FAQ for Students and Graduates

Originally posted by the wise and experienced (and Canadian :D )Wade K.

A[n animation] director:

- Watches over the design and development process, insuring that the production is following his/her vision for the overall look in the character, prop and location and colour design.

- Makes notes on the script as to what he/she would like to see happen in the storyboard.

- Analyzes the script(s), and makes suggestions of what to improve within it.

- Supervises, checks, and corrects the storyboard of the production(s).

- Makes an animatic of the production(s) to set the pacing.

- Directs the voice talent to portray the characters the way that he/she invisions.

- Sets the style of animation (cartoony, more realistic, etc.) for the animators or sheet directors to follow.

- Supervises the layouts and animation, checking and approving scenes, and gives direction to the animators as necessary (on this side of the pond, or overseas).

- Supervises the ink and paint side of things, giving input as needed.

- Sits with an editor to put all the finished scenes together, calling any more retakes as necessary.

- Supervises the sound department (foley, music, sound f/x, etc.) to ensure that everything is still keeping in line with his/her original vision.

- Approves the final mix (or asks for any corrections to be made in the mix).

- Above all else, the director gets his/her team to work in harmony, all conformed to his/her vision, and working as efficiently as possible in order to obtain the best result possible.

That is it in a nutshell... Of course, this is pretty condensed, and there is a lot more involved, but this is the general idea...

To work your way up to this posiition, you need to try to get involved in as many of the aspects of the pipeline as possible, so that you understand exactly how each works... You have to keep your eyes and ears open, and listen to what others above you tell you (before you are the director)... You will never stop learning and if you are so blind as to think you know it all, you will never be a director. I learned everything I know from people more experienced than I, and their input was always appreciated. You need to take their criticism, and understand it, and put it to use later on... Working retarded hours in the beginning to get what you want is the way to go (unfortunately?). I started directing after only 5 years in the industry, and this is because I knew what I wanted and did everything I could to obtain it.

Cheers

Storyboard Links from a thread at
www.AnimationNation.com
http://www.animationnation.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=009616

James S. Baker: http://www.jamesbaker.biz/
Ronnie DelCarmen: http://www.ronniedelcarmen.com/
Trevor Goring: http://www.imagesofjustice.com/
Timothy Hodge: http://www.timothyhodge.com/
Scott Santoro: http://www.scottsantoro.com/
Mark Swan: http://www.swananimation.com/portfolio_mark.html
Peter Van Sholly: http://www.vonshollywood.com

Check out He-Man episode storyboards by Robert Lamb and Don Manuel on this link:

http://www.he-man.org/cartoon/cmotu/behindthescenes/behindthescenes.shtml
A website from France hosting these boards from WB Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond

http://dcanimated.toonzone.net/Storyboards/sbmain.htm

Douglas Lovelace - http://www.chrisis.org/lace_popart.html

Animation Career

http://www.animationarena.com/animation-career.html

by Shanna Smith

The term "persistence of vision" describes the optical phenomenon that makes animation possible. The human eye retains an image for a split second after the source of the image disappears, so when 24 frames per second of an animated film zip through a projector, the flow of motion on the screen looks seamless.

The same phrase could also be applied to the mind-set of a young (or not quite so young!) person who has his or her heart set on becoming a Disney animator. For generations, the debut of each Disney animated feature film has ignited in the minds of thousands of individuals the desire to be a part of the marvel they see on the screen.

What does it take to be a Disney animator? What spectrums of talent and elements of training are needed to produce these wonder-working "actors with pencils" called animators? We recently put these questions to Frank Gladstone, Manager of Animation Training for Disney, who works out of the Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World.

Gladstone begins by explaining that natural talent will come out at a young age. Every parent knows that a child with an artistic bent considers the family home a vast and inviting canvas. Such children "draw all the time... everywhere, on everything. They see Mommy and they try to draw Mommy. They see the dog and they try to draw the dog," Gladstone says.

Children go through different phases as they explore their skills. Three that Gladstone cites are: 1) The very young child who tries to render his or her own creative fantasies. Mom or Dad may not be able to recognize it as such, but according to the child, that blue scribble is a dinosaur eating an ice-cream cone! (And who is to say it isn't?) 2) The older child who is fascinated by visuals, who sees cartoons or illustrations and attempts to copy them as accurately as possible. (This "draftsman" stage may be difficult and frustrating - more on this later.) 3) The high school student who goes back to the beginning and gives free rein to the imagination, rather than adhering to straight copying.

"This is the bridge," Gladstone says. "This is when someone may be a serious artist. If they draw things they see - the real world - that is a big jump. The intent to interpret what they see in the three-dimensional world is, for me, the tell-all that somebody's interested in art in a serious way."

Getting to that "bridge," that third phase, though, requires passing through phase two - easier said than done.

Gladstone explains, "Most young people who start drawing are trying to make things as accurate as possible. They work very hard to get the eye right, and that's where a lot of people get discouraged.

"There's a certain strength in being an artist, he says "in that at some point every artist I know is trying to draw Mom or Dad and somebody will come up behind them and say `that doesn't look like that.' This is when many people's art career ends."

He continues, "The only time they'll draw again is if they can copy something exactly, which is why many people are good at drawing from a picture, but they can't do the other [draw from life]. The person who is strong enough to say `So what? It's my version of this'- that's another step."

Practice is paramount to maturing as an artist. "Go to the zoo and sketch: draw your friends," Gladstone suggests. "Drawing people and their animals, trying to capture something that's moving - this kind of thing comes with time. It's not something that many children do early on. It comes with experience."

Milton Gray, in his book Cartoon Animation: Introduction to a Career, recommends studying animated films frame by frame, using a VCR or laser videodiscs.

Gladstone agrees. "I had the opportunity to put an old-time print of "Pinocchio" on a Moviola and spent an entire night going through the scenes I like frame by frame and finding out how they created that movie.

"It won't teach you everything," he warns, but, "we still do that. We still study how [certain segments] were done - how did Frank Thomas approach this problem. It's a very good way to do things, but it's only one of the ways."

Hand-in-hand with practice is formal art training. A young person, brimming with talent though she or he may be, needs structured schooling to make animation a career.

"They're not going to get a job here when they're fifteen years old," Gladstone says. "We recommend not only high school, but additional schooling as well - hopefully a college degree."

This schooling would, of course, have art as its primary focus - not merely drawing, but other disciplines as well, such as painting and sculpting. Milton Gray recommends studying actors and books on acting, learning something of staging, choreography, and principles of music.

Beyond the fine arts, some background in history, geography, the life sciences, et al., makes for a more knowledgeable, flexible animator.

"You have to bring things to the table," Gladstone explains. "Half of doing Disney-style feature animation is the ability to draw, paint, run a computer, or whatever, but the other half is communication skill. We find that people who have some post-secondary education are more well-rounded, more adapted to the needs of our studio.

"We realize," he adds "that not everybody can go to college, but we seem to see more seasoned players if they have." Can you be an animator without being able to draw? Gladstone replies, "If a kid wants to do animation and he or she can't draw, there are ways to do that. There always have been ways to do that - stop-action, pixilation (which is stop-action using people instead of objects), things like that. Now there's another one, the computer. You don't have to learn to draw to learn how to animate on a computer."

He cautions, however, "Computer animators just have a very fancy electronic pencil. If they can draw traditionally, they're that much ahead of the game. In all the computer work that I've seen in my life, [work] that has really pushed the animation limits - not just the movement limits, there's a difference - the animators have either come from traditional areas or had good traditional skills."

These skills, be they traditional or high-tech, can be utilized in a variety of ways. An animated feature film employs the talents of a wide variety of artists. Animators make up a fairly small population of the people that create an animated film. There are also assistant animators; in-betweeners; breakdown, background and layout artists; effects animators; storyboard artists; visual development or inspirational artists; computer animators; and graphic designers - to name a few!

All these individuals work as a team (hence the importance of communication) during the long, arduous process of producing an animated film. Gladstone gives an example of how the artist (in this case the layout artist), director, and art director work together. These individuals interpret the storyboard into the various sets, backgrounds and foregrounds for each shot of an animated film.

"The layout artist has a lot to do with the lighting of the film, the scope, the way the camera moves through the sets," he explains. "The layout artist is in a very great way the cinematographer of an animated film, deciding what the camera is going to see and where the characters will be blocked in a scene."

The in-betweener has traditionally been looked upon as the first rung on the ladder of a animation career. Although there are exceptions, Gladstone says, "Most people come up through the ranks, starting as an in-betweener and working their way up to an animator. I think that's a good way to do it. Eventually, if they become an animator, they will have had the experience of the people that follow them up. They were there before."

So, the path is charted - now, where to go for the all-important formal instruction? There are many schools that offer good fundamental art programs and consistently produce graduates with the skills necessary to become Disney animators. These schools are by no means the only choices available to the future animator.

Gladstone speaks from experience, "If you need to go to a state school - great! Find a state school that has an art program and take the best advantage of it you can. Learn how to draw well. Draw better than everybody there. If you can only go to trade school, great! Go to trade school and do it that way."

The various roads to an animation career all demand hard work, discipline, and patience. We asked Frank Gladstone what crucial advice he would give animators. He responded, "Keep trying. Don't get too frustrated. Realize your potential, be honest with yourself, and apply yourself to whatever that particular goal is you want to reach."

It takes, in a word, persistence!

For information on the Disney Animator Training Program, please write to:

Walt Disney World Casting,

P.O. Box 10,000,

Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000.

hmmm... I don't come around for awhile and I find this way back on page 7.

Just thought I saw some people here in recent posts that could use it.

When I was at Edinboro the professors told us that training program meant you got put on food service at the theme park (hence the word "casting"). I'm not sure if it's true but I met a girl who actually attended a similar lecture they held the year before under the guise of Get Working for Disney On Your Resume thinking she'd be competing for something similar and she got a concession stand...

Not devaluing anything, just saying be careful of semantics anyone who reads that.

Pretty sure you are thinking of the Disney Internship College Program. This article is more about the actual animation department. The College program is Disney's way of getting cheap labor from an unending source of ready and willing college students who don't really know what they are getting into. It has nothing to do with the animation department.

[b]Here is an older article about 2d animation
(I couldn't find part 2 sorry)[/b]
Acting and AnimationPart 1 of 2
Doron A. Meir Offers Some Guidelines for Achieving Convincing and Interesting Acting in Animation

By Doron A. Meir
10.25.02

"An animator is an actor with a pencil", goes the oldest and truest animation cliché.
Not "a draftsman that acts", but first and foremost - an actor. If you're trying to tell a story through a character, inevitably you're an actor. The only question is whether you are a good actor or a bad one.

My feeling is that in the past few years, while there's been great progress technology-wise, the art of acting in animation has been abandoned. Compared with the acting quality of characters such as Shere-Khan (The Jungle Book), Captain Hook (Peter Pan) and others, today's characters are pale, dull, and lack personality. In better cases, an exceptionally interesting voice-talent saves the day (Robin Williams as the genie in Aladdin); but usually the script alone is responsible for providing the characters with some sort of personality.

In the various internet forums one can find threads concerning software, design, textures - some even talk about movement - but it's rare to read something about acting. I haven't yet seen a comment saying something like "the animation is good, but the character has no personality". It seems that the level of expectations is so low, that it's enough for an animator not to make technical errors. Would you consider praising a writer simply because he made no spelling mistakes?

In the following article I have put on paper my thoughts considering acting in animation, which apply to any form of character animation - including 3D. The article is not meant to provide a "good acting in animation" formula - simply because such a formula does not exist. Every animator has his personal attitude, every film has needs of its own, and undoubtedly there are other ways of getting good acting. The goal is to propose a "toolbox" for the actor/animator, and maybe raise - even a little - the animators' awareness of acting in animation.

What is good acting?
When I ask my students what they think good acting is, the first answer is usually "believable acting". But credibility is only one side of the story. Good acting is believable and interesting. In my opinion, these two attributes wholly define good acting. With this idea as an axiom, we will try to separately analyze what makes acting believable, and what makes it interesting.

I. Believable acting
In the life of an animator there are short and rare moments of true magic. Those moments are the reason I became an animator, and they are the reason I still am one. I'm talking about a moment in which you look at the animation you've just created, and suddenly you believe your own character. Suddenly it's alive, it's there in its own right. Those are the moments of believable acting.

Believable acting holds a great power over the viewers, because the character they're watching gets a sort of meaning. Every man has meaning to us - even if we don't always think about it: If a total stranger sitting next to you on the bus suddenly collapses, you will not be indifferent - because the very fact that he is a flash and blood human earns him that meaning. This is why we feel sorry when Bambi's mother dies: we believe her and we believe Bambi, and both of them mean something to us. On the other hand, the characters in South Park are anything but believable, which is why there's no problem killing Kenny in each chapter.

(This might be the right place to reemphasize that the animator is of course not solely responsible for contributing meaning to the characters - script has an important part in it too. This article, however, is dealing with animation).

Believable acting means that the audience feels that the character's actions are the result of its own inner motives, and not the animator's inner motives; that the character feels, thinks and reacts consistently according to its personality and mood. I emphasized the last sentence since it encapsulates many of the ingredients of convincing acting:

Feel. The aim here is not just to portray clear and defined feelings (happy, sad, etc.) but to look for a kind of inner feeling that we have in us all the time - maybe it can be called "consciousness". Try to "feel" your character when you create animation, not just move it around according to the principles of animation.

Think. Your character shouldn't always act on immediate instincts. Look for opportunities to show thinking process, which leads to decision and action. It will enrich your animation with depth, complexity and believability.

React. Acting is actually more or less a series of reactions - the character reacts to its environment, to other characters, to stimulus. Every action must have a reason. Make sure you know what your character is reacting to, and that the reaction is reasonable (in other words: it's reasonable that this particular character will react in this particular way).

Consistency. Retain a consistent attitude to your character's reactions. A shy character (small, timid movements) that unexpectedly acts in an extroverted way with no clear reason, will suffer great damage to its credibility.

Personality. The character's personality dictates its reactions - i.e., its acting. Again, we are not necessarily talking about a definite personality such as "arrogant", "grumpy", etc. Try to get to know your character the way you know a family member or someone you work with. What makes him tick? What is he afraid of? What are his problems?

Mood. Mood resembles personality - it, too, dictates the character's reactions - but unlike personality, its effect is temporary. For example: a guy who's hurrying to work acts and reacts in a very different way than the very same guy as he calmly walks his dog in the evening.

* * *

Reading the above notions, one might think - "hey, all those things belong to the script and storyboard! Reactions, personality, mood - I can't control that! I'm just the animator here, my job is merely to move the character around and make sure there's a lot of anticipation!". My answer is in the following example:

The storyboard shows a character entering the frame, and looking angrily at another character. You're assigned to the scene, and the questions that should arise are: does the character enter slowly? Quickly? Determinedly? Hesitantly? Does he stop suddenly or gradually? Did he know the other character would be there, or does he spot it in the scene? Is he furious, or merely dissatisfied? What sort of anger is it - helpless (like a child's anger towards his parents), or superior (like a parent's towards his child)? And so on and so forth.

The actor/animator's task is to carefully read the script, study the storyboard, and try to "get into" the character. In other words: to find the character's inner feeling and to "wear" it for a while as if it was his own - so that he can get to know and understand the character. A good actor doesn't invent his acting - he discovers it. And still the animator faces the tough challenge of putting the experience into his animation, keeping the principles of motion. It isn't easy, but the reward - that magical moment of believable animation - is worth the effort.

"This is a page I have set up more or less as a reference for animating thoughts and techniques by some of the generous and enthusiastic animators out in the wide world prepared to share their thoughts on the topic. They are basically excerpts from websites and chatrooms that I have found interesting and useful. " Shaun Freeman http://www.shaunfreeman.com/animating_tips/

Shawn Kelly + Delio Tramontozzi Animation Lecture:
April 9th, 2004
Ringling School of Art + Design
Transcribed by: Jeremy Collins
www.jeremycollins.net

-Carefully choose gestures.
-Gestures should hit on vowels.
-Choose 1 or 2 of the most important poses and make sure they carry emotion and read.
-Avoid clichés at all costs. (i.e. using the first pose that comes to mind.)
-Watch out for “showing” in your animations instead of “doing”.
-Use gestures from NOW, not 1950.

Shoulders:
-Essential but commonly overlooked in animation.
-They have a wide range of motion and “emotion” in them.
-The shoulders often lead many actions.
-When your arm is completely extended your shoulders touch your ears. Their range is very wide.

Inbetweening:
-Computers inbetween with math, not with the principals of animation.
-Specify exactly what the pose needs.
-You must define the timing from ears to toes in your animation.
-“The computer is the dumbest inbetweener there is”.
-Watch for twinning in your poses.
-Try working with curves other than the default splines to develop your inbetweening.
-Spend the most time on the first post. It is the most telling in your whole animation.
-Use all of the controllers provided. There should be animation on every possible curve.
-Nothing truly is ever at rest.

Facial:
-The ocular muscles usually move before anything else. Brows lead the action and the mouth typically comes last.
-Avoid changing facial expressions in the middle of big movements. Do it before or after.
-There shouldn’t be any expression changes at all in the first or last 6 frames of an animation.

Arcs:
-Start with the core of the motion and move outward from there.
-Arms and often legs move in figure 8 patterns.
-When in FK, do the arms last. The motion of the arms is almost always dictated by the torso.
-Be aware of the orientation of the wrist to the elbow.
-Apply the waves principal (add overlap to all joints.)

Eyes:
-Plan when and why your characters eyes dart.
-Too many eye darts = spastic characters.
-Allow the eyes time to focus on the objects they’re pointing at.
-Unanimated eyes = doll eyes.
-The eyes always convey the emotion and truth of a character’s performance.

Blinks:
-Blinks are never random.
-Plan when and why your character is blinking.
-Blinks:
Convey a shift in thought.
Sell the emotional state of a character.
We blink to change a shift in thought or emotion.
When we blink we are “cutting the film of life”. Our eyes are the cameras.
Blinks always occur on quick head turns.

Jaw:
-The jaw doesn’t always open on every syllable or word.
-Get a mirror and keep it by your desk. Place your hand in a stationary position under your jaw and feel how many times it opens and closes per line of dialogue.

Feature Animation Demo Reel Tips:
1. Keep it under 2.5 minutes.
2. LABELS!
3. Always use a NEW VHS tape. (Always label the spine!)
4. Include a log sheet (breakdown sheet). Show thumbnails of the shot on the log and mention what you contributed to each shot.
5. Include a resume and cover letter. Always spell check these two docs.
6. Only use your best stuff.
7. Short film? Show your best shots first. Include the full film at the end.
8. Tailor your reel to the studio and position your applying for.
9. No offensive content.
10. Avoid cycles in your reel.
11. Reel Order:
-Second best shot – FIRST.
-Weakest shot (but still good work) – MIDDLE
-Best shot – LAST
-Full short film (if applicable) – at the end.

CARLOS BAENA

The purpose of this section is to gather as much animation material as I find to make it accesible to as many people as I can. Also, make sure to check out the website of the guys at Animation Meat , Jez Hall's Hat 01 website and Peter Levious' Anatomy Resource website. They all have priceless stuff for any animator out there.

http://www.carlosbaena.com/anim_material.html

Another very interseting and helpful site
http://asifa.net/israel/animationacting-e.html

All credit goes to http://www.freewebs.com/kavehmichael/charanimideas.doc



Character Animation

Principles of Animation

1. Squash and Stretch -- Defining the rigidity and mass of an object by distorting its shape during an action.

2. Timing -- Spacing actions to define the weight and size of objects and the personality of character.

3. Anticipation -- The preparation for an action.

4. Staging -- Presenting an idea so that it is unmistakably clear.

5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action -- The termination of an action and establishing it relationship to the next action.

6. Straight Ahead Action and Pose-To-Pose Action -- The two contrasting approaches to the creation of movement.

7. Slow In and Slow Out -- The spacing of the in-between frames to achieve subtlety of timing and movement.

8. Arcs -- The visual path of action for natural movement.

9. Exaggeration -- Accentuating the essence of an idea via the design and the action.

10. Secondary Action -- The action of an object resulting from another action.

11. Appeal -- Creating a design or an action that the audience enjoys watching.

12. Solid Drawing

Key Elements of Successful Character Animation

Balance – Weight - Timing

Stage 1: There's nothing about a character's movement that makes you (or other people if you're not picky enough) sit up and say, "There's something wrong with the way it moves."

This would include animation that's too stiff, has too few keyframes and looks like it's occurring under water, moon walking (feet sliding), poses that make no sense, etc. You must be long past just doing walk cycles and such to get to that point. Also it would include breaking symmetry, so the exact same action or facial expression isn't mirrored on the other side of the character. This just screams "COMPUTER", which is a bad thing.

Stage 2: Characters must act. Show emotion, facial expression that conveys the internal thinking of the character without the character having to say a word.

The body language should also be demonstrating a character's state of mind. Are they lazy, aggressive, do they have a limp, a backache? If they were trying to be threatening, would another character be threatened? If they do talk, are they convincing?

Stage 3: The character must have an absolutely unique and identifiable personality.

Subject the character to the "Twin" or "Brain Switch" test. You have two identical characters. You should be able to tell if you were looking at the good character or the bad character, even in silhouette. Or the smart brother or dumb brother. Trickier still would be the evil character doing his best to pose as the good character, and he's *almost* there but just not quite.

The characters in Toy Story would all pass this test. Buzz in Woody's body? Think you couldn't spot that. Or Woody in Buzz's. Or Rex in Buzz's.

In live action I'll give you an example: in the TV show "Taxi", Andy Kaufman's character, Latka, had an alter ego called "Vic Ferrari". When he changed without saying a word, you could tell. When "Vic" was trying to return to Latka, he tried acting like him, and you could tell he just couldn't quite get it.

Ask yourself, "How often have I seen this in computer animation?"

If you want to really call yourself good, *Stage 3* is the bar you have to achieve. I would presume it's the bar that the various large traditional animation studios require you to reach before you can even be called an "animator".

Character Animation Exercises

Generally, most exercises will involve either a character's emotions or a character's physical presence or both. Depending on how complex an animation you want to work with, characters can be as simple as a bouncing ball or as complicated as a living thing. It depends on how much time you have and how much you want to accomplish. Keep in mind that these are only suggestions to get you thinking.

The following exercises vary quite a bit in complexity. Most of them will require at least an intermediate understanding of the program you're using, but you are welcome and encouraged to attempt them no matter what level you're at. These exercises are ways in which you can challenge yourself and improve your animation skills. If you're not being challenged, you're not really doing yourself any favors. Pick something just above your level of competency and then try it. Once you've done it effectively, make it more complex.

When I have time, I will try to rate these exercises and put them in some sort of order. If you know of an exercise that has been particularly useful to you or just have an interesting idea, please send it and I will add it here.

Exercise suggestions:

1) Try to display the emotions a character might go through while waiting for a bus that's late. Pay close attention to facial expressions, body language, and detail.

2) Have a character try to open something (i.e. a present) that refuses to open. The character can only use body parts for the first minute, but may resort to other measures (i.e. tools and explosives) thereafter. Note, the character will be affected by the tools used (i.e. blast of an explosion). After you've mastered this, try to do the same thing with a normally inanimate object (i.e. lamp) as your lead character.

3a) Animate someone riding a pogo stick or some other 'fun' object (i.e. using a hoola hoop).

3b) Have your character use a weighted object, such as a hammer or a shovel. Demonstrate how the weight of the object affects the stance and demeanor of the character using it.

4) Create a walk cycle, then vary it to accommodate different attitudes and 'character'. For example: Angry, happy, sneaky, limping, carrying a heavy object, sleep walking, etc.

5) Animate two characters sawing a log. The first character is a big, muscular brute. Animate him pose-to-pose first and cycle his animation. The second character is a scrawny little guy who gets yanked around, grabbing onto the saw for dear life.

6) Have a character bend down, pick up something heavy, and throw it. This exercise can help you with timing, emphasizing weight, and anticipation.

7) Put a short character in a tall room with one window, one door, one light (and switch) and a hanging ceiling fan (with hanging switch). The room contains 3 boxes, a ball, and a board. Imagine the different ways your character could figure out how to reach the hanging switch and then animate the most outrageous. Next, subtract two boxes and add a skateboard and try again.

From CG-Char, CG Talk, 10 Second Club:

Bouncing ball (rubber, wood, lead, glass, beach, bowling, tennis, cannon, etc.) - weight, arcs, squash/stretch, timing, spacing, anticipation, declining residual energy (in the after-bounces), and possibly attitude, if the ball is more of a character. You can get a lot into (and out of!) a bouncing ball exercise. Well done bouncing balls actually aren't that common.

Egg dropping/rolling

Brick dropping

Walk, run, jump, sneak in different directions (show character from one into the next – realistic, character, 4-legged)

Push-pull-lift-carry-put down weight

Climb

Dialogue/monologue where the character starts off feeling one emotion and changes into another

Different weights of characters/ vary the size and shape of the character doing above tasks

Four-legged character (cat, dog, etc.) walking, jumping, climbing, stretching, yawning, scratching, etc.

Juicebox: a juice box enters frame from left has an emotion change throughout the animation and leaves from right (200 frame limit)
Character jumping over object

Character interaction with a ball
Character interaction with a box (push, pull, lift, etc.)

Bring an inanimate object to life
Leaf falling in arcs and the timing
Egg drop / brick drop
Ringing bell tower bell
A short dialogue (very short), putting physical accents on the significant beats of dialogue
Two character dialogue - introduces more staging and interaction

Standing or sitting, character doing nothing, body language should suggest thought process without any interaction with an object

A bunch of people waiting for a bus, all with different ages/professions

A character walks to a mailbox, deposits an envelope, and walks away. Now, how is that action different if the envelope contains (1) a heartfelt love letter, sent without knowing whether the recipient feels the same way about the sender, or (2) this year's tax return, which includes a big fat check made payable to Uncle Sam, or (3) the last mortgage payment on a house, or the last alimony check to an ex? The basic goals are the same (approach mailbox, etc), but the motivation behind them and the mood expressed will be dramatically different for each one.

Character goes to pick up an object they think is light but it’s heavy, and vice versa

3 legged character - two legs cannot move in unison

First you come up with something very minor - say, a guy picking up a flower. Now you start developing context...ask yourselves questions and try to come up with interesting answers

A two legged character walk on all fours

An old man kneeling down to pray, then rising

Pendulum swing (using arcs)

Simple head turn (using arcs)

Water drop falling from a leaf

One-shape character design

Complex character design

Emotional character walk in profile (anticipate - walk two strides and compensate to a stop)

Flour sack walkcycle

Flour sack falling off a ledge

Character waiting for something

Character sitting on object, interacting with object

Circus/Sideshow accidents (character walking on a tightrope gets distracted by a sound off screen and loses control; character stuck in a cannon, trying desperately to get out before the fuse burns out, but of course doesn't quite make it; carnie tries to impress onlookers with a "talent" but it goes horribly wrong)

Confrontation between two characters: one is losing but makes a spectacular comeback, just when you thought all hope was lost. This is that huge fight between the Boss and the Hero, or the dramatic clash that has led up to your dramatic quest

Hero/villain attempts to execute their strange and unfamiliar powers. Suddenly something goes horribly wrong and their power backfires

Character tries to access a bank machine and it misbehaves

Character tries to use a restroom and can't

Character takes on a profession as a mover and has to move an awkward object

Character entering a dark corridor/cave with weapon drawn awaiting a surprise from the dark

Character finding the “one ring” and reacting to his discovery

Show a feat of elven dexterity (ie. Legolas jumping on the horse or walking on snow, etc., but be original)

Character meeting death from an attack

Character thinks they're going to sneeze, then not sneeze and then finally sneezing

Character trying to swat a fly or catch a bug

Character trying to stay awake, finally falls asleep (maybe something really loud wakes him up at the end its up to you)

Character sneaking up on another character to scare them

Character leaning against the wall, chewing gum or a toothpick, hands in his pockets or maybe flipping a coin, waiting for something to happen

Character lifting their leg in front of them (perhaps ballet). Study the balance of body.

Character walk, then bolt into a run, jump over something, jump onto a rope, swing to a rubber ball and roll around on it (breaking/resuming motion)

Character pitches a baseball to another character using a bat

Character trying to lift weights

Idle hold (character stands still but needs some movement to his limbs or else will look frozen)

Opening/closing a door.
Pushing an heavy object.
Fire and reload a rifle.
Reload a rifle.
Let him die (this one can be fun to have several different versions of)

Reeds waving in the wind

Character side-step, jump, hop, side-jump, dive, cracking a whip, using a sledge-hammer

Hug

Cell phone

Crawl

Pet

Gymnast

“I Want Candy”

Stuck

Swim

Injured

Juggle

Tightrope

Catch, running catch

Save me

Exercise

Dive

Pole climb

Choke

“I’m losing my senses”

“Watch out for that car”

Cat burglar

“Get down from there”

Dance

Rough landing

“Where did I put that...”

“Bzzzz”

Surprise box

Hot hot hot

“I won the lottery”

Jumping a fence

Arrow in the chest

Kick

Transporter

From Spicy Cricket.com:

1. Character on the phone, but not talking, listening to a person on the other end talk about something: important, sad, happy and/or "fill in the blank". Choose the subject matter to really express how the receiver of that information reacts. The exercise is designed to help people develop a character's thinking through eye movement, subtle facial expression and pantomime with body language.

2. Display the feelings a character would experience while waiting for something or someone. Gender specific reactions can be really revealing here. How a man would react vs. a woman? This is a good exercise because it demands pure acting outside of dialogue. Much like Tom Hanks for most of castaway, your character will need to show lots of emotion through psychological gesture.

3. Create a walk cycle. Now make 4 variations on the same character to illustrate an emotion. For example: Angry Stomp, Happy Run, Sad Shuffle, Cocky Strut, Questioning Tiptoe, etc. Be sure to refer to the bouncing ball for your arcs and paths on this one.

4. Create a walk cycle with a four legged character. Do the same thing as above, but now illustrate you ability to translate it into four legs or even an insect and go to six or eight legs. Always refer to real life and then translate that into your own work. It is great when you can create a connection between an animal and human nature, but if you keep the integrity of the animal's basic essence, then the animation will be much richer. Of course a dog would not have the emotional range of a human, but you still know when a dog is happy. Think to yourself, not only how a human might react to the situation, but also how "insert animal/creature here" would react to it also.

5. Character encounters something that he wants to open. Perhaps it has difficulty opening it. Perhaps it reacts to whatever it opens (but you don't see what it in it). The character can only use body parts for the first 30 seconds, but may pursue some other means (i.e. tools and explosives) thereafter. This one is really open ended and can test your ability to show many storytelling ideas in the body language and facial expressions, without one line of dialogue.

6. A similar test to the one above is to have a witch attempt to ride a broom that keeps bucking her off. Andreas Deja (animated--Jafar in Aladdin, Scar in Lion King, Gaston in B & B, etc.) spoke of this test at a talk I attended in LA. He referred to it as what Disney asked him to do before he was officially brought into the animation department.

7. Animate two characters sawing a log. The first character is a big, macho man. Animate him pose-to-pose first holding one side of the saw and cycle his animation. The second character is a scrawny little guy who gets yanked around, grabbing onto the saw for dear life. This idea would be even better if there was some kind of big finish where the little guy gets the best of the big guy.

8. A character lifts something heavy. This is hard enough to show shifts in weight throughout the body to get leverage, but if you wanted to make the test even more complicated you can make the character do something else, while continuing to hold the heavy object. Great example of weight and timing. Again, Chapter 3 in The Illusion of Life covers this concept thoroughly.

9. A character is doing something and needs to get someone's attention. Lots of eye movement and subtle mouth stuff, as well as body language on an exercise like this.

10. The flour sack. A great test that forces understanding of the principles in its most basic form. Make a four sack move and react to show emotions and character. Be sure to remember the volume of the sack and how it would move between contact with the ground and being airborne. This test is a favorite among animators, since there is very little character design and development and you really have to pay attention to what you are trying to communicate.

From AWN:

What folks in the industry want to see is...character animation. THINKING, BREATHING CHARACTERS! Do 15-30 seconds of GREAT CHARACTER ANIMATION with one or two characters which show the following:

WEIGHT - show weight by squashing the feet and in the quads of the upper legs (on the front side) and in the hips/butt area. In 3D - use a lattice when structuring your character. WHEN IN DOUBT EXAGGERATE THE WEIGHT.

Posing with exaggeration

ACTIONS - LEADING AND FOLLOWING actions are easy - example: when a character land one foot makes contact and then the other...or if you lift the arms - one arm goes up and then the other.

OVERLAPPING ACTIONS - example the character comes to a halt and her hair and dress continue to flow and settle into place. To be effective the overlapping has to use "S" curves to change direction.

DRAG ACTION - is where you show a drag on a form as it moves through space. This usually occurs at the ends of the form. If a rubber raft is falling, the middle edge will be intact - the other edges will bend or drag back.

MOTIVATIONAL FORCES - what makes thing move - 80% or more of all actions happen because of the hips and legs. If a character throws a ball the action starts with the extension (unfolding) of the front leg which rotates the hips and create toque with the torso and allows the unwinding of the torso to lead the shoulder and the rest of the arm through a throwing motion. Another example: a character can't turn unless he pushes off on the outside foot - then he can change direction.

Thinking time (a character ALWAYS thinks before it does anything).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY ACTIONS - easy example in a walk - the legs are the primary action - then arms are the secondary action.

ANTICIPATION - (or ANTIC) In a grab, the hand comes up and backward before it goes forward.

COMPENSATION - If a character is running and stops - you have to compensate for the forward momentum (usually by driving the forces up - or down and then up.)

REVERSALS - try to work as many reversals into the spine as possible (as long as it makes sense to the action). The spine is curved forward - then curves back during an antic and then curves forward when the character picks up a stone. HINT: My next lesson at the Toon Institute will have this information.

A CUSHION OR SETTLE is where you move passed a key frame into an extreme/extreme and then cushion back into the original key frame.

A MOVING HOLD is a very, very slow slow-out of an action - to where the movement is coming to a creeping halt.

Staging (how the action is composed within the frame)

Character Design - the ability to caricature a person utilizing good design skills and have appeal

Dialog would be a plus

A Demo Reel Primer

What is a demo reel for?
A demo reel is essentially a sales tool. You are selling yourself and proving, to an extent, what sort of positive addition you will be to a company. If you can prove you've got oodles of talent and a creative way of thinking about things, your demo reel will get you noticed. If it is exceptionally good, it's your doorway into the industry.

Who is your audience?
Your audience, obviously, is comprised of those people you want to work for. The thing is, you're not alone. Many, many people want and have tried to get the same job you are applying for. These demo watchers have seen countless reels and guess what, they're tired of seeing the same things over and over again. If you think your 3 minute flying logo is going to win you a job, you better consider it very carefully before putting it on your reel. These people are not obligated to watch your entire reel. If they're dissatisfied, they will hit EJECT and move on, possibly missing your Oscar(tm) worthy animation later in the reel.

What to put on a demo reel

SECTION A (general):
Only your best, most amazing work ever. This stuff has to be the best thing since pizza. If you can do it all (model, render, and animate), do it all! You'll earn points for this. Companies are looking for people who can wear many hats and accept many responsibilities. You need to capture their attention and show them you're more than up to the challenge of working in a creative (and crazy) environment like theirs. You want to not only show them you're up to it, you want to show them it'll be a breeze for you.

What to put on a demo reel

SECTION B (specific):
You need to get as many strong points across to your audience visually, in as little time as possible. You need to capture their attention, draw them in, and make them forget for an instant that they are watching a demo reel. This can be quite difficult unless you a great deal of vision and a really good story to tell. Currently a lot of businesses are looking for excellent character animators. You need to bring an object to life, give it a voice, an attitude, "CHARACTER", and have it tell a story. Be fresh, creative, and original (I can't stress that enough). Also, there is a demand for artists who are good at creating low polygon count models. If you have specific skills you want to show off and can, such as adding actual paintings you've created in the real world into a 3d environment, then do it. You are trying to earn as many points as possible. A well rounded artist is always appreciated.

What not to put on a demo reel

SECTION A:
Probably whatever you are most likely to think about putting on your demo reel first, is the sort of thing you want to stay away from at all costs. You may think you're being original, but believe it or not, everyone else thinks their name or company logo looks cool flying around the screen too. How about spaceships? They're cool, to be sure...but if you're a demo watcher and that's all you see day in and day out, you're probably dying to see something else. Also, with whatever objects you include in your animation, make sure they are decorated (textured) in the best way possible. Most things in the real world are not shiny and new. Instead they are dented, beat up, scratched, or flawed in some unusual way. Prove your texturing skills by creating your own complex custom textures and make your models even more interesting to look at.

Realize that your audience has seen just about every basic transition and effect out there. These are the things that are only one click away in whatever program you're using. You need to be different and your effects need to be hard won. If it can be done from a simple pull down menu, it's probably not doing to impress them. You need to stand out from the rest of the pack.

What not to put on a demo reel

SECTION B (exceptions):
Of course there are exceptions to everything in the computer graphics and animation industry. If the job you are applying for is going to require specific skills, such as flying logos or spaceship battles, then by all means gear your demo reel in that direction. However, if you are going to be applying to a wide variety of jobs, it is best to have something that will appeal and look absolutely amazing to everyone.

How do I create a good demo reel?
Sit, plan, make-up, cross out, plan some more, think, cross out, make up, and then get to work. A good method is to think about what your strengths are and then think about the most effective and entertaining way possible to get those strengths across on screen. Then sit and think about every aspect of what you want to do and storyboard it out. Understand what every scene is going to involve, how long it's going to take, what sort of resources you'll need to accomplish it, and if everything you want to do is really possible. And if it's not possible, how you're going to look that obstacle in the eyes and say "up yours, I'm doing it anyway".

What does a good demo reel look like?
Many companies have their own reels which you could probably arrange to get a hold of. Contact these places and see if they will send you one. If these are places you would like to work for, then pay close attention to the sort of things they do. Otherwise, I suggest checking out many cool animation tapes currently on the market. Look for "The Mind's Eye" series by SMV or "Computer Animation Festival" series also by SMV. Watch the tapes, be inspired, and then think about how you could have done it better...and then do something else, since what you're thinking about doing has already been done. Remember, be original. If you want to do something that's been done before, do it differently (if that makes sense).

Things to remember!
Put your best stuff first. You want to grab your audience's attention as soon as possible. Give credit where credit is due. If you didn't do something, say so. Also, specify the tools you used to create your demo reel.

Shawn Kelly:

“If you want to get your reel noticed by the big companies, fill it with 2 minutes of clips that show the strongest mechanics and physics (showing off the fundamental principles of animation) that you can, and pepper it with a few dialogue/acting tests. If it's a rock-solid butt-kicking reel, it will rise to the top no matter what. It will get passed around, the right people will see it, and you'll be set. At that point, it's just a waiting-around period until the companies happen to be hiring.”

1. Focus on the forces affecting your character, both internally and externally. This will describe the action and reaction of the character, the succesive breaking of joints, the overlap, center of gravity, the follow-through, what leads what, etc. It all starts with the forces involved.

2. MAKE A DECISION.
I was a really big "what-if" guy. I mean, REALLY big. I'd get 1/4 of the way into a shot where a guy is lifting a box, and say "Hey! What if the box was really a bowling ball?" So then I'd want to start over. Of course, then I'd have another "bright" idea and start over again. You'll never finish a scene or even be able to properly get started on it until you MAKE SOME CONCRETE DECISIONS about what is going on in the scene, what you're trying to say in the scene, and what actions/emotions you are going to animate in a scene. This stuff is all found in the planning phase.

3. PLAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We all want to just dive into our shots, but if you take the time to plan it out, you'll find that it turns out much better in the end, and probably finished faster.

4. It's really an amazing gift to run into someone so generous and willing to take so much time out of their life to help you along... Being able to be the recipient of that firsthand is one of the reasons that I wanted to teach so badly.

5. Polishing up your arcs can make a GIANT difference in the overall impression of your scene.
You know how if your room is a wreck and people are coming over and you just don't have time to clean, but if you just make the bed nicely, even that one thing can suddenly make the room seem a lot neater, even though you only really changed one thing? Arcs are like that bed.

It's important to know the following things:

Where is your character? Where did he just come from? Where does he want to go next?
When does the scene take place?
WHO is your character?
What does your character WANT in this scene? What does he want in the long-run?
What, if anything, stands between your character and this desire?

If you know those things, you can figure out the subtext of what he is saying (the TRUTH behind his words), as well as his emotional state, how he'd react to this given situation, etc.

A lot of this subtext stuff can be determined from the "main word" in the sentence. The "main word" (I've also heard it referred to as the "operative word") is the word that is most enunciated or focused-on word in the sentence. This is usually the word you will build your main gesture around, the main body performance around, and the main facial performance around.

- major posture shifts
- head turns
- arcs
- overlap
- weight shifts
- gestures

ALL THE ABOVE TEXT FROM THE LAST FEW POSTS
WAS REFERENCED FROM
http://www.freewebs.com/kavehmichael/charanimideas.doc

Books on Animation and realated fields

The Animator's Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles, and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion, and Internet Animators by Richard Williams

The Animator's Workbook by Tony White

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas

The Disney Villain by Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston

Walt Disney's Bambi: The Sketchbook Series (The Sketchbook Series) by Frank Thomas

Walt Disney's Peter Pan (The Sketchbook Series , No 5) by Frank Thomas

Disney's the Little Mermaid: Sketch Book (Walt Disney's Sketchbook Series) by Applewood Books

Animation : From Script to Screen by Shamus Culhane

Timing for Animation by Harold Whitaker

Acting for Animators, Revised Edition : A Complete Guide to Performance Animation by Ed Hooks

Cartoon Animation (The Collector's Series) by Preston Blair

The Complete Animation Course: The Principles, Practice, and Techniques of Successful Animation by Chris Patmore

Posted by OMNIGON at AWN
(Omnigon I thought this would make a great addition to this thread. ~Hett)

This is a list of Recommended Reading for talent training at Walt Disney Feature Animation. Thought it would be nice to share it with you all and you can start your own checklist :D

Walt Disney Feature Animation
Recommended Reading
BOOKLIST

WALT DISNEY ANIMATION - Production/ Artists/ History

1. Aladdin: The Making of an Animated Film by John Culhane (1992)

2. The Art of Mickey Mouse, by Craig Yoe (1991)

3. The Art of Walt Disney, by Christopher Finch (1993)

4. Bambi: The Story & the Film, by Ollie Johnston & Frank Thomas (1990)

5. The Disney Touch, by Ron Grover (1991)

6. Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, by Ollie Johnston & Frank Thomas (1981)

7. Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Characters, by John Grant (1992)

8. Fantasia, by John Culhane (1983)

9. The Disney Studio Story, by Richard Holliss & Brian Sibley (1988)

10. The Man Behind The Magic: The Story of Walt Disney, by Katherine & Richard Greene (1991)

11. Too Funny For Words, by Ollie Johnston & Frank Thomas

12. Treasures of Disney's Animation Art, by John Canenaker (1982)

13. Walt Disney's World of Fantasy, by Adrian Bailey (1982)

14. The Disney Films, by Leonard Maltin (1984)

15. The Ultimate Disney Trivia Book, by Kevin Neary & Dave Smith (1992)

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BOOKS ON PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES

1. Animation From Script to Screen, by Shamus Culhane (1988)

2. The Animation Workbook, by Tony White (1986)

3. Basic Animation Stand Techniques, by Brian G. O. Salt (1977)

4. Cartoon Animation: Introduction to A Career, by Milton Gray (1991)

5. The Complete Kodak Animation Book, by Charles Soloman & Ron Stark (1983)

6. How To Create Animation, by John Cawley & Jim Korkis (1990)

7. How To Draw Animation Storyboards, by Bob Singer (1992)

8. Make Your Own Animated Movies & Videotapes, by Yvonne Anderson (1991)

9. Scriptwriting For Animation, by Stan Hayward (1977)

10. Timing For Animation, by Harold Whitaker & John Halas (1981)

11. Walter T. Foster Art Books Series:
Cartoon Animation: Basic Skills, by Walter Foster
How To Draw Cartoon Animation, by Preston Blair
How To Animate Film Cartoons, by Preston Blair

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BOOKS ON ANIMATION ARTISTS & PIONEERS

1. Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of An Animated Cartoonist, by Chuck Jones (1989)

2. Emile Cohl, Caricature & Film, by Donald Crafton (1990)

3. The Fleischer Story, by Leslie Cabarga (1988)

4. The Great Cartoon Directors, by Jeff Leuberg (1983)

5. Tex Avery, by Patrick Brion (1984)

6. Tex Avery: King of Cartoons, by John Adamson (1975)

7. Talking Animals and Other People, by Shamus Culhane (1986)

8. The Walter Lantz Story, by Joe Adamson (1985)

9. Winsor McGay: His Life and Art, by John Canemaker (1987)

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BOOKS ON ANIMATION HISTORY

1. American Animated Films: The Silent Era (1897-1929), by Dennis Gifford (1990)

2. Bugs Bunny: Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare, Joe Adamson (1990)

3. Cartoon Confidential, by Jim Korkis & John Cawley (1991)

4. Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films, 1939-45, by Michael Shull & David Witt (1987)

5. Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation, by Charles Solomon (1989)

6. Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons, by Jeff Leuberg (1991)

7. Encyclopedia of Cartoon Superstars from A to (Almost) Z, by Jim Cawley & Jim Korkis (1990)

8. Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat, by John Canemaker (1991)

9. Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals, by Jeff Rovin (1991)

10. Looney Tunes & Merry Melodies, by Jeff Beck & Will Friedwald (1988)

11. Of Mice and Magic, by Leonard Maltin (1987)

12. That's All, Folks!: The Art of Warner Brothers Animation, by Steve Schneider (1988)

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BOOKS ON DRAWING (Human and Animal Figures)

1. Anatomy Lessons From the Great Masters, by Robert Beverly Hale (1977)

2. Art Anatomy of Animals, by Ernest Thompson Seton (1977)

3. The Art of Animal Drawing, by Ken Hultgren (1950) (Recently re-issued in soft cover)

4. The Book of A Hundred Hands, by George Bridgeman (1962)

5. Bridgeman's Life Drawing, by George Bridgeman (1962)

6. Constructive Anatomy, by George Bridgeman (1962)

7. The Drawings of Heinreich Kley, (1961)

8. Drawing The Female Figure, by Joseph Sheppard (1975)

9. Drawing The Human Head, by Burne Hogarth (1965)

10. Drawing The Male Figure, by Joseph Sheppard (1976)

11. Drawing Media & Techniques, by Joseph A. Gatto (1987)

12. Dynamic Anatomy, by Burne Hogarth (1958)

13. Dynamic Figure Drawing, by Burne Hogarth (1970)

14. Figure Drawing Comes To Life, by Albert Seckler

15. Figure Drawing For All It's Worth, by Andrew Loomis

16. Heads, Features and Faces, by George Bridgeman (1962)

17. The Human Machine, by George Bridgeman (1972)

18. More Drawings of Heinrich Kley (1962)

19. On The Art of Drawing, by Robert Fawcett

20. Vilppu Sketch Book, by Glen Vilppu (1994)

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PHOTOGRAPHIC REFERENCE (of Human and Animal Figures)

1. Atlas of Foreshortening: The Human Figure in Deep Perspective, by John Cody (1980)

2. Human and Animal Locomotion - Volumes I, II, & III, by Eadwead Muybridge (1979)

3. The Human Form In Action and Repose, by Phil Brodatz & Dori Watson (1968)

4. Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual (1987)

5. Illustrator's Reference Manual of Nudes (1989)

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BOOKS ON FILM

This is only a tiny sampling of the almost limitless number of titles dealing with every aspect of live cinema production and the history of motion pictures.

1. Cinematography, by Kris Malkiewicz (1973)

2. The Elements of Cinema, by Stefan Sharff

3. Eugene Lourie: My Work in Films, by Eugene Lourie (1985)

4. Film Design, by Terrence St. John Marner (1974)

5. The Film Sense, by Sergei Eisenstein (1970)

6. Flight of Fancy: The Great Fantasy Films, by Kennth Von Gunden (1989)

7. How Movies Work, by Bruce F. Kawin (1992)

8. Introduction To Film, by Robert S. Withers

9. The Moving Picture Book, by William Kuhns

10. Special Effects: Creating Movie Magic, by Christopher Finch (1984)

11. The Technique of Special Effects Cinematography, by Raymond Fielding

12. Understanding Movies, by Louis Giannetti (1987)

13. Wide Screen Movies, by Robert E. Carr and R. M. Hayes (1988)

14. Hollywood Art: Art Direction In The Days of the Great Studios, by Beverly Heisner (1990)

BITMAP to VECTOR Conversion

Here is a website that goes into detail about how to convert bitmap images (your common scanned image or digital picture) into vector based images tha you can easily manage.

http://www.masternewmedia.org/2004/02/28/autotracing_how_to_convert_bitmaps.htm

Vectorization, known by many in the publishing, GIS and graphic design industries, allows a bitmap image, generally derived from a scan or from other digital input acquisition equipment to be converted into a much more manageable, flexible, light and editable vector format.

Bitmpap images are made of a series of dots or pixels.
Bitmpap images are consequently:
a) large in size
b) very hard to edit
c) difficult and slow to manage
Conversely, vector images are characterized by:
a) very small size
b) completely editable
c) resizable without loss of quality
d) easy and fast to manage

Illustrator Tracing tutorial
This is a tutorial where you'll learn how to do those nice looking traced images like the one to your right. Now, I know there is a lot of software out there that will do this work for you, such as Adobe Streamline or Flash with its bitmap tracing option,
but I'm sure you'll agree with me that there's nothing like the real thing baby, so let's get on with it and get some skills.
http://www.clublime.com/tracetute/tracetute.htm

Illustrator How-To: Turn Bitmap Images into Vector Art
Transforming the jagged edges of raster images into the smooth curves of vector art isn't hard to do using Adobe Illustrator's Auto Trace feature. But the end result can look simplistic. For more sophisticated images, you'll need additional help from Illustrator's path-editing tools and from your image editing application. Here's what you need to do.
http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/18132.html?cprose=3-46

Adobe Streamline
Faster than a tracing hand, able to leap from raster to line art in a single bound, Adobe® Streamline™ 4.0 software instantly converts scanned black-and-white or color raster images into editable Adobe PostScript® line art. Just scan any sketch, and Streamline will automatically create a file that you can drag and drop into Adobe Illustrator® to complete your design.
http://www.adobe.com/products/streamline/main.html
User to user forum
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?14@@.ee6b382

Vector Eye - The easiest way to convert images to line art
Faster than a tracing hand, this powerful software is the raster to vector converter you need for Illustrator (Adobe), CorelDraw (Corel), Flash (Macromedia), WebDraw (Jasc), Sodipodi (freeware) and any vector-based software. Vector Eye instantly converts scanned black-and-white or color raster images (bmp, jpg, tiff, png) into editable vector files (.svg, .ps, .eps). Just scan any sketch, or select an image (or a sequence) in an AVI movie, make some bitmap adjustments (scale, select zone, enhance, swap colors, rotate...) and Vector Eye will automatically create multiple SVG file corresponding to different settings. You can analyse, modify till the result suits you (quality, weight, number of vectors).
http://www.siame.com/

Freehand autotrace for beginners
The FreeHand Autotrace tool converts bitmap objects into vector paths. In addition, FreeHand can also autotrace other vector objects which may already be on the page. Before FreeHand 7, the Autotrace tool was useful for converting only the most basic scans into vector bezier curve art. However, in FreeHand 7 the Autotrace tool was completely rewritten. It is now a very powerful tool, capable of producing traces equal to (and sometimes better than) Adobe Streamline.
http://tinyurl.com/2e7bx
FreeHand 7 bitmap export issues

Acme TraceArt
TraceART is a professional raster to vector conversion program. TraceART can let you quickly convert uneditable scanned paper drawings into accurate vector files for editing in any CAD program. It saves the converted file as an industry standard DXF file (Data Exchange Format) that can be read by any CAD program that supports this format. TraceART is a direct replacement for traditional tracing and digitizing.
http://www.freefirestudio.com/index.htm

Coreldraw bitmap to vector facility
Applying Bitmap Commands Web Archive

Convert bitmap to vector - Asylum FAQ
http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/1329

Autotracing tips
If you decide to autotrace, even if you know the angels will weep for you, remember these four tips.
http://briem.ismennt.is/2/2.3.2a/2.3.2.03.auto.tips.htm
If you decide to autotrace, even if you know the angels will weep for you, remember these four tips.

One. Use large scans for tracing
The difference between the bad and the indefensible may be a matter of detail. High resolution can help.

This comma was autotraced from a small scan (82 pixels in height). It looks terrible.

This comma was autotraced from a larger original. The scan was 333 pixels high. Although the points landed in odd places, the shape itself is better.

Two. Put in minimum/maximum points
You should have a Bézier endpoint where curves extend most: at the top and bottom, farthest to the right and left. Some people call these points extremas.

The acute accent on the left hasn’t got minimum/maximum points. The right one has.

Should you add more points to a path that has more than enough already? Sometimes. The accent on the left, as I’m sure you noticed, has control points ("handles") sticking out all over the place. They can be a menace. After you’ve added minimum/maximum points, in the example on the right, the length of the handles is more manageable.

Three. Tidy up your outlines.
Get rid of points that you don’t need. Many don’t define the shape. Some make it worse.

The acute accent on the left is defined with ten endpoints. The right one manages with six.

Four. Pay attention to overlaps
When one shape goes across another, autotracing often runs into trouble.

The original image, on the left, has sharp corners where the shapes cross each other. The autotrace on the right created bad curves.

Where the corners must be sharp, you can make a separate outline for each shape, and then remove the overlap.
Copyright © 1998-2001 Gunnlaugur SE Briem. All rights reserved.
Updated 01 August 2001

[b]I found this tutorial from a source at penciljack.com ( iwill try to find who posted it) It is a really good tutorial about lighting.

Light and Dark tutorial
[/b]http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/tutorials/light01.htm