Post by animatrocities on Apr 23, 2014 2:01:21 GMT
Animation referencing or references is an integral part to becoming a better animator.By learning the physics,general movements,and general layout of objects in real life or other animations you further increase your ability to make your animations lifelike,realistic,and also developing your own style.
Animation referencing is plainly and simply watching or studying other resources to obtain a general understanding of movement,pose,position,and most importantly, physics.Without these general concepts your animations can look bland,boring,and dull.These are words you don't want to hear from anybody.Trust me.
What kinds of references should I use?
Try to obtain resources or references from a source that depicts these following categories Movement,Pose,Position,Physics.
Movement-This is what really makes the animation shine.Whether it be harsh exaggerated movement or slow calm movement,this will be what they eye focuses on in your animation.The viewer needs to believe that what they are seeing could be real.Choppy movement or unrealistic fast movement is all an animation needs to be considered lower than expectation suggested.*Explosions and most particle effects require exaggerated movement.
Pose-This is a simple concept.Most of us here are old enough to know what pose is and how pose works.When something stands up its back shouldn't be hunched over.When something is running its head should not be going vertical up to the sky.Simply put pose is important.Make sure for pose to try and use veteran animations from older anime,Disney animations,and documentaries.*Pose is commonly looked over and is what separates the best from what could of been.
Position-This is a harder category for beginner animators but for long time animators it shouldn't be a problem.Position is basically the simple rule that the object follows a predetermined path.When a dinosaur is walking.The feet should be landing basically on a line horizontal the the previous foot.This can commonly be messed up and it definitely shows.In pivot terms we call this foot placement.In animation terms we call this flow or position.Here is an example of how not to do position.
As you can see the whole body seems to follow an undetermined path along with the feet not hitting the same imaginary horizontal line.
Here is an example of good position
If you were to slow down the video and click through as if you were looking through each individual frame you will see that the feet make contact with an imaginary horizontal line along with the fast exaggerated style of Theropod to provide a perfect example of position done correctly.
Physics-The most detrimental part to making your animations look rock solid and phenomenal.Physics is basically applying gravity to your animations.When a huge object moves the ground should tremble and shake.When an explosion happens the objects near it should spread out violently in predetermined flight paths of course.I'll make a detailed physics tutorial later.
These 4 categories should be what you look for when watching reference materials.
now onto general resources.
Documentaries are incredible for referencing as you see actual real life footage that you can use to make your animations more interesting and believable.
Be careful when referencing animation and make sure your not referencing very half assed animation.It's all over the place and you'll know it when you see it.Most older animes show a combined understanding of all the concepts.Again you will know what to reference when you see it based on the 4 categories.
Here are a couple resources to reference.
Considered to be the most groundbreaking animated movies of all time both technically and aesthetically AKIRA is a must for any animator to see.It also provides amazing reference material.
Amazing video of a cheetah run at 50% speed and 100% speed.Good reference for fast 4 legged animals.
I don't even need to explain this one.
Animation referencing is plainly and simply watching or studying other resources to obtain a general understanding of movement,pose,position,and most importantly, physics.Without these general concepts your animations can look bland,boring,and dull.These are words you don't want to hear from anybody.Trust me.
What kinds of references should I use?
Try to obtain resources or references from a source that depicts these following categories Movement,Pose,Position,Physics.
Movement-This is what really makes the animation shine.Whether it be harsh exaggerated movement or slow calm movement,this will be what they eye focuses on in your animation.The viewer needs to believe that what they are seeing could be real.Choppy movement or unrealistic fast movement is all an animation needs to be considered lower than expectation suggested.*Explosions and most particle effects require exaggerated movement.
Pose-This is a simple concept.Most of us here are old enough to know what pose is and how pose works.When something stands up its back shouldn't be hunched over.When something is running its head should not be going vertical up to the sky.Simply put pose is important.Make sure for pose to try and use veteran animations from older anime,Disney animations,and documentaries.*Pose is commonly looked over and is what separates the best from what could of been.
Position-This is a harder category for beginner animators but for long time animators it shouldn't be a problem.Position is basically the simple rule that the object follows a predetermined path.When a dinosaur is walking.The feet should be landing basically on a line horizontal the the previous foot.This can commonly be messed up and it definitely shows.In pivot terms we call this foot placement.In animation terms we call this flow or position.Here is an example of how not to do position.
As you can see the whole body seems to follow an undetermined path along with the feet not hitting the same imaginary horizontal line.
Here is an example of good position
If you were to slow down the video and click through as if you were looking through each individual frame you will see that the feet make contact with an imaginary horizontal line along with the fast exaggerated style of Theropod to provide a perfect example of position done correctly.
Physics-The most detrimental part to making your animations look rock solid and phenomenal.Physics is basically applying gravity to your animations.When a huge object moves the ground should tremble and shake.When an explosion happens the objects near it should spread out violently in predetermined flight paths of course.I'll make a detailed physics tutorial later.
These 4 categories should be what you look for when watching reference materials.
now onto general resources.
Documentaries are incredible for referencing as you see actual real life footage that you can use to make your animations more interesting and believable.
Be careful when referencing animation and make sure your not referencing very half assed animation.It's all over the place and you'll know it when you see it.Most older animes show a combined understanding of all the concepts.Again you will know what to reference when you see it based on the 4 categories.
Here are a couple resources to reference.
Considered to be the most groundbreaking animated movies of all time both technically and aesthetically AKIRA is a must for any animator to see.It also provides amazing reference material.
Amazing video of a cheetah run at 50% speed and 100% speed.Good reference for fast 4 legged animals.
I don't even need to explain this one.