Secondary Action and Limited Animation

Let’s begin with a really nice message about being an animator:

"...No, audiences want only one thing- they want you to entertain them. And there are a LOT of ways that can be done." -- Keith Lango

I really like this quote. It talks about how, at the end of the day, our goal is to connect with an audience, with whatever means we choose to use.  While I don't agree that audiences, don't care about quality animation ever, I do agree that, as artists, our expectations for quality are far different than our audience. Using our art to communicate clearly is more important than achieving the most ideal beauty of any image. In that same vein, I present to you:  LIMITED ANIMATION!

Limited animation is a term for an animation method that has been refined over the years to make higher quantities of animated content. While it has many origins, one major inspiration for it is: Gerald Mc Boing Boing

This was created by what became the UPA or United Productions of America.  They specialized in finding methods of storytelling that didn’t require the same level of rigor as traditional feature-length animation.  With technological advents, a need for more economically friendly production methods, people became masters of making every drawing and illustration count!

The example below is made with the same techniques.  I have provided a link to the blog to a project file I have broken down into chunks for you to review! As you continue to make art, remember that communication with the viewer is most important. Having the most beautiful work is a wonderful goal to have, but bear in mind that many different means are at work here!

Can you think of any examples you have seen from TV?

Example of Techniques Used:

• Animation Cycling: (In this case a run cycle.)
• Squash and Stretch:
• Panning and Tracking:
• When using the ADVANCED ANIMATION TOOLS: Move, Rotate, Scale. Building keyframes to interpolate movement.
• Pegs:  (Creating Peg layers and adding them to drawing layers to track artwork.
• Limiting animation frames: 
• Secondary action: Moving the background or objects on screen to add to the sense of movement

Secondary Action:

Additional Examples of Secondary Action:

• Bending the knees before lifting an object, 
• Sticking a leg backward when reaching over for something.
• Hair blowing in the wind when a character is not moving.
• Someone putting their hands up to their face before they sneeze.
• The shifting of the body around the spinal axis during a walking or running cycle.

Limited animation:

In the next couple days, we will begin to talk about technical process behind animation! This will help you become better accustomed to the software, but will also open up your methods of animating and movement!