There are basically 2 types of Images 1.Raster images & 2.Vector images. Vector images are based on mathematical objects such as lines and curves.
But what is a Raster image? It is a type of image made up of small rectangular pieces which are known as pixels. Pixel is a small part of an image i.e. an image is made by combining lots of pixels. That image is known as Raster Image. This Raster image is also known as bitmap images.
Raster images are dependent on the resolution that’s the reason that they have large size. The image becomes pixilated when the zoom level is increased. As Raster image is dependent on resolutions. Due to this some images can be rescaled, while other images are not seen clearly. In Raster image is measured in ppi (pixels per inch).
The color system used in Raster images is RGB (Red, Green, and Blue). The pixels usually smooth out visually for the user, who sees a photograph or drawing, when a Raster image is viewed.
The Formats of Raster Images
.tiff (tagged image file format)
It is tag based file format which promotes the interchange of digital photographs and line arts. Mostly Image Manipulation applications, page layout & publishing applications, faxing, scanning, word processing and other applications are supported by tiff. It is an image compression format. This format is developed by Aldus (Adobe Systems). The main purpose of this format is to create such an environment that the image data can Up till now 4 revisions are developed of .tiff
Revision 3.0 which is in HTML.
This memorandum is mainly developed by Aldus now known as Adobe in the year 1986.
Revision 4.0 which is in HTML.
This memorandum is developed on 31 April, 1987 by Tim Davenport of Aldus and Manny Vellon of Microsoft in conjunction. This revision was developed with minor enhancements.
Revision 5.0 which is also in HTML.
This Technical memorandum of Aldus and Microsoft was developed on 8/8/88. The basic new thing about this revision was the LZW compression, support for Palette Color images.
Revision 6.0 which is in PDF
This memorandum was developed by Adobe Developers Associations previously known as Aldus in March 1995.
.gif (graphic interchange format)
Gif is like short animation. In 1987 CompuServe developed this format. CompuServe developed this format to give some moving effect or animation to a still image.
. png (portable network graphics)
To improve the gif and to replace it .png was developed. It was developed by PNG Development Group in 1996
. jpeg (joint photographic experts group)
To compress the photographic images this file format is used. By this format we can adjust the storage size and image quality.
.bmp (bitmap image)
Bmp file format is very simple format and familiar to windows. Generally bitmap files are stored in Device Independent Bitmap (DIB) format, due to this format windows allow display of bitmap image to any display device.
Hi readers ! This is Saumil back with some more on vector graphics. Previously we discussed about a very good vector graphics tool, The Adobe Illustrator. Now let us see another great tool for vector graphics, CorelDRAW.
Let’s know CorelDRAW
CorelDRAW is vector graphics editor developed to deliver optimum performance with vectors. CorelDRAW was developed by Corel Corporation which is situated in Ottawa, Canada. It is also the name of Corel’s Graphics Suite. CorelDRAW is designed to provide the user with a capacity to edit & create vector graphics. As it is a vector based software, it is widely used as a key tool for print designing.
Journey from origin to X4
Corel Corporation was looking forward to develop a vector graphics editing software to accompany the bundle of other desktop publishing programs. So in 1987 Corel hired two software engineers namely, Michael Bouillon & Pat Beirne, & asked them to develop a vector graphics editor. As a result CorelDRAW was released in 1989. It was its first version. Then later in 1991 version 2 was released. Thereafter every year an updated version was released uptill version 6 came out in year 1995. Than version 7 was released in year 1997. The trend continued uptill the release of version 12 in year 2003. Than it had a break for about 2 years. This break was discontinued with the release of CorelDRAW’s version 13 popularly known as CorelDRAW X3. in yera 2006. Then in year 2008 CorelDRAW X4 was released, which is the 14th & the latest version of this software.
In this journey CorelDRAW was converted into a full graphics suite with addition of 3 more softwares. They were Corel PHOTO-PAINT which was a raster based graphics editor, Corel CAPTURE which was a image capturing assistant & Corel Power TRACE which is a tool to convert raster images to vector graphics. This is available inside the CorelDRAW.
Corel Corporation has contributed greatly to the graphics & designing industry by giving such a product, The CorelDRAW Graphics Suite.
Photoshop is an amazing software which gives any user the ability to create stunning digital art. Anyone can start on it but amongst the new users I see lots of mistakes which should not be happening. I believe this mistakes are as a result of them wanting to do everything in one art.
This article is not about tips and tricks but the focus of this articles in on what NOT TO DO in photoshop. Avoid this mistakes listed and you should do fine with your artwork.
Not Using Layers and Folder
Photoshop is based around the concept of working in Layers. I have seen many new users neglect working on new layers and then regretting their choice later. I adhere to the policy of doing each and every change on a new layer this way it is easier to edit, move, duplicate or delete, etc.
Grouping the layers in a folder based on your workflow also helps in navigating through large PSDs. Naming each layer and folder helps you identify easily when you need to go back to certain layer to re-edit it. This will help save lot of time and headaches.
Not Using Grids and Guides
Grids and Guides are for a reason, they are not for show. Its amazing how almost everyone claims to have “the eye” but trust me we often don’t have the correct alignment. Grids and guides will help a lot, so use them.
Not Learning Shortcuts
“Shortcut – A path between two points that is faster than the commonly used paths; A method to accomplish something that omits one or more steps”
Shortcuts save a lot of time, no matter which program you use learning the shortcuts is a must. Not only will this save time but your workflow will get faster. Photoshop also allows you to customize your shortcuts.
Abusing and Overusing Filters
I have seen many new artist use all the available filters in one art work. Even I was obsessed with them when I started out. Agreed they are fun and easy way to work and can at times give good results. Using them does not make you a great photoshop artist, instead it shows your amateurish level. Using discretion when using filters don’t overuse them.
Jarring Colours
Always know your colour theory, don’t use jarring colours. Art work should be such that the focus is on the art and not the colours used.
Working under 300dpi for Print
Most new users fall into the trap of working in 72 dpiTypically 300 dpi is best for print but always confirm with the printer.
When working with 72dpi users assume that they can always increase the pixel resolution and it will be fixed, but on printing the picture will appear pixelated.
Abusing and Overusing Blending Options
Similar to filters, beleved or embossed text and work will certainly mark you out as a amateur. Unless you have very strong reasons of using them stay away from them.
Using drop shadows should also be used with utmost care. Make sure you have the shadows in the right direction according to the lighting. Also they should be soft and subtle not harsh and overpowering.
Creating Logos in Photoshop
Though this an debatable point, I believe logos should be created in vector based programs like Adobe Illustrator. The main disadvantage of creating logos in photoshop is that when resizing them you will loose the quality and the image will appear pixelated.
Hello friends… I am back with something more regarding vector graphics. Up till now we have seen what are vector graphics & how they are used. Then we saw that where vector graphics are used & what are their different uses. Now we will see how vector graphics are created & edited. What are vector graphic file formats & other things related to vector. Lets enter into a new dimension of vector graphics.
The Software
There are many vector graphics editing & creating software in the market nowadays. For example Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Macromedia Free-hand etc. Today we will discuss & know about a leading vector graphics software called Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics software developed & marketed by Adobe Systems Inc. USA. This was a complimentary software of Adobe Photoshop series of raster graphic software. Illustrator was first developed for the Apple Macintosh Inc. in year 1986. Then the software became popular & it kept on developing resulting into its fourteenth edition out today.
In year 1988 Adobe Illustrator’s first version was commercially launched which was called Adobe Illustrator88. This was its basic version but still had a lot of features & tools. This version typically made to support Macintosh platform. Following this Adobe also developed Illustrator to support platforms like sun solaris, NeXT, Silicon Graphics IRIX etc but they were discontinued as a result of poor sales.
In early 1990 Adobe launched the second edition of Adobe illustrator in Macintosh platform named Illustrator 1.1 followed by another version called Illustrator 3.0. Then Adobe took a leap & went ahead to launch a Windows platform based version of Illustrator & launched Illustrator 2.0 for Windows. Then next version for windows came which was version 4.0, but it got highly criticized because of similarities with Macintosh versions 7 Illustrator’s biggest market competitor The Corel Draw Graphics Suite. Adobe was pretty successful with Macintosh versions of Illustrator thus it launched version 5.0 for Macintosh in 1933.
After a big failure with the windows version Adobe worked upon the UI (User Interface) & functionality & came up with Illustrator 6.0 in 1996. This version also failed in making something for the company. Still the 6.0 version was updated to a great extent. The biggest leap Adobe got in 1997 with launch of Illustrator version 7.0. This was a lot better 7 professional version of illustrator. Users were now being able to standardize themselves on Illustrator. From this period itself Adobe Illustrator was a standard software for vector illustrations.
Later adobe created history by acquiring Free-hand, an another vector tool, & initializing on Adobe Pagemaker. Although free-hand was sold to Macromedia after sometime. Adobe added some more extraordinary feature like web publishing, Raster previewing, PDF (Portable Document Format) & SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) compatibility etc & launched Illustrator 9.0. This version also include some features like tracing.
Adobe now wanted something to boost up its sales & popularity of Illustrator & Adobe got it int the form of the Creative Suite (CS) series of Illustrator. Its 11th version The Adobe illustrator CS was launched in 2003 followed by CS2, CS3 & CS4. The creative suite series was technically advanced & well configured to match the needs of the illustrators. Today the latest version of Adobe Illustrator is CS4. This is its fourteenth version & still the software is growing.
For me as a vector artist & Adobe Illustrator user, this is the best software in terms of use, UI, tools, functionality & Quality up till now amongst the vector editing software i have used. I hope this article will help you know the software well & respect the art in you.
File Format(s)
Adobe Illustrator supports almost every file format associated with images. The official Illustrator file format is .AI. This is the standard file format invented by Adobe for Illustrators users. This file format saves the whole project as it as & it is supported by all versions of this software.
Designing a character is like playing the role of God.It is amazing ,creative, full of freedom ,power and control.Nothing can go wrong with your character , and even if it dose its always in your control.From Mickey Mouse’s famous three-fingered hands – drawn to save production time when the character was first developed for animations in the 1920s – to the elegant simplicity of Homer Simpson, character design has always been about keeping it simple. But aside from clean lines and easily readable features, what else are you going to need to know? There’s knowing what to exaggerate and what to play down, what to add to give a hint of background and depth, and what to do to develop personality.
Key Steps to Design your Character
Designing a character is similar to giving birth, since you are creating a whole new being, but it’s different because you get to pick all the character’s traits, personality and looks. You also have complete control over what the character does and does not do. You can design a character by using your imagination to work on this few steps.
Character
Envision the being. Is it a man, woman, or child? Perhaps it’s a giant, walking stick, an insect, a fish, a cat, a goat, a tiger, or a mixture of all types of animals. Maybe it’s a talking coin or another inanimate object come to life. Figure out what kind of being your being is going to be.
Personality
Pick its personality. Your walking stick can be laid back and happy, your insect can be ferocious. You can create a fearless fish, a catty cat, a glib goat, a terrified tiger or any personality that comes to mind. Your figure’s features are going to reflect its personality.
Features
Sketch a rough draft with the personality in mind. A laid back stick will be slouchy with half-closed eyes. A fierce insect is going to have a gargantuan stinger, big teeth and slanted, angry eyes. Your terrified tiger will have wide eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights, and a grimace showing his flat, useless teeth. Envision the personality traits of people you know that act in the manner of the character you’re creating. Reproduce those traits with your character’s stance and facial expression.
Attributes
Give your character a few obvious attributes that are easy to reproduce. You want your character to be memorable with giant eyes, a weird hat, creepy teeth or other attributes that stand out from a crowd and make the character recognizable at a glance. You also want the attributes to be easy to draw, again and again, in case you make a comic strip or animation of the character and you find yourself drawing him nine million times.
Uniqueness
Be unique. If you are ending up with a droopy dog with sagging ears, a giant, yellow sponge that wears pants or a smart aleck rabbit that is constantly chomping on a carrot, you better rethink your character. You don’t want anything you create to be too similar to anything already out there, like Droopy Dog, Sponge Bob or Bugs Bunny.
Naming Ceremony
Now, this is where you can have a lot of fun.You have your characters age,gender,personality,his uniqueness,probes and lot many things to assist you in this task.There can be endless number of names for a given character, but the best would be the one that justifies either all its qualities or the one that appeals the most and defines it, making him most memorable and unique
When working with graphics we often hear a word i.e. Vector. Sometimes we just take vectors or vector graphics as something else than taking it as important it is. It might happen as we don’t know the meaning of the words vector graphics or because of some other reason.. So what are vector graphics & where are they used? Come on now to explore the world of Vector graphics with me…
Introduction to Vector
Vector is a type of image. The usual photographs we see on the internet or in our computer are Raster or Bitmap images. These are also image types. These image types work on pixels & represent the images in the form of pixels. These images are resolution dependent & their quality is affected depending on the viewing size.
Vector images are those which are in form of logos on any website. This image type works on basic geometrical forms like lines & curves & represent the images in the form of lines & curves. This allows this type of images to be resolution independent which means their quality doesn’t affect depending on the viewing size or their image size. Vector graphics are 2d & based on CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) color type basically. This is because vector graphics are widely used in printing & print media industries. A printer is set to work with only CMYK color type, thus vector images are created using CMYK color type only. It can also be created using RGB (Red Green Blue) or HSB (Hue Saturation Brightness) color types.
Why Vector?
Vector graphics are very flexible in use as they are resolution independent. You can create an image large in size & can rescale it at a size you want. These images are not affected when rescaled. While raster images, when extended to a large size, lack its quality. We can see pixels in the image. Below image will make it much clear.
As you can see in the image above, the main image of a tennis ball is magnified up to 1200% or at 12x in the small square below. You can see the pixels or small squares making the image. This is the biggest disadvantage of raster images. While working with images which would need rescaling many times, vector images are preferable.
Typography is an art of writing text in a specific format & style. It includes arranging text, designing text, & formatting text in a way to gain an artistic gesture in writing or typing. Arrangement of text includes tasks like line spacing, selecting font, point size, etc. Typography is used in various fields in media & web. Typography is an essential tool for vector graphic artists & people engaged in type setting, type design, calligraphy etc occupations. Below is a simple example of Typography.
History
The word typography is derived from Greek words i.e. typos which means to strike & graphos meaning to write. Looking back in history, typography was optimized as a profession & people engaged in tis profession were known as typographers. It was seriously practiced & was a popular thing among people. It was modified according to needs as time traveled.
Types
Typography is not defined in any types but it is used in many different manners. Typography is used differently for printing, differently for display, & differently for web media. For printing typography is used in simple & bold manner so that it is easy to see & read. For display it is used in vivid forms like animated, kinetic, etc. Bright colors & bold symbols are easy to see & looks good when displayed. For web it is simple & artistic at a same time. this helps readers to have a pause & look at it while surfing or scrolling pages over the internet.
Dos & Don’t s
The basic thing to be taken care of while performing typography is that the words or text written should be clear in reading & understanding. While stylizing the text it should be seen that design doesn’t make the text unreadable or it doesn’t hamper the essence of the text. When giving any color or font to the text, its appearance should be kept in mind & concentrated upon. Colors should be according to mood & type of the illustration & color key should be thoroughly followed. Too bright colors are unpleasant to view & too dull colors sometimes lose the feel. Designs or styles given to the text should be neat & Alignment of each letter should be proper in order to preserve the aliveness of the text.
Below are some examples & pieces of reference related to typography..
Animation is a graphic representation of drawings to show movement within those drawings. A series of drawings are linked together and usually photographed by a camera. The drawings have been slightly changed between individualized frames so when they are played back in rapid succession (24 frames per second) there appears to be seamless movement within the drawings.
The First Animated Feature film
Pioneers of animation include Winsor McCay of the United States and Emile Cohl and Georges Melies of France. Some consider McCay’s Sinking of the Lusitania from 1918 as the first animated feature film.
Early animations, which started appearing before 1910, consisted of simple drawings photographed one at a time. It was extremely labor intensive as there were literally hundreds of drawings per minute of film. The development of celluloid around 1913 quickly made animation easier to manage. Instead of numerous drawings, the animator now could make a complex background and/or foreground and sandwich moving characters in between several other pieces of celluloid, which is transparent except for where drawings are painted on it. This made it unnecessary to repeatedly draw the background as it remained static and only the characters moved. It also created an illusion of depth, especially if foreground elements were placed in the frames.
The 12 Principles of Animation
Many of the principles of traditional animation were developed in the 1930’s at the Walt Disney studios. These principles were developed to make animation, especially character animation, more realistic and entertaining. These principles can and should be applied to 3D computer animation.
The 12 basic principles of animation is a set of principles of animation introduced by the Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. Johnston and Thomas in turn based their book on the work of the leading Disney animators from the 1930s onwards, and their effort to produce more realistic animations. The main purpose of the principles was to produce an illusion of characters adhering to the basic laws of physics, but they also dealt with more abstract issues, such as emotional timing and character appeal.
1.Squash and stretch
(Defining the rigidity and mass of an object by distorting its shape during an action)
The most important principle is “squash and stretch”,the purpose of which is to give a sense of weight and flexibility to drawn objects. It can be applied to simple objects, like a bouncing ball, or more complex constructions, like the musculature of a human face.
When real objects move only totally rigid ones, e.g., a chair, remain rigid in motion. Living creatures always deform in shape in some manner. For example, if you bend your arm, your bicep muscles contract and bulge out. They then lengthen and disappear when your arm straightens out. The squashed position shows the form flattened out and the stretched position shows the form extended. An important rule is that the volume of the object should remain constant at rest, squashed, or stretched. If this rule is not obeyed, then the object appears to shrink when squashed and to grow when stretched.
A classic example is a bouncing ball, that squashes when it hits the ground and stretches just before and after. The stretching, while not realistic, makes the ball appear to be moving faster right before and after it hits the ground.
When an object squashes or stretches, it appears to be made of a pliable material, if it doesn’t then it appears rigid. Objects that are partially pliable and partially rigid should have only the pliable parts deform.
Taken to an extreme point, a figure stretched or squashed to an exaggerated degree can have a comical effect. In realistic animation, however, the most important aspect of this principle is the fact that an object’s volume does not change when squashed or stretched. If the length of a ball is stretched vertically, its width (in three dimensions, also its depth) needs to contract correspondingly horizontally.
2. Anticipation
(The preparation for an action)
Anticipation can be the anatomical preparation for the action, e.g., retracting a foot before kicking a ball. It can also be a device to attract the viewer’s attention to the proper screen area and to prepare them for the action, e.g., raising the arms and staring at something before picking it up, or staring off-screen at something and then reacting to it before the action moves on-screen. An example of this is the opening scene of Luxo, jr.. The father is looking off-screen and then reacts to something.
An action occurs in three parts:
the preparation for the action – this is anticipation
the action
the termination of the action
A properly timed anticipation can enable the viewer to better understand a rapid action, e.g., preparing to run and then dashing off-screen.
Anticipation can also create the perception of weight or mass, e.g., a heavy person might put their arms on a chair before they rise, whereas a smaller person might just stand up.
3.Staging
(presenting an idea so that it is unmistakably clear)
The purpose of staging is to direct the audience’s attention, and make it clear what is of greatest importance in a scene; what is happening, and what is about to happen.This can be done by various means, such as the placement of a character in the frame, the use of light and shadow, and the angle and position of the camera.The essence of this principle is keeping focus on what is relevant, and avoiding unnecessary detail.
In the early days at Disney all characters were black and white, with no gray. All action was shown in silhouette (to the side), because if a character moved its black arm in front of its black body it would disappear, so the action had to be against the white background. The Disney animators realized that even without this technological limitation action was more clearly visible in silhouette.
Even with modern color 3D graphics, silhouette actions are more clearly delineated and thus to be preferred. over frontal action. An example would be a character waking up and scratching its side, it is easier to understand what it is doing than if it scratched its stomach.
4. Timing
(Spacing actions to define the weight and size of objects and the personality of characters)
The speed of an action, i.e., timing, gives meaning to movement, both physical and emotional meaning. The animator must spend the appropriate amount of time on the anticipation of an action, on the action, and on the reaction to the action. If too much time is spent, then the viewer may lose attention, if too little, then the viewer may not notice or understand the action.On a purely physical level, correct timing makes objects appear to abide to the laws of physics; for instance, an object’s weight decides how it reacts to an impetus, like a push. Theatrical timing is of a less technical nature, and is developed mostly through experience. It can be pure comic timing, or it can be used to convey deep emotions. It can also be a device to communicate aspects of a character’s personality
Timing can also affect the perception of mass of an object. A heavier object takes a greater force and a longer time to accelerate and decelerate. For example, if a character picks up a heavy object, e.g., a bowlng ball, they should do it much slower than picking up a light object such as a basketball. Similarly, timing affects the perception of object size. A larger object moves more slowly than a smaller object and has greater inertia. These effects are done not by changing the poses, but by varying the spaces or time (number of frames) between poses.
Timing can also indicate an emotional state. Consider a scenario with a head looking first over the right shoulder and then over the left shoulder. By varying the number of inbetween frames the following meanings can be implied:
No in-betweens – the character has been hit by a strong force and its head almost snappedd off
One in-betweens – the character has been hit by something substantial, .e.g., frying pan
Two in-betweens – the character has a nervous twitch
Three in-betweens – the character is dodging a flying object
Four in-betweens – the character is giving a crisp order
Six in-betweens – the character sees something inviting
Nine in-betweens – the character is thinking about something
Ten in-betweens – the character is stretching a sore muscle
5.Slow in & Slow out
(The spacing of the in-between frames to achieve subtlety of timing and movement)
The movement of the human body, and most other objects, needs time to accelerate and slow down. For this reason, an animation looks more realistic if it has more frames near the beginning and end of a movement, and fewer in the middle. This principle goes for characters moving between two extreme poses, such as sitting down and standing up, but also for inanimate, moving objects.
This is usually achieved by using splines to control the path of an object. The various spline parameters can be adjusted to give the required effect. In 3D Studio this is controlled by the parameters Ease To and Ease From in the Key info window (from the Track info window). When these are zero, there is a constant velocity in either direction, i.e., to/from the keyframe. When Ease To is set to a higher value, the motion is faster as it leaves the previous keyframe and slows as it approaches the current keyframe. When Ease From is set to a higher value the motion is slower leaving the current keyframe and speeds up as it approaches the next keyframe. The tick mark spacing shows the velocity with closer tick marks indicating a slower rate and spaced out ones indicating a faster rate.
6.Follow through and overlapping action
(The termination of an action and establishing its relationship to the next action)
These closely related techniques help render movement more realistic, and give the impression that characters follow the laws of physics. “Follow through” means that separate parts of a body will continue moving after the character has stopped.”Overlapping action” is when a character changes direction, and parts of the body continue in the direction he was previously going.
An example is in throwing a ball – the hand continues to move after the ball is released. In the movement of a complex object different parts of the object move at different times and different rates. For example, in walking, the hip leads, followed by the leg and then the foot. As the lead part stops, the lagging parts continue in motion.
Here is a quote about overlapping from Walt Disney:
“It is not necessary for an animator to take a character to one point, complete that action completely, and then turn to the following action as if he had never given it a thought until after completing the first action. When a character knows what he is going to do he doesn’t have to stop before each individual action and think to do it. He has it planned in advance in his mind.”
7.Straight ahead action and pose to pose
(The two contrasting approaches to the creation of movement)
Straight Ahead Action in hand drawn animation is when the animator starts at the first drawing in a scene and then draws all of the subsequent frames until he reaches the end of the scene. This creates very spontaneous and zany looking animation and is used for wild, scrambling action.
Pose-to-Pose Action is when the animator carefully plans out the animation, draws a sequence of poses, i.e., the initial, some in-between, and the final poses and then draws all the in-between frames (or another artist or the computer draws the inbetween frames). This is used when the scene requires more thought and the poses and timing are important.
Computer animation removes the problems of proportion related to “straight ahead action” drawing; however, “pose to pose” is still used for computer animation, because of the advantages it brings in composition. The use of computers facilitates this method, as computers can fill in the missing sequences in between poses automatically. It is, however, still important to oversee this process, and apply the other principles discussed.
8.Appeal
(Creating a design or an action that the audience enjoys watching)
Appeal in a cartoon character corresponds to what would be called charisma in an actor. A character who is appealing is not necessarily sympathetic — villains or monsters can also be appealing — the important thing is that the viewer feels the character is real and interesting.
9.Exaggeration.
(Accentuating the essence of an idea via the design and the action.)
Exaggeration does not mean just distorting the actions or objects arbitrarily, but the animator must carefully choose which properties to exaggerate. If only one thing is exaggerated then it may stand out too much. If everything is exaggerated, then the entire scene may appear too unrealistic.
It is an effect especially useful for animation, as perfect imitation of reality can look static and dull in cartoons. The level of exaggeration depends on whether one seeks realism or a particular style, like a caricature or the style of an artist. The classical definition of exaggeration, employed by Disney, was to remain true to reality, just presenting it in a wilder, more extreme form. Other forms of exaggeration can involve the supernatural or surreal, alterations in the physical features of a character, or elements in the storyline itself. It is important to employ a certain level of restraint when using exaggeration; if a scene contains several elements, there should be a balance in how those elements are exaggerated in relation to each other, to avoid confusing or overawing the viewer.
10.Arcs
(The visual path of action for natural movement)
Most human and animal actions occur along an arched trajectory, and animation should reproduce these movements for greater realism. This can apply to a limb moving by rotating a joint, or a thrown object moving along a parabolic trajectory. The exception is mechanical movement, which typically moves in straight lines.
11.Secondary action.
(The action of an object resulting from another action)
This is an action that directly results from another action. It can be used to increase the complexity and interest in a scene. It should always be subordinate to and not compete with the primary action in the scene. An example might be the facial expression on a character.
Adding secondary actions to the main action gives a scene more life, and can help to support the main action. A person walking can simultaneously swing his arms or keep them in his pockets, he can speak or whistle, or he can express emotions through facial expressions. The important thing about secondary actions is that they emphasize, rather than take attention away from the main action. If the latter is the case, those actions are better left out. In the case of facial expressions, during a dramatic movement these will often go unnoticed. In these cases it is better to include them at the beginning and the end of the movement, rather than during.
12.Solid Drawing.
The principle of solid — or good — drawing, really means that the same principles apply to an animator as to an academic artist. The drawer has to understand the basics of anatomy, composition, weight, balance, light and shadow etc. For the classical animator, this involved taking art classes and doing sketches from life. One thing in particular that Johnston and Thomas warned against was creating “twins”: characters whose left and right sides mirrored each other, and looked lifeless. Modern-day computer animators in theory do not need to draw at all, yet their work can still benefit greatly from a basic understanding of these principles.
In visual arts, colour theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impacts of specific colour combination. Those involved in creation and graphics design need a acute understanding of colour. Colour choices can be some of the most difficult choices to make and most find it thorny to find that ‘it looks right’ colour. Often designers base their choice of colour on what they like, yet sometimes that’s not the right way as you might have conflict with the words of your art. Basic colour theory helps you decide which colour match.
The Colour Wheel
The colour wheel is the base of colour theory. The first circular colour diagram was designed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. The colour wheel is a visual representation of colours arranged according to their chromatic relationship.
The Colours
Primary Colours
The primary colours are red, yellow and blue. In traditional colour theory, these are the three pigment colours that cannot be mixed or formed by any combination of other colours. All other colours are derived from
these three hues.
Seconday Colours
Secondary colours are green,orange and purple. Secondary colours are the colours formed by mixing the primary colours. These with the primaries give us the six full-strength colours of the spectrum. They are arranged (as you can see) in sequence in a circle and I’ve outlined them in black in the diagram. By mixing each colour with its neighbour, we get six more colours, called the tertiary colours.
Tertiary Colours
Tertiary colours are: yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green and yellow-green. These are the colours formed by mixing one primary and one secondary colour. Again I’ve outlined them in black so they’re more obvious to you.
Warm and Cool Colours
The colour wheel can be divided into warm and cool colours.
Warm Colours are vivid and energetic, and tend to advance in space.
Cool Colours give an impression of calm and create a soothing impression.
How To Build A Colour Wheel
Colour wheel is composed by positioning the Primary colour (Red, Yellow and Blue) at equidistant along a circle.
Now position the secondary colours achieved by mixing two primary colours in between the primary from which the hue was created.
Red + Yellow = Orange
Yellow + Blue= Green
Blue + Red = Violet
Now we are going to add the tertiary colours in the circle. Mix any two colours and the resultant hue achieved goes in between the two colours used to achieve the result.
Colour Harmonies
Guidleline to create colour schemes
Complementary Colour Scheme
The complementary color scheme consists of two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. This scheme looks best when you place a warm color against a cool color, for example, red versus green-blue. This scheme is intrinsically high-contrast.When using this scheme, choose a dominant colour and then use its complementary colour for accents. One of the more traditional approaches for this type of colour scheme is to use one colour for the background and its complementary colour to highlight important elements. Through this approach you’ll get colour dominance combined with sharp colour contrast.
Analogous color scheme
The analogous color scheme uses colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. One color is used as a dominant color while others are used to enrich the scheme. The analogous scheme is similar to the monochromatic, but offers more nuances.Choose one color to dominate, a second to support. The third color is used (along with black, white or gray) as an accent.
Triad color scheme
The triad color scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the color wheel. This is scheme is quite vibrant and you can use unsaturated or pale versions of your hues.The triadic scheme is not as contrasting as the complementary scheme, but it looks more balanced and harmonious.
Split complementary scheme
The split complementary scheme is a variation of the standard complementary scheme. It uses a color and the two colors adjacent to its complementary. This provides high contrast without the strong tension of the complementary scheme. The split-complimentary color scheme is often a good choice for beginners, because it is difficult to mess up.
Tetradic (double complementary) scheme
The tetradic (double complementary) scheme is the most varied because it uses two complementary color pairs. This scheme is hard to harmonize; if all four hues are used in equal amounts, the scheme may look unbalanced, so you should choose a color to be dominant or subdue the colors. Attention should be paid to the balance of warm and cool colours in your design. You have two types of scheme in this Square and Rectangular.
Tools
To make your colour choices easy we have a very simple but very powerful tool to help you design your colour palettes. You can create your own schemes or browse through readymade thousands of palettes.
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The analogous color scheme uses colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. One color is used as a dominant color while others are used to enrich the scheme. The analogous scheme is similar to the monochromatic, but offers more nuances.Choose one color to dominate, a second to support. The third color is used (along with black, white or gray) as an accent.
The triad color scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the color wheel. This is scheme is quite vibrant and you can use unsaturated or pale versions of your hues.The triadic scheme is not as contrasting as the complementary scheme, but it looks more balanced and harmonious.
The tetradic (double complementary) scheme is the most varied because it uses two complementary color pairs. This scheme is hard to harmonize; if all four hues are used in equal amounts, the scheme may look unbalanced, so you should choose a color to be dominant or subdue the colors. Attention should be paid to the balance of warm and cool colours in your design. You have two types of scheme in this Square and Rectangular.
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