Classical Animation

Classical animation is drawn animation and is the most traditional of all animation techniques. Even though cut out, sand and colour animation also involve the creation of the animation aslo involve the creation of the animation on a flat plane of images which are modified little by little continuously and the changes captured by a stop-frame camera pointing down onto the horizontal frame, they are mere extensions to the traditional drawn animation.

In classical animation, the drawings on papers are often precise and well drawn, therefore, it is a very tedious and time consuming progress as the rentire sequence is drawn and painted frame by frame painstakingly with high precision. It requires accurate planning, timing and co-ordination-- that's why Classical Animation often involves many people working as a team.

Materials

a) Pencils/ Markers/ Erasers

b) Ring file

c) A4 size paper

d) Lightbox

Set-up

A table or an elevated platfoam is required to serve as the work area where the different frames of drawings are drawn against a light box. A digital video camera is mounted on a tripod and connected to a computer loaded with Adobe Premiere for stop-motion capture on the table.

An ordinary photographic tripod is usually used and the DVC is positioned such that it points downwards at the light box and would shoot the drawings from above.

Steps to Classical Animation

i) Construct the basic set-up and start the programme Adobe Premiere. Then slect the function File>Capyure>Stop Motion.

ii) Draw the first key frame of the dot ( the position at which it will start to move) moving in the start of the sequence against the light box.

iii) Draw the next key frame which is the position of the dot which has moved to a new position.

iv) Draw the in-between frames which is the transitional frames of the motion from the first key frame to the second key frame. This will ensure the smooth motion of the dot.

v) When drawings of the entire sequence are done, take 50 frames for the first frame and 5 frames each for the subsequent frames until the last one, whereby we'll take 50 frames for it.

vi)The 'Line Test' will be conducted to check the smooth motion of the dot. The drawings at this juncture is still rough sketches. Ê

vii) Once the motion of the dot is considered satisfactory, the drawings will be inked with the whole sequence being captured again.This step is the clean-up of the animation.After the sequence is filmed, the animation will be done.

Special Techniques and Skills

1) Variations in Speed

i) For acceleration, thedisplacement moving animated object increases gradually, with each changing frame. The reverse is true for deceleration.

2) Perspective

i) For advancing towards the screen, the objects in the landscape will move away from the vanishing point, towards the viewer and diverges at the same time.The reverse is also true for receding.

3) Figure Studies

i) To understand how to create movement in a human figure, we have to understand the anatomy of the figure. The knowledge of the positions of the joints of the figure would aid us in creating motion in figures. Moreover, the concepts of perspective, speed, and timing must be included in its movement.