Week 1: 12 Principles of Animation

The Twelve Basic Principles of Animation first recorded by Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation.

I highly recommend reading the lengthy and beautifully illustrated chapter on the Principles of Animation, see "The Illusion of Life" Chapter 3, from p 47.

Here's a brief overview of the 12 Principles:

1 Squash and stretch
2 Anticipation
3 Staging
4 Straight ahead action and pose to pose
5 Follow through and overlapping action
6 Slow in and slow out
7 Arcs
8 Secondary action
9 Timing
10 Exaggeration
11 Solid drawing
12 Appeal

Homework! 

• Start a blog/site for yourself to show your work and save clips you find interesting. Post some of your past work.
• Watch the Pixar Story (it's up on Youtube in 9 parts) -- there will be a quiz! :oD 
•  Start experimenting with animating some bouncing balls in Maya or Max -- we'll go through it in more detail next week. You can use the rigs or just primitives.