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essence-of-animation
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The Core Idea
The essence of animation is simple: when and what — at which frame, what shape happens.
This rule applies to both 2D and 3D animation, because no matter the medium, the audience only ever sees the projection in 2D space. (We can’t see the front and back of an object at the same time.)
Animation as a craft has been refined for over 100 years. There is no hidden secret, no “new tech” that changes the fundamentals. At its core, animation is media-agnostic: fancy terms or 3D pipelines don’t alter the basics.
Key Points
With the essence,
- A good skeleton animation does not guarantee good animation.
- A rich motion libray does not guarantee good animation.
What truly matters:
- Timing and spacing create convincing movement.
- Good shapes to the camera (viewer) create clarity.
- what is a good shape?
- A shape that delivers clear and precise information to the viewer.
- what is a good shape?
Types of Users
When thinking about tools or workflows, I see three main categories of users:
1. Professional Animators
Definition
- Understand timing and spacing.
- Master camera language.
- Have clear performance ideas and know exactly what shape at what time to create.
Tool focus
- Help them implement ideas faster.
- Support precise construction of shapes for the camera at the right moment.
2. Non-Professionals with Clear Ideas
Definition
- Have vivid images or clips in mind, but lack best practices (shapes, layout, timing).
Tool focus
- Help them quickly translate their ideas into motion.
- Suggest better implementations that respect their intent.
3. Users with No Idea but Need Animation
Definition
- “I need an animation for my project, but I don’t know where to start.”
Tool focus
- Provide initial ideas and directions.
- Offer an easy-to-use system where complex concepts (IK/FK controllers, skeletons, timing and spacing, camera language) are hidden or automated.
Conclusion
What makes a good animation is always the same:
clear timing, clear shapes, clear communication to the viewer.
But the tools that support this process vary greatly depending on the user.
- For professionals, tools should accelerate precision.
- For idea-driven creators, tools should guide and refine.
- For beginners, tools should inspire and simplify.
The essence never changes, but the path each user takes can — and should — look very different.
Ultimately, choosing which users to target is a business strategy decision.
It’s also important to recognize that tools for professionals and tools for beginners often conflict in their design goals, which makes focus and prioritization critical.
log-0003
- Created
tube-whisper: downloads YouTube member-only videos and generates transcripts - Created
colorcat: scripts to color my LINE emoji line works
我好棒
- 先打造產品
- 不要求快(ai 影片)，要打造資產
- emoji > print on demends > amazon drawing books > podcast > shorts
- 小心企業 ai 的死胡同，應該打造真正有用的東西 >> 從很小的需求開始
weekly-0010
#1
job
- led the pipeline
- explained rendering and compositing
- meanwhile, fixed the
studiolib2fbxfps issue and worked on thevoice2keyframesbackend - had many meetings this week
#2
- HSmule lv.50 好難練
- 槍手 lv.95 🔥鯊魚
- 火毒 lv.96?
#3
tried claude code this week. loved it.
- fixed my blog markdown rendering
- tried adding dynamic loading project from github for my blog
- added a new step to set up time unit in
studiolib2fbx - tried adding export-segments feat but didn’t work well
- added doc for feats
when to use:
- start working on a new repo
- add a clear feat, doc, tests
- debug
still need to have:
- architecture in mind
weekly-0009
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Log
weekly-0006
1 | it has been a while |
#1
last weekly was 1 month ago. i thought it was only 3 weeks. interesting.
what have i done in the past month?
- traveled to la, las vegas
- dealt with esta scam shit
- received a warm recommendation on linkedin
- integrated breaking changes in new api
- had a great time with shrimp [first time cat sitter (1/1)]
#2
probably moving this oct; it’s sooner than i thought. after the july break, i’ll have aug, sep, and half of oct to get ready. need to find someone to take over my lease, get rid of stuff i can’t bring, meet friends, and declutter… hope it goes smoothly.
#3
火毒 LV.75->LV.92
槍手 LV.54
1 | 多立百烈一隻應該 3000 EXP，為什麼實際打好像只有 2250？ |
解答之前的困惑，NA服70等前經驗值2倍，之後1.5倍
log-0002
突然覺得好空虛，明明快要 79 等把毒霧點滿了，現在突然不知道為何而努力。
稍早閒晃去找打野王，但不是很順利，不是刷不到，就是打得很吃力，唯一得心應手的只有紅寶王。
殭屍菇菇王刷了幾頻終於遇到一隻，本想要卡點慢慢打，殊不知一個高等的龍騎出現，站在菇菇王之前，好像在問：
「你要打嗎？不打，我打囉？」
我只好衝上前去打，表示：「我有要打」
但打幾下覺得吃力，我就又退回卡點，想說慢慢打。
結果那個龍騎看我退到後面就開始打，我就慌了，只好也衝上去硬拼，然後我就死了。
只好摸摸鼻子回去練等，但空虛感油然而生。
「是火毒不適合打王嗎？」「還是我攻擊力低平均很多？」「我到底為了什麼那麼拼命練？」