The animator's survival kit
by Richard Williams · first published 2001
69% recommend31% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Widely called the standard animation text: illustrated, hands-on lessons on timing, motion and the basic principles, useful for aspiring 2D animators and also for those applying animation ideas to UI or front-end work.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Richard Williams, notable for his work on "The Thief and the Cobbler", intimately outpours all his animation knowledge to You. The book covers all 12 principals of animation as well as walk cycles, workflows, and general "Do's" and "Don'ts". Although colleagues have told me before that Williams can go a bit too detailed when it comes to information about walk cycles and frame rates.
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Richard Williams (of Roger Rabbit fame)wrote an excellent book about animation called "The Animator's Survival Kit". In it he describes (illustrated with beautiful caricature) how he once asked Milt Kahl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milt_Kahl) "Milt, do you ever listen to classical music when you're working?" Kahl…
on “Ask HN: What do you listen to when you code?” ↗If you’re interested in this topic I really recommend The Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams (the director of animation in Who Framed Roger Rabbit): https://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Richard-Willia... Most of the points from the article seem to be derived from…
on “Foundations of Animation” ↗Williams is also the author of the bestselling book The Animator's Survival Kit which is considered an essential text for any aspiring 2D (and even 3D) animator. He spent decades on creating his own 2D animated film called The Thief and the Cobbler which was beset by endless problems…
on “Animator Richard Williams has died” ↗…http://labs.oracle.com/techrep/1995/smli_tr-95-33.pdf). Good animation in a UI makes a whole lot of difference— Apple knows that (http://watchingapple.com/2007/06/are-apple-ui-designers-lear...). For this, only one resource: "The Animator's Survival Kit", by Richard Williams.
on “Ask HN: Recommendations for learning and improving UX/UI skills?” ↗> bestselling book The Animator's Survival Kit Which is also an excellent (very expensive) video series. The videos are probably even more useful than the book.
on “Animator Richard Williams has died” ↗Richard Williams (of Roger Rabbit fame)wrote an excellent book about animation called "The Animator's Survival Kit". Upvoted. As an fan of animation this is indeed an excellent book. Another one I particularly enjoyed is "The Illusion of Life" - particularly the early chapters in which the authors describe describe…
on “Ask HN: What do you listen to when you code?” ↗Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams is the book on animation, takes you through all the basics and breaks down why disney's animators were just better than everyone else... applicable to css3 / front end development.…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗Disney’s animation book (The Illusion of Life) is very nice, but the best animation source I’ve seen anywhere is The Animator’s Survival Kit. Unfortunately the excellent videos that go with the book are pretty expensive for someone who is vaguely curious (but not deciding to make animation their career) to stomach. I recommend trying to find…
on “Creating Usability with Motion: The UX in Motion Manifesto” ↗Not exhaustive, or in any particular order: _Animator's Survival Kit_, by Richard Williams. _Illusion of Life_, by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. _Animation from Script to Screen_, by Shamus Culhane. _Natural Way to Draw_, by Kimon Nicolaïdes. _Creative Illustration_,…
on “Ask HN: What are the best textbooks in your field of expertise?” ↗I recommend watching this awesome video summarizing 12 principles of animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDqjIdI4bF4 (by the author of Animation vs Animator) I second Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams, it's great. And Keith Lango's video course for 3D animation. These two are absolute best for learning intermediate/advanced animation. Also, of course, Animation Mentor and 11secondclub…
on “Foundations of Animation” ↗Richard Williams' The Animator's Survival Kit [1] is the standard recommendation, I believe - I've also seen animation courses recommend Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation [2] [1] https://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles-Cla... [2]…
on “Ask HN: Best books to learn fundamentals of two dimensional animation?” ↗…of senior animators complaining about low wages and long hours and it made me second guess myself about all that and I slowly picked up programming instead, I did get a copy of a great book called "The Animator's Survival Kit" by Richard Williams, best known for directing "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", the book still lives in my library and I hold it in great steem.
on “When stick figures fought” ↗…just the flipbooks - no accompanying text or anything. It gives you great insight into how talented animators animated certain movements, but you have to know what to look out for. Not Disney, but the Animator's Survival Kit is also heavily recommended. Also recommended: Timing for Animation. I also have been meaning to check out "Elemental Magic" (2 volumes, about animating substances such as water, fire, etc.), and "Setting…
on “The Illusion of Life: Disney's principles of animation” ↗…breakdown drawings could significantly improve the performance of ai generated in-betweens. Anyone who is seriously interested in the process should read the late, great Richard William's book, _The Animator's Survival Kit_. This is especially true for those who want to "augment" the process with machine learning. The book is very readable, even for non-artists. And he gets into the nitty gritty of what makes a good performance,…
on “The state of AI for hand-drawn animation inbetweening” ↗More details about the development of this film can be found in the book "The Animator's Survival Kit" by Richard Williams, animation director in this film.
on “When You’re Just Drawn That Way: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” ↗