Animation is the illusion of motion achieved by quickly displaying a sequence of frames. In the process of animating, one must be familiar with many rules and tricks to create natural and visually pleasing motion. In the scope of our master's thesis, we examined examples of best practices, studied 12 animation principles, and other animation techniques that allow us to create natural and fluid motion. We created the animation using computer-generated 3D technology, but stylistically, we attempted to approach traditional 2D hand-drawn animations. We used Blender for modeling and animation, and Adobe Premiere Pro for post-production. In the practical part of our master's thesis, we first tested animation principles and other techniques for creating natural motion, which we had previously studied in the theoretical part. As athletes and coaches, we had a good foundation for reviewing and evaluating the results, and we also showed the results to others and considered their objective opinions. We found that animation principles, although developed for 2D animation, can be almost entirely applied to 3D animation techniques, and they serve as the foundation for creating good animation. However, to master all scenarios, we also need other tricks, resourcefulness, and a lot of experience. In the second part, we applied the newly acquired knowledge to create a short animated film. The characters, which we adapted from the online game Dota 2, were customized to our needs, and we created skeletons and controls for animation. We also modeled the scene and developed a shading technique that stylistically approximated the look of a drawing in our 3D animation. The final product is a short animated film created in 3D technology, with a style similar to traditional 2D hand-drawn animations.
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