The best book on the art of stop-action animation and a must-have for animators and animation fans. From the creators of the wildly successful Wallace and Gromit films and Chicken Run, here is a unique guide to making your own 3-D (or stop-action) animation.

The book sets the achievements of Aardman Studios into the tradition of 3-D animation, which spans such Hollywood triumphs as King Kong and well-known characters like Godzilla. At the heart of the book is a guide to the process of 3-D animation today: a practical, fully illustrated, step-by-step description of how to create effective characters, a storyboard and sets, and then an entire film.

The Aardman Studios in Bristol are without doubt the b, ggest success story in the new wave of British animation. Founded by Peter Lord and Dave Sproxtcon. their achievement in creating such characters as Morph.Wallace and Gromit and Shaun tne Sheep has oeen rewarded Dy worldwide fame througn unparalleled success in tne Academy Awards. No fewer than eight Aardman films haw been nominated for Academty Awards. Nick Park at Aardman has received four Oscars for The Wrong Trousers. A Close Shave and The Curse of the Were-rabbit. all featuring tne dqaracters Wallace and Gromit. and for the first Creature Comforts.

The first part of this book. written by Brian Sibley, sets Aardman's achievements and the history of the studio into the tradttion of 3-D animation which soars such Hollywood triumphs as King Kong and asan and the Argonauts, as well as suck well-known characters as Godzilla.At the heart of the book is an idlspensable guide by Peter Lord. co-founder of Aardman to the process of 3-D animation culminating in a Dractical. fully illustrated step-by-step oescription of how to create effective characters. animate them conwnangly, create a storyoboard and sets and then a complete film. This new and uodated edition includes an entirely new cnaDter on CG1 ana the text has been revised tnro.ugnout to retied recent tecnnological advances and to exolore the ways in which new media use animation

There is no other booK that orov{des this nformation in such telling and entertaining aeta, making it possible for everyone to create their own 3-D anmnated classic For fans ano enthusiasts of a, ages. as wetl as for serious stuaents of animation. this book is not only a lot of fun - it is essential reading.

foreword

introduction

the medium

one basic needs

 The Camera

 The Digital Image and Motion Control

 A Simple Studio

 A Complex Studio

 The Power of Lighting

two simple techniques

 Simple Clay Animation

 Simple Object Animation

 Other Animation Techniques

three models and modelmaking

 Basic Principles

 Making a Sheep

 Gromit Construction

 Wat Construction

 Rex Construction

 Preston

four set design and making

 Planning a Set

 A Straightforward Set

 Matching Sets to Products

 A Complex Set

 Ingenuity and Props

 Special Effects

 Advanced Special Effects

five animation and performance

 Movement

 Walk Cycles

 Making Movement Believable

 Running and Tumbling

 Action and Reaction

 Special Movement Effects

 Expressions and Gestures

 Speech and Lip-sync

six CGI-computer generated imagery

 Modelling Figures and Sets

 Rigging

 Animation

 Lighting and Rendering

seven making a film

 The Role of the Producer

 Thinking about a Script

 Flash Animation and the Web

 Online Games

 Creating a Storyboard for Adam

 War Story

 The Pearce Sisters

 Morph

 Angry Kid

 Creature Comforts

 Shaun the Sheep

 Timmy time

 Wallace and Gromit

 Chicken Run

 Editing

 Sound and Music

a career in animation

filmography & bibliography

index