The two terms are closely related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Follow through<\/strong>: Loosely connected parts of a body\/object is always a few steps behind and will continue to move after the character has come to a complete stop.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Overlapping action<\/strong>: Different parts of a body will move at different rates based on their location and mass.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Follow throughs and overlapping actions are usually added after<\/strong> the main body parts of character have been animated. The straight-ahead<\/strong> technique is often a good solution for these extra details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2019\/09\/mmp260-week8-followthrough.gif\")
The hat, tail and tie are all examples of follow through\/overlapping actions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCleaning up and coloring your frames<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The power of animation lies in the relationship between multiple frames rather than in the beauty of single drawing. In order to get the motion right, we often use a lot of overlapping lines and should avoid getting too precious about any given frame. There’s no color involved in early versions of an animation either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, once we’re happy with a sequence, cleaning up our lines and adding color is an important step of the animation process<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2019\/10\/Screen-Shot-2019-10-31-at-11.18.53-AM.png\")
Rough, cleaned and colored versions of the same frame<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Cleaning up your frames in Animate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Cleaning up your rough animation frames will make your animation clearer by replacing tentative, overlapping lines with a single solid one. It’s also an opportunity to fix small errors or inconsistencies (i.e: volume).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Always work on a new layer.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can use the Brush <\/strong>*Keyboard shortcut: Y<\/em> and Pencil<\/strong> *Keyboard shortcut: Shift + Y <\/em>tools like you have in the past:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Be consistent with the stroke’s width and style<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Don’t forget to set the smoothness: the higher the smoothness, the fewer the number of anchor points… which will give you smoother\/less “hand drawn” lines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
For simple shapes you may consider using the Rectangle <\/strong>*Keyboard shortcut: R,<\/em> Oval<\/strong> *Keyboard shortcut: O, and <\/em>Line<\/strong> *Keyboard shortcut: N<\/em> tools<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Don’t use fills at this point<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Keep the color, stroke width and style consistent with the other strokes in your drawing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- You can change a straight path into a curve with the Selection tool *Keyboard shortcut: V<\/em>: over, click and drag on the path you wish to edit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Coloring your frames in Animate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Once you have a clear set of lines, you can add color to your frames. A well thought-out color palette can really help your character stand out and reinforce some of its personality traits (bright colors for a happy-go-lucky character vs. muted\/dark colors for a villain).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, pick all your colors and save them in a color palette<\/strong> (or group of swatches):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Select Window > Swatches.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- On the Swatches tab, click the New Folder <\/em>icon to create an empty palette. Don\u2019t forget to give it a name (i.e: the name of your character).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Go to the Color <\/em>tab and select your desired color.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Go back to the Swatches <\/em>tab, select your newly created palette and toggle it so you can see its content. Click the Create New Swatch <\/em>icon. Notice that the new swatch takes on the color you selected in the Color<\/em> tab.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Now that you have all your colors selected you can use them to fill your drawing with the bucket tool<\/strong> *Keyboard shortcut: K:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Select the bucket tool<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Click on the fill swatch and select one of the colors in your color palette.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Click in the area you want to fill. You will only be able to fill closed shapes. If an area doesn\u2019t fill as expected it might be that there is a tiny gap somewhere \u2013 zoom into your drawing and close the gap. You can ask the bucket tool to automatically close gaps of a certain size:\n
- \n
- Click and hold the Gap Size icon<\/strong> and select the size of gaps you want the bucket tool to fill.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- If you want to use the bucket tool to fill an area that isn\u2019t (or is only partially) defined by a stroke, you can create temporary demarcations:\n
- \n
- Activate the brush tool *Keyboard shortcut<\/em>: Y<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Make sure the Brush Mode is set to Normal (see more about brush modes below).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Define the area you want to fill.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Select the Bucket tool and click inside new shape.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Select and delete the temporary outlines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
You can also use the brush tool<\/strong> *Keyboard shortcut: B <\/em>to fill certain areas more organically. When using the brush tool, pay attention to the Brush Modes as they will yield very different results:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2019\/10\/brushMode.png\")
Click and hold this icon to select different brush modes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2019\/10\/normal-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPaint normal: the brush creates new marks without interacting with previous strokes\/fills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2019\/10\/paintFills.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPaint fills: the brush creates new marks over everything except strokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2019\/10\/paintBehind.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPaint behind: the brush creates new marks only “behind” existing fills and strokes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2019\/10\/paintSelection.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPaint selection: to use this mode, you must first select one or several areas with your selection tool. The brush only creates marks on the selected area(s). This is a great option for shading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2019\/10\/paintInside-1.gif\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPaint inside: this mode is similar to the selection mode in that it only allows the brush to create marks within an object. However, the brush will only apply marks in a single area per brush stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFinal project- step 3: walk cycle (revised)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Revise<\/strong> your walk cycle until it’s “just right” (i.e: perhaps you need to add a few in-between frames to slow it down a bit, change the position of an arm or a leg etc.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Add a follow through\/overlapping action<\/strong> to your character’s walk cycle (i.e: a tail, flappy ears, hair, clothing\/accessories etc.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, clean up your lines<\/strong> and add color<\/strong> to your animation sequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Format<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Use the following file format: 24fps, 1920 x 1080 px. Save your .fla file and export your animation as an animated GIF and post on Open Lab. Remember to set the size to Full size on Open Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Submission<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Create a new post on your Open Lab portfolio. Your post should include the animated GIF<\/strong> as well as a short description<\/strong> (what did you add\/change from the previous version. Reflections on your process, challenges, goals etc. are also welcome).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Brightspace, review the rubric and submit a link to the Open Lab post and your .fla file.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
12 principles applied: follow through & overlapping action Follow through & overlapping action can give your character weight and personality. This principle reinforces the idea that an animated character exists in a world bound by physics principles. The two terms are closely related: Follow throughs and overlapping actions are usually added after the main body parts… Continue reading Week 8<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-463","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2323,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/463\/revisions\/2323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/ani-260-fall-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- If you want to use the bucket tool to fill an area that isn\u2019t (or is only partially) defined by a stroke, you can create temporary demarcations:\n
- Click and hold the Gap Size icon<\/strong> and select the size of gaps you want the bucket tool to fill.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- On the Swatches tab, click the New Folder <\/em>icon to create an empty palette. Don\u2019t forget to give it a name (i.e: the name of your character).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Select Window > Swatches.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Overlapping action<\/strong>: Different parts of a body will move at different rates based on their location and mass.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n