The Animator's Survival Kit A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators

by Williams, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780571202287
• ISBN10: 0571202284
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-07
• Publisher: Faber & Faber

Summary

The definitive book on animation, from the Academy Award-winning animator behindWho Framed Roger Rabbit? Animation is one of the hottest areas of filmmaking today--and the master animator who bridges the old generation and the new is Richard Williams. During his more than forty years in the business, Williams has been one of the true innovators, winning three Academy Awards and serving as the link between Disney's golden age of animation by hand and the new computer animation exemplified byToy Story. Perhaps even more important, though, has been his dedication in passing along his knowledge to a new generation of animators so that they in turn could push the medium in new directions. In this book, based on his sold-out master classes in the United States and across Europe, Williams provides the underlying principles of animation that every animator--from beginner to expert, classic animator to computer animation whiz --needs. Urging his readers to "invent but be believable," he illustrates his points with hundreds of drawings, distilling the secrets of the masters into a working system in order to create a book that will become the standard work on all forms of animation for professionals, students, and fans.

Author Biography

Richard Williams has won more than 250 international awards for his animation. He currently lives in Wales.

Table of Contents

Why This Book?	p. 1
Drawing in Time	p. 11
Time to Draw	p. 23
It's All in the Timing and the Spacing	p. 35
Lesson 1	p. 41
Advancing Backwards to 1940	p. 46
History of the Chart and Inbetween	p. 47
Extremes and Breakdowns	p. 48
Keys	p. 57
Three Ways to Animate	p. 61
Testing, Testing, Testing	p. 68
The X-Sheet	p. 70
Came the Dawn...	p. 75
The Best Numbering System	p. 76
The Great Ones and Twos Battle	p. 78
The Top and Bottom Pegs Battle	p. 80
More on Spacing	p. 84
Classic Inbetween Mistakes	p. 88
Watch Your Arcs	p. 90
Getting More Movement Within the Mass	p. 92
The Elongated Inbetween	p. 96
The Major Beginner's Mistake	p. 99
The 'Ruff' Approach	p. 99
How Much Do We Leave To The Assistant?	p. 101
Take The Long Short Cut	p. 101
Walks	p. 102
Getting the Weight	p. 106
Set the Tempo	p. 109
The Passing Position or Breakdown	p. 111
Two Ways to Plan a Walk	p. 115
The Double Bounce	p. 118
Loosening it Up	p. 120
Digging Deeper into Walks	p. 128
There's Nothing Like Trying It	p. 135
The Heel	p. 136
Foot Action	p. 136
Normal Walk Spacing	p. 142
Weight Shift	p. 146
The Belt Line	p. 147
Arm Movements	p. 148
Counteraction	p. 156
The Recipe	p. 163
Sneaks	p. 167
The Tip Toe Sneak	p. 173
Runs, Jumps and Skips	p. 176
The 4 Drawing Formula Run	p. 189
The 3 Drawing Run	p. 192
The 2 Drawing Run	p. 195
The Recipe	p. 200
Run, Jump, Skip and Leap	p. 201
Skips	p. 209
Jumps	p. 212
Weight on a Jump	p. 213
Flexibility	p. 217
The Breakdown	p. 218
Simple Overlap	p. 223
Overlapping Action	p. 226
Simple Counteraction	p. 230
Breaking Joints to Give Flexibility	p. 231
Flexibility in the Face	p. 246
Overlapping Action in the Face	p. 249
Instant Read - Profiles for Readability	p. 251
Weight	p. 256
Pressure and Weight	p. 262
How Much Effort Do We Have to Expend?	p. 264
Dancing	p. 269
Rules of Thumb On Synchronising Action	p. 272
Anticipation	p. 273
Surprise Anticipations	p. 282
Invisible Anticipations	p. 283
Takes and Accents	p. 285
A Hard Accent Bounces Back	p. 295
A Soft Accent continues	p. 295
Timing, Staggers, Wave and Whip	p. 297
Stagger Timings	p. 297
The Side to Side Vibration Formula	p. 299
Whip Action	p. 301
Wave Action	p. 301
Dialogue	p. 304
Phrasing	p. 305
Picture and Sound Sync	p. 310
Accents	p. 311
Attitude	p. 314
The Secret	p. 314
Acting	p. 315
Change of Expression	p. 320
Look for the Contrast	p. 321
An Acting Point	p. 323
Body Language	p. 324
Symmetry or 'Twinning'	p. 324
Steal It!	p. 325
Eyes	p. 325
Animal Action	p. 327
Live Action Reference	p. 328
Basic Animal Walk Pattern	p. 330
Directing	p. 333
The Brief	p. 334
The Leica Reel	p. 334
Separate the Characters	p. 334
Best Foot Forward	p. 335
Casting Animators	p. 335
Making Changes	p. 335
'Say! Say!'	p. 335
Voice Recording	p. 335
Hook Ups	p. 335
Research	p. 335
Editing	p. 335
Believe in Your Material	p. 335
Review	p. 338
The Procedure	p. 338
The Ingredients	p. 339
Acknowledgements	p. 342
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.