The Animator's Survival Kit for the iPad

The Animator's Survival Kit

As every student of animation knows, the best book for learning animation is The Animator's Survival Kit. For over a decade it has been the industry standard textbook. The only problem with the book is you can't see the animation - which is where the iPad version comes in. It's like having both the DVD series and the book rolled into one, because it doesn't just tell you how to do stuff - it shows you how to do it as well.

The Language of Animation

The iPad feels as if it is made specially for a book of this kind. The digital ASK has many of the traditional features of a book - plain text, nice illustrations.  But, as you scroll through the pages, you keep bumping into little video icons, peering out at you invitingly from the pages. Click on these, and you get a video introduction to the chapter, giving a personal view on why it's important to read it, and what you will learn.

Other little icons pull up a short animated video explanation of the principle being addressed - much of this material is pulled from the ASK DVD set. Confused about overlapping action? Ones vs Two's? Straight Ahead vs Pose to Pose? A short video shows you what it all means, and shows you in simple clear terms exactly how these principles get applied in practice.

Scroll bar feature lets you scrub frames in real time

And even the videos are interactive. You can pause them, scroll through them, step through them frame by frame. It's like having the perfect animation tutor right there in the classroom with you, equipped with all the right bits of kit - video, power point, lectures books - but all at your disposal in exactly the format you want. And best of all - you don't have to go to school to learn it.

It all starts with a bouncing ball

It is obvious that a great deal of thought and effort has gone into the presentation. The interface is very easy to get the hang of, and simple to operate. Tap the screen and the chapters are revealed on a scroll bar at the base of the screen - so you can easily navigate to the bits you need. 

In short - it's the best £25 you will spend on any device to help you learn animation. But you have to buy an iPad first, of course.

Here's a list of stuff that comes with it:

1. The Animator’s Survival Kit Expanded Edition - that is to say the whole book - for the iPad
2. More than 100 animated examples of the principles of animation - taken from The Animator’s Survival Kit Animated DVD series, and inserted into the relevant sections of the text. You can slow these down and watch them frame-by-frame.
3. Dad's 50-years-in-the-making Circus Drawings animation
4. Video introductions for the chapters - by the author. 80 this year!
5. "Sensitive navigation", which "fades away gracefully away when not needed"
6. "Onion skinning" - to see multiple frames of animation at once. 

To see other books we recommend for the study of animation and visual effects, click here.

Summer Pleasures for our Freshmen Students - and a Reading List

Not that we want to spoil your summer. Photo: Wikipedia

What kind of preparation should students do before starting with us in September at Bucks? Needless to say, we don't want to spoil your summer, especially given the glorious weather that we are currently enjoying. Still, it's worth casting half an eye forward to September, and thinking about some of the things you might do to get ready for your studies. Here's a checklist of stuff to get you started. It's not comprehensive, and you don't have to do all of it, but tick off a few of the things on this list and you will be a making a great start on your animation career here at Bucks.


First, here is a reading list to get you started. Buy some of these books online or check them out from your local library. All the books on this list are in our library at Bucks, of course, but get one or two for yourself and do some reading while you're getting a suntan at the beach.

Character Animation Crash Course by Eric Goldberg

1. The Animator's Survival Kit. We recommend that any serious student of animation should buy a copy of The Animator's Survival Kit, by Richard Williams. It is now the standard textbook for animators and easily the most comprehensive book available for learning animation.
2. The Illusion of Life. The Illusion of Life was written by Disney animation legends Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnstone, and represents the accumulation of knowledge of the first "Golden Age" of Disney animation. An invaluable resource. 
3. Cartoon Animation. Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair was the first available book on animation, and has been in print since the early 1950s, regularly updated since then. Still full of very useful material. 
4. Timing for Animation by Harold Whittaker and John Halas is another very useful book on animation. It was first written some years ago but was recently updated and edited by former Animation Guild President Tom Sito. 
5. Character Animation Crash Course. The Character Animation Crash Course by Eric Goldberg is an excellent resource by one of the most talented 2D animators in the world - the man behind the genie in Disney's Aladdin.
6. The Complete Digital Animation Course. The Complete Digital animation Course by Andy Wyatt is a very useful overall guide to all the processes involved in digital animation and film-making. Especially good for the technical bits that the older books don't cover. 

OK - so you've bought a book or two - what else? The next thing to do - if you have a laptop at home, or access to one - is get yourself a free copy of Autodesk Maya, and open it up. Maya is the main software we animate with, nowadays it's the industry standard. Below is a free tutorial in the Maya interface (there are tons of similar ones) hosted at YouTube.



Don't be daunted - just take a quick look! It does look a bit confusing at first but it's good to get familiar with the layout, and learn where the main hotkeys are, and how the interface works. You can register and get a free Maya student license here.

Animation Apprentice

Once you have done that, take a look at the week 1 videos on my website Animation Apprentice. The week 1 videos are all free and this gives you a general introduction to the medium of animation, helping you to get familiar with the language, and a good idea of what we'll be up to starting in October.

Fill sketchbooks!

Other useful things you can do include going to life drawing classes, and especially filling a sketch book with sketches, doodles and ideas. Being able to express an idea in a simple sketch is still a very useful skill, even in the digital age. We don't expect our students to be brilliant draftsmen, but we do expect you to be able to pick up a pencil and do a sketch - even if it's a crude one. All great ideas begin with a drawing - however simple and basic.

Gateway Building at Bucks

If you do some or all the things on this list - you will have a great head start with us in September. From all of us at Bucks, we look forward to meeting you!

----Alex

For more about the experience of studying at Bucks New University, come and visit us at one of our Open Days,  take a virtual tour of one of our animation studios, check out what our students think of our course, and see why we're ranked in the top 12 creative universities in the UK. Find out why we're giving free laptops to all our students, and why we give all our students free access to videos at Lynda.com. Also, see what financial assistance might be available to you. Learn which is better for animation, a PC or a Mac? Get hold of a copy of a map so you can find your way around campus, and learn about motion capture at Bucks. And find out about how our online video tutorials work

The Illusion of Life - the Original Animation Bible

The original animation bible

The Illusion of Life was first published in the 1970s. It caused a sensation among animators, because it represented for the first time in print the accumulated wisdom of the Disney studio - set out in detail for anyone who cared to learn. The 1970s were a lean time for animation; Walt Disney was dead and the revival that would come with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and The Little Mermaid was still far in the future.

The Illusion of Life was written by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnstone, two of Disney's so-called "Nine Old Men", two of his top animators who had been with him since the early days and whose work had much to do with the development of the Disney style. Between them they created some of the most memorable moments in Disney animation.

Frank Thomas (centre) and Ollie Johnstone (Right)

The last film they worked on was The Fox and The Hound, not by any means a great film, but better than the next one that Disney would release - The Black Cauldron. By the 1970s Frank and Ollie were doing less animation, and focusing more on their book. The idea was to create a "bible" for future generations of animators, an authoritative reference work that make sure that the craft of animation developed under Walt Disney's benign leadership would not disappear. At the same time, they would tell the story of the Disney Studio.

The book is really two books in one. Around 10% of it is a manual of methods, a how-to guide for the aspiring animator and film-maker. The rest is the story of the Disney Studio - and a compelling story it is too. So good in fact, that it easily distracts the student from their purpose - to learn the nuts and bolts of animation.

Years ago, I took my copy of the book to a Xerox machine and copied all the bits that were relevant to the study of animation, so that I would not get distracted by the rest. It worked, but the original book is still a much more beautiful thing to take down from the shelf and enjoy.

Like The Animator's Survival Kit, The Illusion of Life is a book that should be on every animator's shelf.

---Alex

To find out about what it's like to study with us at Bucks New University, come and visit us at one of our Open Days,  take a virtual tour of one of our animation studios, check out what our students think of our course, and see why we're ranked in the top 12 creative universities in the UK. Find out why we're giving free laptops to all our students, and why we give all our students free access to videos at Lynda.com. Also, see what financial assistance might be available to you. Learn which is better for animation, a PC or a Mac? Get hold of a copy of a map so you can find your way around campus, and learn about motion capture at Bucks. And find out about how our online video tutorials work.

How to Use the Library at Bucks - an Animator's Guide

Shedloads of books - we got 'em

The animation shelves of the library here at Bucks are now groaning with fresh titles. The University has bought us more books, and more copies of the key books, so there are more to go around. And we have journals too, such as Animation Magazine - materials that help students learn from the best sources and keep in touch with the latest news from the industry. Below is some general information about to library for our new animation students.

Where is the library?
In the Gateway building - that's the big blue one that looks like a TV set.

When is the Library Open?
Monday to Thursday: 8.30am until 11.30pm.
Friday: 8.30am until 9pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11am until 6pm

Has it got WiFi?
Yes! Hurrah! Ask for a login at the help desk.

How do I find the books I need?
You can search old-school by browsing the shelves (see details below) or you can search the online catalogue, by going to the Library tab at Blackboard. The library staff will also show you how to search the catalogue.

How many books can I borrow?
Undergraduates can borrow up to ten at a time.

How long can I keep the books I borrow?
Mostly you get to keep them for 7 days, or sometimes 28 days. A few hot items are just loaned for 24 hours. Keep 'em too long and you will have to pay fines. Fines are 10p a day last time we checked.

What is the best book to start learning animation?
The number one book every animator should have on their shelf is The Animator's Survival Kit, Expanded Edition by Richard Williams.

Where are the animation books?
In three sections. If you want to browse the shelves, here they are:

• 006 Computing - 3rd floor
• 741 Comics - 4th floor
• 777-778 Animation and film - 4th floor

Start with the Digital Animation section on the 3rd floor at 006 (see below). Books on computer animation nestle with various other materials on computers, game design and Flash.

Digital Animation at 006 on the 3rd floor. Flash, 3DS Max and Blender.

Now let's go to the comics section at 741 on the 4th floor (see below). Here, animation books are mixed in with books on comics, cartoons and graphics.

Animation and comics at 741 - 4th floor

Finally, look on the film-making shelves at 777-778, on the 4th floor (see below). Here the animation books are to be found alongside books on film-making, cinematography, editing and so on.

Animation and film-making at 777-778 - 4th floor

So there are three main areas to browse. If you need a book that isn't there, ask the library staff. If they don't have it, leave a request in the comments section below, or email me at alexander.williams@bucks.ac.uk. I do my best to get our students all the books they need to give them the best possible resources.

Can I scan a document?
Yes, at the multi-function printers. You can email the scans to yourself, then download them later.

And, finally, here's a link to the official library web page at Bucks.

---Alex

The Animator's Survival Kit - now available as an app for the iPad

The Animator's Survival Kit came out around a decade ago as a book, and a few years later as a DVD set. Since then it has been the leading resource for students wanting to learn animation. Anyone who is serious about the medium should have a copy of the book - until now. Here at Bucks our animation dept has just had a sneak peek at the new The Animator's Survival Kit - as an iPad app. Below is our review of this new electronic addition to the animator's library.

Basically, it's awesome - better than the book, better than the DVD series - as it perfectly combines the best qualities of both. And, at around £25, it costs barely more than the book does. So this is - in short - a huge leap forward for learning animation. My only regret is we can't get a copy for the library here at Bucks. The library does not have iPads - so if you want a copy you'll have to buy the hardware first.

The iPad feels as if it is made specially for this kind of eBook. The digital ASK has many of the traditional features of a book - plain text, nice pictures - so far, so familiar.  But, as you scroll through the pages, you find video introductions to the chapters. Click on these, and you get a personal introduction to the subject by the author, giving his own view on why it's important to read it, and what you will learn.

Other little miniature icons blink at you invitingly - click on these and it pulls up a short animated video explanation of the principle being addressed. Much of this material is taken from the ASK DVD set. Confused about overlapping action? Successive breaking of joints? The importance of using silhouettes? A short video shows you what it all means, and demonstrates in simple clear terms exactly how these principles get applied in practice.

And the videos are highly interactive. It's not like YouTube, where you can't scrub and scroll through the animation, frame by frame. Here, you can pause the video, scroll through it, fast or slow, focus on an individual frame, step through it frame by frame.

It's like having a really great animation tutor right there in the classroom with you, equipped with all the latest bits of kit - video, power point lecture, white board, and good old-fashioned books - but it is all at your disposal in exactly the format you want.

It is obvious that a great deal of thought and effort has gone into the presentation. The interface is very easy to get the hang of, and simple to operate. Tap the screen and the chapters are revealed on a scroll bar at the base of the screen - so you can easily navigate to the bits you need. 

In short - it's the best £25 you will spend on any device to help you learn animation. But you have to buy the iPad first, of course.

---Alex

PS Here's a list of stuff you get with it:

1. The Animator’s Survival Kit Expanded Edition - that is to say the whole book - for the iPad
2. More than 100 animated examples of the principles of animation - taken from The Animator’s Survival Kit Animated DVD series, and inserted into the relevant sections of the text. You can slow these down and watch them frame-by-frame.
3. Dad's 50-years-in-the-making Circus Drawings animation
4. Video introductions for the chapters - by the author. 80 this year!
5. "Sensitive navigation", which "fades away gracefully away when not needed"
6. "Onion skinning" - to see multiple frames of animation at once.

Re-animating the animation library at Bucks

The Animator's Survival Kit - now the standard textbook for learning animation

We're in the process of beefing up the animation library here at Bucks. Not just more books, but more copies of books. And we're after journals too - such as Animation Magazine, Imagine Magazine - materials that help students learn from the best sources and keep in touch with the latest news from the industry.

The number one book every animator should have on their shelf is The Animator's Survival Kit, Expanded Edition by Richard Williams. No other book comes close (not that I'm biased or anything) in terms of its depth of coverage of character animation.

There are lots of other useful books, and the numbers are growing all the time. Rather than list my recommendations here, check out this reading list here at my online animation school website.

Actually, there are lots of useful books on animation in the Bucks library, and the staff are super helpful and very willing to take time to explain to individuals and groups how best to access their resources. Ask for Elik or Roland, they'll be happy to give you a tour.

The only tricky bit is where to find the right books. Animation as a discipline is notoriously hard to classify. Are we an art? a craft? An offshoot of computer science? The library is just as confused as everyone else is, and as a result you'll find the animation books in three different places on the shelves. Obviously, you can search the online catalogue (super easy to use) to find the right books. But to make things even simpler, here's where to find them:

We'll start in the comics section at 741 on the 4th floor (see image below). You can see Preston Blair's excellent book tucked up against one on Tex Avery:

Animation and comics at 741 - 4th floor

For other books on animation - look on the film-making shelves at 778, on the 5th floor (see below). You can see Shamus Culhane's book next to some books on special effects and sound design.

Animation and film-making at 778 - 5th floor

Finally, there's a section on Digital Animation on the 3rd floor at 006 (see below), nestling with various other materials on computers, game design and Flash.

Digital Animation at 006 on the 3rd floor. Flash, 3DS Max and Blender.

So, the bad news is there are three areas to browse. The good news is we are well stocked - and we will be getting in more books and more copies of the most popular and useful books.

And, if you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments section below. We'll do our best to get all the books we need to give students the best possible resources.

---Alex