Principles of Animation

The Principles of Animation are methods and techniques used for successful cartoon animation.
They were discovered and developed in the early days of animation ( taught in Disneys drawing classes)
They matured as principles taught to all animators
They are necessary to create, appeal, emotion, energy, personality of character
Luxo Jr: Pixar 1987 great example of principles as applied in computer animation


Some of the pronciples are:
Squash and stretch:
Objects show movement in shape during action (smiling face , bouncing ball)
Distorting shape during action
Scene mostly in bouncing ball you can add it to fast moving objects as well
the volume of the object remains constant

Overlapping action
Relationship of an action nto the next action
Actions rarely come to a sudden and complete stop
Loose part of character or object during movement move in relation to main form
Also shows mass and weight of different types of objects
maintains continual flow

Drag
Delayed action of part of an object
Different parts of the object move at different rates from same motion
Can be exaggerated to create a more dramatic style

Arcs
Things seldom move in a straight line
Arcs are often the result of some constraint ( pendulum or arm swing, elbow arc from constrained position of shoulder)
Translational movement (walks, Runs) display an alternating arc plotting the top of the object