personality

The objective of the principles previously discussed are to give the characters in an animation a personality that appeals to the viewers. Personality in character animation is not a principle unto itself, but the intelligent application of all of the principles of animation. The different principles should be applied in a fashion to produce a consistent personality. This means that the animator must have a good idea of the desired personality before beginning the animation.

In character animation, all actions and movements of a character are the result of its thought processes. Without a thought process, the actions of a character are just a series of unrelated motions. With a thought process to connect them, the actions bring a character to life. In order to get a thought process into an animation, it is critical to have the personality of a character clearly in mind at the outset, so that it makes sense to ask at any moment, "What mood is the character in. How would he do this action?"

When defining the character, it is important to makes the personality distinct, and at the same time have characteristics that are familiar to the audience. If the actions of a character ring true, the audience will be able to relate to the character, and he will be believable to them.

Whether it is generated by hand or by computer, the first goal of the animator is to entertain. The animator must have two things: a clear concept of exactly what will entertain the audience; and the tools and skills to put those ideas across clearly and unambiguously. Tools, in the sense of hardware and software. arc simply not enough.