Squash and stretch
Squash and stretch is an animation principle in which an object or characters movement can be greatly enhanced. It is often used to emphasize certain actions and can create a comic effect. A classic example would be a bouncing ball.
Although a real ball would perhaps not squash as much when hitting the ground, this makes the action more believable and natural looking than if there was no squash at all. In real life, these movements would be more jerky, but in animation it makes the object more realistic and the animation smoother.
If a ball was to be thrown or kicked at a high speed, then stretching the shape of it while it is in the air would make the action seem to be more powerful. One of the rules of this principle is that when the object is manipulated and distorted, the mass of the object should always stay the same. If the volume of the object was less or more, then the overall scale would be affected.
Anticipation
Anticipation can be used in animation in order to enhance actions and also to prepare the audience for what will happen next. The anticipation of many movements are physically required before the action can take place, such as throwing a ball. Before the ball can be thrown, the arm needs to be brought back for momentum.
Sometimes anticipation is not physically required, but it can enhance the action if it is done well. However, it can be used too much and therefore makes the action seem too exaggerated. But when done in a subtle way it can be a very useful technique. An example of when anticipation is not physically required would be when an object is about to be lifted from a high shelf, and the character moves their hands down before reaching up to retrieve it. There is no need to do so but it makes the character appear to be thinking about the action before doing so, and the audience would then expect him to reach up.
Arcs
Generally in real life things do not move in straight lines, unless they are mechanical. When a character is walking and their arms are swinging by their side, the hand will start at a high point, curve down to the lowest point, then reach the high point again. Generally when animating, whether it is a cartoon or a realistic piece, the movements should follow arcs because it makes them much more realistic. By following the natural laws of movement, the audience will perceive the character or object to be more real. The use of arcs can be discarded for comic effect, but this would have to be done extremely well, otherwise the audience may be put off.
Pose-To-Pose vs Straight-Ahead
Pose-to-pose and straight-ahead are two different animation processes. Straight-ahead animation involves the animator drawing each frame of the animation in order, one after the other to make the complete movement. Pose-to-pose animation is the process in which the animator will draw the key-frames only, and the computer will generate the drawings inbetween.
- Advantages of Straight-Ahead
- it gives the animator more freedom and allows for more creativity
- it is less structured than pose-to-pose
- it is easier to time the actions
- separate elements can have their own specific timings
- Disadvantages of Straight-Ahead
- it is difficult to go back and fix mistakes
- it requires a lot of concentration
- the scale and mass of the drawings can unintentionally change throughout the sequence
- some scenes could be longer or shorter than originally intended
- Advantages of Pose-To-Pose
- it is very efficient and structured
- can work out an entire scene using rough key drawings
- easier to synchronize key moments of an action
- easier to keep the characters and objects in the right proportion and scale throughout the animation
- Disadvantages of Pose-To-Pose
- can sometimes look unrealistic and stiff
- harder to break down each element
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