Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
(one of the most useful techniques), and motion capture. We will look in more
detail into each of these approaches later in the text.
The next question we should then ask is,
Who are the practitioners for whom
such a study is relevant?
All artists, designers, and creative individuals of various kinds take the study
of their particular craft very seriously. This applies equally to those working
within the creative industries and those engaged in more independent or less
commercially oriented practices. Naturally, artists of all types deal with the
particular aspects of their craft relevant to their art or creative process in their
own way. In addition to a wide and varied range of practical and aesthetic
issues, each artist will have an understanding of aspects particular to his or
her craft: Painters will probably have a deep understanding of color theory;
sculptors may have a profound understanding of form, space, and materials.
Photographers have an understanding of light; musicians and composers
have an understanding of the intricacies of sound; and graphic designers
understand letterforms and typefaces, layout, and the relationship between
text and image. In the same way, it is clear that animators need to study and
gain an in-depth understanding of the nature of movement and dynamics.
The pursuit of relevant knowledge through in-depth study, together with craft
skills, underpins an artist's creativity.
Not all animators have the same requirements for study. Many factors dictate
the areas of study and the depth to which one's study will be undertaken. The
genre of animation, the production process, the animation format; features,
commercials, games, and the like—each present the animator with particular
demands and constraints. The exact nature of the study will invariably depend
on the work being undertaken at any given time.
The need for study may also depend on the production pipeline. For
animators working in a large creative team, many of the issues of animation
production will normally be dealt with by other specialists on that production
team. This may free up the animators to deal exclusively with movement,
dynamics, and, most important of all, performance. In large production teams
it may be possible and even desirable for individual animators to deal with
particular characters. The study of motion may then be further focused and
applied to a single subject or range of subjects. Such a focused approach to
action analysis may provide the animation with a distinctive quality and give
it consistency throughout an extended format, such as feature film work.
Animators working on smaller productions with fewer people on the creative
team or auteur animators who may work largely on their own may often
find themselves dealing with many aspects of the production, not just
animation—such as story, design, editing, sound recording and editing, film
language, and animation dynamics. Movement and animation timing are
among the most important of these. All animators, regardless of process or
technique, need to have an understanding of time and timing and how to
