Animation Fundamentals/ Final Project
23/06/25 - 21/ 7 /25 ( Week 10 - Week 14)
- Planning Stage:
- Animation Techniques and process:
Animation is created using two main techniques: Pose to Pose, which focuses on planning key movements, and Straight Ahead, which allows for more flexibility. The animation workflow follows this order: Rough → Tie Down → Clean Up → Color and Shadow. Timing is managed through four types of poses: Key, Extreme, Breakdown, and Inbetween, with motion spacing like Slow In and Slow Out to create smoother, more natural movements.
- We will use the character from Project 1 to create a 5 to 10 second physical action animation, such as a fight, chase, or sports scene. The main goal is to show strong movement and clear emotions. Before starting, we will draw a storyboard to plan the key actions, emotions, camera angles, and scene transitions. The animation will be made in Adobe Animate, set at 24fps with a 1280×720 resolution. The process will include rough sketch, tie down, clean up, and coloring. In the end, sound effects and background music will be added to make the animation more complete and interesting.
When I started planning the animation, I found that drawing chase scenes or large physical movements was quite difficult for me (as I had tried before). So, I decided to go with a more simple yet expressive action — sneezing — as the main idea for this animation.
Before starting the rough animation, I first used the grid to set up the basic layout of the scene. This helped me plan the placement of the character and camera angles more clearly. I planned to create an animation of around 5 seconds, so in the beginning, I focused on drawing several keyframes to define the main actions and the direction of the story. Once the keyframes were done, I continued by adding the in-between frames to make the animation smoother and more natural.
During the tie down stage, I used the rough sketch as a base to redraw the scene with cleaner and more accurate lines. I focused first on fixing the character’s pose and movement. Then, I added facial expressions, especially during the sneeze — like closed eyes and a wide-open mouth — to show more emotion. I also paid attention to the flow between each frame to make sure the movement felt smooth and connected.
Next, I moved on to the clean-up stage, where I refined the lines from the tie down. I carefully cleaned up the character’s action lines, making them neater and more solid. Besides the character, I also worked on the background details like the furniture, edges, and small objects in the scene to make everything look more complete and tidy. This stage took quite a bit of time, but I’m glad I managed to finish it.
Last, I moved on to the coloring stage. I mainly used the Paint Bucket Tool to quickly fill in most areas, which helped save time. For smaller or more detailed parts, like gaps between lines, I used the Brush Tool to fill them in carefully. I also paid attention to the color matching, making sure the character and background colors worked well together. In the end, I added background music to make the animation feel more complete.
I did some changes base on the feedback that provided by lecture.
here's the link: Google drive
To be honest, this assignment was really difficult, especially during the busy final weeks. The file size was quite large, so my computer became very slow, and even basic tasks took a long time. It was stressful and tiring to work like this. But through this, I learned how to manage my workflow better — like finishing the keyframes first, then doing the tie down and clean up in parts, so my computer wouldn’t lag too much.
For the animation, I didn’t choose big actions like fighting or chasing. Instead, I used a simple sneezing action to show emotion and movement. This helped me understand character acting more. I also got more comfortable using Adobe Animate, from coloring and cleaning up lines to adding sound effects and background music.
Even though it was challenging, I feel proud that I finished my own short animation, drawing every frame by hand. It gave me more confidence, and I hope I can keep improving my animation skills and visual storytelling in the future.
Comments
Post a Comment