Digital Animation Terms

Based off notes from two animation courses

Straight-ahead

• Drawing in sequence (1, 2, 3, etc.)

• Fluid, spontaneous

• Difficult to keep things on model or consistent

• Harder to hit timing cues

Pose-to-pose

• Start with most “important” drawings then add drawings in between

• Easier to stay consistent throughout the animation

• Can be “stiffer” and feel “less organic” than straight-ahead

• Animatics are exclusively pose-to-pose

Keys

Frames that work as the “backbone” of your animation. Typically worked on first.

Extremes

Furthest forward/backwards subject moves

Breakdowns (BKDNs)

Illustrate subtleties with a movement

Inbetweens (IBTWNs) (Tweening)

Frames that occur between two keyframes

Timing & Spacing

• Time an action takes from start to finish; measure in frames

• Amount of space/overlap between adjust drawings, and how that changes over time

• Faster objects require less frames and more stretch!

Arcs (Paths of motions)

• Things tend to move in curves, not straight lines

• Straight lines give a robotic/mechanic look; inorganic

• Interesting, catches the eye

Squash and Stretch 

• Used to create the illusion of material quality (rubbery, soft, NOT STIFF OR RIGID)

• Seen with bouncing, impact, pushing, etc

• Dependent on material, force/velocity, and animation style (For example, rubber hose animation would be a lot more “stretchy” than something more realistic)

• Can be used subtlety

Ease in/ease out

• Slow at the beginning, fast/abrupt at the end; fast

• Abrupt at the beginning, slow at the end.

Contrapposto

A natural, asymmetrical standing posture.

• Attitude take towards our drawings

• Drawings represent 3D forms/volumes, NOT 2D shapes

Walk cycles

Head bobs up and down Arms swing/twist back and forth Lots of moving parts Counter movement, different actions Energy efficient Stable (weight balanced) Pattern of falling + catching ourselves Weight, climate, timing Sine wave Curve stays symmetrical	Up Contact Down Passing Legs come together Start with contact position Our feet come to an imaginary line when walking from above

Overlapping Action

Different parts of the body moving differently from one another

Follow through

• Secondary movement that is a physical result of main action

• For example, hair bobbing when a character walks

Secondary action

• Independent of main action, but happens at same time

• Describes character, tone, environment 

• For example, shivering while walking because it’s cold outside would be a secondary action

Breaking joints

“Break” joints in smear/in between frames

Anticipation

• Move/action before main action

• Counteraction

  • Bigger action - Bigger Anticipation

  • Pose, timing

• Throwing our weight behind an action

  • Attention, direct it to the action

Anticipation, Action, Reaction

• Throw our own weight behind action

• Reaction, aka follow through,momentum carry on, overshoot + settle

Staging

• Pushing our drawings, poses, actions, compositions in service of clarity (Making things READ) 

• “Show don't tell”

• “Blocking” our characters, camera, other scenery, etc.

• Silhouettes of poses, strengthening

  • Front facing for expressions

  • Actions in profile

• Staging in time

Exaggeration

• Pushing our poses, drawings, actions, etc.

• Inbetweens tend to soften actions

• Animation tends to lose weight

Appeal

• Historically: Characters designed based on role in story

• Design informs audience’s expectations

  • Round characters = softer, friendlier, more approachable

  • Angular characters = rigid, mean, intimidating

• “Charisma”, “presence”

“Tie down”

• Stay on model

• Line quality

• Additional details

• Tying down held positions

• Flipping! Look for errors

• “Logic”

Twinning

• Limbs moving in unison

• Too much of this looks unnatural

• Change up arm/hand

• Stagger timing of hands (follow-through)

1 frame (1/24th)

• A very quick jab

• Strobe effect

2 frames (1/12th)

• Blink

• Shaky hands (or similar, “shaky” cycle

• “The Invisible Anticipation”

4 frames (1/6th)

• Baseball swing (anticipation is nine frames)

• Light anticipation for tiny action

• Clapping

6 frames

• “Threshold of readability” for held poses

• Sprint (fast, realistic run)

8 frames 

• Jog (slower run)

• Quick hand gestures 

• Swinging large/heavy tool

• Anticipation for moderate action (I.e 1 frame jab, baseball swing, etc.

16 frames (⅔, 90 BPM)

• Can’t Stop by RHCP

• Slow/casual walk, slower skip

• Heavier, forceful actions 

• Workout/exercise reps

• Anticipation for big action

24 frames (1 second)

• Slow, gentle movement

• Very slow walk

• Quick inhale or exhale

• Deliberate, thoughtful anticipation

• Fast “beat” or moment of thought

36 frames

• Delicate or lethargic movement

• Impossibly slow walk or sneaking walk

• Carefully slow anticipation, “wind up”

• Inhale or exhale

• Small, simple “acting moments”

Null Layers

Layers which have no visible information - they can be used (via parenting, etc.) to control other layers.

Pre-Compositions (Pre-Comps)

Can be used to organize layers, as well as quickly copy+paste multiple instances of an element or collection of elements.

Storyboards & Animatics

• Creates a clear, whole vision of a film/animated sequence, shot-by-shot

• Describes the position, movement, and actions of camera, characters, and key elements

Motion Graphics

• Enhances compositions of type and other graphic elements through animations

• Typically emphasizes smooth, seamless transitions between graphic moments, visualization of info/data, sleek and energetic motion designed to engage viewer

• Ex. A quick logo animation

• Is associated with vector graphics animated with computer techniques, but as a general medium/genre of animation can be applied in a variety of styles

Kinetic Typography

Making words, letters, or numbers move, scale, or transform on screen

Animated Illustration

• Generally enhance the value of an illustrated image though animated elements, often as a short loop

• Broad, ambiguous category of media including: editorial illustrations for online publications, animated album art for music, splash art/loading screens for video games, digital collectible cards, etc

• Oftentimes, these media exist alongside a static “print” version of the illustration, which may have previously existed as a standalone work before the animated version is produced

Inpoint & Outpoint

Markers that define the start and end of a specific segment you want to isolate

Focal Length

The optical distance from the center of a lens to the point where light rays converge to form a sharp image on a sensor or film

Puppet Pin Tool (After Effects)

Allows for layers to be bent/distorted at manually-designated points.

Position Pins

The 'classic' Puppet Pin Tool option - moving their position pushes and pulls the nearby region(s) of the layer

Starch Pins

Puppet Tool pins that cannot be animated, but are used to define 'stiff' regions of the layer that should not distort as much

Bend Pins

These Puppet Tool pins cannot have their position moved, but can have their angle adjusted to bend the layer at that point

Advanced Pins

A combination of the position and bend pins, allowing for adjustment of position and rotation data separately.

Adjustment Layers (After Effects)

Allow for easy application of an effect(s) onto an entire composition. Any effects placed on the adjustment layer will apply to any layers which sit underneath it.

Continuity Editing

A film and television technique used to create a seamless, logical flow of time and space

Temporal Continuity

• The principle of maintaining a smooth, unbroken progression of time across a sequence.

• Avoid Jump Cuts

Match-on-Action

“Motivating” a cut with an action

Logical Continuity

• Eyeline

• Reverse/reaction shot

• Kuleshov Effect

  • Juxtaposition

  • No emotion, just face

ActionScript

An object-oriented programming language that is designed specifically for website animation

Workspace

The work area in a software program consisting of a customized arrangement of various UI (user interface) elements, such as panels, bars, and windows; options in Animate include Animator, Designer, Essentials, Developer, and Classic or it may be customized

Interface

A device or program enabling a user to communicate with a computer; Animate's Interface is comprised of the Stage, Pasteboard, Properties panel, Library, etc.

Drawing Tools

Tools in a software program that aid the user with different drawing abilities - pencil, pen, brush, shape, line, paint, etc.

Timeline

The area below the stage in Animate that displays the sequence of frames and is used for several actions

Project Phases

Plan, design, build, test, publish/launch

Scope Creep

In project management, refers to changes, continuous or uncontrolled growth in a project's scope at any point after the project begins

Stage

The window in which you will see any type of content on the document once it has been published

Pasteboard

The area around the stage which can be used to have things off screen which can then be animated into the stage

Color Picker

Tool used to choose colors to apply to text, objects, strokes, etc.

Motion Tween

A type of animation that uses symbols to create movement, size and motion changes, fades, and color effects

Classic Tween

A tool used to create animation movements within an Animate document; similar motion tweens, but more complex to create and not as flexible

Shape Tween

Animation using shapes in Adobe Animate

Stamp

A paint tool used to copy pixel values from one place and time to another

Library

An area in Animate that allows you to store various types of assets (documents, templates, images, etc.) for later use

Preset

A motion tween that is pre-configured that enables you to add animations with a minimal number of steps. You can also create a custom preset from any animation you make and reuse

Symbol

A graphic, button, or movie clip that you create once in the Animate CC authoring environment or by using the SimpleButton (AS 3.0) and MovieClip classes

Instance

A clone or duplicate of a symbol

Alignment

Tool that allows you to align layers on the stage (horizontal center, horizontal right, horizontal left, vertical center, vertical top, vertical bottom, etc.)

Transformation

Tool that allows you to transform/change shapes, objects, etc. - resize, flip horizontally/vertically, etc.

Mask

A layer that creates a hole through which underlying layers are visible; used for spotlight effects and transitions; it can be a filled shape, a type object, an instance of a graphic symbol, or a movie clip

Anchor

A point on a line

Clone

A duplication of a symbol

Background Layer

The bottommost layer in the layers palette

Graphic Symbol

Used for static images and to create reusable pieces of animation that are tied to the main Timeline; add less to the FLA file size than buttons or movie clips because they have no timeline

Bitmap Layer

A layer containing digital images composed of a matrix of dots

Tangent Handle

Tool used to adjust the curve on either side of an anchor point

Match Screen

Export option allowing you to use the screen resolution and maintain the aspect ration of the original image

Actions Panel

Allows you to create and edit code for an object or frame

Component Panel

Allows you to add a pre-built packaged module that can include graphics and code

Swatches Panel

Allows you to update and reuse colors across documents

Number

ActionScript 3.0 data type; used for storing floating-point numbers and integer values larger than 32-bit

String

ActionScript 3.0 data type; stored internally as Unicode characters and represents a sequence of 16-bit characters

Snap to Pixels

Snaps object directly to individual pixels or lines of pixels on the Stage

Snap to Align

Snaps objects to a specified snap tolerance, a preset boundary between objects and other objects or between objects and the edge of the Stage

Snap to Grid

A non-printing grid resembling graph paper that helps you organize objects

Snap to Guide

Non-printing guide lines that can be moved, modified, deleted or locked into place

Bone/Inverse Kinematics (IK)

a way of animating objects using bones chained into linear or branched armatures in parent-child relationships. When one moves, connected elements move in relation to it.

[E]

Free Transformation Tool

Playhead

Indicates the current frame displayed on the Stage. As a document plays, the playhead moves from left to right through the Timeline.

Onion Skinning

Used to compare the previous and next frames and adjust the objects in the current frame.

Mask Layer

Contain objects used as masks to hide selected portions of layers below them. Only the portion of the mask layer not covered by the mask is visible.

Graphic Looping

Every graphic symbol instance has looping properties (that is loop mode, first frame, last frame) associated with it. Please see Looping section under object tab in Property inspector to change looping properties of selected symbol instance.

Loop

Plays the frames of the Graphic from ‘first frame’ to ‘last frame’ in sequence and keeps looping until there are frames on the parent timeline’s frame span.

Play Once (Loop)

Plays the frames of the Graphic only once from ‘first frame’ to ‘last frame’. After that instance stays at ‘last frame’ for the rest of the frames in the parent timeline’s frame span.

Single Frame (Loop)

Plays only one frame of Graphic that is pointed by the ‘first frame’ property.

Asset Warp

A powerful animation feature in Adobe Animate and After Effects used to deform and manipulate vector graphics and bitmaps.

Stopwatch

Indicates whether a property is animated.

Expressions

Uses a scripting language based on JavaScript to specify the values of a property and to relate properties to one another. Used by connecting properties with the pick whip.

The Graph Editor

• Represents property values using a two-dimensional graph, with composition time represented horizontally (from left to right)

• In layer bar mode, on the other hand, it only represents the horizontal time element, without showing a graphical, vertical representation of changing values.

Motion Paths

Appears as a sequence of dots, where each dot marks the position of the layer at each frame. A box in the path marks the position of a keyframe.

Composition Panel

A panel in After Effects that represents layers spatially, and where compositions are displayed at the location of the CTI on the Timeline panel