A Common Animation Shortcut

[AvestheForumFox]

I've noticed when watching Cartoon Network that animators use a very common technique when doing animation (especially in anime)

They only animate the part that is moving. Like say when an arm is moving, then the arm is the only thing that is animated. If a character is talking then only the mouth is moving. Or if there's an expression change then they'll only animate the face. And on a few occasions the whole body will be animated for walking or a simple repositioning.

Good Example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrYrx79qnWQ
Notice how most frames seem to be just one still image with the occasional tiny mouth animation.

Now, me not being a member to Don's Club (Dave, I'm still waiting for your response to my PM from like.. a week ago? ......), I only have access to a few simple tutorial videos. And what I've seen, Don seems to prefer animating everything rather than one tiny thing at a time (but then again, in most decent featured animated films, everything moves for the sake of looking realistic) or correct me if I'm wrong. Does Don promote this idea in any of his other tutorials?

I want to know everybody's take on this. Do these little shortcuts help or ruin a good animation?

[joedorsey]

Here's a thread that discusses moving holds. It was very helpful.

http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=483

Anime has done this for so long that's it's part of the whole vibe. I don't find static images with moving mouths very appealing. I've seen it done for a quick effect that adds some humor. Also, using the eyes as the only moving part can be effective too. So it's not all bad.

[WillW]

"This video contains content from Turner (Cartoonnetwork), who has decided to block it in your country." thats kind of them :(

I think its mainly how series animations save money, the less they have to animate the better.

[jeremyfries]

I think what you mean is the difference between limited animation (only moving certain parts of the body or face to save time and money) and full animation (drawing the entire body on each frame).

There are a lot of people that don't like limited animation, but I think this is largely because they haven't seen how limited animation can be done properly. While I personally favor full animation, I have to admit that I absolutely love some of the limited animation done in the 50s, such as...

Gerald McBoingBoing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNsyQDmEopw

The Piels Beer commercials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wa2gaJI0JQ

There are also some people doing some very cool limited animation today:
http://pyatyletka.blogspot.com/2009/10/yellow-cake-complete.html

[AvestheForumFox]

Here's a thread that discusses moving holds. It was very helpful.

http://donbluthanimation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=483

Anime has done this for so long that's it's part of the whole vibe. I don't find static images with moving mouths very appealing. I've seen it done for a quick effect that adds some humor. Also, using the eyes as the only moving part can be effective too. So it's not all bad.

Thanks for that link, Joe! It was very informative about this topic :)

"This video contains content from Turner (Cartoonnetwork), who has decided to block it in your country." thats kind of them :(

I think its mainly how series animations save money, the less they have to animate the better.

Sorry about that, Will :( (those companies seem a bit greedy for not sharing with the whole world...) If you'd like, I can try to find the same scene posted by an actual Youtube member and link it for you. But I think you get the idea.. And indeed... budget does come to mind

I think what you mean is the difference between limited animation (only moving certain parts of the body or face to save time and money) and full animation (drawing the entire body on each frame).

There are a lot of people that don't like limited animation, but I think this is largely because they haven't seen how limited animation can be done properly. While I personally favor full animation, I have to admit that I absolutely love some of the limited animation done in the 50s, such as...

Gerald McBoingBoing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNsyQDmEopw

The Piels Beer commercials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wa2gaJI0JQ

There are also some people doing some very cool limited animation today:
http://pyatyletka.blogspot.com/2009/10/yellow-cake-complete.html

Hey thanks! I'll have to take a look at those :)

[jeremyhopkins]

Does Don promote this idea in any of his other tutorials?
No, Don's style comes from the Disney tradition which focuses studying and caricaturing natural movement. The goal is a believable performance that is entertaining by emotionally engaging the audience. If a character is held for too long or the movement too stylized, the audience stops believing in the character. When this happens, they no longer empathize with the situation and any sense of peril or drama is lost. That's why it's so important to emotionally connect with the drawing so not just a line on a piece of paper. Great examples of sensitive animators are Glen Keane and Ollie Johnston:
http://theartofglenkeane.blogspot.com/

I want to know everybody's take on this. Do these little shortcuts help or ruin a good animation?
They can ruin animation. It all depends on what you're going for in your piece. The story and the director's vision dictates the style of animation needed to make the film work. Putting tv animation tricks in a disney film will ruin the experience or make it stand out in a bad way. It's like putting a paper cut out in the middle of Mission Impossible.

Personally, tv animation is not for me. I've worked for several years as a flash animator and it's just not my place. Some people are amazing tv animators and it is a perfect place for them but for me it feels like its more about production than creating something special. It's easy to lose touch with your emotions and become a doer rather than a thinker. When you become hard to life and have lost your vision, then the industry becomes a pretty bleak place.

My advice is to avoid the tricks. Focus on good, solid, drawing and understanding entertainment through acting. You can always go the south park way and that's fine but you had better be a fine writer because you'll be leaning on words rather than drawings.

[DNethery]

Nothing wrong with using holds, but it's all in knowing WHEN to use a hold appropriately and HOW to get into and out of holds gracefully, so the viewer is not really aware of it . This is part of the craft of animation that can only be learned by doing it. (watch the work of someone like Nik Ranieri , especially on his characters Hades in "Hercules" and Kuzco in "The Emperor's New Groove" to observe masterful use of appropriate holds.)

To me a "hold" is where the character (or usually a part of the character) has come to a complete stop . A 6 frame hold or 8 frame, even a 12 frame hold is perceived as a "pause" and is useful for giving emphasis to certain expressions or poses, but is not really a true hold.

The problem comes in when the held drawing is used as a cheat , that is things are holding which really should be moving.

On the opposite end of the spectrum it's possible to have stuff moving too much , never holding still, so that sort of over-animation is just as inappropriate.

[jeremyhopkins]

Yeah, that's a good point. There's nothing wrong with a hold when used appropriately. I couldn't see the video that Aves posted but I assumed that he was referring to the latter when a hold is used as a cheat for production purposes.
For anime, there might be some things that are considered appropriate that wouldn't fly in western animation and vice versa.

[roxyryoko]

Well, anime usually only has 12 frames for second because of financial reasons. (Not counting Miyazaki here) When Osamu Tezuka created Astro Boy as one of the first Japanese animated tv shows, he needed to cut production costs in order to compete with imports. For a modern sense, I have heard that Japan has a shortage of actors and therefore makes many animations which are naturally expensive and therefore need to be made at lower costs.
A lot of times though, the animation should be moving. For example, in several series where characters play piano their hands don't move and usually the scene is panned. There might be hair blowing too.

I really think that its beautifully when the characters are moving constantly. They seem that much more real. I really love in Anastasia when Anya and Dimitri are fighting on the train. They make so many gestures and expressions. It's so wonderful.