IN3D Wk 12

1)  Do you need to be able to draw well to create good 2D animation? Explain your view.

   We do not need to be able to draw well to create a good 2D animation. 2D is quite simple to draw because it does not require much details of an object. It is just drawing the surface of an object.

2) Do you need to be able to draw well to create good 3D animation? Explain your view.

   We do not need to be able to draw well to create good 3D animation but we need to be able to visualize the dimension of depth, width and height of the object or character. When we know how to see the object from a perspective view, we can see the detailed parts such as how tall or short is the object, how thin or thick is the object, etc. From there, we can draw out the proportionate shape of it.

3) What do you think would separate a piece of poor animation from a piece of good animation? In other words, how would you go about deciding if a piece of animation is good or bad?

    I think one of the things that separates a poor animation from a good animation would be the lacking of principles of animation. An example for a poor animation would be like a character walking aimlessly without any expressions, and no different types of actions to impress the audience. An example of a good animation is a character exaggerating their actions at a specific time. For instance, the character receives a huge present from someone. When he/she sees the present, they expressions would be excited, eyes and mouth opened wide, etc. These little details will affect the audience as it tells them how to react.

4) In 2D animation, you need to be very aware of timing at a frame by frame level, using timing charts and other techniques - but for 3D animation, this is handled using the graph editor, which is more concerned with manipulating rates of change over time.

Does this affect how you approach your animation work? Explain.

It does not affect how I approach my animation work. Both 2D and 3D animation require us to take note of the timing. It does not matter which method is better to use. For 2D, we use techniques like key frames to take note of the timing for animation. For 3D, we use the graph editor to take note of the timing by adjusting the gradient or points of the graph.

5) Give a brief critique of Maya as an animation tool. Don't just say Maya makes animation difficult, or easy, or that you need to learn a lot of stuff to use Maya - explain what Maya does well and not so well in terms of creating animation.

    Overall, I find that Maya can do animation similarly to Flash. We can use Maya to create effects of an object, control the animation timing, 3D textures and shadings, etc. We can also use polygons to create a character and position them at the right place by using the 4 different panels.

IN3D Wk 11 Elearning

Squash and Stretch Animation

Why is squash and stretch so useful in animation?

It is useful in animation because this is to give the drawn objects a sense of weight and flexibility. It also creates a comical effect to the character.

Think of a situation in which extreme squash and stretch could be applied to a character - try to be original.

An example is a sponge. A sponge is being squashed when a person use force to squeeze it. It also can be stretched when the person tries to make it longer.

Think of an animation example where squash and stretch would NOT be appropriate.

Squash and stretch could not be applied to real life humans and animals. Our bodies are not flexible enough to add the effect. Unlike animation, we can use a software like flash and Maya to change the flexibility of the character.

If squash and stretch doesn't really happen so obviously in real life, why do you think is it so effective in animation?
 (Look at the title of Disney animator Ollie Johnston's famous book about animation - do an Amazon search ... there's a clue in the title!)

One of the famous book about animation by Ollie Johnston is The Illusion of Life. It was also written by Frank Thomas. Inside the book, they had included the 12 basic principles of animation. Squash and stretch is the most important principle. It gives the drawn objects a sense of weight and flexibility. This can be applied to objects or even human faces. A figure can have a comical effect if it is squashed or stretched to an exaggerated degree. The purpose of using squash and stretch is related to the laws of physics - based on observations of physical behaviour. Given from the book title "Illusion" means visual stimuli, which represents what is perceived in a way different from the way it is in reality. Therefore, when "squash and stretch" is applied in animation, the character turns out to be even funnier whereas in real life, we can't possibly squash and stretch a person because we are not objects.