Abhishek
27-09-2006, 10:13 PM
<P>Hey Guys, <BR>Here i gathered a list of animation excercises. This might be a help when you are scratchin your head for "Now what should i Animate??" or for "What do i put in my Animation Reel??". Pick up any of the topics and try your hands on it. We all would love to see the end result. Please add up to the list if you find more.</P>
<P><strong>ANIMATION EXCERCISES:</strong></P>
<P><BR>1) Try to display the emotions a character might go through while waiting for a bus that's late. Pay close attention to facial expressions, body language, and detail.</P>
<P>2) Have a character try to open something (i.e. a present) that refuses to open. The character can only use body parts for the first minute, but may resort to other measures (i.e. tools and explosives) thereafter. Note, the character will be affected by the tools used (i.e. blast of an explosion). After you've mastered this, try to do the same thing with a normally inanimate object (i.e. lamp) as your lead character.</P>
<P>3a) Animate someone riding a pogo stick or some other 'fun' object (i.e. using a hoola hoop).</P>
<P>3b) Have your character use a weighted object, such as a hammer or a shovel. Demonstrate how the weight of the object affects the stance and demeanor of the character using it.</P>
<P>4) Create a walk cycle, then vary it to accommodate different attitudes and 'character'. For example: Angry, happy, sneaky, limping, carrying a heavy object, sleep walking, etc.</P>
<P>5) Animate two characters sawing a log. The first character is a big, muscular brute. Animate him pose-to-pose first and cycle his animation. The second character is a scrawny little guy who gets yanked around, grabbing onto the saw for dear life.</P>
<P>6) Have a character bend down, pick up something heavy, and throw it. This exercise can help you with timing, emphasizing weight, and anticipation.</P>
<P>7) Put a short character in a tall room with one window, one door, one light (and switch) and a hanging ceiling fan (with hanging switch). The room contains 3 boxes, a ball, and a board. Imagine the different ways your character could figure out how to reach the hanging switch and then animate the most outrageous. Next, subtract two boxes and add a skateboard and try again.</P>
<P><U>From cgTalk:</U></P>
<P>Bouncing ball (rubber, wood, lead, glass, beach, bowling, tennis, cannon, etc.)<BR><BR>Egg dropping/rolling<BR><BR>Brick dropping<BR><BR>Walk, run, jump (show character from one into the next ? realistic, character, 4-legged)<BR><BR>Lift-carry-put down weight<BR><BR>Climb<BR><BR>Dialogue/monologue where the character starts off feeling one emotion and changes into another<BR><BR>Different weights of characters/ vary the size and shape of the character doing above tasks<BR><BR>Four-legged character (cat, dog, etc.) walking, jumping, climbing, stretching, yawning, scratching, etc.<BR><BR>Juicebox: a juice box enters frame from left has an emotion change throughout the animation and leaves from right (200 frame limit)<BR><BR>Character jumping over object<BR><BR>Character interaction with a ball<BR><BR>Character interaction with a box (push, pull, lift, etc.)<BR><BR>Bring an inanimate object to life<BR><BR>Leaf falling in arcs and the timing<BR><BR>Egg drop / brick drop<BR><BR>Character pushing a box / picking up box<BR><BR>Ringing bell tower bell<BR><BR>Interaction with a box, interaction with a ball<BR><BR>A short dialogue (very short), putting physical accents on the significant beats of dialogue<BR><BR>Two character dialogue - introduces more staging and interaction<BR>Standing or sitting, character doing nothing, body language should suggest thought process without any interaction with an object<BR><BR>A bunch of people waiting for a bus, all with different ages/professions<BR><BR>A character walks to a mailbox, deposits an envelope, and walks away. Now, how is that action different if the envelope contains (1) a heartfelt love letter, sent without knowing whether the recipient feels the same way about the sender, or (2) this year's tax return, which includes a big fat check made payable to Uncle Sam, or (3) the last mortgage payment on a house, or the last alimony check to an ex? The basic goals are the same (approach mailbox, etc), but the motivation behind them and the mood expressed will be dramatically different for each one.<BR>Character goes to pick up an object they think is light but it?s heavy, and vice versa<BR><BR>3 legged character - two legs cannot move in unison<BR><BR>First you come up with something very minor - say, a guy picking up a flower. <BR><BR>Now you start developing context...ask yourselves questions and try to come up with interesting answers<BR><BR>A two legged character walk on all fours<BR><BR>An old man kneeling down to pray, then rising<BR><BR>Pendulum swing (using arcs)<BR><BR>Simple head turn (using arcs)<BR><BR>Water drop falling from a leaf<BR><BR>One-shape character design<BR><BR>Complex character design<BR><BR>Emotional character walk in profile (anticipate - walk two strides and compensate to a stop)<BR><BR>Flour sack walkcycle<BR><BR>Flour sack falling off a ledge<BR><BR>Character waiting for something<BR><BR>Character sitting on object, interacting with object<BR><BR>Circus/Sideshow accidents (character walking on a tightrope gets distracted by a sound off screen, and just loses control; character stuck in a cannon, trying desperately to get out before the fuse burns out, but of course doesn't quite make it; carnie tries to impress onlookers with a "talent" but it goes horribly wrong)<BR><BR>Confrontation between two characters. One is losing but makes a spectacular comeback, just when you thought all hope was lost. This is that huge fight between the Boss and the Hero, or the dramatic clash that has led up to your dramatic quest Hero/villain attempts to execute their strange and unfamiliar powers. Suddenly something goes horribly wrong and their power backfires<BR><BR>Character tries to access a bank machine and it misbehaves<BR><BR>Character tries to use a restroom and can't<BR><BR>Character takes on a profession as a mover and has to move an awkward object<BR><BR>Character entering a dark corridor/cave with weapon drawn awaiting a surprise from the dark<BR><BR>Character finding the ?one ring? and reacting to his discovery<BR><BR>Show a feat of elven dexterity (ie. Legolas jumping on the horse or walking on snow, etc., but be original)</P>
<P>Character meeting death from an attack<BR><BR>Character thinks they're going to sneeze, then not sneeze and then finally sneezing<BR><BR>Character trying to swat a fly or catch a bug<BR><BR>Character trying to stay awake, finally falls asleep (maybe something really loud wakes him up at the end its up to you)<BR><BR>Character sneaking up on another character to scare them<BR><BR>Character leaning against the wall, chewing gum or a toothpick, hands in his pockets or maybe flipping a coin, waiting for something to happen<BR><BR>Character lifting their leg in front of them (perhaps ballet). Study the balance of body.</P>
<P><U>From Spicy Cricket.com:</U><BR>1. Character on the phone, but not talking, listening to a person on the other end talk about something: important, sad, happy and/or "fill in the blank". Choose the subject matter to really express how the receiver of that information reacts. The exercise is designed to help people develop a character's thinking through eye movement, subtle facial expression and pantomime with body language.</P>
<P>2. Display the feelings a character would experience while waiting for something or someone. Gender specific reactions can be really revealing here. How a man would react vs. a woman? This is a good exercise because it demands pure acting outside of dialogue. Much like Tom Hanks for most of castaway, your character will need to show lots of emotion through psychological gesture.</P>
<P>3. Create a walk cycle. Now make 4 variations on the same character to illustrate an emotion. For example: Angry Stomp, Happy Run, Sad Shuffle, Cocky Strut, Questioning Tiptoe, etc. Be sure to refer to the bouncing ball for your arcs and paths on this one.</P>
<P>4. Create a walk cycle with a four legged character. Do the same thing as above, but now illustrate you ability to translate it into four legs or even an insect and go to six or eight legs. Always refer to real life and then translate that into your own work. It is great when you can create a connection between an animal and human nature, but if you keep the integrity of the animal's basic essence, then the animation will be much richer. Of course a dog would not have the emotional range of a human, but you still know when a dog is happy. Think to yourself, not only how a human might react to the situation, but also how "insert animal/creature here" would react to it also.</P>
<P>5. Character encounters something that he wants to open. Perhaps it has difficulty opening it. Perhaps it reacts to whatever it opens (but you don't see what it in it). The character can only use body parts for the first 30 seconds, but may pursue some other means (i.e. tools and explosives) thereafter. This one is really open ended and can test your ability to show many storytelling ideas in the body language and facial expressions, without one line of dialogue.</P>
<P>6. A similar test to the one above is to have a witch attempt to ride a broom that keeps bucking her off. Andreas Deja (animated--Jafar in Aladdin, Scar in Lion King, Gaston in B & B, etc.) spoke of this test at a talk I attended in LA. He referred to it as what Disney asked him to do before he was officially brought into the animation department.</P>
<P>7. Animate two characters sawing a log. The first character is a big, macho man. Animate him pose-to-pose first holding one side of the saw and cycle his animation. The second character is a scrawny little guy who gets yanked around, grabbing onto the saw for dear life. This idea would be even better if there was some kind of big finish where the little guy gets the best of the big guy.</P>
<P>8. A character lifts something heavy. This is hard enough to show shifts in weight throughout the body to get leverage, but if you wanted to make the test even more complicated you can make the character do something else, while continuing to hold the heavy object. Great example of weight and timing. Again, Chapter 3 in The Illusion of Life covers this concept thoroughly.</P>
<P>9. A character is doing something and needs to get someone's attention. Lots of eye movement and subtle mouth stuff, as well as body language on an exercise like this.</P>
<P>10. The flour sack. A great test that forces understanding of the principles in its most basic form. Make a four sack move and react to show emotions and character. Be sure to remember the volume of the sack and how it would move between contact with the ground and being airborne. This test is a favorite among animators, since there is very little character design and development and you really have to pay attention to what you are trying to communicate.</P>
<P><U>From AWN:</U><BR>What folks in the industry want to see is...character animation. THINKING, BREATHING CHARACTERS! Do 15-30 seconds of GREAT CHARACTER ANIMATION with one or two characters which show the following:</P>
<P>WEIGHT - show weight by squashing the feet and in the quads of the upper legs (on the front side) and in the hips/butt area. In 3D - use a lattice when structuring your character. WHEN IN DOUBT EXAGGERATE THE WEIGHT.</P>
<P>Posing with exaggeration</P>
<P>ACTIONS - LEADING AND FOLLOWING actions are easy - example: when a character land one foot makes contact and then the other...or if you lift the arms - one arm goes up and then the other.</P>
<P>OVERLAPPING ACTIONS - example the character comes to a halt and her hair and dress continue to flow and settle into place. To be effective the overlapping has to use "S" curves to change direction.</P>
<P>DRAG ACTION - is where you show a drag on a form as it moves through space. This usually occurs at the ends of the form. If a rubber raft is falling, the middle edge will be intact - the other edges will bend or drag back.</P>
<P>MOTIVATIONAL FORCES - what makes thing move - 80% or more of all actions happen because of the hips and legs. If a character throws a ball the action starts with the extension (unfolding) of the front leg which rotates the hips and create toque with the torso and allows the unwinding of the torso to lead the shoulder and the rest of the arm through a throwing motion. Another example: a character can't turn unless he pushes off on the outside foot - then he can change direction.</P>
<P>Thinking time (a character ALWAYS thinks before it does anything).</P>
<P>PRIMARY AND SECONDARY ACTIONS - easy example in a walk - the legs are the primary action - then arms are the secondary action.</P>
<P>ANTICIPATION - (or ANTIC) In a grab, the hand comes up and backward before it goes forward.</P>
<P>COMPENSATION - If a character is running and stops - you have to compensate for the forward momentum (usually by driving the forces up - or down and then up.)</P>
<P>REVERSALS - try to work as many reversals into the spine as possible (as long as it makes sense to the action). The spine is curved forward - then curves back during an antic and then curves forward when the character picks up a stone. HINT: My next lesson at the Toon Institute will have this information.</P>
<P>A CUSHION OR SETTLE is where you move passed a key frame into an extreme/extreme and then cushion back into the original key frame.</P>
<P>A MOVING HOLD is a very, very slow slow-out of an action - to where the movement is coming to a creeping halt.</P>
<P>Staging (how the action is composed within the frame)</P>
<P>Character Design - the ability to caricature a person utilizing good design skills and have appeal</P>
<P>Dialog would be a plus.</P><edited><editID>Abhishek</editID><editDate>38987.5065625</editDate></edited>
<P><strong>ANIMATION EXCERCISES:</strong></P>
<P><BR>1) Try to display the emotions a character might go through while waiting for a bus that's late. Pay close attention to facial expressions, body language, and detail.</P>
<P>2) Have a character try to open something (i.e. a present) that refuses to open. The character can only use body parts for the first minute, but may resort to other measures (i.e. tools and explosives) thereafter. Note, the character will be affected by the tools used (i.e. blast of an explosion). After you've mastered this, try to do the same thing with a normally inanimate object (i.e. lamp) as your lead character.</P>
<P>3a) Animate someone riding a pogo stick or some other 'fun' object (i.e. using a hoola hoop).</P>
<P>3b) Have your character use a weighted object, such as a hammer or a shovel. Demonstrate how the weight of the object affects the stance and demeanor of the character using it.</P>
<P>4) Create a walk cycle, then vary it to accommodate different attitudes and 'character'. For example: Angry, happy, sneaky, limping, carrying a heavy object, sleep walking, etc.</P>
<P>5) Animate two characters sawing a log. The first character is a big, muscular brute. Animate him pose-to-pose first and cycle his animation. The second character is a scrawny little guy who gets yanked around, grabbing onto the saw for dear life.</P>
<P>6) Have a character bend down, pick up something heavy, and throw it. This exercise can help you with timing, emphasizing weight, and anticipation.</P>
<P>7) Put a short character in a tall room with one window, one door, one light (and switch) and a hanging ceiling fan (with hanging switch). The room contains 3 boxes, a ball, and a board. Imagine the different ways your character could figure out how to reach the hanging switch and then animate the most outrageous. Next, subtract two boxes and add a skateboard and try again.</P>
<P><U>From cgTalk:</U></P>
<P>Bouncing ball (rubber, wood, lead, glass, beach, bowling, tennis, cannon, etc.)<BR><BR>Egg dropping/rolling<BR><BR>Brick dropping<BR><BR>Walk, run, jump (show character from one into the next ? realistic, character, 4-legged)<BR><BR>Lift-carry-put down weight<BR><BR>Climb<BR><BR>Dialogue/monologue where the character starts off feeling one emotion and changes into another<BR><BR>Different weights of characters/ vary the size and shape of the character doing above tasks<BR><BR>Four-legged character (cat, dog, etc.) walking, jumping, climbing, stretching, yawning, scratching, etc.<BR><BR>Juicebox: a juice box enters frame from left has an emotion change throughout the animation and leaves from right (200 frame limit)<BR><BR>Character jumping over object<BR><BR>Character interaction with a ball<BR><BR>Character interaction with a box (push, pull, lift, etc.)<BR><BR>Bring an inanimate object to life<BR><BR>Leaf falling in arcs and the timing<BR><BR>Egg drop / brick drop<BR><BR>Character pushing a box / picking up box<BR><BR>Ringing bell tower bell<BR><BR>Interaction with a box, interaction with a ball<BR><BR>A short dialogue (very short), putting physical accents on the significant beats of dialogue<BR><BR>Two character dialogue - introduces more staging and interaction<BR>Standing or sitting, character doing nothing, body language should suggest thought process without any interaction with an object<BR><BR>A bunch of people waiting for a bus, all with different ages/professions<BR><BR>A character walks to a mailbox, deposits an envelope, and walks away. Now, how is that action different if the envelope contains (1) a heartfelt love letter, sent without knowing whether the recipient feels the same way about the sender, or (2) this year's tax return, which includes a big fat check made payable to Uncle Sam, or (3) the last mortgage payment on a house, or the last alimony check to an ex? The basic goals are the same (approach mailbox, etc), but the motivation behind them and the mood expressed will be dramatically different for each one.<BR>Character goes to pick up an object they think is light but it?s heavy, and vice versa<BR><BR>3 legged character - two legs cannot move in unison<BR><BR>First you come up with something very minor - say, a guy picking up a flower. <BR><BR>Now you start developing context...ask yourselves questions and try to come up with interesting answers<BR><BR>A two legged character walk on all fours<BR><BR>An old man kneeling down to pray, then rising<BR><BR>Pendulum swing (using arcs)<BR><BR>Simple head turn (using arcs)<BR><BR>Water drop falling from a leaf<BR><BR>One-shape character design<BR><BR>Complex character design<BR><BR>Emotional character walk in profile (anticipate - walk two strides and compensate to a stop)<BR><BR>Flour sack walkcycle<BR><BR>Flour sack falling off a ledge<BR><BR>Character waiting for something<BR><BR>Character sitting on object, interacting with object<BR><BR>Circus/Sideshow accidents (character walking on a tightrope gets distracted by a sound off screen, and just loses control; character stuck in a cannon, trying desperately to get out before the fuse burns out, but of course doesn't quite make it; carnie tries to impress onlookers with a "talent" but it goes horribly wrong)<BR><BR>Confrontation between two characters. One is losing but makes a spectacular comeback, just when you thought all hope was lost. This is that huge fight between the Boss and the Hero, or the dramatic clash that has led up to your dramatic quest Hero/villain attempts to execute their strange and unfamiliar powers. Suddenly something goes horribly wrong and their power backfires<BR><BR>Character tries to access a bank machine and it misbehaves<BR><BR>Character tries to use a restroom and can't<BR><BR>Character takes on a profession as a mover and has to move an awkward object<BR><BR>Character entering a dark corridor/cave with weapon drawn awaiting a surprise from the dark<BR><BR>Character finding the ?one ring? and reacting to his discovery<BR><BR>Show a feat of elven dexterity (ie. Legolas jumping on the horse or walking on snow, etc., but be original)</P>
<P>Character meeting death from an attack<BR><BR>Character thinks they're going to sneeze, then not sneeze and then finally sneezing<BR><BR>Character trying to swat a fly or catch a bug<BR><BR>Character trying to stay awake, finally falls asleep (maybe something really loud wakes him up at the end its up to you)<BR><BR>Character sneaking up on another character to scare them<BR><BR>Character leaning against the wall, chewing gum or a toothpick, hands in his pockets or maybe flipping a coin, waiting for something to happen<BR><BR>Character lifting their leg in front of them (perhaps ballet). Study the balance of body.</P>
<P><U>From Spicy Cricket.com:</U><BR>1. Character on the phone, but not talking, listening to a person on the other end talk about something: important, sad, happy and/or "fill in the blank". Choose the subject matter to really express how the receiver of that information reacts. The exercise is designed to help people develop a character's thinking through eye movement, subtle facial expression and pantomime with body language.</P>
<P>2. Display the feelings a character would experience while waiting for something or someone. Gender specific reactions can be really revealing here. How a man would react vs. a woman? This is a good exercise because it demands pure acting outside of dialogue. Much like Tom Hanks for most of castaway, your character will need to show lots of emotion through psychological gesture.</P>
<P>3. Create a walk cycle. Now make 4 variations on the same character to illustrate an emotion. For example: Angry Stomp, Happy Run, Sad Shuffle, Cocky Strut, Questioning Tiptoe, etc. Be sure to refer to the bouncing ball for your arcs and paths on this one.</P>
<P>4. Create a walk cycle with a four legged character. Do the same thing as above, but now illustrate you ability to translate it into four legs or even an insect and go to six or eight legs. Always refer to real life and then translate that into your own work. It is great when you can create a connection between an animal and human nature, but if you keep the integrity of the animal's basic essence, then the animation will be much richer. Of course a dog would not have the emotional range of a human, but you still know when a dog is happy. Think to yourself, not only how a human might react to the situation, but also how "insert animal/creature here" would react to it also.</P>
<P>5. Character encounters something that he wants to open. Perhaps it has difficulty opening it. Perhaps it reacts to whatever it opens (but you don't see what it in it). The character can only use body parts for the first 30 seconds, but may pursue some other means (i.e. tools and explosives) thereafter. This one is really open ended and can test your ability to show many storytelling ideas in the body language and facial expressions, without one line of dialogue.</P>
<P>6. A similar test to the one above is to have a witch attempt to ride a broom that keeps bucking her off. Andreas Deja (animated--Jafar in Aladdin, Scar in Lion King, Gaston in B & B, etc.) spoke of this test at a talk I attended in LA. He referred to it as what Disney asked him to do before he was officially brought into the animation department.</P>
<P>7. Animate two characters sawing a log. The first character is a big, macho man. Animate him pose-to-pose first holding one side of the saw and cycle his animation. The second character is a scrawny little guy who gets yanked around, grabbing onto the saw for dear life. This idea would be even better if there was some kind of big finish where the little guy gets the best of the big guy.</P>
<P>8. A character lifts something heavy. This is hard enough to show shifts in weight throughout the body to get leverage, but if you wanted to make the test even more complicated you can make the character do something else, while continuing to hold the heavy object. Great example of weight and timing. Again, Chapter 3 in The Illusion of Life covers this concept thoroughly.</P>
<P>9. A character is doing something and needs to get someone's attention. Lots of eye movement and subtle mouth stuff, as well as body language on an exercise like this.</P>
<P>10. The flour sack. A great test that forces understanding of the principles in its most basic form. Make a four sack move and react to show emotions and character. Be sure to remember the volume of the sack and how it would move between contact with the ground and being airborne. This test is a favorite among animators, since there is very little character design and development and you really have to pay attention to what you are trying to communicate.</P>
<P><U>From AWN:</U><BR>What folks in the industry want to see is...character animation. THINKING, BREATHING CHARACTERS! Do 15-30 seconds of GREAT CHARACTER ANIMATION with one or two characters which show the following:</P>
<P>WEIGHT - show weight by squashing the feet and in the quads of the upper legs (on the front side) and in the hips/butt area. In 3D - use a lattice when structuring your character. WHEN IN DOUBT EXAGGERATE THE WEIGHT.</P>
<P>Posing with exaggeration</P>
<P>ACTIONS - LEADING AND FOLLOWING actions are easy - example: when a character land one foot makes contact and then the other...or if you lift the arms - one arm goes up and then the other.</P>
<P>OVERLAPPING ACTIONS - example the character comes to a halt and her hair and dress continue to flow and settle into place. To be effective the overlapping has to use "S" curves to change direction.</P>
<P>DRAG ACTION - is where you show a drag on a form as it moves through space. This usually occurs at the ends of the form. If a rubber raft is falling, the middle edge will be intact - the other edges will bend or drag back.</P>
<P>MOTIVATIONAL FORCES - what makes thing move - 80% or more of all actions happen because of the hips and legs. If a character throws a ball the action starts with the extension (unfolding) of the front leg which rotates the hips and create toque with the torso and allows the unwinding of the torso to lead the shoulder and the rest of the arm through a throwing motion. Another example: a character can't turn unless he pushes off on the outside foot - then he can change direction.</P>
<P>Thinking time (a character ALWAYS thinks before it does anything).</P>
<P>PRIMARY AND SECONDARY ACTIONS - easy example in a walk - the legs are the primary action - then arms are the secondary action.</P>
<P>ANTICIPATION - (or ANTIC) In a grab, the hand comes up and backward before it goes forward.</P>
<P>COMPENSATION - If a character is running and stops - you have to compensate for the forward momentum (usually by driving the forces up - or down and then up.)</P>
<P>REVERSALS - try to work as many reversals into the spine as possible (as long as it makes sense to the action). The spine is curved forward - then curves back during an antic and then curves forward when the character picks up a stone. HINT: My next lesson at the Toon Institute will have this information.</P>
<P>A CUSHION OR SETTLE is where you move passed a key frame into an extreme/extreme and then cushion back into the original key frame.</P>
<P>A MOVING HOLD is a very, very slow slow-out of an action - to where the movement is coming to a creeping halt.</P>
<P>Staging (how the action is composed within the frame)</P>
<P>Character Design - the ability to caricature a person utilizing good design skills and have appeal</P>
<P>Dialog would be a plus.</P><edited><editID>Abhishek</editID><editDate>38987.5065625</editDate></edited>