I was watching "The Justice League" this morning and noticed a lack of interpolated motion. It's obvious they have a sizeable animation staff. It is incredible when you consider the number of character and scene angles, scene changes, head turns and forward forshortened motion, etc. And they have a schedule to keep. Whew!
For those who have knowledge is it tougher for a group of animators to produce interpolated animation rather than switched layers?
Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
Cheers, Larry
Re: Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
I read somewhere and a former Hollywood animator once told me that series like that are produced by a method similar to switch layers, i.e., the basic moves like jumping, flying, walking, etc. are determined. Then they are drawn with many turns like 10, 20, 30, 40 degrees, etc. so that they can quickly be animated. But the setup for each character on a show like that is tremendous, although most of it only needs to be done once. If new angles are needed such as low angle, high angle, etc., they are quickly drawn and added. When doing this kind of setup you'll almost always forget something or decide to storyboard a new angle. And remember that once these moves are done once, they are repeated and/or cycled many times over. Add creative boarding, special fx like explosions and the like and it all looks new and fresh with every episode. I'd love to hear someone else's experience. This is what I've heard about these shows.
Re: Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
The Justice League is made in Anime studio?
Re: Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
Pinesal, I don't think so. I wanted to know how those big production animations were made.
Cheers, Larry
Re: Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
I think there is confusion in terminology and specific software features.
Switch layers are an Anime Studio specific feature and not related to any "style" of animation. Switch layers in Anime Studio is simply a way to activate a single frame of repeatable motion quickly and easily from reusable layers. Switch layers can have the smooth interpolated motion that might be desired in animation. You set this in the switch layer tab of the layer settings and the vectors and points in the layers must be identical.
So forget about "switch layers" when describing the animation style of a cartoon such as The Justice League. That cartoon uses a particular style of animation determined by the production schedule and doesn't use "switch layers". It is just animating on 2's 3's or 4's etc that creates the less than smooth motion for some elements like lip sync or some actions. This is done simply to save time and effort. For more important actions sequences animation on 1's might be used selectively.
Animating on 2's, 3's etc and using reusable sequences to save time and effort was made a standard for saturday morning cartoons by Hannah Barbara and Japanese animation (the original "Anime" style) many years ago and saved a fortune in cartoon production. Previously cartoons traditionally were animated on "1's" on (24 images drawn for each second). DIsney, Classic Warner Brothers etc were done this way, and took a tremendous effort.
By doubling (or more) the frames, animations could be done in a fraction of the time with fewer hand drawn frames required per second. Reusing the same common motions over and over would also save effort. In productions produced by Disney and Classic WB cartoons (like classic Bugs Bunny) they didn't use this technique. A unique image was drawn for every frame. More skilled animators would draw "key frames" and lowly peons would draw the "inbetweens". But even those so called "lowly peons" had some major skills. This took a lot of effort and required large budgets and tremendous man power.
The same type of animation styles (2's, 3's, 4's or even 6's with jerky motion, or 1's for smooth motion) can be done in Anime Studio with or without the use of switch layers. It is simply a choice of how those frames are interpolated or "multiplied" on export.
So now with powerful software capable of creating "inbetweens" automatically the concept of saving the effort isn't... er... uh... really required (big argument here amongst animators). In many cases you don't need a bazillion workers drawing all of those frames... but... generally some people feel the software can't produce quality inbetweens. Animation purists don't like to rely on computer generated inbetweens and will still key every frame to maintain control and quality of the final result. The quality of the results are still dependent on skilled animators. So even with automatic inbetweens many productions still animate on 2's, etc.
Animators at companies like Pixar will animate on 2's or 3's to rough in the main action and then go back and key frame the inbetweens by hand. Doing it this way creates that high quality animation you see in more expensive productions. They can rough in the action animating on 2's or 3's but they would still animate the inbetweens by hand. I don't think Pixar ever uses computer generated inbetweens... ever.
Saturday morning cartoons like the Justice League can't afford to do all of that work even relying on computer generated inbetweens and high end software.
Plus the "look" of animating on 2's or 3's is now considered a "style" and is actually desired. Like making a movie in black and white. In the olden days black and white film was all they had. It wasn't a stylistic choice in those days. Now, it's considered a valid film style to create a mood or emotion. Film makers intentionally make a movie in black and white on purpose.
In the same way, animators actually WANT that "jerky" look as a "style" because the audience has grown up with it and expect it. It feels "natural". South Park uses high end 3D software to create a low quality look and feel as a stylistic choice.
Switch layers are an Anime Studio specific feature and not related to any "style" of animation. Switch layers in Anime Studio is simply a way to activate a single frame of repeatable motion quickly and easily from reusable layers. Switch layers can have the smooth interpolated motion that might be desired in animation. You set this in the switch layer tab of the layer settings and the vectors and points in the layers must be identical.
So forget about "switch layers" when describing the animation style of a cartoon such as The Justice League. That cartoon uses a particular style of animation determined by the production schedule and doesn't use "switch layers". It is just animating on 2's 3's or 4's etc that creates the less than smooth motion for some elements like lip sync or some actions. This is done simply to save time and effort. For more important actions sequences animation on 1's might be used selectively.
Animating on 2's, 3's etc and using reusable sequences to save time and effort was made a standard for saturday morning cartoons by Hannah Barbara and Japanese animation (the original "Anime" style) many years ago and saved a fortune in cartoon production. Previously cartoons traditionally were animated on "1's" on (24 images drawn for each second). DIsney, Classic Warner Brothers etc were done this way, and took a tremendous effort.
By doubling (or more) the frames, animations could be done in a fraction of the time with fewer hand drawn frames required per second. Reusing the same common motions over and over would also save effort. In productions produced by Disney and Classic WB cartoons (like classic Bugs Bunny) they didn't use this technique. A unique image was drawn for every frame. More skilled animators would draw "key frames" and lowly peons would draw the "inbetweens". But even those so called "lowly peons" had some major skills. This took a lot of effort and required large budgets and tremendous man power.
The same type of animation styles (2's, 3's, 4's or even 6's with jerky motion, or 1's for smooth motion) can be done in Anime Studio with or without the use of switch layers. It is simply a choice of how those frames are interpolated or "multiplied" on export.
So now with powerful software capable of creating "inbetweens" automatically the concept of saving the effort isn't... er... uh... really required (big argument here amongst animators). In many cases you don't need a bazillion workers drawing all of those frames... but... generally some people feel the software can't produce quality inbetweens. Animation purists don't like to rely on computer generated inbetweens and will still key every frame to maintain control and quality of the final result. The quality of the results are still dependent on skilled animators. So even with automatic inbetweens many productions still animate on 2's, etc.
Animators at companies like Pixar will animate on 2's or 3's to rough in the main action and then go back and key frame the inbetweens by hand. Doing it this way creates that high quality animation you see in more expensive productions. They can rough in the action animating on 2's or 3's but they would still animate the inbetweens by hand. I don't think Pixar ever uses computer generated inbetweens... ever.
Saturday morning cartoons like the Justice League can't afford to do all of that work even relying on computer generated inbetweens and high end software.
Plus the "look" of animating on 2's or 3's is now considered a "style" and is actually desired. Like making a movie in black and white. In the olden days black and white film was all they had. It wasn't a stylistic choice in those days. Now, it's considered a valid film style to create a mood or emotion. Film makers intentionally make a movie in black and white on purpose.
In the same way, animators actually WANT that "jerky" look as a "style" because the audience has grown up with it and expect it. It feels "natural". South Park uses high end 3D software to create a low quality look and feel as a stylistic choice.
Re: Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
That's interesting. It reminded me of the time I read that early cereal makers dealt with the problem of 'dry' grains by promoting their product as "crunchy!"Quote by Heyvern:
... animators actually WANT that "jerky" look as a "style" because the audience has grown up with it and expect it. It feels "natural".
Now I know what 'animating on the 2's' means. As a baby boomer I also remember "Popeye" and "Betty Boop" which I think were produced by Max Fleischer. I noticed the difference in quality of the Hanna Barbera animations but I still liked them. As a kid I always liked to draw but it was Disney that set the standard.
I think Anime Studio is a fabulous piece of software and my hope is that I can find an audience that likes my artwork and concepts.
Cheers, Larry
Re: Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
I never said that AS was used in network cartoon series, only that the PROCESS of switching between turns was similar. I have no idea what software package is used in Justice League...it's probably a custom version of Toonboom or TV Paint.
Not sure I'm allowed to post the following link because I'm not trying to promote any particular product or company, but this may provide more of an answer to your question about HOW the turns and setup is accomplished:
http://www.cartoonsolutions.com/store/c ... 17214.html
Not sure I'm allowed to post the following link because I'm not trying to promote any particular product or company, but this may provide more of an answer to your question about HOW the turns and setup is accomplished:
http://www.cartoonsolutions.com/store/c ... 17214.html
Re: Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
A word of caution: you're starting at the wrong end IMO. Animation is not about which software you use, which setup or rig. Animation is about to know how to draw a head in different views, to know how many inbetweens will give which emotional effect, and about visual storytelling in a way that you know where to cut instead of doing a head turn.
Here's a bit from "Illusion of life", explaining the effect of different numbers of inbetweens between two extremes (head left and head right):
Here's a bit from "Illusion of life", explaining the effect of different numbers of inbetweens between two extremes (head left and head right):
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Re: Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
slowtiger, I've learned a lot about animation from you. I've also matured somewhat since I started. I cannot think of a time where I would ever need a 360° head turn. That's like when you first get "Print" software you use ten fonts and fifteen colors because you have all these 'extra' features.
It makes more sense to create additional characters for '3/4', 'profile' etc. I like the look of Stan Lee's artwork. Slight head turns for "yes" and "no" are all I need. My challenge is to draw the character from different angles with accurate foreshortening.
It makes more sense to create additional characters for '3/4', 'profile' etc. I like the look of Stan Lee's artwork. Slight head turns for "yes" and "no" are all I need. My challenge is to draw the character from different angles with accurate foreshortening.
Cheers, Larry
Re: Are switch layers preferred in animated series?
As far as I know they are not, but maybe that has changed. Not that sure.
http://www.primehentai.com
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