called a ‘Cloudlifter.’ I like it. I edit audio in Audacity.
If these items are out of your price range then:
What I use(d) (The cheaper stuff)
-My first tablet was a Bamboo Create for ~$100. Really good tablet 5/7. I know a lot of people like the intuos’s you can get those at Best Buy.
-A good Microphone that a lot of people use is a Blue Yeti (keep in mind where you record is important.)
Don’t ask me to draw you something or give you a shout out. Have a day 🙂
Bear on Stairs – link
Bears on the Stairs
Hayao Miyazaki – storytelling techniques
Interview: Blinky Bill – Making Animation
“I am here to speak”: spotlight on Ng’endo Mukii
Persistence of Vision
POV is our ability to ‘see‘ a series or sequence of images as a continuous moving image that we understand as a movie. How ‘time’ can be measured, time is measured in frames and the standard has been 24 frames per second based on the film speed format.(24f/p/s). This can be lowered to around 12-15 f/p/s while still allowing for the user to experience Persistence of Vision and therefore seeing the animation a continual sequence of images not as individual images one after the other. POV Wikipedia
What is Persistence of Vision? (Mr. Wizard)
ANIMATING A BEAR’S MIGHTY ROAR, WITH MASSINISSA MATOUB
Animating a bear’s roar is an idea I had after finishing my last animation shot named “The Scent of Sun.” The idea was to experiment with new animation techniques on animals with more weight, like the bear. I would like to share with you some of my animation methods that helped me with this little bit of animation, and I hope that it can be helpful for other artists. Here is the video breakdown:
Testing the new Grease Pencil tools for upcoming Blender 2.73
ANIMATION in UNREAL using the ART Maya rig provided by Unreal when you download the Unreal Editor.
The Animation and Rigging Toolkit is used by Epic for all internal projects, including Fortnite, Paragon, Robo Recall, and Unreal Tournament. Autodesk Maya is required to use the tools (we use Maya 2016 internally), as is a Windows operating system. These tools allows you to rig and animate your own characters, with a robust suite of tools to make the process as easy as possible. These tools are fully compatible with the Epic Mannequin (he was built on them after all!), and all Epic skeleton animations available on the marketplace.
bh Ghost Tool for Maya
Maya has it own Ghosting tool, that shows semi-transparent animated objects in the scene which can give an overview of the animated motion you are creating.
Brian Horgan has taken this a step further by creating an onion skin or ghost tool for Maya that will create ghosted outlines of your animation in the Maya viewport – actual 3D outlines of anything that you select. bhGhost is a really clever little tool which will create a composite mesh of your animated character and then uses the standard Maya Toon Lines to create the outlines. Lester Banks
The Best Animation Tricks of the Trade (For 2016)
Animation tutorial part. 1 AKA “the secret of animation” with Giovanni Braggio
AnimSchool Webcast: Jeff Gabor, Part 1
Animation School – AnimSchool Webcast: Jeff Gabor, Part 2
Maya’s Animation Evolution
SOME OF THE MASTERS
5 Disney Easter Eggs You May Have Missed
DONALD DUCK The Wise Little Hen
The Wise Little Hen is a Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies cartoon, based on the fairy tale The Little Red Hen. This cartoon marked the debut of Donald Duck, dancing to the Sailor’s Hornpipe. Donald and his friend Peter Pig try to avoid work by faking stomach aches until Mrs. Hen teaches them the value of labor. This cartoon was released on June 9, 1934. It was animated by Art Babbitt, Dick Huemer, Clyde Geronimi, Louie Schmitt, and Frenchy de Tremaudan (with assistance from a group of junior animators headed by Ben Sharpsteen) and directed by Wilfred Jackson. It was also adapted as a Sunday comic strip by Ted Osborne and Al Taliaferro.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Bringing Smaug to Life
DISNEY’S NINE OLD MEN
BRAD BIRD
OLLIE JOHNSTON
FRANK THOMAS
GARRY ANDREWS
ART BABBITT
PRESTON BLAIR
WAYNE GILBERT
Simplified Drawing for Planning Animation – examples from Wayne Gilbert
FRANCIS GLEBAS
Former Disney Animator, Francis Glebas – Drawing Tips & Tricks
KEN HARRIS
Ken Harris Dance Animation Pencil Test
RAY HARRYHAUSEN the first Master of stop motion
6 Influential Stop-Motion Movies
The History of Ray Harryhausen 1/2 – Animation Lookback: The Best of Stop Motion
Ray Harryhausen the first Master of stop motion
ED HOOKS
ACTING FOR ANIMATORS Animators need to know a lot about acting, but they don’t need to know everything. Acting for Animators sorts out the acting theory that animators need, presenting it in a form and with references that are more relevant to the animator’s world.
52 QUICK ACTING NOTES from ED HOOKS – Carlos Baena
Empathy for Actors and Animators Ed Hooks and Edwin Rutsch
DICK HUEMER
Toby the Pup – Down South (1931) Dick Huemer & Sid Davis
OLLIE JOHNSTON
Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life
Disney’s Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston interview
CHUCK JONES
GLEN KEANE
Design Notes by Glen Keane
Glen Keane – The Duet
Glen Keane – Step into the Page
AWN Professional Spotlight: VIEW 2014/Glen Keane – Part 1
AWN Professional Spotlight: VIEW 2014/Glen Keane – Part 2
AWN Professional Spotlight: VIEW 2014/Glen Keane – Part 3
Nephtali by Glen Keane
WILLIAM KENTRIDGE
William Kentridge on His Process
WINSOR McCAY
Windsor McCay Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) – World’s 1st Keyframe Animation Cartoon
PHIP MURRAY
Brace Brace is a series of short animated vignettes on the theme of disaster. Each vignette presents a different scene of destruction ranging from global tragedies (atom bombs and acid rain, the trenches of WW1) through to somewhat surreal disasters (a girl is eaten by crows, a man spontaneously combusts).
EDWARD MUYBRIDGE: Defining Modernities
This unique website, the result of an ongoing collaboration between Kingston University and Kingston Museum in the United Kingdom, aims to provide a definitive research resource surrounding the work of 19th Century photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Here you can find an introduction to Muybridge’s works in historical and social context; and information on the international collections that house them.
GRIM NATWICK
Mitsuyo Seo – Tekusuke Monogatari 「テク助物語」
FRANK THOMAS
BILL TYTLA
BEN WASHAM
Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life
RICHARD WILLIAMS
Richard Williams Animation Master Class Notes
SOME INTERESTING CLIPS
Roger Rabbit – Maroon Cartoon
What Is Animation? (2014)
Two robots wishing Pixar’s Luxo Jr. a happy birthday!
Luxo Jr. (1986)
Luxo Jr [Pencil Test] [1986]
Pixar Luxo 3D – 2D
CGI 3D Animated Short: “Eggs Change” – by Hee Won Ahn
Stop Motion – Occupation: Animator – Bruna Berford
Piper First Look (2016) – Pixar Animated Short HD
Pepe Le Pew is Odor-able
CGI 3D Animated Short HD: “Tumbleweed Tango” by – HumbleTV
Bruno Bozzetto – How to Drive Yes and No
Childhood from Tim Rudder
COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop)
RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms, Ken Robinson
Hot Water – Simon’s Cat and link to Simon’s Cat YouTube Channel
MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU
BIG BANG BIG BOOM – the new wall-painted animation by BLU
Stuck – Cyanide & Happiness Shorts
JibJab.com “This Land!”
“Catch Me If You Can” – Opening Title Sequence
Miyazaki, Lineage, and Depth
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Steamboat Willie
The Toy Story Zoetrope in HD
Have Heart
KINETIC TYPOGRAPHY
The art of animating text while telling a visual story of what the text message is.
WinstonChurchillQuote
Karloff, convergence of beauty and ugliness
Make it better
Advertising Lullaby
The Office
Typomotion / STAR WARS
Social Life, With Friends
How to Kill a Zombie
Live Out Loud
Dane Cook Driving Car
NANCY SINATRA – BANG BANG
Stewie Griffin – Kinetic Type
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