Hello
I am Jin-ho Ryu, an animation director who will be teaching 2D animation motion expression
Today, we are going to
learn how to draw digitally using a program dedicated to 2D animation
Digital drawing methods
have advanced significantly and become more efficient compared to traditional methods using paper and pencil
but I believe the basic principles of animation haven't changed
As in today's class,
by properly understanding the principles of animation
and becoming familiar with the drawing software, you can also become good animators
Through this course, I hope you will gain the basic knowledge needed for expressing animation motion
and practice simple actions with the program to fall in love with the charm of animation
Basics of 2D Animation Production
The animation tool we will use in this class is Adobe Animate
This program, created by Adobe, was known from the early 2000s to 2010s
as Flash, which I think you will have definitely heard of
It was a light, web-based program
that was acquired by Adobe and had its name changed
And it has become more powerful in the process
Many animators worldwide are using this program
The biggest advantage is that it's inexpensive
It's also easy to create on it, and it's accessible
Because of perks like these, Animate is being used to produce many animated TV series
Other programs that animation productions often use
are Toon Boom Harmony, TVPaint Animation, and Clip Studio
And there are also iPad apps
that amateur animators can easily access as well
There are other widely known programs, too
The ones I have mentioned are quite expensive
But large companies that professionally produce animation mostly use programs like TVP, Toon Boom Harmony
and Clip Studio
because they are optimized for 2D styles
But for this lesson, I decided that the best tool
in order to allow you to try it out for yourself
and use it easily, Animation would be more appropriate
So today, before you get to the practicing part
there is some basic knowledge you must know
Animation is a kind of video, so you need to know some basics about video
and there are also some basic theories in creating animation
You will learn about those theories as you try out Animation
The first out of those are frames
Frames, as you may know
are the individual images on the screen
So in the case of animation
We are drawing things in the frames which is why we sometimes call them images
In a movie film
a frame is a single image in that film
So in video language, the images that make up the frames
are simply called images, and are interchangeable with frames
So what 'frame' means is a single page
or a single image within a video or animation
But in order to make the frame look like it is moving
you need 30 images in a second, so 30fps
But 30fps is required for regular videos
The requirement for animation is 24 frames in a second
So the animation has to be at least 24fps
in order for the animation to resemble natural movement
But that means you need to draw all of those frames
And it isn't easy to draw 24 images for each second
In the beginning era of animation, for example Disney
animators used to draw all 24 frames by hand
If you watch classic Disney animations like Snow White or Cinderella
The movements are very smooth
Countless animators drew each of the 24 images, one by one
This way of production is called full frame animation
But full frame animation is very expensive
It also takes a long time, and you need a lot of staff
which made it less efficient
In order to remedy these flaws
people came up with the method of showing one image twice
If you use one image twice
When you used to have to draw 24 frames to make a second of animation
Now you only need 12 images to create a second
So this method of animation, showing the same frame twice
and thus creating 12fps animation, is called limited animation
Producing animation this way
resulted in more smoother movements than expected even though it wasn't in full frame
It also made the process less expensive and required half the workforce
Which is why nowadays
Animated movies mostly use limited animation to produce 12fps animations
and 2D works worldwide
now are made as 12fps pictures
Of course, this isn't the only way to animate
you can utilize this concept to show the same image 3 times and draw 8 images per second
Then you would get 8fps animation
That is a also a method you can use
Limited animation such as these were mainly produced in Japan
and then spread to the rest of the world
So 2D animation nowadays are mostly 12fps or 8fps
If you lower the framerate further, to 6fps or lower
It will give too much of a choppy feeling
which is why it's not used that much
But for beginners, even 12fps or 8fps animation
will feel a bit overwhelming
Which is why to make the process fun
it's also a good idea to start with 6fps or lower
even if the result gets a bit choppy
So like this
24fps means that there are 24 images in a second and you show a single image only once
Which is why
you can also call it frame per second
That's where the abbreviation fps comes from
and why we call 24 frames per second 24fps
But Japan uses different terminology
In Japan, they use the term 'comma' as a unit
So if you show one image per second, that's 1 comma
The reason I'm suddenly talking about Japan
is because the unit comma is used very often in Korea as well
Animators working in the field right now use the word
People in the US or Europe use the term fps more often
In Korea or Japan, comma is more common
So the full frame method that shows a frame only once per second is 1 comma
And if you show a frame twice
that's 12fps, or 2 commas in Japan
So 2 commas or 3 commas is a term used in animation
The reason why fps is important
is because it determines the playback speed
If you show the same image 3 times
that would slow down the video speed
Because you show the same image 3 times, each image is shown 3 times
to lower the speed to 1/3
If you show the same image twice the playback becomes 1/2 the speed at 24fps
So how the frames work will also affect the playback speed
and thus the timing of movements, so be careful
This is why you should decide which fps to create in before you begin
Next is about resolution
The basic screen proportions are 16 horizontally to 9 diagonally
There used to be a standard image size of 720 horizontally to 480 diagonally
which is 720x480, so 4:3
That was the standard definition then, SD for short
But recently as screens got better
The screens are getting longer, and now the standard proportion is 16:9
and the SD is now 1920x1080
We call this definition Full HD, or FHD
There are higher quality images, like UHD, which is 3840x2160
or Ultra High Definition
4K video is also being developed and used practically
But the basic image size currently being used
is FHD, 1920x1080
The 12 Principles of Animation
Next I will tell you about the 12 principles of animation
these rules are essential for creating animation
and it was established by the animators from Walt Disney
It's also called the bible of animators
It contains theory necessary for creating movements that are smooth and look alive
It's also sometimes called the textbook for new animators
I hope that by learning about these 12 principles and trying them out for yourselves
you understand what they mean
There isn't an exact hierarchy
between the 12 principles, but I'll introduce them in order
There's Squash and Stretch
Anticipation
Ease in & Ease out
Secondary Action
Follow Through & Overlapping
Staging
Timing
Arc
Solid Drawing
Pose to Pose Animation & Straight Ahead Animation
Exaggeration, and finally Appeal These are the 12 principles
First, Squash & Stretch is about squishing an object and stretching it back out
What it means is that
if an object is squashed due to physical force, you should exaggerate the squash
and also visibly exaggerate the object as it stretches back out
Through this kind of deformation, physical force is effectively conveyed to the viewer
So using Squash & Stretch appropriately
lets you visualize where force is being given in a nice, smooth way
It is a very important rule
And it is not only about the shape of objects
This rule can also apply to facial expressions, like when a character is frowning or is surprised
Or when they curl up and straighten their body Squash & Stretch also applies here
So visualizations
of any compressing & decompressing movement
That is where the Squash & Stretch rule can be applied
Next is Ease-In & Ease-Out
This is referring to how objects move and pause
When something begins to move, it gradually gains speed Likewise, it pauses in a gradual way
So this rule is about acceleration and deceleration
The interaction between an object and forces such as air resistance or friction
Ease-Out is the beginning of a movement
and Ease-In means the deceleration of a moving object
You will often see both when something changes direction
The object eases in as it slows down
and eases out as it accelerates in another direction
Next is Anticipation
The word 'anticipation' itself means
the feeling that something will happen, or the act of preparing for something
So Anticipation is the action taken in preparation for another action
the action a character does before the one they actually want to take
It's sometimes abbreviated to Antic
Anticipation movements are the process of condensing power in preparation of an action
The longer the Antic is, the more powerful the following action will feel
In the same way, the shorter the Antic is the less powerful the following action will seem
Anticipation allows the viewer
to focus on the actor and predict their next action
That's what Antic is, and next up
is something called Secondary Action
Secondary Action is literally a secondary movement
that decorates the primary movement
which is why it's called secondary
Secondary actions make the movements richer
And even simple or abstract movements, through the addition of extra actions
can be made to feel
that they depict a certain action
or a certain emotion
For example
if you're creating an animation of the main character waiting for someone
Multiple movements will make up the action
of the main character as they are leaning on a wall
like looking at their watch, or smoking a cigarette
Or tapping their foot in impatience
If you simply animate them leaning on the wall and staring into the distance
It will still seem like they're waiting for someone but not as much with the extra actions
Looking at their watch
Or looking side to side to see if there's anyone coming
Or tapping their foot are all extra indicators
that this character is nervously waiting for someone
By giving the character these extra movements
Anyone who's watching can get an accurate idea of how they feel and what they are doing
That is what Secondary Actions are for
Next is Follow Through & Overlapping
Though these two are grouped together, they're different concepts
The reason they are put together is because the actions look similar
The movement of following something else
can be called as Follow Through or Overlapping, but these two are a bit different
In Follow Through, the movement has a main actor
The object that is following through is attached to that actor
Because the object is dangling behind, naturally the movement will be a few steps behind as well
So Follow Through is applied to for example the movement of hair when the character turns their head
The flow of clothing as the person wearing it walks
Or the tail of a dog or horse
wagging as the animal moves
Follow Through applies to instances such as those
In other words, instances where the object cannot move on its own
and has to trail behind something else
On the other hand, Overlapping
also has delayed movement timing
But both the moving and following object
are able to move on their own
It simply means that the following object is a tempo late
For example, Overlapping is often used for
movement of animals or people, that have joints
If you lift your arm
Your arm has shoulder joints, elbow joints, and wrist joints
If they all move at the same time
It is possible in reality to do that
But in animation, it looks smoother
to move the elbow first, and then the wrist later
This type of movement is called Overlapping
This might be confusing, but once you try it out for yourself
you will realize there's a difference between the two
That's something we can learn during the practice exercises
Next is the concept of Arcs
Arcs mean curves
and the Arc rule is that all movement in animation is in a curve
Because that will make the movement smoother
if the object moves in a curved trajectory
You know that aniamals all have joints
Because of those joints
they are due to move in curved lines
So if you utilize that movement, a lot of the rigidness you might have had in your movements will disappear
This rule is about moving in arcs to make the movement smoother
And next is Staging
The stage is where things take place
On the stage
there is a main character
then the background
and all of the props
And any supporting characters or additional objects
Controlling the trajectory of these characters
That is what Staging is
You could call it the layout of animation
Everything you see within the screen in an animation
Is the result of staging the objects within it
Like that
the relationship between the characters on screen
their positions and movement is what we call Staging
So with proper staging, the viewers can follow along with the story we're telling
without any accidental misinterpretations
which is why this is an important component
The next rule is Timing
Timing is
the appropriate time in which each movement should take place
Each person will have a different interval
between one movement and the next
The same is true for objects
So how much an object can move in a given situation
is an important part
of animation, and this is something
that keeps being highlighted in the 12 principles
The timing for the same movement can change depending on the scene
So you have to consider what situation the object is in to select the appropriate timing
For example
If a character is opening a door
The usual timing for opening a door might be too slow in an urgent situation
If a character is being chased, and they leisurely open the door
The movement itself will become inappropriate
In contrast, if the character opens the door hurriedly in a relaxed situation
that isn't an appropriate timing, either
So what situation the movement is happening in
is something you have to consider when timing actions
Next is about Solid Drawing
Solid Drawing means
that the pose of a character makes their actions clear
and is framed very solidly
The person that established the 12 principles
had thought it very important
that you check for that ceaselessly
As a character on screen moves quickly, or moves according to the story
their movements might overlap
or not be clear what actions they are
and the viewers may not be sure what is happening
In order to prevent that from happening
you must use very strong poses and distinct silhouettes
in order to animate
a proper story That is what Solid Drawing aims to tell you
After that is Pose to Pose Animation and Straight Ahead Animation
This is a rule about production methods
Pose to Pose Animation
is a production method used often in both 2D and 3D animation
You draw a pose, and the one that comes after it
then animate movement by drawing the frames between them
That is what Pose to Pose Animation is
The poses are called keyframes in 2D animation
and P2P animation is a very traditional method which inbetweens the keyframes in intermediate frames
Unlike P2P, in Straight Ahead animation
you draw all the frames in order from the beginning
This production method
makes it difficult to set timing
As you animate every action in the order they happen
before you realize it
the actions are taking up too many frames
So this method of production makes it difficult to get the right timing
But it can also let you create more varying and creative movements
So if you want fresher movements, you choose Straight Ahead
Not only is this method used in 2D
but in stop motion animation, Straight Ahead is mandatory
There are these two differing production methods
but Pose to Pose is used much more often
in the field
The reason for that has to be efficiency
It's easier to calculate the time it would take
And the number of keyframes required can be estimated before you go into production
In production companies that leverage large budgets
it would be much safer to use the Pose to Pose method
rather than Straight Ahead
But
For natural phenomena, you have no choice but to use Straight-Ahead Animation
With immaterial, amorphous movements
you can't decide the keyframes beforehand
So for depicting the flow of water or wind
you have no choice but to use Straight Ahead
Except for cases like those, Pose to Pose is mostly used
And Straight Ahead is mostly used when it is absolutely necessary
Next is Exaggeration
The movement of people in actual life
is not very exaggerated
Neither are those of characters in movies or dramas
At least, not as much as in animation
Exaggeration is that important in animation
You have to exaggerate movements much more than you think you need
in order for the viewer to notice and focus on the animation
That it why exaggerated movement is important
This principle is a reminder of that
And Disney animation is a good example
Every movement in Disney animations seems a bit exaggerated
If you watch a Disney production while conscious of that
you will see that the movements are extremely exaggerated
We are already used to how animation moves
which is in an exaggerated way
if a movement is too small or too aggressively large
you will not be able to perceive it as well
Which is why you should try to be more brave with your movements
and exaggerate them a bit more
And finally, there's the principle about Appeal
Appeal is also a verb
whose object is a person
So it means to try to make someone accept something
Appeal is one of the 12 principles because
it's important to make the audience accept your character
In order for a character to show their personality
first you need the visual design aspect
Is the character timid? Or are they very brave and strong?
Visual design can appeal those kinds of character traits
But another component in giving appeal to a character
is movement
Because a brave character would act
in exaggerated, large movements
And if the character is timid and small
you can appeal that through animating their movements to be very small and quiet
Like so, character traits must be appealed very aggressively through movement
That is what the principle is trying to tell you
Now, I just told you that
a brave character moves bravely
and a timid character moves timidly
Appeal can be done in that way
But maybe if you switch those two around
you could make a very interesting character
For example, if a big, bulky character makes extremely small movements
That would say something about that character that you can't tell from their looks
And the reverse case as well
Where a small, munchkin character is depicted as having a wild temper
That's also a very strong character
So depending on how you appeal a character
It can give your whole animation a huge amount of appeal
which is why it's so important
This lesson we learned about the 12 principles of animation
Next time let's do some real animation practice
using these 12 principles
See you in the next lesson
1. Basics of 2D Animation Production 2D Animation-Specific Programs
Adobe Animate: Inexpensive, easy production, accessible More expensive, specialized tools: Toon Boom Harmony, TVP, Clip Studio, etc.
Frames
Frame: Unit that stands for 1 image FPS: Frame Per Second, number of frames in a second
Full Frame Animation: 24 frames per second Limited Animation: 8 or 12 frames per second
Resolution
The standard screen size is 16:9=H:D Current Standard Definition is 1920x1080 FHD (2K)
2. 12 Principles of Animation 12 Principles of Animation
Squash and Stretch Anticipation
Easy In / Out Secondary Action
Follow Through and Overlapping Staging
Timing Arc
Solid Drawing Pose to Pose Animation & Straight-Ahead Animation
Exaggeration Appeal