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Summary: A Legendary Animator Tells it Like It Is
Review: Richard Williams is a man who is largely responsible for the revival of the art of animation in the early 1970s. Williams had Disney animator Art Babbitt and Warner great Ken Harris working in his studio in London and training a new generation of animators in the techniques of good character animation, which was not taught at the time in any school or considered an art form.Williams' long awaited book on animation technique is the logical successor to Preston Blair's CARTOON ANIMATION and it successfully updates some of the weaknesses of that book, particularly in handling dialogue animation. He covers a lot of the same ground that Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston did in their now out-of-print THE ILLUSION OF LIFE. There is some history, but that's available in other books. What is unique about this book is that Williams writes how surprised he, an Academy Award winning animator with a successful professional studio, was to learn that he needed to learn just about everything over again from Harris and Babbitt. Fortunately for us he is now sharing these priceless lessons with the public. The most important thing that an aspiring animator will get from this book is: that animation IS an art form, and good animation has nothing to do with whether it is done on computer or on paper. Williams exhorts his readers to 'draw whenever possible' and even though there is a computer modelled figure on the cover of the book, there is not a single piece of computer generated imagery in it. The book is about the bare bones, about creating life in art. Animation is the twentieth century's contribution to world art and deserves to be taken very seriously. Buy this book.
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Summary: A must read for all animators: 2D and 3D
Review: Some earlier reviewer wished there was a book similar to this for 3D animation. Well, there is: "The Animator's Survival Kit". To be a great 3D animator, I think its essential to learn the mechanics from traditional 2D animation and Williams' book has it all. Want to know why Pixar's animation looks great? Because the major forces behind the likes of "Toy Story" and "Monsters Inc." have 2D traditional knowledge that are so eloquently illustrated in the "Survival Kit". This book has tons of great drawings to boot. A beautifull and informative book. I am a proffessional animation artist, and reading this book reaffirms my notion of animation as a great enduring art form.
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Summary: What a marvelous book!
Review: Someone once asked me why, if I liked best to cartoon, I would bother with courses in life drawing. I suppose I gave some sort of answer, but it was never as good as the one Richard Williams gives in "The Animator's Survival Kit". If I only had space for one animation book on my shelf, it would be this book. There are actually quite a few animation books on my shelf, but this one is like getting a whole animation course. It's full of wonderfully useful and understandable drawings, with just the right amount -- ie, not too much -- of explanatory and entertaining text. It clarifies, analyzes, teaches (and occasionally debunks), as it presents the collected knowledge of some of the world's greatest animators, including Williams himself.
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Summary: The Textbook for 2D
Review: The first book (I've even seen) to talk in specifics regarding classic (WB) animation techniques. Numerous images assist the apprentice (and learned) to understand and implement basic (and complex) character movements.
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Summary: Essential
Review: The last guy must own a huge stash of Blair books or just NOT GET IT. Not to Blair-bash. That style of animation has its place, but this book is loaded with real, practical animation advice, as well as many theoretical touchstones on which to innovate. People who actually animate will find this book WAY MORE than worth the price of admission, and, as my review title suggests, Essential. Makes a great companion to the history, theory, and propoganda-laden (but still Essential as well) Illusion of Life by Thomas and Johnston.
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Summary: So good
Review: This book covers more or less every aspect of classical drawn animation, and almost all the techniques are directly transferrable to 3d animation aswell, plenty of examples of walkcycles, runcycles, takes, accents etc.
More than everything this book makes you realize that animation is 'simple' but hard work :)
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Summary: Entering the mind of a genius
Review: This book is at the level of importance as that of Thomas and Johnston's "Disney Animation: Illusion of Life" and Preston Blairs how to books. An animator's only excuse for not buying it would be bankruptcy. When it first arrived I opened it expecting a decent number of illustrations, but was overwhelmed with what I found. The wealth of knowledge he passes along not just in text but primarily in examples has never been matched. Although I've never been able to attend Mr William's animation seminars now I feel like I have. See more stunning artwork demonstrating his theories than you ever imagined. Richard Williams will have to live to be 150 to accumulate enough info to come out with a sequel to this treasure, and I hope he does for our sake.
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Summary: ... a lifetime of experience!
Review: This book is jam-packed with information and inspiration. The author is an intimidatingly good animator who will make most of us wish we could draw half as well as he does, and he has worked with some legendary figures. His feature films, including WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?, have been landmarks in recent animation history. The book focuses mainly on the most basic movements of animated human and humanoid figures. Mr Williams has the vast experience to speak authoritatively of the easiest mistakes to make, as well as ways to make your own work sparkle. His own drawing is always fabulous, even when at its most simple. Any animator in any field will find this book hugely useful. And ..., it is a real bargain!
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Summary: Years of blood sweat and tears.
Review: This book is simply an amazing publication on how to create animation. I was sent to China to teach animation principals to fledgling animators . . . this book practically saved my life. Having studied animation for nearly ten years, I thought teaching a six month class would be a breeze. If it weren't for this book, the students would be hearing repeat material after about three weeks. The chapters on walks are enough to teach for an entire semester. Dick provides a simple example for just about every animation situation. Then he goes on to show you how to modify the thing in a dozen different ways, as if this knowledge is just sitting on a shelf with nothing better to do. It's just incredible. This book is an absolute must for CG and traditional animators alike. Given the amount of information in The Animator's Survival Kit, a purchase price should be closer to that of a few semesters tuition.
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Summary: IF youre an animator, or wanting to be one...get this book
Review: This Book should be in every animation classroom and studio. Great reference book when youre trying to solve an animation problem, or just trying to take a different approach . Great book to learn with or expand your knowledge with. This is the book to get. Recomended to me by every animator that i have met, and i myself use as an animator in Atlanta.
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