The readings for week 6 were about: timing, the animation
process at Pixar, and general animation rules. The handout on timing also
included information on rhythm and anticipation. Although I already learned
most of the information on anticipation with the examples given in class, it
was still useful to read more about it. I found it interesting that everything
has a rhythm. I usually do not think of the importance of rhythm. But, like the
examples given of a person sawing a piece of wood and hammering a nail, I can
see how a good rhythm can make animation seem more lively. I also found the use
of music to better understand rhythm to be interesting; “I think a good study
of music would be indispensable to the animator – a study of rhythm – the
various rhythms that enter into our lives every day…” (Larson, 3). Although it
seems like common sense that music would be the answer to difficulties of
rhythm, it did not occur to me that it would be useful to people learning how
to animate. The handout on the animation process at Pixar was also fascinating.
The 6 steps are: storyboarding, modeling, animating, shading, lighting, and
rendering. I learned that Pixar has its
own animation software called Marionette. I knew about the 4 steps:
storyboarding, modeling, animation, and rendering. But, I did not know that
both shading and lighting needed their own stages. I assumed that they would
just be built into the program, so when the animators animated the scenes, the
lights would already be set up and the shading would be part of the modeling
process. However, of these 3 readings, I found Glen Handout to be the most
helpful. A couple of the rules that I found beneficial are: “Don’t move
anything unless it’s for a purpose,” and “Concentrate on drawing clear not
clean” (Glen, 3). In animation, where every movement is created, I can see how
people can get carried away and make lots of movements for no reason. However,
in order for the audience to pay attention to the right thing, it makes more
sense for the movements to be more planned out. Besides planning movements,
making clear drawings is important. I think this rule means making drawings
that are expressive are more important than making drawings that are neat,
which is something that I plan on working on in the future.
The reading for week 7 was about joints. The main idea I got
from this article is the importance of parent joints. Although several joints
may be connected to each other, a joint is always going to respond first to the
joint that it is right next to it (which is closer to the base).
I think that of all the information from these readings will
be useful to me as I continue on in the animation field. What I will remember
most from these readings, however, are: timing (rhythm and anticipation),
purposeful movements, and clear drawings versus clean drawings.
