The 12 Principles of Animation
Foundations of believable motion
Also known as: 12 principles of animation · Disney principles · Squash and stretch · Anticipation · Follow through · Animation fundamentals
Definition
The twelve principles of animation are guidelines from Disney animators that make motion believable and appealing: squash and stretch, anticipation, staging, straight ahead and pose to pose, follow through and overlapping action, slow in and slow out, arcs, secondary action, timing, exaggeration, solid drawing and appeal. They apply to 2D, 3D and game animation, and are the base for evaluating almost any piece of character motion, from a walk to an attack.
In production
Use anticipation and follow-through to give weight and readability to actions, arcs to keep movement natural, and timing and spacing to control feel. Games need quick, readable actions, so principles such as anticipation and exaggeration are shortened and strengthened to keep the controls responsive. Study reference video and break it down frame by frame, and apply the principles to the pose and the in-betweens.
Tools that use The 12 Principles of Animation
See also
Keyframes and Interpolation
Poses in time and how the computer fills in between
Walk and Run Cycles
The looping base of character locomotion
VFX Timing (Anticipation, Impact, Dissipation)
The rhythm that makes an effect feel right
Animation Frame Rates (24, 30, 60 fps)
Which frame rate to animate and export at
Procedural Animation
Motion generated by rules and physics instead of keyframes
IK / FK
Inverse vs Forward Kinematics