Scratch

It's amazing how a few simple techniques can boost the impact of a very simple story.

This project gives feedback on one of Maki Tak's animations:
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/ashbyr1/699738

The comments are embedded in the project and will play during the animation.  Maki Tak does a great job of using several of the elements described here: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html

How would you rate this resource?
Excellent--> Good-->Only OK-->Useless

Last edited by ashbyr1 (2009-10-11 10:54:52)

You won't believe what you can create with this completely on line painting program.
I may never use the scratch sprite editor again.
http://www.sumopaint.com/home/

How would you rate this resource?
Excellent--> Good-->Only OK-->Useless

Last edited by ashbyr1 (2009-10-05 12:14:44)

One of the most effective ways to bring characters to life is to show the emotions on their faces.  But how do you do it?  First, you have to think like an actor (see my last post).  Once you are clearly imagining yourself in your character's situation-- seeing what he would see, feeling what he would feel, thinking what he would think-- stop, lock your face in place, and notice which muscles in your face are clenched and which are relaxed.  Look in a mirror.  Then find the face from the list below that is closest to the face you are making.  Sketch it out.  Once you've sketched out all of the expressions that you will need, create a sprite with a costume for each one.  Having those costumes prepared will allow you to be more creative when you animate your project because you'll be able to easily experiment with different expressions.

15 basic expressions that you can use: http://www.edupics.com/en-coloring-pictures-pages-photo-facial-expressions-i8896.html
How would you rate this resource?
Excellent--> Good-->Only OK-->Useless

Excellent posts, thanks so much. I did the same exploration of animation techniques once. I did a flip book of a bouncing ball by scanning my images and making them into an animated gif. Sounds simple but I drew it using time based movement, real light shading, mass distortion, etc just like the pros. OMG I can't imagine doing an old school animated film back in the day.... I bet you didn't go home at the end of the day and draw for fun!

But one of the big "non-pro" mistakes is that before any animated thing does something, it has a "windup." Say you were gonna draw a kid jumping. First you would draw the kid crouching down and then springing up. Or throwing a ball, first the arm/body should pull back/twist/etc before the pitch. Although to read this, it sounds obvious but look for it in real cartoons vs what you see many people do by hand.

Thanks again ashbyr1

ashbyr1 wrote:

1) What are the best online tutorials, articles, or videos about the craft of animation?

Dunno, I don't use those much. ^^

ashbyr1 wrote:

2) What techniques or styles do you think are most effective?

I personally prefer Disney style as it is more 3d than more styles. Drawing stuff from different perspectives is the biggest challenge you encounter when animating, Imho. ^^

Going to school now, later. ^^

ashbyr1 wrote:

The Animation All Stars review gallery is being featured on the home page!

Wow! Congrats to you! ^^

ashbyr1 wrote:

You won't believe what you can create with this completely on line painting program.
I may never use the scratch sprite editor again.
http://www.sumopaint.com/home/

How would you rate this resource?
Excellent--> Good-->Only OK-->Useless

Excellent!

I noticed that some animators are trying to manage the sequence of their animations using the "wait" block.  Projects done that way tend to get out of sync, especially when you play them from the site. 
This tutorial shows how to manage dialogue and change scenes using the "broadcast" block.  It might seem like more work at first, but once you get used to it, you'll discover that editing your project becomes much much easier.

Sequencing Animations

It might seem like more work at first, but once you get used to it, you'll discover that editing your project becomes much much easier.

How would you rate this resource?
Excellent--> Good-->Only OK-->Useless

Last edited by ashbyr1 (2009-10-13 01:34:57)

These are professional quality animations that could have been easily created in Scratch.

Here is a nice overview of visual composition.  It explains some basic concepts of laying out a visually interesting scene.
http://www.animationarchive.org/2006/11/education-fundamentals-of-composition.html

It's cool!!!!

This is a great demonstration on how to draw faces using only the Scratch drawing tools.
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Keiko-chan/723602