Animals in motion171ANIMATION EXERCISE 5.4 �BASIC FLIGHT CYCLE Aims The aim of this short exercise is to increase your understanding of animal locomotion and to develop an understanding of the basic principles and animation timing as they apply to a flight cycle. Objective On completion of the exercise you should be able to create a short animated cycle of a bird in flight that demonstrates variable dynamics and includes the basic principles of animation. Ignore any unnecessary details on the bird, keep the drawing simple and construct the bird from simple shapes. 1. Begin by studying the examples given here, then take a look at birds in flight for yourself. 2. Use key-frame or pose-to-pose animation techniques; this will make it easier to build your basic animation before going on to create the animation timing and adding inbetweens. 3. Start by making the two most extreme positions, the upbeat extreme and the downbeat extreme. 4. Using these, you should then make the two main animation breakdowns: the one that fits between the up-stroke and the down-stroke (model 1) and the one that fits between the down-stroke and the up-stroke (model 2). Note that these drawings, while generally in the same position, will demonstrate very different properties. The drag affecting the tips of the wings in model 1 will create an upturn in the primary feathers. In model 2, the drag will cause a downturn in the primary feathers. 5. Once you have these drawings, you should create your animation timing breakdowns before creating your inbetweens. Remember to create variable dynamics within the cycle; take time to consider where the action will be faster and where it will be slower. Also remember that the animation should work as a cycle. 6. Rather than testing the animation keys before inbetweening as suggested with the fourlegged walk cycle, wait until you have completed all your drawings. As you should have some experience now of creating animation with variable timings, this should give you more confidence in your ability to undertake animation without constant checking. Eventually you will find yourself making key pose tests to check only the more difficult sequences before completing your inbetweens. 7. After shooting your animation, make thorough analysis of your work before making any corrections and reshooting.
