The 12 principles of animation was created by two Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas. The animators published a book in 1981 named 'The Illusion Of Life: Disney Animation' which introduced these principles. The 12 principles are 12 techniques that teach animators how to make movement seem realistic within a project.
1. Squash And Stretch - Creates the illusion of weight and volume to an object.
2. Anticipation - When something happens that builds tension and shows the audience that something major is going to happen.
3. Arcs - Living beings and creatures always move in arcs. Arcs are a form of path objects follow.
4. Ease In & Ease Out - The movement of an object that shows that it is speeding up or slowing down.
5. Appeal - Objects mainly characters have to have a distinct look and personality for the audience to connect and get a feel for them.
6. Time - More frames in a animation means it will run more smoothly and slower, while having less frames will make the animation jump and play faster.
7. Solid Drawing - Weight and volume is added to objects to create a 3D illusion that makes the object seem more real.
8. Exaggeration - To make animations seem more comical and entertaining exaggeration is applied to characters and their actions.
9. Pose To Pose - This is a technique for creating a scene. Animators draw the key frames (important frames) in a scene and then fill in the detail in between these frames later.
10. Staging - A specific scene gets a clear overview of the primary mood and its setting.
11. Secondary Action - Other actions and movements happen around the main action and movement of the main subject to create the feel of realism.
12. Follow Through - An action continues or another action begins after the main action and movement of an object ends to show aftermath.
After researching and studying the principles of animation I now feel I have a more clear understanding of how I will go about making animations in the future.
