Animation: The Mechanics of Motion [With CDROM]

My son is in college, majoring in film/animation and asked for this book for Christmas. He said it's really informative and an all-around great book. Very helpful and very relevant to what he's doing. Based on his glowing review, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is starting out in this field.

Ideally "Mechanics of Motion" would be a successor to Animator's Survival Kit, building on basic animation principles while going in-depth and breaking down different forms of movement. And while this book covers a lot of ground, it could've gone a lot farther. The animation process has been broken down into so many steps over the years it'd take tons of pages to cover them all. "Mechanics of Motion" feels compelled to mention things like storyboard, layout, character design etc... when it should just focus its pages on movement and leave the other aspects to books like Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animation Features and Shorts that are dedicated to the subject. Another good but could be better area is the animal motion chapter. This book covers the subject far better than most, (Even Animator's Survival Kit barely covers such a complex subject) but it only focuses on horses and birds. This is where the pages on layouts and bar sheets should've been used. The best part of this book is the first part of the "technical" chapter at the end. It covers exposure sheets (aka X-sheets or dope sheets) and things like holds and staggers, types of animation movement that are more about timing than the drawings. It's mastering movement through both timing & drawing that makes for the best animation. All in all, there's plenty to learn from "Mechanics of Motion" but it still could have done more.

Without any formal knowledge about animation, this book opened my eyes to see, that is more involved in animation, that what you can think. Showing me how the laws of motion affect the objects and live forms, the inertia, momentum, and so. Maybe sounds a bit of Physics and complicated stuff like that, but the author is a great teacher showing you how the things work, and using a lot of drawings, the concepts get comprehensive. Finally the book teach you the most important principles of animation, regarding of the medium you are more familiar with, maybe traditional 2D animations, 3D and computer animation, etc. All the teachings that this book provides are applicable.

Great for beginners and advanced because Webster focuses on motion and how it works when drawing animation. His sketches are clear and easy to try to draw, as a beginner. Webster's focus on the physics of motion and how it works when drawing is a good prelude to the latter chapters in which he shows the painstaking process of creating an animated film. If a novice begins at the beginning, rather than jumping into digital animation, the foundation will be very strong. The many examples of "squash and stretch" in people, objects, and animals, help understand that the principles apply in so many situations. The disc accompanying the book is helpful as well. A criticism of Focal Press, the publisher: the paper is so heavy and slippery that it is awkward to use. I want to open a double-page spread while I am learning to draw. The pages don't allow me to do this.

Over the years I have read and browsed many books on animation. Not only does this book cover the basics it explains them. The figures are easy to follow and convey complex concepts well. A lot of other animation books will cover a basic walk cycle from just the side view. Webster's book covers it from the side and front. I have had this book for a year and it has not made it to my bookshelf yet. I use it constantly for reference.