Animation Class

We held the second of our art education classes last Friday. Brent, our art director, taught us the basics of animation and how to use the 3D Studio Max animation software. The class, which was optional and open to anyone, was attended by about half artists/animators, half other people (2 designers, one programmer and me). First Brent gave us an overview of the 12 basic principles of animation. Those principles come from The Illusion of Life, a book written by two of the artists who learned from and worked with Walt Disney. The book was written for hand animation, but the same rules still apply to computer animation. From the point of view of someone who knew nothing about animation, it was interesting to learn about the different animation rules and how much thought actually goes into drawing cartoons and making games.

Brent then opened up 3D Studio Max and gave us a brief overview of how to use the software. He showed us how to create a basic walk cycle, applying the principles he'd just taught to make an animated walk look normal. The video below is a walk cycle he made before the class as an example:



Overall, it was a very interesting and enlightening class. Thanks Brent!