Question Two.

What are "the twelve principles of animation" and how do they relate to realism? To what extent are these principles still valid in the era of computer animation? Choose any two principles and use them as a focus of your answer.

 

The twelve principles of animation were created in the 1930's by the Walt Disney Studios. The principles were used for productions, creative discussions and also to train new animators to be more skilled. They also became part of the foundations of hand drawn character animation.

(Tito A. Belgrave 2003) "The twelve principles are mostly about five things: acting the performance, directing the performance, representing reality (through drawing, modelling, and rendering), interpreting real world physics, and editing a sequence of actions." This gives realism to the characters, and is why the 12 principles are still relevant in today's modern animations. Some of the principles have been adapted for the use of 3D Computer Animation such as, visual styling, blend motion, and cinematography.

One of the key principles is Timing. Timing refers to the number of drawings of frames given to an action, which translates to the speed of the action in the animation. It adds emotion and intention to the characters performance. Correct timing also makes the object appear that it is abiding to the laws of physics.

Another principle is Squash and Stretch. This is an important principle as it gives a sense of weight and flexibility to drawn objects. It can be applied from simple objects such as a ball bouncing to more complex objects for example the structure of a face. It is important that the objects volume does not change during any squashing or stretching motion. It needs to remain balanced or it would not portray realism. 



Image one

The image above gives an example of timing, squash and stretch motion. The image is of a ball being dropped and bouncing along the floor. Timing is needed to give realism: from the ball dropping from a height to the ball bouncing along the floor and coming to a stop. The squash and stretch gives realism to the image, making sure that there is a balance with the object. If the ball is being stretched, it needs to balance the squash.

References

CGS features, 2003. Applying the 12 Principles to 3D Animation. [online] Available at: <http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/applying_the_12_principles_to_3d_computer_animation_by_disneys_isaac_kerlow> [Accessed 15 May 2012].

Tito A. Belgrave, 2003.Applying the 12 Principles to 3D Animation, [online] Available at:<http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/applying_the_12_principles_to_3d_computer_animation_by_disneys_isaac_kerlow > [Accessed 15 May 2012]

Wikipedia, 2012.Twelve Basic Principles of Animation. [online] Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_basic_principles_of_animation> [Accessed 15 May 2012].

[Ball bouncing] n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://digitalworlds.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/breathing-life-into-animated-objects/> [Accessed 15 May 2012].