Been thinking about this topic a lot recently! I've never understood why Williams was so partial to on-ones, as I'm definitely in the camp that finds the lower framerates more charming (the poses feel more distinct!) In school I was never taught this idea AT ALL (I assumed everything was supposed to be on-twos) but I'm glad to see it's more common than I thought. Will be keeping this article in mind if I ever teach animation someday!
Another great installment! I'm looking forward to watching the new Jonni Phillips animations and of course the North American release of Miyazaki's latest film.
Thanks, Samuel! Jonni is right that her new work is more out-there than Barber, but we're enjoying it -- hope you will as well. And we're desperate to see the Miyazaki film for ourselves. Hopefully it gets a reasonably wide theatrical release.
In the shoe-tying scene, I think you're confusing modulation with holds. There's a hold at the end of that action to show it's complete. In that instance it's not about texture in timing, but communication with the audience.
There's definitely an argument to be had about holds vs. modulation. It's something we considered as well. The part at the very end of the shoe-tying shot, one of the many things we switched to twos in the retimed demonstration GIF, could absolutely be described as a hold. But the use of variations throughout the shot (two twos and a three, two twos and a four, etc.) is similar to stuff we've seen from Mitsuo Iso, an anime artist often cited for his modulation.
Part of it is likely just a difference in terms. "Frame-rate modulation" comes from anime scholarship (you'd never see Frank and Ollie use those words), and we're placing that framework over classical American animation, seeing what it can show. UPA's team would probably have called a lot of these moments subtle holds, and done the same for much of Iso's work. That's valid, too.
Been thinking about this topic a lot recently! I've never understood why Williams was so partial to on-ones, as I'm definitely in the camp that finds the lower framerates more charming (the poses feel more distinct!) In school I was never taught this idea AT ALL (I assumed everything was supposed to be on-twos) but I'm glad to see it's more common than I thought. Will be keeping this article in mind if I ever teach animation someday!
Wow, that's high praise. Thank you!
Another great installment! I'm looking forward to watching the new Jonni Phillips animations and of course the North American release of Miyazaki's latest film.
Thanks, Samuel! Jonni is right that her new work is more out-there than Barber, but we're enjoying it -- hope you will as well. And we're desperate to see the Miyazaki film for ourselves. Hopefully it gets a reasonably wide theatrical release.
In the shoe-tying scene, I think you're confusing modulation with holds. There's a hold at the end of that action to show it's complete. In that instance it's not about texture in timing, but communication with the audience.
There's definitely an argument to be had about holds vs. modulation. It's something we considered as well. The part at the very end of the shoe-tying shot, one of the many things we switched to twos in the retimed demonstration GIF, could absolutely be described as a hold. But the use of variations throughout the shot (two twos and a three, two twos and a four, etc.) is similar to stuff we've seen from Mitsuo Iso, an anime artist often cited for his modulation.
Part of it is likely just a difference in terms. "Frame-rate modulation" comes from anime scholarship (you'd never see Frank and Ollie use those words), and we're placing that framework over classical American animation, seeing what it can show. UPA's team would probably have called a lot of these moments subtle holds, and done the same for much of Iso's work. That's valid, too.