In this lesson we're giving your hands a break from animation as we put the pencil to one side and take some time out to talk about reference study. If your drawing hand gets itchy, don't worry, there's something for you in the assignment at the end.
Studying reference material is necessary for improving your knowledge of effects. In decades past, animators studied photographs, attended physics lectures, embarked on day-trips to the seaside or performed their own reference experiments. In today's world of instant multi-media, reference is much easier to come by and we barely need to leave our chairs to see incredible footage, from slow motion water droplets to river rapids, forest fires, crumbling buildings or volcanic eruptions!
Being there Having a physical library of books or YouTube playlists of video reference is certainly good, but nothing beats experiencing the effect for yourself. Just like going to Japan is the best way to learn Japanese, first-hand scrutiny of any effect gets it INTO YOUR BRAIN like no other method of study.
In big (and some small) 2D animation studios, before production starts on any feature film or similarly substantial project, the animators take a few weeks to study that which they'll be animating for the next couple of years. For example, before production started on The Lion King, Disney animators were sent to the zoo, the circus, Africa (!), lions were even brought into the studio.
Sure, by looking at a photo or video of a lion, you can get an idea of movement and proportions, but how many of us have been in a room with a lion and felt its presence? To feel its hot breath on our hands; feel the weight of its paws sending vibration through the floor. How many of us can say "a lion looked right into my eyes. I think it wanted to eat me"? (FYI, I can)
Animators don't just make pictures move. We're a bit like actors, aiming to evoke an emotional response in our audience. It could be an obvious mood like anger or sadness, or something more subtle, like a feeling of power, depth or fear. Being in a room with a lion gives a master animator an experience to draw on (literally), to get those feelings of strength and power into the animation.
The pre-production training period for FX animators is similar in that we go places, make splashes, light fires, kick up dust.. These are all things you can find on YouTube, or whip up a CG simulation, but seeing them in person, being able to walk around the effect and study it from all angles, put your hand through it and experience the effect in person is the very best way to study.
Whether you're a photography enthusiast with a big expensive digital SLR, or just a casual snapper with your phone camera, some kind of picture-taking device is an essential for any FX animator. Even when you're not on an FX reference-finding mission, develop a habit of taking it everywhere, or at least keeping it in easy reach. When something as simple as sunlit steam from your coffee, or as amazing as aliens landing, catches your eye, you'll be glad to have your camera handy.
Above: this bonfire was shot with extended exposure to capture spark
trails
Video is almost the next best thing to being there. Capturing an effect in motion, then instantly replaying it on a portable screen is a magic that we all take for granted these days, so make good use of it! As you go through your FX journey, you may find yourself reaching for your phone or camera more and more often.
Today, without a doubt, the most accessible video reference library is YouTube and other online video portals. The most obscure FX reference can be found on the internet. If you search for something and it's not on YouTube, then maybe the world needs you to upload it. As an example, I couldn't find a flame shadow for the previous lesson, so I made a torch flame and captured it on video. Below is one of my personal FX Reference playlists. Whenever I see great FX reference - and admittedly I don't go looking nearly often enough - I add it to this playlist.
When I was an FX animator at Disney in the 1990s and very early 2000s, video cameras were as expensive as they were cumbersome. Our studio had one (1) shoulder-mounted camera, which was to be unchained (I'm not kidding... an actual padlock and chain) and "signed out" before being taken on our FX reference trips.. that's if it wasn't already signed out by another department. For this reason, we rarely took it. It was easier for each animator to carry a sketchbook and a few pencils.
You can't deny the old pencil and paper technology is as valid today as it was centuries ago. Used in conjunction with at least one working eye, these ancient tools are uncomplicated and quite fail-safe.
Personally, I love blank notepads and sketchbooks. I have a shelf full of them and rarely can I resist buying a new one when I'm in a stationery or art store. With two of my best pencils and maybe an eraser, I'm almost always carrying a sketchbook on me if I go anywhere.
Using your finger to draw on a phone or tablet can be a little cumbersome and imprecise, but it may serve in a pinch-z. With the rise of digital art, many of these devices come paired with a stylus, though more likely you need to purchase it separately, RIP.
Inspiring scenes are everywhere. You can watch classic Disney pencils tests created by masterful animators half a century ago. You can download PDF files of entire scenes from well-known traditionally animated features.
Learning from other people's work is inspiring and educational. Even looking at bad animation is instructional in its own way.
FX animators at Disney had privileged access to a library of tattered, coffee-stained photocopies of scene drawings handed down over the years from great FX people like David Tidgwell, Ed Coffey and Joseph Gilland.
I had my own collection of these pages in a 3-ring binder. When I left Disney, I bequeathed it to the new FX supervisor but when the studio closed down in 2006, it disappeared. I thought it was gone forever, then years later, out of the blue, this phone-book sized package arrived in the mail! Friend and colleague Bernard Derriman had found it going through some boxes and knew I'd appreciate having it on my shelf again.
My daughter was 9 years old when she took this. If she can do it, so can you!
Yes, retinal snapshots. OK I totally just invented that but "taking retinal snapshots" is a fun and interesting exercise. When studying any live FX (even if I do have a camera handy) I often take snapshots with my eyes. You may get some funny looks from others but they will never understand. Rest in the knowledge that you are superior to them.
Let's say you're looking at a bonfire. Face the fire with your eyes closed -do not do this drunk! Hold them closed for a few seconds, then quickly open and shut them. Absorb that snapshot into your brain, try to see it in your head for as long as possible.. the shape of the flames, the height, the brightness, the layers of flame, the transparent parts and the bright spots. Are there any sparks above the flames? Any smoke? When it fades, take another snapshot, again trying to see it clearly behind closed eyes for as long as possible.
Note: If you do this at night with fire, this experiment is very effective. The image will persist in your eyes for longer, a phenomenon known as 'persistence of vision'. It's the very reason animation works in our eyes.
By doing this and any deliberate reference exercise, you're building up your mental library of designs. We can't all have a photographic memory, but I like to think it's adding designs to the subconscious, for when it comes time to create something without any reference. Being animators, we study motion, but mustn't neglect the design! Chaotic motion often blinds us to the underlying beauty of FX design. This is why it's just as important to study still images as it is to study motion.
I said earlier that I think video is almost the next best thing to being there. That's because, something that 2D FX animators may not consider is the value of 3D VFX simulations. With a few clicks, not only can anyone generate a realistic explosion, shattering boulder, breezy flag, ocean surface or smoke column, but you can study it from every angle, from beginning to dissipation. A program like SideFX Houdini, for example, is an industry tool that is capable of producing physically accurate simulations in a very short period of time. In the CG industry, VFX is built upon real-world physics, most of which I couldn't hope to grasp in my tiny art brain.
In the days of traditional animation, we'd capture video (cough- on TAPE -cough) and print out the frames to study. But nowadays, from time to time I use Houdini to whip up a quick effect which I then create a "flipbook" (a video capture of the viewport playback) to use as my design and animation reference.
Below are a few 10-minute simulations that were requested by my Twitch stream viewers who can redeem a loyalty reward called "Whip up a quick sim". None of these below were created for a specific animation scene, but it goes to show how quickly these can be generated, customised and then studied. That third one is disgusting, I know. Gotta give the viewers what they want.
As you learn to observe effects, it may start to affect you in certain ways. Most FX animators develop certain habits. On camping or hiking trips, we're the ones quietly watching the water, fire or smoke while everyone else is swimming and cooking. With fascination comes understanding and in time you can transfer that understanding to the page, canvas or screen. And when you're passionate about your craft, it shows in your work.
Duck!
Your final task for this lesson is a career-long assignment. If you haven't already, start your own library of FX reference today. A good place to begin is by creating your FX Reference playlist on YouTube. Resist the urge to add mundane FX or "meh" scenes to your library. Ensure your list contains only the most useful or sheer mind-blowing effects reference you can find. If you can't find what you're looking for, why not film it yourself, or "whip up a sim"?
