The Animator's Survival Kit 2nd Edition

by Richard Williams (Author)

4,090 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0571202287

ISBN-10: 0571202284

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The Animator's Survival Kit, Expanded Edition: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators
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The definitive book on animation, from the Academy Award-winning animator behind Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Animation is one of the hottest areas of filmmaking today--and the master animator who bridges the old generation and the new is Richard Williams. During his more than forty years in the business, Williams has been one of the true innovators, winning three Academy Awards and serving as the link between Disney's golden age of animation by hand and the new computer animation exemplified by Toy Story.

Perhaps even more important, though, has been his dedication in passing along his knowledge to a new generation of animators so that they in turn could push the medium in new directions. In this book, based on his sold-out master classes in the United States and across Europe, Williams provides the underlying principles of animation that every animator--from beginner to expert, classic animator to computer animation whiz --needs. Urging his readers to "invent but be believable," he illustrates his points with hundreds of drawings, distilling the secrets of the masters into a working system in order to create a book that will become the standard work on all forms of animation for professionals, students, and fans.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Williams is miles ahead of anyone in the world of animation."--The New York Times

About the Author

Richard Williams has won more than 250 international awards for his animation. He currently lives in Wales.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Faber & Faber; 2nd edition (January 7, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 342 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571202284
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0571202287
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.48 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.53 x 0.95 x 11.02 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #494,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #152 in How to Create Anime & Cartoons
- #182 in Digital Video Production (Books)
- #266 in Animation Graphic Design (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4,090 ratings

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2 star		1%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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R. Stout

I should have looked at the lower reviews

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2019

Verified Purchase

Not what I was expecting. I saw methods for computers and games in the description but I didn't see anything to indicate that is so. Also not appropriate for children. I saw a lot of high reviews of people giving it to their sons, but their is no way I'm giving this to my 12 year old step son. I posted a few pictures but not all. There is literally 4 pages of an old woman walking with her boobs bouncing in whichever direction. WTF?!

106 people found this helpful

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Emmaline

Came Highly Recommended - A Dense, Rich Reference Book!

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

I bought this at the recommendation of animator Ross O'Donovan from Game Grumps (he recommended this book during the Pokémon Art Academy series). I haven't started really diving into it, but so far the book is AMAZING.

For one thing, the Animator's Survival Kit is no casual reference - it's a brick of a book overflowing with learning material. There are chapters upon chapters of really rich references and diagrams.

I hope to learn a whole lot from following this book. I will update this review when I've explored it in more detail. But so far, everything about this book seems top knotch.

61 people found this helpful

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Boatman

A must read for anyone interested in animation

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

Awesome book to understand how animation works. The history/biography, in the beginning, was a little boring. But once I got past that, it was really good. I have been spending most of my time learning how animation software works from Adobe and Toon Boom Harmony (personal fave). And this book really fills all the holes on how animation works. I'm about 1/3 of the way done with the book already. I will have to update when done...but so far...I love it!

49 people found this helpful

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Carl

Absolutely Recommended by an Amateur Animator

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2018

Verified Purchase

As a budding animator, reading this book was extremely helpful in thinking about animation in a different way from one of the pros.

A lot went over my head as I'm a digital animator and a lot of the tips and tricks were more specifically for traditional, hand-drawn, cel animation, but the techniques are still extremely handy.

The book is also quite easy to read. And not just because the language isn't overly complicated or technical. It's just a joy to sit down and study. Not dry at all and doesn't feel like a textbook.

Absolutely recommend for anyone who wants an offline guide for animation techniques.

27 people found this helpful

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Charles

Wrong Expectation on My Part

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2019

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I was hoping that this book was a comprehensive guide to animating, but my idea of comprehensive was wrong. The book started by telling the reader that you need to know how to draw, and the book is not gonna teach you how to draw. It is also a bit too conversational for me. At times, I just hoped that he would cut to chase and lay down the principles and exercises. I know some people appreciated the anecdotes and stories in this book, but it is just odd to me, since I expected this book to be more of a manual, since that is what it was advertised as. Also, some of his advice sounds more like personal choice than strict rules to follow. I did not finish reading the book, so please take my word with a grain of salt.

6 people found this helpful

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Doug warner

best animation book ever.

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2015

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This is an amazing book!!! I cannot see why anyone would give this book less than a five. For the people out there that have never attempted to do an animation or find it very difficult and though if they bought this book they would be able to instantly do it with minimal effort. I'm sorry to say, the answer is No; animation is a difficult yet extremely underrated skill that most people assume to be easy. This book helps you with some of the steps to make a lot of the common animations you may encounter (Lip syncing was very helpful). It is more of a tool or reference guide to help you out during the animation process; It will not do the work for you; even thought I wish it would.

26 people found this helpful

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FritzThird

Bad delivery for a great book.

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

[The good]
I give this book five stars, as I’m already acquainted with it from my local library and know that the information is valuable. Now that I've become serious about animating, I needed a copy for myself. I think most will enjoy this book and find it as valuable as I do - I highly recommend it.

RIP Richard Williams 1933-2019

[The Bad]
I don't understand why my book was shipped with a heavy-ish object (ESOW Kitchen Water Filter Faucet) even when I chose not to consolidate my orders to save on packaging. I think all books need to be shipped individually in literature mailers. It drives me crazy when a book arrives damaged.

3 people found this helpful

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Dracaemelos

Amazing

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2016

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I'm no kind of animator, and not a 'great' artist or anything (need far more practice ^_^). But even just skimming this book, it's amazing! It goes into depth that feels like someone is tutoring you on each little topic, and you're like "Yeah, that makes a LOT of sense!" It SHOWS everything that it's saying. I have enjoyed it immensely so far and once I ever actually try to animate anything I'm sure it will come in even more handy.

12 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Boshy

Amazing for both 2D and 3D animators

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2019

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I have recently started doing 3D animations, and there is a lot of content out there but this book is timeless. Even though it's focused on 2D (more or less cartoon style animations), the lessons learned here are timeless and can easily apply to both 2D and 3D mediums.

It significantly improved my animation skills and how I approach animations, and I'm only half way through it so I expect it's going to help me out even more by the time it's finished.

14 people found this helpful

Jink

Really Useful!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

I ordered this in the hopes it would help me to fine tune my existing (but limited) skills of creating stop motion animations. I have to say this book is extremely thorough in the breakdown of movement creations, how to create a "character" through animation tweaks, how to use different perspectives to achieve different affects... I could go on there is so much information and really nice sketches/diagrams to help with understanding. Solid advice throughout from the author. Book arrived in very good condition.

2 people found this helpful

Cherish Watson

Animators Bible

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

Essential book to anyone who ks interested in starting or is studying animation. This book covers everything in great detail and is written in a way that is simple and easy to follow; with hundreds of well presented drawings this book breaks down the basic principles animation.
This book isn't just useful for traditional handrawn animation, but covers areas that are relevant In computer animation and stop motion. Highly recommend.

One person found this helpful

J.W

Must need for animators!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

This guide is a must get for students and teachers of animation, and anyone who is generally interested in it. It teaches fundamentals, tips, tricks and life lessons gathered by the Author, which you don't normally find on the internet. Not into paper animation? This also has helpful hints on digital animation too! Have you bought it yet? I'm waiting...!

6 people found this helpful

Maven Janson

The Animators Bible!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2003

Verified Purchase

"Richard Williams has won more than 250 international awards for his animation. He has been one of the true innovators, winning three Academy Awards and serving as the link between Disney's golden age of animation by hand and the new computer animation"
This is an essiental must buy book for beginners learning animation or students studying on an animation based course (particulary the BSc) I started my university course with absolutly no knowledge about animation, after playing the many Final Fantasy titles, watching the inspirational CGI and FMV sequences with the indepth story, leading onto Shrek, Ice Age, Lilo and Stitch, I did not know where to start, how to go around it and what to do! This book was extremly helpful, there is no words to describe my gratitude to Richard, teaching you everything you need to know! the history of animation, how to draw, timing of animation, from the basics- stationary figures to walking ,running jumping and skipping, to flexibility, weight, anticipation, dialogue, acting, emotion and directing, this is the start point of animation today.. with this bible you won't go wrong! If your stuck in the deep end, this book is a portable lifeguard! its just that good, don't take my word for it! try it out for yourself!

39 people found this helpful

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