CGanimation高级角色动画理论

1、cg animation高级角色动画理论翻译：张剑锋character animation. the phrase can conjure up a multitude of images, from walking broomsticks and talking mice, to dancing bugs and toys that can fly. it should also make us aware of long hours spent planning, drawing, revising, and practicing, practicing, and more practic

2、ing, a difficult, but rewarding art.什么是角色动画？就是让一张张的图片中了魔法一样动了起來!表现的内容也千奇百怪, 可以是扫把走路，老鼠说话,也可以是跳舞的虫子，甚至是会飞的玩具可制作过程却是非常艰 苦的，得花时间来从策划，绘制，到校订，其间还有不断的调试测试，过程非常艰苦，但却是一项 非常有成就感的艺术创作.with the advent of computers, many more people have become exposed to the magical quality and tools for creating high quality

3、cg character animation. however, high quality, does not mean, easy to master. many top notch animators have spent literally years practicing and learning their craft. out of all the fields of computer graphics and art, animation is probably one of the most difficult.随着计算机技术的突飞猛进，越来越多的人从事创作高质量的cg角色动画

4、这项事业.然 而，高质量却不是那么容易达到的.很多顶级的动画师都花了儿年甚至更长时间来磨练他们 的技术因结合了计算机和艺术两方面知识，动画也许是最难掌握的一种.the animator must not only have the technical ability to draw or pose characters, but also have a keen sense of timing, of observation, mannerisms, and movement. in addition one must also be an actor, have a sense of wha

5、t makes something alive and natural. bringing these somewhat diverse fields of study together, the animator can achieve something magical.the sense of bringing an inanimate character to life.作为动画师，不但要学握绘画或者速写的技术，还要有时间感，洞察力,表现力，和对物体 运动规律的理解.此外，角色动画师同时也要是个演员,具有赋予一件事物生命活力的能力.通 过这些不同领域知识的融合，动画师仿佛具有了魔力，让

6、角色活灵活现，具有了生命力.what follows, are principles that many of the traditional masters of animation have learned and discovered in their journey to learn their art. these principles are equally applicable to both traditional forms of character animation (i.e.: cel, stop motion etc.) as well as computer ani

7、mation. in addition to some of the basic principles, i am also including some new variations and combi nations of these principles, thanks to some friends on the cg-char list(see the special thanks section).下列所述，是一些大家学习制作动画过程中要掌握的传统的法则它们不仅对传统角色 动画十分重要，同样也适用于计算机角色动画除了一些最基本的理论,我还对一些传统意义 上的法则做了调整和综合其间，

8、感谢很多cg-char上列出的许多cg界的朋友们！each of these principles is defined and explained with both text, and an actual animation sample. the goal is to not only define what the principle is, but also to show how, and where, one might utilize it in a real scenario. in and of themselves, these are just guides, rule

9、s to learn, practice, and understand. used in conjunction with a sense of acting, they will help to create realistic and entertaining character animation.每条法则都会做定义，同时也会做些解释说明，外加一个动画范例配合讲解。其目的不 仅是为了定义这些法则是什么，还要讲清楚这些法则是怎么应用的，在哪里运用。同时每个 人都可以在真实的场景中运用这些法则。但无论怎样，这些文字都还只是起着引导作用，道 理还是需要你们自己去学，去实践，去理解。通过综合运

10、用，可以做出很真实，很有趣味的 角色动画。i hope you, the reader, find this article informative and helpful. if you have any questions or comments, you can email me at cometcomet-. i myself am still just learning and practicing this fine art, and stand in awe of the true masters of animation who have given us this guide

11、.我期待我写的这些文字能对读者们有所帮助，如果你们有任何的意见或者建议，可以发 email给我：cometcomet-我本人其实也是在学习掌握这门艺术，同 大家一样对真正的动画大师也是非常敬仰的。the 12 basic principles of animation 动画的 12 条基本原则the 12 basic principles of animation are listed below. you may see them in a slightly different form or order in other articles, books or magazines. i ha

12、ve listed them here as shown, because i feel this order facilitates learning them more easily. you can learn one first, then go on to the next building up your skills. i also feel they tend to be related, and flow more easily from one to the other in this order.下面列出了动画的12条基本原则，也许在其他的文章或者书刊中有过不同版本，但内

13、 容基本类似。按照这个顺序列出它们，我觉得会更方便大家理解。你们可以从第一个学起， 然后逐个学习，加深理解。同时，我也感到它们之间又是交叉联系的。按照这个顺序学习的 话，将來运用的会更加自如。1. timing 节奏2. ease in and out (or slow in and out)渐进与渐出3. arcs运动弧线4. anticipation 动作预备5. exaggeration 夸张6. squash and stretch 挤压与拉伸7. secondary action 次要动作8. follow through and overlapping action 动作跟随和重叠

14、动作9. straight ahead action and pose-to-pose action 直接动画和帧到帧动画10. staging舞台表现11. appeal动画吸引力12. personality 角色个性by following and knowing when, where and how to apply these basic ideas, and by understanding them, one should be able to create good animation. it is important to note that simply memorizi

15、ng these primciples isn't the point. no one will care whether or not you know this list. it's whether or not you truly understand and can utilize these ideas that matter. if you do, it will show automatically in your work.通过学习并理解清楚什么时i、可，什么地方，和怎样运用这些基本法则后，你应该能够制 作出比较优秀的动画出來了。只是简单机械的记忆这些法则不是我

16、们的目的，因为没有人会 在意你是否背得出我列出得这些法则。关键是你能否真正的理解它们，了解这些法则的实质。 如果做到了，那么就会在你的作品里立杆见影。/1. timing 节奏it may seem kind of silly to even have something as basic as timing on the list. obviously timing is the essence of animation. the speed at which something moves gives a sense of what the object is and why it is

17、moving. something like an eye blink can be fast or slow. if itfs fast, a character will seem alert and awake. if it's slow the character may seem tired and lethargic.有些人会觉得把timing （节奏）放在法则列表里似乎很愚蠢，因为这个对动画制作来 说实在是太基本了。显而易见，“节奏”是动画的基本要素。物体运动的速度说明了物体物 理本质，和运动的成因。仅仅是“眨眼”的动作就可或快或慢。如果眨的快，角色看上去就 处在“警觉或

18、者醒着”的状态，如果眨得慢，角色就会显得比较慵懒，疲惫，昏昏欲睡。john lasseter gave a good example in his famous siggraph paper using a character with a head that turns left and right. essentially, he gives different durations for the exact same head turn motions, and shows how it can be freadf differently based merely on the timi

19、ng. if the head turns back and forth really slow, it may seem as if the character is stretching his neck. a bit faster it can be seen as saying "no”. really fast, and the character is reacting to getting hit by a baseball bat.john lasseter在他的那篇著名的siggraph论文里使用了一个关于头部从左向右的 转动的范例。虽然是同一个转头的动作，但他按照

20、不同的吋间节奏做出来，却表现出不同的 意思，而本质上他仅仅是改动了运动的timing “节奏”而已。如果头从后往前转的很慢的 话，角色看上去只是在活动颈部而己。加快一点速度，看上去就象是在说：no!再快点， 角色看上去就很象被物体砸到头部一样。having a good sense of timing is critical for good animation. cartoony motion is usually characterized as fast snappy timing from one pose to another. realistic tends to have mor

21、e to do about going between the poses. but both require careful attention to the timing of every action.对于好的动画来讲，好的“节奏”感非常重要，非常基本。动作的卡通风格一般要求物 体从一个pose(姿势)到另外一个pose的变换很灵活简洁。写实风格的则要求在pose之 间细节上要有变化。但是无论哪种风格，都要注意每一个动作的timing节奏问题。i think it was chuck jones who said "the difference between the righ

22、t timing and the almost right timing, is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”记得chuck jones曾经说过：“好的timing节奏和差强人意的timing节奏之间的差 别就有如“光”和发光的萤火虫z间本质的差别”。范例：请按ctrl+鼠标左键点下面的avi链接，以下同。60 frame head turn - this looks more like a stretch action 这个版本看上去象是生 硬的分解动作30 frame head turn - this is m

23、ore like a "no no no" action 这个版本象在说 “no no no ”5 frame head turn - this is more as if he just got hit 它看上去象是被什么东西给 打到。(5 fps)note how all of these samples have the same key poses, but simply changing the timing causes the action to be read very differently.请注意这些例子里的动作pose都是一样的，只是调整了 timin

24、g节奏，结果动作就有 了不同的含义。/2. ease in and out (or slow in and out)渐进和渐出(或慢进慢出)ease in and out has to do with gradually causing an object to accelerate, or come to rest, from a pose. an object or limb may slow down at it approaches a pose (ease in) or gradually start to move from rest (ease out).渐进和渐出的规律通常是运

25、用在物体pose的加速或减速变化过程屮。一个当物体接近 某个pose时，通常是减速变化的（称之为渐进或慢进）；相反地当它从一个pose开始向 另外一个pose变化吋，应该是加速的（称之为渐出或慢出）。for example, a bouncing ball tends to have a lot of ease in and out when at the top of its bounce. as it goes up, gravity affects it and slows down （ease in）, then it starts its downward motion more a

26、nd more rapidly （ease out）, until it hits the gro und.比方说，一个弹跳的小球凡是在它达到顶点的时候都会有渐进和渐出。当它起跳时，受 重力影响速度应该越来越小（即渐进）。当它向下运动的时候应该逐渐的加速（渐出），直到它 触地为止。its important to note that ”gradually” here doesn't have to mean slow. it just means the object isn't moving 100% and then in one frame coming to a com

27、plete stop. for snappy cartoon motion, you may have ease in and out over only a couple of frames. but even 3 frames of ease in and out may help a limb from looking too stiff or mechanical.需要注意的是这里“逐渐“并不意味着速度慢。真正的意思是物体运动不必本來是全速 前进但只是用一帧就嘎然而止，这是不行的。卡通类型的动作里你只要2帧来做这个渐变 过程就可以，但如果是用3帧来做，看上去就会比机械的僵硬的动作好很多

28、。as applied to character animation, you usually use ease in and out for most movemnts. even if the character is just turning their head, you will probably want a few frames to soften up the start or end of the motion.对于角色动画，你总是要在运动中加入渐进或渐出的处理。即便角色只是旋转了一下头 部，你也可能需要在动作的起始和结束的地方加一些帧使之更平滑些。范例：请按ctrl+鼠标左

29、键点下面的avi链接，以下同。bouncing ball - the ball on the left is linear, which looks abrupt. the one of the right eases in/out at the top and looks smoother and more natural.左边的球是线性运动，没有渐变处理，看上去很生硬。右边的球则在运动的顶点出有渐进、 渐出，看上去就平滑自然的多。arm - bad, no ease - very robotic/computery looking没有渐变处理的胳膊的弯曲动作，看上去非常的僵硬，如同机械一般

30、。arm - good, with ease - much more natural and fluid 加入了渐进和渐出，则自然了很多。/3. arcs运动弧线in the real world almost all action moves in an arc. when creating animation one should try to have motion follow curved paths rather than linear ones. it is very seldom that a character or part of a character moves in

31、a straight line. even gross body movements when you walk somewhere tend not be perfectly straight. when a hand/arm reaches out to reach something, it tends to move in an arc.在现实生活中，所有的运动都是有弧线的。当做动画的时候你应该让动作沿着曲线运动 而不是线性的直线。很少有角色或者角色身上某个部位的运动是直来直去的。甚至当你整个 身体在行走过程屮也不是呈一条直线运动的。当手或者胳膊伸出去触摸物体时，都是按照曲 线来运动的

32、。sticking with the head example, the head rotates in an arc like fashion. that is if a characters head rotates from left to right, at the halfway point, it should actually be dipped or raised slighly depends on where it is looking. this stops the rotation from being perfect linear or mechanical look

33、ing.还是拿头部运动来做范例，头部象扇子一样呈弧线旋转运动。也就是当头部从左往右转 动时，在中间位置头部应该根据他视线看的方向加一点低头或者抬头的动作，而不是纯线性 的旋转或者机械式的动作。范例：请按ctrl+鼠标左键点下面的avi链接，以下同。bad, linear ball - linear motion looks rigid and stiff错误的线性运动的小球一一线性的运动，动作看上去非常僵硬good, arc ball - smoothly arcing the same motion looks more natural 好的弧线运动的小球一一 平滑的弧线运动让一样的运动看起

34、來更自然。head turn，linear - stiff and mechanical线性的转头动作一一非常机械head turn, arc - a bit more natural and interesting looking具有弧线的转头运动一一非常自然有趣/3. anticipation 动作预备action in animation usually occurs in three sections. the setup for the motion, the actual action and then follow-through of the action. the first

35、 part is known as anticipation.角色的动作一般分为三个阶段：运动的准备阶段，动作实施阶段，和动作跟随阶段。第 一个阶段就是所说的动作预备。in some cases anticipation is needed physically. for example, before you can throw a ball you must first swing your arm backwards. the backwards motion is the anticipation, the throw itself is the motion.有些情况动作预备是根据物

36、理运动规律需要这样做。比如说在你投掷一个球z前必然要 先向后弯曲你的手臂获得足够的势能。这个向后的动作就是预备动作，投掷就是动作本身。anticipation is used to lead the viewers eye to prepare them for the action that follows. gen erally, a longer period of anticipation is needed for faster actions. if you think about cartoons, youfve probably seen cases where a chara

37、cter zips off screen leaving a puff of smoke. usually just before the zip, there is a pose where the characters raises a leg and bends both arms as if hefs about to run. thafs the anticipation pose for the off screen run.动作预备一般用来引导观众的视线趋向即将发生的动作。所以常见的一个长时间的预备 动作意味着下面的动作速度会非常快。如果你注意观察卡通片，你可能会遇到类似的情况,

38、 角色先是预备奔跑的样子，然后一溜烟地急速消失。角色在奔跑前，通常会先抬起一条腿， 弯曲他的胳膊即使他马上就开跑了。这就是常见的动作预备。generally, for good clear animation, the viewer should know what is about happen (anticipation), what is happening (the actual action itself) and what happened (related to follow through).总之，一个好的动画应该让观众明白什么是将要发生的(动作预备)，什么是正在发生 的(动作

39、本身)，和已经发生的(类似于动作跟随)。most body movements of a character require anticipation in some form, especially from rest. for example, before a character takes a step to walk, they must shift their weight on one leg so they can lift the other, another example of anticipation.角色身体的绝大多数运动都需要某种形式的动作预备阶段。特别是从静到动的

40、运动状态 的转变。比方说，在角色开始走的吋候，他们肯定要先转移自身的中心到i条腿上，这样他 们才能抬起另外一条腿。现在看看预备动作的例子：moving ball - the ball on top simple moves from left to right, but the bottom ball anticipates the motion before moving, broadcasting what is about to happen. 运动的球一一屏幕上面的球从左到右做着运动，但屏幕靠下的小球先是做了预备动作，让人 能看出即将要发生什么。bug jump, bad - the

41、bug jumps without any anticipation and looks totally wrong.糟糕的小虫弹跳一一虫子没有做预备动作就跳了起来，看上去明显是错误的。bug jump with aniticipation - here the bug character jumps up after first crouching (anticipating) the main action.有预备动作的小虫弹跳一一这个虫子在压缩了整个身体(预备动作)之后才跳起來，是正确 的。/5. exaggeration 夸张exaggeration is used to accent

42、 an action. it should be used in a careful and balanced manner, not arbitrarily. figure out what the desired goal of an action or sequence is and what sections need to be exaggerated. the result will be that the animation will seem more realistic and entertaining.动作上的夸张处理一般用來强调动作的突然性。这个原则应该根据实际需耍适当的

43、运 用，不能随便使用，否则会适得其反。制作者应该首先清楚动作的目的性，剧情需要是什么， 以及决定哪个阶段需要动作上的夸张处理。适当的夸张会让动画看起来更可信更有趣。one can exaggerate motions, for example an arm may move just a bit too far briefly in an extreme swing. a pose can be exaggerated, perhaps the characters leans just a bit farther than normal. gen erally when animating

44、to dialogue, one listens to the track and picks out areas that sound like they have more stress or importance, and then tends to exaggerate poses and motions that fall at those times.角色的动作过程是可以夸张的，譬如可以让胳膊摆动过程中抖动的很厉害。某一个 pose也可以夸张，比如让角色比正常情况下倾斜很多。在制作对话过程中，动画师要仔细 辨认出咅轨里重咅强调的地方，然后据此配合一些夸张的动作或者运动来强调这些部分

45、。the key is to take something and make it more extreme in order to give it more life, but not so much that it destroys believability.做好“夸张”的处理关键要让被夸张的部分发挥到极致，赋予它们活力，但要适度，否 则会让人觉得很假。范例：bug point, bad - pretty subtle not exaggerated motion.没有做夸张的“指指点 点”的动作bug point, good exaggerated - much more exagge

46、rated motion. he is obviously mad here.加强了夸张效果，很好的体现了虫子角色发狂的状态。*note that in many cases, subtlety is good. subtle action mixed with exaggeration here and there can make for some of the best acting and animation. the first sample above is almost scarier because itfs so subtle.he seems mad, but somewh

47、at controlled.youfre not sure if he is going to explode.however, it could probably use a bit more motion on the spine. the second sample is more exaggerated and might fit within the con text of a larger animation, especially if it was more cartoony.注意：在很多情况下，正常的动作状态也是必要的。正常状态下的动作夹杂着一些适当的夸 张，是优秀动画必不可

48、少的出彩的部分。上面的第一个例子可以看出角色已经有些愤怒了， 看上去角色是发狂了，但在努力的控制情绪，你不清楚他将要什么时候爆发，动作上只是在 躯干上做了些弯曲。第二个例子里则夸张的多，根据上下镜头动作的特点决定使用多大的夸 张程度，特别是动作类型是不是卡通风格的。/6. squash and stretch 挤压和拉伸squash and stretch is a way of deforming an object such that it shows how rigid the object is. for example if a rubber ball bounces and hit

49、s the ground it will tend to flatten when it hits. this is the squash principle. as it starts to bounce up it will stretch in the direction it is going. squash and stretch was also initially done to prevent strobing due to lack of motion blur. however even in cases where motion blur can be used, the

50、re may still be reasons to use it.0020挤压和拉伸是用来表现物体的弹性的。比如一个橡皮球弹跳后落到地面时身体会被压 扁。这就时挤压的体现。当小球弹跳起来后它要在它弹跳的方向上拉伸变形。在没有条件做 motion blur运动模糊处理的情况下，有时动作可能会看上去比较糟糕，可以用挤压和拉 伸变形来补偿。即便做了 motion blur ,我们同样需要做挤压拉伸。an important note about squash and stretch, is that no matter how an object deforms, it should still

51、appear to retain itfs volume. that is, if a ball flattens down 2 times as much as normal, it will have to get 2 times as wide to keep its volume. if a character or part of a character doesn't maintain volume with squash and stretch, believeability will be lost.关于挤压和拉伸比较重要的一点是无论物体本身怎样形变，它的体积、容积至少

52、要保持 不便。也就是说如果它的高度压扁到比平时水平低2倍，那么它的宽度也应该相应的扩大2 倍来保证体积不变。如果一个角色或者角色身上的某个部分在变形中不能保持其体积，看上 去就会很假。the most obvious usage in character animation is muscles. when a muscle is con traded it will squash and when exte nded, it stretches. not every part of a realistic character should have this principle applie

53、d for example, the skeleton or things like eyeballs etc may not really deform much, though the flesh around them may.角色动画中动作很大程度上是靠肌肉形变来表现的。肌肉收缩就是挤压，肌肉舒展就是 拉伸。当然并不是角色身上所有的组织都是按照这个规律变化的。比如说，骨骼和眼球并不 会随着周围很多肌肉组织的形变而变形。most people try not to simply use scaling for squash and stretch. real squash and str

54、etch is usually some part of an object deforming differently that just a simple scale up or down. this presents a challenge to get cg squash and stretch looking as nice as drawn poses, since itfs usually a bit tougher to easily animate random shape deformation.但大部分人都不是简单的改变角色的缩放比例来实现挤压拉伸效果。真正的挤压和拉伸

55、应该是角色身上各部分都有变化互相配合的结果，而不是简单的缩放比例。这样想要做出象 手绘pose的那样的完美挤压拉伸效果无形中增加了很多的难度。rigid objects can still squash and stretch in a way. think of the lamps in luxo jr. the lamp itself is a rigid metal object. but before it jumps it anticipates the action by crouching down and bending. that bending is basically s

56、quash and stretch.刚性物体一般是按同一方式挤压拉伸的（有别于有机物体）。想彖一下luxo jr.动画里 的台灯。这些台灯本身是刚性的金属物体。当它们准备弹跳的吋候，它们首先要作出弯曲的 预备动作。这个弯曲就是挤压拉伸的最基本的形式。范例：ball bounce and squash - the ball on the left is animated without squash and stretch, while the one on the right deforms. note too how the one of the right does not use a s

57、imple scale for the effect. the result gives a more elastic and loose feel to the ball on the right.挤压拉伸的小球 左边的小球的弹跳没有挤压拉 伸，但右边的有变形。请注意右侧是怎样变形的，不是简单的缩放比例。我们感觉右边的 小球更有弹性。bug squash tummy - here the bug pats his stomach and it squashes and stretches.这个虫子拍打它的肚子，注意肚子上面有挤压拉伸形变。/7. secondary action 次要动作se

58、condary action creates interest and realism in animation. it should be staged such that it can be noticed but still not overpower the main action. a good example of this is a character at a table acting and delivering their main acting. a side piece of acting business might be the character thumbing

59、 their fingers on the table. this isn't the main action say, perhaps it occurs as the other hand is more largely gesturing and your focus is on the face but it is something that the character is doing/acting that adds a more realistic and natural feel to the animation. as mentioned, it must be staged so that the main action isn't overpo