In this Video extract from the AMB Animation Real Animator Training Library We Learn how to Draw Solid Animation and keep control of the form and volume of a characters face in traditional Animation
Drawing frame by frame animation is a greater challenge for the software dependent animator with no fundamental training in drawing and construction as it requires a good understanding of anatomy as well as Line and shape manipulation. Sliding cut out shapes or manipulating a prebuilt puppet may indeed be a time saving procedure that is economically beneficial to the studio but it has also been detrimental to the standard of the average professional 2D animator as many of today’s 2d Pro’s have not developed the essential fundamentals of drawing and construction that would enable them to cheat dimension and not only create the illusion of 3D but also go beyond it!
The amateur animator with a keen interest in hand drawn traditional animation tends to struggle and find keeping form an incredibly challenging task. Again this is due to a lack of fundamental structural study of the human or animal form and anatomy and an eagerness to jump into character animation prior to developing such basic essentials in drawing.
This Lecture demonstrates how the face can be broken int a group of shapes and managed from any angle providing the animator has knowledge and command of his shape choices. High end traditional animation drawing is deceptive as it appears simple but is a sophisticated set of streamlined shapes that define every aspect of the characters form. Thus it makes sense that in order to draw and control form one must study and understand it first.