Animation has made its way into marketing. It has emerged to be a powerful weapon in capturing the interest of the audience and for obvious reasons. It is based on the visual sense, the most dominant of all the senses. Complemented by sound and graphic materials, it can spearhead the marketing strategies of companies. Today, a large number of websites use animations in their websites. This helps the visitors to visually comprehend the benefits of their products. However, a good animation is the product of innovative thoughts and technological skills.
Here are twelve principles you should follow to be a better animator offering exceptional animation services.
Use the squash and stretch feature
The characters that you create needs a volume and weight, as they move on the screen. They also need interesting facial expressions and animated dialogues. Using squash and stretch, you can incorporate these features into the animated characters. The extent to which you should use this feature depends on the position of the character on the screen. In short characters, squash and stretch are thicker. In taller objects and characters, a lighter effect is used.
Anticipation
The characters on the screen make various kinds of movements like jumping, running or standing up. These involve a slight backward motion. Through the anticipation feature, you can create this effect. Failure to do so will make the movements look robotic. Almost all the actions have this backward motion, which can be created through anticipation.
Staging
When you depict a particular pose in an animated character, it should convey the reaction, mood, attitude or idea of the character; this is an elementary principle of animation. It is all about the context where the actions take place. It is necessary to have a basic concept about camera shots. You should know the uses of long, medium and close up shots. Keep the background and the characters tuned together in your animation. You need to incorporate staging precisely to create a natural effect.
Pose to pose and straight-ahead animation
In case of straight-ahead animations, the visuals commence with the first drawing. It keeps on moving through the drawings till the end. However, the volume, size and proportions of the visuals may be lost in this process, but you should retain its freshness and spontaneity. You can use this for fast action scenes.
In pose-to-pose character animation, the approach is much more detailed. You need to chart it with the key drawings throughout the scene at regular intervals. The volume, size and proportions are better controlled here.
Through and overlapping actions
Through action indicates a situation where the main part of the body of the character leads the action, followed by the other parts. When a moving character comes to a halt, the main body stops first. The limbs, ears and other body parts follow it. This action is called through. In overlapping actions, the clothes or limbs of a moving body continue to move in the earlier direction, even though the main body chances the path.
Slow-out and slow-in
At the start of the action, more objects are positioned at the starting pose. The middle part has a few drawings. Again, the number of objects increases near the next pose. The more the things, the slower is the action. Few objects make the movement faster. Slow-ins and slow-outs help to make the action soft and natural.
Arcs
Most actions follow a circular or arch-like path. Human figures, animals and most living things resemble this feature. Except mechanical devices, every object should follow an arc when they are in motion. Incorporate this feature just like professionals offering best animation services do to make the animated video look more natural.
Secondary actions
The primary actions get re-enforced by certain other actions, known as secondary actions. For instance, when you depict an angry person moving forward, you need to complement his aggressive movement with facial expressions, rapid movements of limbs and so on. These are secondary actions, which empower the main action. You need to use these elements in your animations.
Timing
You should master the art of timing in animations which is yet another animation principle. It includes the right time to start an action or stop a moving body. In order to make these movements more realistic, you should look out for real-life examples around you. Observation helps an animator to grow the ability to create a natural essence in the visuals.
Exaggerations
A good animator uses his taste and aesthetic values to include exaggerations in the visuals. These are not to be treated as distortions. Animations are different from other visuals, so you have the scope to exaggerate expressions, eye movements and other actions.
Solid drawing
In animated drawings, you should follow the basic principles that you follow in academic drawings. These include solidity of the volume, weight and illusion. You should keep the classical drawing senses in mind when you prepare the images for animation.
Appeal
An animated video should have an inherent appeal in itself, captivating the interest of the viewers. They should find them engaging and interesting. Incorporate this value in your animations to retain the interest of the audience throughout its length.
Following these principles will infuse a professional look into your animation services.