Planning

Planning involves the pre-thinking of a shot. This phase occurs before you begin to set keys. It provides you with an opportunity to flesh out ideas quickly and formulate your thoughts and ideas for the shot. These can be decided upon without turning on the computer. This will ultimately make your actual keyframing efforts more effective and efficient.

Planning might be the most import ant step in the animation process. However, it’s also one of the most overlooked. Many animators feel the pressures of production and jump right into a shot without the slightest thought being given to what they are trying to achieve. I’ve fallen into this trap many times as well, but I constantly try to remind myself of the consequences. My animation will take twice as long and may be five times as painful to achieve. The finished product will usually be lifeless and flat.

The most important planning process you can indulge in is thinking. It sounds simple, but again is of ten overlooked. Spending 15 or 20 minutes visualizing the scene can make a big difference. I often lay my head on my desk and walk through the scene in my mind. Other animators I’ve worked with spend an entire day thinking. Once the thinking phase has been completed, it’s time to look at some references.

Video Reference
Video reference falls into two categories: The artist can shoot footage of himself performing an action or he can use pre-existing footage for guidance. The latter is particularly important when animating something that you can replicate. For example, doing a shot of a walking elephant would necessitate actual footage of an elephant walking. It would be difficult to replicate this motion on your own. Tapes like National Geographic’s are easy to find in local video stores, and many studios keep their own libraries of this type of material. I also recommend beginning a collection of your own.

When dealing with human motion, shooting video of yourself or another animator can be beneficial and very simple. The only equipment needed is a cheap video camera. Spending big dollars on a high-end camera isn’t necessary. The main objective is to generate a reference moves that you can study. These images can provide crucial clues to how the body actually moves during an action. In addition, nuances you might not have thought of will be realized while studying this foot age. The subtleties of human motion are amazing. Incorporating those details can make a good shot great. Consider the following example.

The three shots we are currently dealing with could use some help from the video camera. The motions that are supposed to occur are fairly complicated, and although I’ve gotten in and out of a chair many times, I’ve never studied the mechanics involved. The camera will shed some light on this. I found an open area, placed the camera on a tripod, and found a chair of similar style. I also tried to match the shot s camera angle. Although I couldn‘t match it exactly, getting as close as possible provides me with a more accurate account of how the shot will ultimately look.

[Figure 6] Some stills from my video reference.

Once the camera began to roll, I acted out the motion in a variety of ways. This process required doing a number of takes or versions of the action (see Figure 6). Even though it’s likely that no one will be watching, it might take a while to become comfortable in front of the camera. It’s important to remember that you are trying to capture a performance with this reference. Your performance must match the personality of the character you’re animating and come across on tape as natural as possible. Animation is acting, and this is the first step down that path.