MODULE-5

PHYSICS OF ANIMATION
Animation is the process of displaying still images in a rapid sequence to create the illusion
of movement. It is a method of photographing successive drawings, models, or even
puppets, to create an illusion of movement in a sequence. Because our eyes can only retain
an image for approximately (persistence of vision) (1/30 ) th of a second, when multiple
images appear in fast succession, the brain blends them into a single moving image.
The Taxonomy of Physics-Based Animation Methods
The physics-based animation and simulation can roughly be
subdivided into two groups:

1. Kinematics is the study of motion without consideration of mass or forces.

2. Dynamics is the study of motion taking mass and forces into

consideration.
Kinematics and dynamics come in two subgroups:
1. Inverse is the study of motion knowing the starting and ending points.
2. Forward is the study of motion solely given the starting point
Frames
A frame is a single image in a sequence of pictures. A frame contains the image to be
displayed at a unique time in the animation. In general, one second of a video is
comprised of 24 or 30 frames per second abbreviate as FPS.

The frame is a combination of the image and the time of the image when exposed to the
view. An extract of frames in a row makes the animation. Frames are put to the view once
they are reconsidered by the next frames. All frames are presented for the specific time on
the display, The frame rate is the speed at which the images are shown in the animation.
 In the above diagram observe the position of legs in each frame for walking position

The following are the most common types of frames used in animation:

 Keyframe
 Placeholder frames
 Regular frames
 Tweened frames

Frames per Second

There are two standard television images: 30 frames per second (National
Television Standards Committee) NTSC for the United States and 25 frames per
second (Phase Alternate Line) PAL for Europe. An animated film with 25 frames
per second is played on television at 24 frames per second would result in a black
bar rolling up the screen. Then Digital Converts are to be used to transfer one
speed of the film to another speed of the video.

Size: Size is simply how small or big an element is in relation to other objects within a
design. Generally, we use size to make a particular element stand out or to give it
importance. However, size becomes a much more powerful design tool when it is
considered alongside the scale.

Scaling Properties: Larger or heavier objects move slower while lighter or smaller objects
move faster.

When designing characters, you can run into different situations having to do with size and
scale, such as:
1. Human or animal-based characters that are much larger than we see in our
everyday experience. Superheroes, Greek gods and monsters.
2. Human or animal-based characters that are much smaller than we are accustomed
 to, such as fairies and elves.
3. Characters that need to be noticeably larger, smaller, older, heavier, lighter, or
more energetic than other characters.
4. Characters that are child versions of older characters

Proportion and Scale

Creating a larger or smaller character is not just a matter of scaling everything about the
character uniformly.

Example: When you scale a cube, its volume changes much more dramatically than its
surface area. Let us say each edge of the cube is 1 unit in length. The area of one side of
the cube is 1 squareunit, and the volume of the cube is 1 cubed unit. If you double the size
of the cube along each dimension, its height increases by 2 times, the surface area
increases by 4 times and its volume increases by 8 times.

Weight: Body weight is proportional to volume. Two objects can appear to be different
weights by manipulating their timing.
For example, if you were to hit a croquet ball and a balloon with a mallet, the result would
be two different actions. The croquet ball would require more force to place it into motion,
would go farther, and need more force to stop it. On the other hand, the balloon would
require far less force to send it flying, and because of its low mass and weight, it wouldn't
travel as far, and would require less force to stop it.
Strength: Strength is the maximum force a muscle or group of muscles can apply against a
resistance in a push, pull or lift motion. Body weight is proportional to volume. The abilities of
your muscles and bones, however, increase by area because their abilities depend more on the
cross-sectional area than volume. To increase a muscle or bone’s strength, you need to increase
its cross-sectional area.
Motion and Timing in animations

Motion is an essential component in games and animations. The motion is governed by

newton’s laws and kinematic equations. When animating a scene, there are several types of
motion to consider. The most common types of motion are
1. Linear
 2. Parabolic
3. Circular
4. Wave

Timing Animation
Timing refers to how long an action takes. If the timing is too fast, too slow, too linear, or too
long, then animation won’t look realistic. The time taken should be in agreement with the real
actions. Since the film is run at 24 frames per second (FPS), you use this as the building block
for your timing. So, if you have an object moving from point A to point B in 24FPS, it takes
the object one second to get there.
The functions of timing are to:

1. Create a movement that obeys the laws of physics.

2. Add interest and appeal to your animations.

Motion Lines and Paths

Line of Action

Path of Action

Motion has a path of action, which indicates the path along which the object or character
moves. The path of action refers to the object’s motion in space.

Linear Motion Timing

The linear motion refers to motion in a straight line, always in the same direction. An
object moving with linear motion might speed up or slow down as it follows a linear path.
A heavy ball rolling on atable or incline is an example of linear motion.
 Uniform Motion Timing

Uniform motion is the easiest to animate because the distance the object travels between
frames is always the same. Uniform motion is a type of linear motion with constant speed
and no acceleration or deceleration. The object moves the same distance between
consecutive frames. Longer the distance between frames, the higher the speed.

Slow in and Slow out

The terms "slow in" and "slow out" are used to describe motion that is accelerating or
decelerating. This type of motion is sometimes called ease in or ease out.
1. Slow in / ease in— The object is slowing down, frequently in anticipation of stopping.
2. Slow out/ ease out—The object is speeding up, often from a static position.

For example, a ball rolling down an incline or dropping straight down is slowing out, as it
goes froma still position or slow speed to a fast speed. A ball rolling up an incline is
slowing in.
Constant Forces
A constant force is a force that doesn’t vary over
time. Examples of constant forces include:
1. Gravity pulling an object to the ground
2. Friction bringing an object to a stop

Constant force and Acceleration

Constant forces result in constant acceleration. Because the acceleration is constant,
we canfigure out the timing for such sequences using a few principles of physics.
The resulting acceleration depends on the direction of the force and motion if there is any
motion at all, to begin with.
1. When the constant net force is applied to an objectat rest the result is acceleration.
2. When the constant net force is applied to a moving object in the same direction as
the motion, the result is acceleration.
When the constant net force is applied in the direction opposite the existing motion,
3.
the result is deceleration (acceleration in the opposite direction).
Forces Exerted by Characters
However, one can divide the character's motion into brief time intervals and treat each of these
intervals as responding to a constant net force for the purposes of animation. This will make it
simpler to determine the timing for each separate segment.
A character walking and pushing a rock is not exerting a constant force throughout the entire
sequence, but during each short part of the walk cycle, the net force could be considered to be
a different constant value.
The Odd Rule

When acceleration is constant, one can use the Odd Rule to time the frames. With this method,
one calculates the distance the object moves between frames using a simple pattern of odd
numbers. Between consecutive frames, the distance the object moves is a multiple of an odd
number. For acceleration, the distance between frames increases by multiples of 1, 3, 5, 7,
etc
The Odd Rule is a multiplying system based on the smallest distance traveled between two
frames in the sequence. For a slow-out, this is the distance between the first two frames; for
a slow in, it’s the distance between the last two frames. This distance, the base distance, is
used in all Odd Rule calculations.

Odd Rule Multipliers

The Odd Rule in its simplest form, as described above, is just one way to use it.
For example, one can instead calculate the distance from the first frame to the current frame
and use these distancesto place the object on specific frames.

1. Base Distance Known Speeding up

If the object is speeding up, the first frame distance is the base distance. If one knows the
base distance, figuring out the distance the object travels at each frame is straight forward.
Just multiply the base distance by 3, 5, 7, etc. to get the distances between consecutive
frames, or use squares to multiply the base distance to get the total distance traveled on
each frame.
 2. Base Distance Known Slowing Down
Suppose one wants an object to slow down, and one knows the distance between the last
two frames before it stops. For slow-ins, the base distance is the distance between the last
two frames. The solution is to work backward, as if the object were speeding up in the
opposite direction. Working
Backward, multiply the base distance by 3, 5, 7, etc. to get the distances between each
previous frame inthe sequence.

3. Total Distance and Number of Frames Known, Speeding Up

If one wants to know the total distance and the total number of frames, one can find the base
distance with this formula:

Base distance = Total distance/(Last frame number – 1) 2

Suppose there is a jump push (takeoff ) with constant acceleration over 5 frames, and the total
distance traveled is 0.4m.Using the formula above, we find the base distance.
Base distance = 0.4m/(5 – 1) 2 = 0.4m/16 = 0.025m

First Key Distance Known as Slowing Down

Suppose one has a moving object that one wants to slow down, and one has set the first
frame of the slow-in to give an idea of the pacing for the sequence.

One feature of the Odd Rule is that the base distance is always half the difference between any
two adjacent distances. To find the base distance, one can simply calculate:
(0.5m – 0.35m)/2 = 0.07m

To figure out how many frames are in the slow-in, divide the first distance by the base
distance to find out which odd number it corresponds to.0.5/0.07 = 7.
This means the first distance corresponds to 7 in the 7, 5, 3, 1 sequence, making the sequence four
frames long.
Motion Graphs
A motion graph plots an object’s position against time. If one is using animation software,
understanding and using motion graphs is a key skill in animating anything beyond the
simplest of motions. On a motion graph, the time goes from left to right across the bottom
of the graph, while the object’s position is plotted vertically against the time. Each axis
in3D space (X, Y, Z) has its own line showing the object’s position along that axis.

Examples of character animation

Jumping
A jump is an action where the character’s entire body is in the air, and both the
character’s feet leave the ground at roughly the same time. A jump action includes a
takeoff, free movement through the air, and a landing.

Parts of Jump
A jump can be divided into several distinct parts:
• Crouch: A squatting pose is taken as preparation for jumping.
• Takeoff: The character pushes up fast and straightens their legs with their feet still
on the ground. The distance from the character’s center of gravity (CG) in the
crouch to the CG when the character’s feet are just about to leave the ground is
called the push height. The amount of time (or the number of frames) needed for
the push is called the push time.
• In the air: The amount of time the character is in the air from takeoff to the apex is
called the jumptime. If the takeoff pose and the landing pose are similar, then the jump
height and jump time areabout the same going up as they are going down.
• Landing: The distance from the character’s CG when her feet hit the ground to the
point where the character stops crouching is called the stop height. The stop height is
not always exactly the same as the push height.

Calculating Jump Actions

When working out the timing for a jump, one will need to first decide on:
1. Jump height or jump time
2. Push height
 3. Stop height
4. Horizontal distance the character will travel during Jump
Example:
Jump height = 1.2m
Jump time for 1.2m = 0. 5 seconds
Jump time at 30fps = 0. 5 * 30 = 15 frames
Jump Magnification

The JM is the ratio of the jump height to the push height.

JM = Jump Time = Jump Height

PushTime Push Height

Example : Jump height =1m and push height =0.33m

1
JM = 0.33 = 3

Jump Magnification is in fact an exact ratio that tells one how much the character has to
accelerate against gravity to get into the air. The JM, besides being the ratio of jump-to-push
vertical height and time, is also the ratio of push-to-jump vertical acceleration. Opposite the
other ratios: while a longer jump time means a shorter push time, a higher jump acceleration
means a much, much higher push acceleration. Knowing about this can help you make more
informed decisions about your push timing.

JM = Jump Time = Jump Height

PushTime Push Height

𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
JM = 𝐽𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
JM = 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Push Time
The JM also gives you the ratio of the jump time
to the push time.

JM = Jump Time/Push Time

Example:
JM = 3
Jump Time: 15 frames
Push Time = 15/3 = 5 frames

Walking
Walks feature all the basics of mechanics while including personality. The ability to
animate walk cycles is one of the most important skills a character animator needs to master.

Strides and Steps

A step is one step with one foot. A stride is two steps, one with each foot. Stride length is the
distance the character travels in a stride, measured from the same part of the foot. Step and
stride length indicate lengthwise spacing for the feet during a walk.
Gait is the timing of the motion for each foot, including how long each foot is on the ground
or in the air. During a walk, the number of feet the character has on the ground changes from
one foot (single support) to two feet (double support) and then back to one foot. You can plot
the time each foot is on the ground to see the single and double support times over time. A
normal walking gait ranges from (1/ 3) to (2/3) of a second per step, with 1/2 second being
average.