12 Principles of Animation

Nr. 1 Squash and Stretch is the principle of squashing and stretching, in order to give a feeling of fleshiness, flexibility, and life in animation.

Nr. 2 Anticipation is the preparation of the main action of an animated scene to distinct the from the action and reaction.

Nr. 3 Staging is the preparation of a scene so that is easily understood and attracts the attention of the audience to the animated action at the center of the screen.

Nr. 4 Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose:

Straight Ahead Animation is  when the animator starts at the first drawing in a scene and then draws all of the subsequent frames until he reaches the end of the scene.

Pose to Pose Animation is when the animatior carefully plans out the animation, draws each subsequent frames, then draws all the in between frames.

Nr. 5 Follow Through & Overlapping Action are techniques in animation that help render movement more realistically, and help give the impression that characters follow the laws of physics.

Nr. 6 Erase In, Erase Out is a technique in animation that utilises spacing in the in between frames at maximum positions in order to create a more fluid, realistic and appealing movement.

Nr. 7 Arcs are a circular movement added to motion to make it react, more fluid and realistic.

Nr. 8 Secondary Action Timing are drawn gestures that support the main action to add more dimension to the character animation.

Nr. 9 Timing:

The speed of an animation gives meaning to movement both physical and emotional meaning. In animation spending the appropriate amount of time on the anticipation of an action, on the action , and on the reaction to the action assures that the viewer understands the action and does not lose interest in what is happening on the screen.

Nr. 10 Exaggeration is used to make an action more interesting by making it look extreme and surreal.

Nr. 11 Solid Drawing reffers to the ability to render a three-dimensional character in a two-dimensional space.

Nr. 12 Appeal in animation is when you make a character charismatic by making it  pleasing to look at, or have an interesting shape or traits.