One of the 12 principles developed by the “Nine Old Men”20was called solid drawing. This meant if you did not have a command of the craft of draftsmanship, you were going to have a hard time being a classical ani- mator. This same principle can be applied to CG but with a twist. Instead of the pencil (although thumbnails and sketching are important), the one important tool you need to create good animation is your rig. The rig is the puppet you use to animate with on the computer. Animating on a computer can be much like stop- motion because one key frame will involve moving many parts on the puppet or rig. The rig should have the least number of controls with the most power and flexibility. When you grab the arm control, you should be able to access the hand translate, the wrist rotate, the finger and thumb controls, and maybe even a twist on the elbow. Simplicity is key. Your rig isyour character, as far as ability to create skillful movement goes. Working with your rigger, you can create the most powerful tool a CG animator can have—a solid puppet. With a clean and simple model design and a solid rig, you are on your way to creating a memorable charac- ter. When the modeler, designer, animator, and rigger are all communicating about what the expectations are for the character, the most solid foundation is established. The modeler must understand how the lines flow with the musculature and topology in the model, so it will deform properly. The rigger knows where the skeleton will lie inside that model, and this is usually a back-and-forth arrangement until both the rig- gers and the modelers are happy with the way the character is built. The modeling and rigging processes can take equal amounts of time, so your scheduling should take this into consideration. Javier Solsona requested that we add one more thing about riggers that you should be aware of:
Riggers are the best people in the world—they are clever, handsome, and super cool. Not only that, but they also like cookies.
We hear the Famous Amos brand is most popular with riggers.
As more and more animators become involved in the design of characters for CG, the styles in design will be pushed further, and the art form will continue to evolve. Animators have to know the laws of creating strong characters in order to push their animation performances. The relationship between animator, modeler, and
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LONDON ANIMATION RENAIS- SANCE IN COMMERCIALS BEGINS:
Richard Williams invited Hollywood anima- tors such as Art Babbitt, Ken Harris, and Chuck Jones to train his London staff, spark- ing the London Commercial Renaissance.
1973
FIRST FILM TO USE 3D COMPUTER GRAPHICS (PIXILIZATION) - WEST- WORLD:Seminal sci-fi movie Westworld debuts as the first significant entertainment film to employ computer animation.
1973
ROBIN HOOD21ST FEATURE FOR DISNEY:Robin Hood
recounts the traditional stories of Robin Hood with the characters cast as anthropomorphic animals.
1973
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rigger in CG is the most important factor in creating a solid design. Conrad Vernon explains how more ani- mators being involved in design will push the styles and designs in CG today:
A good, strong animator who has input into the design and style of the character would only help define new styles. That animator would know what he needed the character to do in order to fully emote. He would go to the rigger and say, “You have to put points here and here and here in order to move it correctly.” Sometimes the modelers and the riggers think they have to put 10 billion points all over the place, and still the character can’t do what you want it to do. An animator being part of that process and being able to design the character can say, “Well, let’s have two points here so it will go up into the eyes, but when he smiles we will be able to scrunch his chin up here and drop the neck, et cetera.” An animator can help these people design a character that moves correctly. Many times, even on Shrek, we would have the people rig and model a character, and as soon as it was time to animate it, it didn’t look like the voice was coming out of there. The eyes were bulging or as soon as you moved that king’s mouth, his teeth shot out (these hugeteeth), and you would say, “Whoa! We need to remodel and re-rig it.” If they had animator input from the beginning, this could have been avoided. Once you get these people into that realm of modeling and rigging and even helping in the design, then you are going to see their personalities come out in the look of the character, as well as the movement of the character. Just like Milt Kahl and the
The Aristocatsand The Rescuers, and then you look at Pinocchioand you think Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. You look at “Night on Bald Mountain” from Fantasia, you see Bill Tytla. Every time there was a beautiful woman on the screen, Mac Davis animated her impeccably. This is how those animators drew for me, and they designed the characters the way they drew. The animators are going to have to be involved in that stuff in CG, and the more they are involved in it, the more their personalities will come out in it.
So get more involved. Get to know your rigger and modeler. Take into consideration the limitations forced upon him by the studio system. A good working relationship with the people who are putting your character together is vital.
In the next chapter, we will show you how the “Thursday Animator” takes what we have learned so far and really begins to take performance to a higher level.
20Johnston, Ollie and Frank Thomas. The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. Revised edition. New York: Disney
Editions, 1995.
OSCAR FOR CLOSED MONDAYS(WILL VIN- TON):Closed Mondayswon the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Animated Films.
1974
FIRST COMPUTER-ANIMATED FILM NOMINATED FOR AN OSCAR - HUNGER(NFB):Peter Foldès directed and animated this 11- minute short. Partially animated by computer,Hungerposits black-and-white animated illustrations against a colored backdrop, with surrealistic figures that fluidly bend, stretch, change shape, and ultimately take on new forms.This film featured Burtnyk and Wein interactive key framing techniques.
1974