Introduction to Animation

Animation comes from the Latin words “anima,” which means “life,” and “animare” which means “to breathe life into”    Animation consists of still images (called “frames”) with slight differences between them. When viewed together in a sequence, they give the illusion of motion – like a flipbook.

When thinking about Animation projects, what first comes to mind?

Movies and cartoon shows are what people tend to think of first, as they’re the most mainstream. Animation also encompasses:

• Video Games/Interactive media
• Reconstructing events (for courtroom, education or television)
• Education – Help explain difficult concepts in a visual way, such as medicine or science.
• Internet memes/Animated Gifs
• Commercials/Infomercials
• Websites/Splash Pages

This is a 2D animation/animation principles course. This program utilizes Adobe Flash/Animate. During this course, our instructor will guide you systematically through the following topics:

• 2D Traditional
• 2D Tra-Digital
• 2D Puppet/Limited
• Stop Motion
• Motion Media
• Animation Terms
• Frame
• Frame Rate:  FPS (Frames per second)
• Hold
• Cycles
• Rotoscope
• The 12 Principles of Animation
• Bouncing Ball – Timing and Spacing.  Keyframes, Breakdowns and In-  Betweens
• Keyframes, Breakdowns and In-Betweens
• Squash and Stretch
• Pendulum
• Flag Wave/Fabrics
• Using Anticipation, Exaggeration and Balance to show Weight
• Breaking a character down into basic shapes for animation
• How to Create a Boil
• Using staggered frames to imply coughing, laughing, shaking
• Takes
• Head Turn
• Walk Cycle
• Run Cycle
• Dialogue/Changing Expressions
• Quadruped Walk
• Beginning Puppet Animation:  Creating and Animating Symbols
• Creating a Simple Puppet
• Creating a Character Puppet
• Testing your Puppet with a Walk Cycle
• Nesting Graphics and Creating interchangeable Parts
• Importing Sounds and Animating to them