Keyframes

When you are creating an animation, you can either create the animation “straight ahead” or “pose to pose”. In straight ahead animation you start with a frame and draw frames sequentially until you have created the animation. With “pose to pose” you create Keyframes of important points in the animation. You draw these first and then draw the in between frames.

Both techniques are valid but lend themselves to different animation styles and subjects. They are outlined in Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas’ twelve basic principles of animation.

This concept can be applied to other creative practices. Should you build a project organically or should you design each important phase of the project ahead of time and then fill in the gaps? If one method doesn’t seem to be working, then maybe give the other a shot.