lesson one how to animate

unplug!!


unplug ! take off your head phones! turn off the radio! swithch off the CD, CLose the door.
like many artist, i had the habit of listening to classical music while working. on one of my first visits to milt kahl i innocently asked:
milt do u ever listen to classical music while you're working?

and he said "i'm not smart enough to think of more than one thing at a time"
since it came from a genius, this made quie an impression on me. after this i learnt to face the silence and think before swirling my pencil around.
my animation improved right away.

this has been the case with many artists when i've passed this wisdom along.
recently, two previously sound-addicted computer animators were shocked to find that their plugged-in collegues instantly made them objects of ridicule for not
having wires coming out their ears. they were even more suprised at the starling improvement in their work.

in other words..... ANIMATION IS CONCENTRATION

worst showreel

animation it's all about timing and spacing

it's all about timing and spacing

i'll never forget the image of this big norwegian american sitting in the golden twilight,
extending his long arms and spatula hands saying...

animation it;s all in the timing and in the spacing straynge that the americans were the ones to work this out

the bouncing ball says it all.
the old bouncing ball example is often used because it shows so many different aspects of animation.

a ball bounces along, and where is hits - the 'boinks' that;s the timing. the impacts where the ball is hitting the ground that;s the timing of action.
the rhythm of where things happen where the 'accents' or 'beats ' or 'hits' happen. and here;s the spacing

the ball overlaps itself wwhen it's at the slow part of its arc, but when it drops fast, it's spaced further apart. that's the spacing

drawing in time part 2

we've always been trying to make the pictures move, the idea of animation is aeons older than the movies
or television. here's quick history:

over 35,000 years ago, we were painting animals on cave walls , something drawing four pairs of legs to show motion.

in 1600 BC the egyptian pharaoh rameses II built a temple to the goddess Isis which had 110 columns
Ingeniously ,each column had a painted figure of the goddes in a progressively changed position. to horsemen or charioteers riding past- Isis appeared to move

the ancient greeks sometimes decorated pots with figures in succesive stages of action.

Spinnging the pot would create a sense of motion.

as far as we know , the first attempt to project drawings onto a wall was made in 1640 by 

athonasius kircher with his 'magic lantern'.

Kircher drew each figure on separate pieces of glass which he place in his apparatus and projected

on a wall. then he moved the glass with strings, from above. one of theses showed a sleeping man's head and a mouse.

the man opened and closed his mouth and when his mouth was open the mouse ran in

drawing in time part 1

drawing in time why animate? everyone knows it's a lot of hard work doing all those drawings and positions. so what's the hook? why do it? the answer is : our work is taking place in time. we've taken our 'stills' and leapt into another dimension. drawings that walk: seeing a series of images we've made spring to life and start walking around is already fascinating. drawings that walk and talk: seeing a series of our drawings talking is a cery starling exprerience. drawing that walk and talk and think: seeing a series of images we've done actually go through a thinking process- and appear to be thinking - is the real ahrodisiac. plus creating something that is unique,which has never been done before endlessly fascinating. from richard williams

wood texture part 3

Wood texture 2

this is wood texture part 2 ready to texturing in 3D

wood tekstur

Wood tekstur for 3D architect  normal map specular map bump map

Bullet wall texture

bulet wall texture normal map specular map bump map bullet wall texture for 3D