Timing
Jaden McGrath 1/4/19
Time to talk about one of the most important of the 12 Basic Principles of Animation which is Timing. Because no matter what you make or animate, timing is absolutely everything. And on a concept level, it may seem easy but what you may or may not know is that having your timing be flawless is actually quite difficult. It is a process that includes a few simple details like how quickly something moves and how long it stays still. In order to show something slowing in time, you have to add gravity, weight, and mass to that thing. Now if you want to do the opposite of that and actually make that thing speed up, then it'll add a sense of speed, lightness, and energy. There are tons of ways to apply all of those principles to your animation, but the easiest way to describe it is to explain famous DreamWorks and Disney animator Dave Burgess's process. He's worked on plenty of popular animated films such as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Over the Hedge, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Madagascar.
He would start by drawing a piece of 2-D animation with a pencil on a piece of hole-punched paper. The director(s) of the film he was currently working on would tell him what they needed out of the scene or shot. He would then go to his desk and being to ponder on how he would approach it. So if it was a heavy body mechanics shot, he might have went to YouTube and look up clips of live-action films that have what he would be trying to do. Or if it was a acting shot that included a voice track, he would then look up clips of live-action actors or another actor who's physicality matches what he would think the shot needed and would try to decide on how he would want to portray the action in the scene or shot. He would even sometimes use small thumbnails to work out any potential problems he would come across. And, if warranted, he would shoot quick and dirty video ref of himself or one of his fellow animators performing several versions of the shot.
On films like Madagascar, he would spend a crazy and ridiculous amount of time playing around with the timing. An animator usually had to work within a set short length due to the rhythm or the audio of the layout cut, making the idea of adding any extra frames to a shot was often close to impossible. That means that you would really have to make the most of the screen time you had and make every single frame count. Dave Burgess used this in a big way for whenever the Genie in Aladdin would change forms so quickly during the song, "Prince Ali". He tried to spend a few extra frames on the main poses the Genie had and keeping the transitions as fast as lightning made it possible for the audience to stay connected with the character or characters despite all of the quick cuts and the quickly delivered dialog.
I have to say, these articles are getting better and better the more I read them. I think this one is now my favorite because of all the references to movies like Aladdin, Over the Hedge, etc. I learned so much from this article as well. I learned what it took to make the movement of the Genie in the Prince Ali scene. I just think his whole process in of itself is just so interesting, fascinating, and really cool. If I ever get into the field of animation, I would love to try something like he does.
Once again, I have no questions for this article. His process is well explained and I can understand what he means pretty well. I also don't disagree with it at all seeing as how it comes from an animation legend who I'm pretty sure knows exactly what he's doing and what he is talking about. I already knew why timing in comedy was so important but now i know why it is also so important in animation, maybe even more so. It's important because without a sense of timing, your whole animation would be completely unbalanced and would come off just too weird.
Time to talk about one of the most important of the 12 Basic Principles of Animation which is Timing. Because no matter what you make or animate, timing is absolutely everything. And on a concept level, it may seem easy but what you may or may not know is that having your timing be flawless is actually quite difficult. It is a process that includes a few simple details like how quickly something moves and how long it stays still. In order to show something slowing in time, you have to add gravity, weight, and mass to that thing. Now if you want to do the opposite of that and actually make that thing speed up, then it'll add a sense of speed, lightness, and energy. There are tons of ways to apply all of those principles to your animation, but the easiest way to describe it is to explain famous DreamWorks and Disney animator Dave Burgess's process. He's worked on plenty of popular animated films such as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Over the Hedge, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Madagascar.
He would start by drawing a piece of 2-D animation with a pencil on a piece of hole-punched paper. The director(s) of the film he was currently working on would tell him what they needed out of the scene or shot. He would then go to his desk and being to ponder on how he would approach it. So if it was a heavy body mechanics shot, he might have went to YouTube and look up clips of live-action films that have what he would be trying to do. Or if it was a acting shot that included a voice track, he would then look up clips of live-action actors or another actor who's physicality matches what he would think the shot needed and would try to decide on how he would want to portray the action in the scene or shot. He would even sometimes use small thumbnails to work out any potential problems he would come across. And, if warranted, he would shoot quick and dirty video ref of himself or one of his fellow animators performing several versions of the shot.
On films like Madagascar, he would spend a crazy and ridiculous amount of time playing around with the timing. An animator usually had to work within a set short length due to the rhythm or the audio of the layout cut, making the idea of adding any extra frames to a shot was often close to impossible. That means that you would really have to make the most of the screen time you had and make every single frame count. Dave Burgess used this in a big way for whenever the Genie in Aladdin would change forms so quickly during the song, "Prince Ali". He tried to spend a few extra frames on the main poses the Genie had and keeping the transitions as fast as lightning made it possible for the audience to stay connected with the character or characters despite all of the quick cuts and the quickly delivered dialog.
I have to say, these articles are getting better and better the more I read them. I think this one is now my favorite because of all the references to movies like Aladdin, Over the Hedge, etc. I learned so much from this article as well. I learned what it took to make the movement of the Genie in the Prince Ali scene. I just think his whole process in of itself is just so interesting, fascinating, and really cool. If I ever get into the field of animation, I would love to try something like he does.
Once again, I have no questions for this article. His process is well explained and I can understand what he means pretty well. I also don't disagree with it at all seeing as how it comes from an animation legend who I'm pretty sure knows exactly what he's doing and what he is talking about. I already knew why timing in comedy was so important but now i know why it is also so important in animation, maybe even more so. It's important because without a sense of timing, your whole animation would be completely unbalanced and would come off just too weird.
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