12 Principles of Animation

Corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor. A character who is not necessarily sympathetic – villains or monsters can also fall under this principle – the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is real and interesting

• Follow Through and Overlap
• Appeal
• Exaggeration
• Solid Drawing

Most actions follow a slightly circular path. This is especially true of the human figure and the action of animals. Give animation a more natural action and better flow. Examples are a pendulum swinging, arm movement, head turns and even eye movements.

• Arcs
• Anticipation
• Appeal
• Secondary Actions

This principle describes an action that remains true to reality, just presenting it in a wilder, more extreme form

• Exaggeration
• Squash and Stretch
• Straight Ahead Versus Pose to Straight Ahead Versus Pose to Pose
• Timing

This action adds to and enriches the main action and adds more dimension to the character animation, supplementing and/or re-enforcing the main action.

• Secondary Actions
• Squash and Stretch
• Appeal
• Anticipation

This principle means taking into account forms in three-dimensional space, or giving them volume and weight. The animator needs to be a skilled artist and has to understand the basics of 3D shapes, anatomy, weight, balance, light and shadow, etc

• Solid Drawing
• Staging
• Appeal
• Follow Through and Overlap

This principle makes objects appear to obey the laws of physics; for instance, an object's weight determines how it reacts to an action, like a push. Critical for establishing a character's mood, emotion, and reaction.

• Timing
• Arcs
• Solid Drawing
• Anticipation

Solid drawing is about using....

• time

• volume

• balance

• weight

When the arms and legs or other featured are doing the exact same thing is called ...

"Basically your characters that you animate should be somewhat pleasing to look at"

• Apple

• Appeal

• Solid drawing

• Arcs

In Appeal, you can give your character a dynamic design by ....

• using a variety of shapes

• playing with proportions

• drawing on the seconds

• keeping it simple