Differences between Japanese and Western anatomical animation techniques applied to videogames Bachelor’s Thesis Degree in Videogame Design and Development Name: Franco Alonso, David Plan: 2014 Director: Borrás Borrell, Elías Xan David Franco Alonso Differences between Japanese and Western anatomical animation techniques applied to video games Index Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 4 Key words ................................................................................................................................. 5 Links ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Table index ............................................................................................................................... 6 Figure index .............................................................................................................................. 7 Glossary .................................................................................................................................... 8 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Motivation ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Problem formulation ....................................................................................................... 9 1.3 General objectives ......................................................................................................... 10 1.4 Specific objectives ......................................................................................................... 10 1.5 Scope of the project ...................................................................................................... 11 2. State of the art .................................................................................................................... 13 2.1. The 12 basic principles of animation ............................................................................. 13 2.1.1. Squash and Stretch ................................................................................................ 13 2.1.2. Anticipation ........................................................................................................... 14 2.1.3. Staging .................................................................................................................. 14 2.1.4. Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose ................................................................. 14 2.1.5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action ................................................................ 14 2.1.6. Slow In and Slow Out ............................................................................................. 15 2.1.7. Arcs ....................................................................................................................... 15 2.1.8. Secondary action ................................................................................................... 15 2.1.9. Timing ................................................................................................................... 16 2.1.10. Exaggeration ........................................................................................................ 16 2.1.11. Solid Drawing....................................................................................................... 16 2.1.12. Appeal ................................................................................................................. 17 2.2. Western Animation ...................................................................................................... 17 2.3. Japanese Animation ..................................................................................................... 18 2.3.1. The word “anime” ................................................................................................. 18 2.3.2. A bit of history ....................................................................................................... 18 2.3.4. Style ...................................................................................................................... 19 2.4. Animation in video games ............................................................................................ 20 2.5. My approach from here ................................................................................................ 22 3. Project management ........................................................................................................... 23 2 David Franco Alonso Differences between Japanese and Western anatomical animation techniques applied to video games 3.1 Procedure and tools for monitoring the project ............................................................. 23 3.1.1 GANTT Chart ........................................................................................................... 23 3.1.2 Tools used for monitoring the project ..................................................................... 24 3.2 Validation tools ............................................................................................................. 25 3.3. SWOT ........................................................................................................................... 25 3.4. Risks and contingency plan ........................................................................................... 26 3.5. Analysis of initial costs .................................................................................................. 28 4. Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 29 4.1. Pre-production ............................................................................................................. 29 4.2. Production ................................................................................................................... 29 4.3. Post-production ........................................................................................................... 30 5. Project development ........................................................................................................... 31 5.1. Differences in narrative ................................................................................................ 31 5.1.1. European narrative ................................................................................................ 31 5.1.2. American narrative ................................................................................................ 31 5.1.3. Japanese narrative ................................................................................................. 32 5.2. Differences in animation .............................................................................................. 33 5.2.1. European animation .............................................................................................. 33 5.2.2. American animation .............................................................................................. 36 5.2.3. Japanese animation ............................................................................................... 40 5.3. Creation of the animations ........................................................................................... 44 5.3.1. European animation .............................................................................................. 45 5.3.2. American animation .............................................................................................. 48 5.3.3. Japanese animation ............................................................................................... 52 5.4. Validation test .............................................................................................................. 55 5.4.1. Validation test results analysis ............................................................................... 56 6. Conclusions and future work ............................................................................................... 60 6.1. Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 60 6.2. Future improvements ................................................................................................... 61 7. Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 62 8. Annexes .............................................................................................................................. 64 3 David Franco Alonso Differences between Japanese and Western anatomical animation techniques applied to video games Abstract This Project intends to analyze and explain the differences between the anatomical animation techniques used in Japanese and Western narratives and how they convey emotions, and lastly, apply this to animations provided in video games. It also provides a framework on how to use these techniques, and some examples of animations following this framework. 4 David Franco Alonso Differences between Japanese and Western anatomical animation techniques applied to video games Key words Animation, narrative, video