lucasdegani: Class 1 - Week 5: Anticipation and Squash & Stretch

Class 1 - Week 5: Anticipation and Squash & Stretch

0 Comments

Hi again!
At this stage already made more than a month I'm doing Animation Mentor and I feel that already evolves LOT! Not only with the lectures and notes and tips supplied by Mentor... But with their peers. More than ever I realized how important it is to criticize and see the work of others to enhance your eyes and try not to make the same mistakes. And be able to see these errors! The community is fantastic and very helpful. Critique their work... And they will criticize yours! Sometimes you're so tired and lagged that for you may seem perfect, but there are mistakes easily seen in the eyes of other students... Which is great! As a friend would say: Falcon eyes!

Don't be afraid to fail!

This week it was Anticipation and Squash & Stretch. Two principles that give a lot of personality to your animation. Moreover, you will hardly animate something that does not involve these two.

Let's talk about Anticipation first. Think about one thing:

As Isaac Newton had said long ago, "every action has a reaction". But what if I say that you apply for this reaction... You need an anticipation? Maybe, because it makes clearer to understand what you will do. And If you do not use, looks silly. Charlie Chaplin once said:

"Tell 'em what you are going to do;

Do it.

Tell 'em that you've done it."

He meant "anticipation, action, and reaction." The story you are telling must see clearly what you are doing, feel every expression, every reaction. And, above all, to give birth, no matter what style. Something else cartooning will have more anticipation. Something realistic would be more moderate. Conclusion: no matter what you are animating, without anticipation, will look unnatural.

Now let's talk about Squash and Stretch.

This can be used whenever an object bends or straightems. The use of this tool can give more life in your scene.

I read the blog of my colleague term, Brock, who heard from his mentor the following definition:

“Squash and Stretch is like hot sauce. A little is good and goes a long way. Too much and your food becomes inedible.”

Awesome definition.

In both you must be careful not to overdo it and make it vicious. You sometimes already anticipated, must be careful not to anticipate the anticipation. The same for squash and stretch. You must take care not to use all the time. Pay attention to use only when it really seems necessary, otherwise it will warp and you forget all the time even as it was in the original format.

For this assignment we really put in proof our learning about all the principles we have already learned. Arcs should be visible and fluid. The ball reaches different spots during the entire time, so different arcs and some inconsistent disrupts the animation. The timing and spacing are more than essential. The ball must have different speeds and different heights for each point of the obstacle.

Here's my assignment for this week! See ya!