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Tricks to animating characters with a computer

Published:01 May 2001Publication History
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Abstract

When I presented the first animation I had created with a computer, The Adventures of André and Wally B., at SIGGRAPH 84, a number of people asked me what cool new software I had used to achieve such believable characters. I explained to them that the software was a keyframe animation system, not much different in theory than other systems that were around then. What was different was that I was using basic animation principles that I had learned as a traditional animator. It was not the software that gave life to the characters, it was these principles of animation, these tricks of the trade that animators had developed over 50 years ago. I was surprised at how few people in the computer animation community were aware of these principles.Traditional animation is basically one trick after another. Whatever it takes to get it working right on the screen is fair game. It should be the same in computer animation. At Pixar, we constantly use tricks, old and new, to get what we need on the screen. In this talk, I will give away a few trade secrets that will be useful to anyone attempting to animate characters with computers, regardless of the software they are using.

References

  1. Lasseter, John. "Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation," SIGGRAPH 87, Computer Graphics, 21(4), pp. 35-44, July 1987. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  2. Saint-Exupéry. Wind, Sand and Stars, Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York, 1932.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  3. Thomas, Frank and Ollie Johnston. Disney Animation--- The Illusion of Life, Abbeville Press, New York, 1981.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  4. Whitaker, Harold and John Halas. Timing for Animation, Focal Press, London, 1981.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar

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  • Published in

    cover image ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics
    ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics  Volume 35, Issue 2
    May 2001
    44 pages
    ISSN:0097-8930
    DOI:10.1145/563693
    Issue’s Table of Contents

    Copyright © 2001 Author

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    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    • Published: 1 May 2001

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