List of Terms in Animation

ANTICIPATION- also called ANTIC, preparation for the action

LINE OF ACTION- imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure

PATH OF ACTION- the path that the action of the animation follows

SQUASH- compressed

STRETCH- expanded

ARC- curve in the path of action

SPACING- distance between drawings

TIMING- fast and slow of movement/written on right bottom side of the paper

SLOW IN- timing of action from fast to slow

SLOW OUT- timing of action from slow to fast

DRAG- delay in the movement

FOLLOW THROUGH-an action almost never comes to sudden stop but generally carried past its end. Example; golfer hitting a ball

SECONDARY ACTION- another action that adds support to the main action. Example; hair moving within a run action

SETTLE- an extra pose to soften an action to a stop

CUSHION- a fine slowing into a stop

EXAGGERATION- slight distortion in the drawings

OVERSHOOT- the main action slightly pushed 

STRAIGHT AHEAD ANIMATION- a method of animating where the animator starts from the first drawing and draw his way spontaneously  to the end of the scene.

POSE TO POSE ANIMATION- (also called planned animation) a method of animating key drawings base on a plan.

TAKE- extreme reaction

KEY POSES- (also called extremes) critical positions the character takes within a certain motion

ROUGH- quick sketch of the animation

FLIPPING- turning the pages of animation drawings quickly to view the action

INBETWEENING- the drawing between the key poses

CLEAN UP- clean and finely-drawn versions of the rough animation

BREAKDOWN- is the main inbetween  drawing roughed out by animator to guide the inbetweener

THUMBNAIL- small sketches

PIVOT POINTS- the joints that is used to move the parts of a 2D figure in the digital animation.

1 foot - 16 frames

24 frames - 1 second

1 minute - 1440 frames

Moving hold - the character can be trace back or held with one or two moving bits. eg. Head is held for several frames and only the eyes are moving (Blinking).

Fast action - further apart the key drawings and less inbetweens.

Generally Lighter character has quicker and more agile movements.

Slow-in is another term for ease-in.

Slow-out is another term for ease-out.

Line of action - imaginary line extending through the main action of the figure.

 2 and 3 represents the 2 inbetween drawing, 1 and 4 are the key drawings.

Slow-in timing. Keys 1 and 4, in-betweens are more favoring key number 4 (fast to slow action)

Could You Explain the Animation Terms Cushion and Settle?

Could you please explain the animation terms cushion and settle?






These terms are used almost interchangeably, and mostly they just refer to how a character's movement is going to come to a stop.






Cushion is pretty much the same as "ease in" or "slow-in," animation terms used to describe the way a character will "ease" into a pose or "slow" into a pose. You could also say that a character should "cushion" into a pose - it's pretty much the same thing, as far as I know.






The point of those terms, by the way, is to help sell the organic nature of the character or object. Very few things in nature come to an instant stop on a dime, mostly things more in organic arcs and need time to "cushion" into the final position of their movement. For example, if you were walking quickly and came to a stop, no matter how hard you try to stop instantly, you simply cannot do it. Your body is going to have to recover from the movement and part of that is going to be easing into that final stopped pose (and probably going THROUGH that final pose into an overshoot, and then arcing and overlapping back into the final pose).






"Settle," to me, is very similar. I hear people use that term to describe all of those little overshoots and arcs that eventually run out of steam and lead to the character being still. Picture again someone coming to a stop. Well, their hips are going to keep going until their weight and angle of their body slows them down. The hips will probably sail right through that "stopped" pose and go a little too far before your body says "hey hips! Come back here!" The hips are then going to arc back and go into a bit of tiny spiral that will eventually get them into a stopped position.






Force and general body mechanics tell us exactly what will happen next, which will be a subtle wave action through the spine, causing overlap on the arms, successive breaking of joints going all the way down to the wrists, probably a bit of overlap on the head, etc. - all moving in related arcs in multiple axis, though offset from one another, and so forth.






To me, all of that "stuff" that is happening - all of that is the "settling" of the character.






Other folks might use these terms differently, but those are the ways I've heard them used around the studio. Hope that helps!

My 3 main ideas regarding animation

My 3 main ideas regarding animation would be, 1. Learn drawing, 2. Tell entertaining stories, and 3. Utilize the 12 Disney principles at every opportunity. Drawing training always builds skill (whether you do the animating part of the job or not). Producing animation is so labor intensive, even with good hardware and software to help you, that you just can't afford to waste your time with boring stories. The 12 principles of animation teach you the difference between weak and strong animation and explain WHY we choose to what we know will work.
  1. Learn drawing,  Every major studio runs drawing and painting classes for their artists, whether they are 3D modelers/texture artists, matte painters, compositors. Drawing is fundamental and the need for the traditional foundation of classical art is as important as it ever was.  Tippet Studio for example, as prep for "Hollow Man" had their artists do life drawings from the cadavers in autopsy sessions. Reference makes all the difference.  2. Tell entertaining stories  This is critical as well. Students need to understand the art of story telling as it applies to a sequence and even an individual shot. I can't tell you how many times Phil Tippett shouted in dailies at a shot review... "Come on people... what's the story!"  3. Utilize the 12 Disney principles at every opportunity.  Absolutely essential... no question about it. ( for some reason some people think it's not essential...Crappy mentality!) 4. Digital Fundamentals  I know you asked for three but this fourth is equally important. Students need to know the basics of computer technology and digital media. This is the body of knowledge that doesn't change from application to application... ie electronic color theory, digital cinematic techniques, image format types and their uses, alpha channels and their importance, etc. etc.  Any digital artist needs to understand the medium that they will be outputting to and the internal processes of working with that medium.INTIENDES>D LIGON