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For People Crazy About 2D Animation!

Acme Punched! is for people crazy about 2D animation. It may be enjoyed by beginners and others, but it is aimed at animators who know already something about the process of animation and the basics of character animation. In large part, it will attempt to provide a deep look into the problem solving that goes on in my head as I work out a scene, often in step-by-step posts that I will sometimes enter in "real time", without knowing in advance what the outcome will be. Mistakes and false starts will not only be included but emphasized, so that the creative process of animation will be portrayed realistically. And, while my own bias is for 2D drawn animation, many of the effects and principles discussed here can apply to CGI 3D animation as well. I hope the blog will prove useful and instructive for all.

-Jim Bradrick

Sunday, June 19, 2016

No. 101, Animated Cartoons for the Beginner, Part 2

As promised, I have now converted the other two flipbooks from the margins of Volney White's Animated Cartoons for the Beginner into watchable movies.

Like the walk cycle shown in post No. 100, these two short sequences have no registration crosses or other aids in re-aligning the badly registered drawings, so I have just made educated guesses as to the proper relative positions.

Run Cycle

Aligning the run cycle was aided by continuity of feet in contact with the ground, and I think I am quite close to the mark.


This cycle may have been intended to run on 1s (one frame per drawing, at 24 fps) but I found it very hard to watch at that speed, so I am showing it here on 2s (2 frames per drawing).

Character Turning His Head

Working with the second scene, a character turning his head and winking, I became aware that the inbetweening of the hands/arms was very poor; precise inbetweening would have been a great help in getting these drawings into proper alignment, but it just wasn't there. Sloppy and careless work.  Still, I think I am fairly close to the original.


But that original leaves a lot to be desired, as it violates a rule that I learned only gradually over the years: if you want your animation to read, only do one thing at a time. Here, Volney White has wasted a wink of his character's eye by just tacking it onto the end of the head movement; the wink is noticeable only if you are looking for it.

These two little animated movements do nothing toward redeeming them from my verdict for Animated Cartoons for the Beginner as Worst Ever Animation Instruction Book.


Next: The Pleasures and Benefits of Life Drawing

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