The Beginning:
Your first animation will be to introduce one or two characters through the use of a flip book or set of zoetropes. This short animation sets up the characters we will follow into Parts 2 and 3 of this project.
Process:
Begin by storyboarding the introduction of your characters. This should show us what they look like and their location. The storyboards will then be used as Keyframes for your animation. Keyframes mark the points between major movements in your animation, i.e. the starting and endpoints within a shot. For this flip book or set of zoetropes, you should utilize a minimum of 9 keyframes. For smooth animation you should plan for 3 to 6 frames between each keyframe, this should give you roughly 54 total frames for the beginning of your story.
With Storyboards and Keyframes in hand, utilize the Animation Lab and Lighting Tables, these tools will help you draw each frame of animation. To create a smooth animation you’ll need to add frames between each keyframe. The number of frames needed will depend on how much movement takes place between each keyframe. For example, dropping an object from the top of the page to the bottom will need about 6 frames. Number each frame of your animation!
Materials Required:
- 3×5 notecards – with or without lines.
- Artist Pencils or Mechanical Pencil for sketching
- Rapidograph Pen for darkening pencil lines
- Storyboard Template
- Zoetrope template
Additional Resources and Inspiration:
Storyboarding: https://www.bloopanimation.com/how-to-storyboard/
Grading
Part 1 will be graded on the following for criteria:
- Quality & Line consistency
- Process – This will include your storyboards, and visible effort put into the animation
- Concept – this will consider your Character‘s design/ development and Story
- Animation – this will focus on how smooth the elements move