A Love Letter to The 12 Principles of Animation
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
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Learning the 12 Principles of Animation is the biggest hurdle all animators must overcome. But how can these principles remain constant in a medium that is constatly changing? This is the untold story of the 12 Principles of Animation and why they will remain. Forever.
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00:00 The Rules of The Game
00:54 The Origin of The Principles
02:15 #1 Squash and Stretch
02:34 #2 Timing
02:56 #3 Anticipation
03:12 #4 Staging
03:30 #5 Slow In & Slow Out (Spacing)
03:44 #6 Arcs
03:57 #7 Pose to Pose
04:08 #8 Overlap & Followthrough
04:19 #9 Secondary Action
04:29 #10 Exaggeration
04:40 #11 Appeal
04:51 #12 Solid Drawing
05:29 Animation Changed Forever
07:20 Taking Them to the Limit
08:39 Richard’s Masterpiece
10:50 Character Animation Crash Course
11:05 Enter Computer Animation
11:20 Why They Remain Unchanged
12:48 We Are The Next Link
Since I started the channel, it was my dream to also make documentaries on the things I'm passionate about. One of them being the history of 2D animation, which I’m obsessed with, so I wanted to give myself a chance to explain the origin of the 12 principles. Hope you get inspired by what these unsung heroes did, we’re standing in the shoulder of giants!
Remember: "Every line you draw, you are one line closer to your dream!"
Thanks for watching! - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
![Smoother animation ≠ Better animation [AI ENHANCED]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_KRb_qV9P4g/mqdefault.jpg)
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Thanks for being here!
Others ended up finishing the thief and the cobbler... sadly unlike the original- the added voices for the thief and Tack...which in my opinion hurt the focus on animation by distracting from focusing on the animation in silence.
The chase scene in thief and the cobbler is so amazing
I actually ended up getting the full film for free in a box of cereal but I'm pretty sure it is online
Best advice I ever got was from a seasoned animator who worked on Disney films, Ghibli, Anime, was this: "everything is a bouncing ball"
I usually don't comment but this is one of the inspirational videos about animation! There aren't really much animators in the world but I'm glad the world is getting to see more animators! and this is so underrated!!
There aren't really much animators?
@@ShomeAvi yeah i rarely see animators outside of the internet quite depressing i know
Animation brings that creativity that can't be found in the real world.
No matter how bad the art slump, watching your videos makes me desparately want to draw every time. You're very inspiring and speak with so much passion and kindness, thank you!
Thank YOU for your kind words!! Super happy you're feeling motivated, then the video accomplished its purpose!
Omg! Me TOOOOOO!!!
Being an animator that will lead the future generation to creating their own animation stories is truly a dream come true.
In 2015 I traditionally animated a bouncing ball, seeing the animation move filled me with such pride and joy never felt before. I lasted 2 weeks in college due to sever declining mental health and ran out of material to draw with, I felt great shame if I had to ask for a pencil and paper so I dropped out of the 1st yr. It's 2024, 27yrs old and still haven’t given up my love of animation, I'm a tattoo apprentice but I'm using tattooing to learn animation. Ex. I'm putting frames in tattoos flashes and timming lines.
Hoping one day you can go back to animating and find joy in making just because it gets to exist in the world! You have all the time in the world. Wish you the best of luck!!
@@ManuMercurial Thanks man, you're words mean alot. Thanks for taking time making videos, they're inspiring.
This video truly captures why I love animation so much, creating and watching. With so many things threatening 2D animation nowadays I think this was a very important video, not only do we need to protect Richard Williams' masterclass we need to protect this medium as a whole. People love 2D animation, I wish media companies would realise just how much we love it. 3D animation is beautiful and I'm very partial to the 2.5D styles being used nowadays but they all are built on the backs of stop motion and 2D animation and I don't want these mediums I love so much to die. It's satisfying animating in any genre, seeing something inanimate become alive is nothing short of magical, but I always fall back to 2D because nothing feels as magical as that.
A good example of how loved 2D animation is Cuphead the video game. It fueled animators, admires and the curious to go look at how it was made, directing them to fundamentals of animation.
To be honest, I still want to see 3D being pushed to replicate 2D accurately
I've seen some great progress but it's not quite there yet
2D isn't going anywhere as long as there are artists willing to commit to the process. The technology behind it has changed though, and that's mainly due to cost or convenience. Nothing really stopping anyone from doing it on some computers with Toon Boom Studio, OpenToonz, or even Krita. What studios do is one thing, but there will always be some independent or other that pops up with a vision and they can bring something new together outside of the big name status-quo.
This video is CRAZY biased. The lllusion of life like Miyazaki is dogmatic about, is not all there is, there's also the Allusion to life, like the early UPA revolution of the animation industry. Now it's revitalized in works LIKE Inugami Korone's videos, and I mean all sorts. I mean everything from Hal & Bons, to Smiling Friends.
I can't imagine it's a coincidence, though it may be unintentional, that they only put ONE cinematic feature film character into the thumbnail, and that was Chihiro. These other characters, "each one by a person", are keyframed in USA but fully realized OUTSOURCED TO ASIA. That's the life where that industry was actually BUILT.
Seems a bit disingenuous to talk about humanity of the author, when the author is blatantly chosen to be underpaid and discredited, with a western Janglish term like "anime" that in Japan just means cartooning BOTH Spongebob and Crayon Shin-chan. They don't make it a point of racail purity, but the plain craftmanship.
What an experience being an animator is, truly.
1. Squash & Stretch
2. Timing
3. Anticipation
4. Staging/silhouette
5. Fast -> slow -> fast -> …
6. Motion arcs
7. Pose to pose method
8. Overlap/follow through
9. Sec action
10. Exaggeration
11. Appeal
12. Solid outline/highlight
12 isn’t about solid outline but moreso solid drawing, making your characters seem to occupy a 3d space. Basically avoid flat drawings
This is probably my favorite video about animation
I was an animator student back in my senior high days. However, I've never get to experience alot of getting an animated short. But this video motivates me for study more about animation. My teacher once taught about the 12 Principles of Animation, and mentioned this book. If I could have enough time to study it, I could be a freelance animator with a little experience for animation. Animation is pure art, tbh.
Anyways, I would be happy if you talk about Charles M. "Chuck" Jones. Keep it up, lad!
Ooooh making a video on Chuck Jones would be such a blast!! Lemme see if I can cook one!
Hey, thanks for the video. It's not just informative, but it also feels like a love letter to animation itself. That last segment actually made me cry. Seeing the history of animation come together and the real, feeling people who influenced all of our beloved media is both humbling and inspiring. I didn't know about Frank Thomas or Ollie Johnston until today, but they both look like they were incredible guys with a passion for life. All the people mentioned here left a wonderful legacy of art, emotions, and inspiration for all generations to come, and I'm so thankful for their work and to you for capturing it here.
Thank you for your words denpa, wholeheartedly agree!
I chose this topic cause lately I've been needing a little push to keep challenging myself as an animator.
It was so refreshing to see how passionate these animators were. We're truly standing on the shoulders of giants. Makes me want to give it my all!
Hopefully it can motivate other animators who might be feeling like me!
Thanks for taking the time to watch it!
I love hearing about those things again and again. Today I barely think about any of those principles anymore. All I think about now is screen momentum. All the other principles seem to derive from that.
Animation is just so incredible to me, early youtube animators I watched as a kid showed me that animation isn't just something from animation companies, but that individuals could learn and do it! Took a while but I'm gettin there lil by lil!
I drew my first walk cycle thanks to the Animator’s Survival Kit and had no idea until now because I found the reference image online while searching for walk cycles.
This was magnificent.
I think one of the unspoken principals of animation is emotional investment. The idea of caring for a drawing on a screen.
Those drawings (if done with care and thoughtfulness) can allow us to attach ourselves to their universe, their world.
Those drawings give us a sense of their personality. Their hopes and dreams.
If a character is believable but emotionally irredeemable, they create the opposite effect. It makes the heroes stick out even more and we wanna see the heroes succeed.
Or if the supposed “hero” we’re supposed to sympathise with is a cruel monster and we’re supposed to root for them, it feels like a failure in some regards. I don’t care about them specifically because they come off not nearly as emotionally worth investing.
Of course it’s complicated and antagonists can become anti-heroes but the point still stands. We are invested in the characters on screen and we want to see them be who they are but it can be frustrating seeing a character we’re supposed to root for be callously evil.
Explaining my dislike towards a lot of adult cartoons because our “hero” is repulsive emotionally at times.
We have empathy for a character because they made us care though the drawings. That’s important.
This video managed to make me fall in love with a medium I already love.
To be honest, I don't have words to express the emotions I'm feeling right now. I stopped working on animation, cuz it was taking a lot of effort but seeing this...i came to know how wrong I was :(
Ive understood why should animate
.
.
.
BECAUSE I CAN :)
What a wonderful introduction to animation you have provided! I totally agree; but I will take this much broader, there is NO limits to any art! I bathe in that notion whenever I look at something and see a specialness, I want to share this with others and can do so through birth and nurture. Thus art. The forms of art and our terms for them intimidate the people we want our art to sing for. I know some, very little, of what is involved to make a video of a seemingly simple shot, perhaps two, from a notion to a finished piece of film that a viewer out of hand accepts as a genuine moment. Did a viewer see the technicals to make what they view? No. Like a ride at Walt Disney's Park in Anaheim, you saw what he, the artist, wanted you to see. Thanks again for a wonderful program!🌻
This video gives me hope that the next link of animators are learning from the best :)
We're standing on the shoulders of giants! Let's make them proud!!
I’m reading “Disney The Illusion of Life” currently. It’s amazing how they were really making it up as they went! So innovative! It sounds like it was a great work environment creatively.
So glad you made this video! There is an Animator’s Survival Kit for iPad version! I’m excited to use it! ❤
That opening scene got my interest. Also, there's so many scenes I've never seen befpre.
5:00 in scenes like this I always watch them so many times in slow motion😂
They are so fascinating!
This was such a great video dude, awesome work.
Thank you Ross!! Truly appreciate you taking the time to watch it and comment. Likewise, huge fan of your videos, much love!
The reason The Twelve Principles Of Animation will always be a thing and are what they are is because they're more or less observations of things that already existed--in and out of animation--and were refined over time. They're ideas that can be applied in pretty much any way, place and time, not hard rules of what to do or not. Disney didn't actually invent the principles like everyone assumes (you can find examples of them in works made before or contemporary with Disney's early stuff), but they nailed down what they are in a way that makes sense and did more to define them than anyone else. "The Illusion Of Life: Disney Animation" is to animators what Sun Tzu's "The Art Of War" is to strategists--Animation/War 101, not the end all be all of learning or doing them.
Anime uses way more than 12 principles, animation in the West is far behind, in fact it always has been. It's no wonder that anime is influencing the return of hand-drawn animation and style, as in Puss in Boots, Arcane, Spiderverse, etc. who used the advanced techniques created by anime
@@roricutewould it be too much to ask if you could explain how anime uses more than the 12 principles?
This so far is such a good break down of the principles, im definitely coming back to this as a reference.
A truly powerful video and must-watch for all animators everywhere!
Thank you for the huge compliment, really glad you enjoyed it!
Such a great video! Loved how you talked about the artistry of animation and the people behind it while also touching on why they do this
REGRESO MANUUUUUUU
Glad to see another video from you bro!
Dang, seeing them doing moving background stuff so fluently makes me want to study things alot more! its always so magical for me! haha
this video was super interesting and inspiring, and tbh, i wouldn't mind more video essays like this either. thanks for making the video!
It was my dream to also make documentaries on the things I'm passionate about since I started this channel, so it means a lot that you enjoyed it!
Hope I can do more of these in the future!
@ManuMercurial Heck yeah! can't wait to see!
I've been learning through reading online and watching videos on a wide range of topics. My profile photo is a Logo I made and under it reads SOLUS(Latin for ALONE). I've been working on my projects for a while and I'm getting closer to my dreams of sharing my thoughts, ideas, and stories with the world. I believe the one animated movie that really captured my attention when I was younger was Warner Bros. Animation - The Iron Giant. I was just under 5 years old when the movie came out in theaters in 1999. The story, animation, and emotion were so strong and it still is. That's how I want my creations to impact people.
Thanks for the video, well worth the effort involved. I need to practice the 12 principles waaaay more than I do. I remember hearing regarding great Jazz players that in order to play well they don't just need to know the song, they need to know it in and out back to front & upside down and that's why they're so free when it comes to freestyle play. As I believe these rules apply across all art forms it stands to reason that animation would have the same laws. The 12 principle reign supreme. "You have to know the laws before you can break them". 👍💯
One of the pitfalls of music is learning a song from start to finish. As soon as you're asked to play from a random point in the song you get lost. Knowing the song, truly knowing it, means you can play from any point without hesitation. I feel like every medium is the same. You can't really know how to animate a walk cycle if you don't why each pose exists the way it does and how to manipulate those poses. So yeah, the analogy lines up XD.
Animators Survival kit the only textbook that I've ever read "cover to cover".
Even if you don't plan on animating, the book will improve your drawings immensely.
PS. The lecture is great. But I understood more, about these concepts, by reading the textbook.
Bought the Illusion of Life in 2019 and finished it in 2020. Both actions were some of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Truly inspiring. I had no idea where to start learning animation. Now i do thank you for the inspiration ❤❤❤❤❤
Jaw droppingly stunning video! Amazing work!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!
It’s cool how the person who made the book is named Ollie, since Ollie means peace.
I love the passion in this essay.
Bro Cooked.
Absolute Cinema Manu.
(somehow i'm slowly regretting the words above.)
It is so sad what Disney became 😭
Better than Wish could ever wish to be
Literally crying. Thanks.
Where were you an year ago for my 12 principles for animation assignment bro. Thos would have been SO helpful with me understanding the anticipation and arcs 😭
Every video I watch from you inspires me so much! Beautiful video truly capturing the love and artistry that goes into creating animation!
ah.. the animators bible
“Animation is so hard! People who do this for a living deserve more credit and respect!” - Lord Hater
I used to create paper stopmotions and claymation as a kid. I hope to in the future become a beginner storyboard artist. very inspiring ⭐
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!! The love and energy you put into this is absolutely fantastic. I'll be rewatching and taking notes... I FEEL SO SEEN!!!!!!!
I had that book as a kid. I found it so fascinating and briefly thought I'd like to become an animator. Then I remembered that I draw very very slowly
i hope you understand what a massive impact you make via creating these incredible videos. i am left with so much inspiration and motivation to continue crafting
Your videos are amazing. Thank you 🙏🏽
Excellent video. Informative, and got me emotional!
Excellent video. It's important to always work on our fundamentals and to take the knowledge from all these years of animation. ❤ Muchas gracias como siempre por el vídeo, Manu!
Well said! Gracias por sacar el ratito para verlo!
As an animator, i really appreciate the effort you put in this video! ❤
You got a new subscriber 🙌🏻
Required viewing for every student of animation. So well done.
This was a sweet love letter toward an industry that inspired me to be an animator ❤ thank you for the video 👍
Thank you much for this video. It's an inspiring story you told that captured your love for the art and its inspired me for sure. Great job in this. Keep up the awesome work. ❤
Thank YOU for taking the time to watch! As you can tell it was a passion project and I'm so very happy others get to geek out with me haha, thanks!
Excellent work! I am grateful because you taught me something I didn’t know.
This video is incredible! So inspiring! I am inspired to work on that short kobold animation I’ve been planning for a while! Great stuff, informative and inspiring really positive and optimistic.
The video not only presents useful information condensed in a simple to understand way, but the editing creates a good feeling to watch, it is easy to get emotional with the story of guys who transformed their static drawings into something alive, who shaped our personality with classic cartoons on TV...
10:34 The Ipad edition has a lot of the animated segments from the DVDs in it
Masterpiece of a video
Your video is still good as always!!! Keep up the good work mate!!🫶
Thank you for your kind words!
Your videos are just so helpful, creative, inspiring and educative, thank u so much.
What a rock solid video! Thanks for the amazing reminder of why the fundamentals are the fundamentals 🪨
We truly do stand on the shoulders of giants❤🔥
This was very interesting!
(I have elsewhere come across bits of the many of the resources mentioned in this video, but never seen them all in one place!)
I am confused about one thing though!
At 8:36 you say “ The movie he envisioned never saw the light of day” but they did make the movie “The Thief and the Cobbler”…
So were you saying that it just never saw the light of day the way he envisioned it?- or am I misunderstanding?
thank you so much, this video is a treasure!
Glad you enjoyed it! It was truly a passion project!
This is a VERY COOL thumbnail btw
Toad bro
It's amazing to see how much the 12 principles are still constantly being used in short films, series, and full length feature movies today. Being an animator myself I've studying 3D animation for my major in college, but while I've been having breaks for my college classes I've been taking the time to study more into the 12 animation principles. Even though 3D animation is seen as lazy with no heart put in into it, this has been proven false especially with how recent indie animations that use 3D animation have really been pushing these principles that I find amazing.
Absolute cinema as always, thanks for all the effort and love you put on each video Manu! ❤❤🔥🔥
Thank you for always taking the time to watch them!!
Your videos have really improved my art😃 please make as many as possible🥰
Woah this is more in-depth than most things I’ve seen :0
The explanations on the actual principles are pretty shallow but it’s not the creator’s fault since their explanations aren’t the focus of the video. The vid’s focus is the impact of them, which it does very well. I’d recommend Alan Becker’s video on the 12 principles if you do want to learn about them in more detail
Incredible video man
I love the video, thank you for sharing. I agree with Richard Williams and that his amazing gift should be praised more.
He among other artists and animators is why I began practicing animation.
Beautifully done. 👍
Absolutely phenomenal breakdown! Bless you!
Thank you kindly! Bless you too!
que buen video Manu. Todos son buenos pero este la rompió.
Manu stop I love your videos I need more
Second video of Manu Mercurial that makes me cry!
Just like the "rule of thirds" for framing, use of lighting, exposure, and shutter speed, hasn't changed much in photography, even though the technology behind it certainly has. Once you have something good as a proven solid foundation to work with, why try to change it? It's a part of the tool set when it comes to using visual language.
Superb (and loving) video Manu! - and also what about Winsor McCay!!!!
The video did have a chapter on Winsor but after rewriting it several times I decided to cut it so the story could flow better! I'll cover him eventually in another video! Thank you Borella309
@@ManuMercurial Sorry Manu, I didn't mean you left him out (as you had mentioned him) , I meant it to be more like "and what about McCay - how great was he!" - so no apologies required, but thanks for your reply anyway, very thoughtful.
Fantastic video
Great video❤
The quality of your videos is always impeccable.
Thank you for taking the time to watch them
What do you mean I can't save this to my playlist?!?! This is a great video
Ohh I have no idea, there are no restrictions on the video that I know of!
Thank you for watching it!!
muchas gracias❤❤❤ me gusta aprender mucho, que lindo todo lo que se logro con el tiempo y pasión, sigamos sus deseos adelante y hagamos a mas personas felices
saludos desde Chile 🇨🇱❤️
Vamos con todo! Gracias por sacar el ratito para verlo Kay day!
Love you man
Your video on composting really changed my life I mean it
I love your respect and enthusiasm for animation and trying to keep the tradition going. Thank you.
I wanted to ask, are you open for commissions. I have a one minute animated short in mind with characters I created for my book and I would like to work with someone who has as much passion for the art form as I do.
Sorry, currently not open to comissions. Thanks for watching the video!
@@ManuMercurial thank you. Keep up the good work
GOOSEBUMPS !
Sick. Period.
Interesante, muy buen video!!
Amazing video
I love this video
amazing channel
Thanks for hanging out!
You really race through these principles without giving much explanation to what they are or how they work.
Good Thumbnail
Richard Williams is was an animation genius a true scientists in animation
babe, wake up, Manu Mercurial dropped a new video (4 days ago)!
well, I'm late but I'm here
Berry good video
Berry nice comment!
agradezco al maestro Richard Williams por hacer esos tutoriales, tuve suerte de que todos están en youtube con subtítulos al español, me ayudaron muchísimo a aprender sobre animación :,D