Remember how you were introduced to a Flip Book to help you understand how to make static drawings and pictures APPEAR to be moving and alive? This video shows you how a line can be drawn to create the illusion of life and movement as it is animated. A line is a two-dimensional (2D) drawing of a simple shape.
In order to successfully draw and animate characters and objects, an animator must first learn to visualize those characters and objects from different views. He/she must then learn to draw what is visualized in those different views based on what actually happens in real-world situations. For example, to work as an artist, animator, and co-director for the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) film, Peter Ramsey had to be able to draw and visualize how Mike Morales, the new Spider Man character, would look flying through the air. He had to be able to “see” how Spider Man would look clinging to surfaces and ceilings like a spider, as Spider Man used his powers to fight crime in New York City.
Learning about #D shapes and objects helps you to recognize and understand how those shapes and objects are viewed from different perspectives. Some of the basic views of such items include the front, back, side (profile), 3 /4 side, and top. Your knowledge of common 3D shapes along with how they are constructed can help you to learn about and know how these shapes, and objects that are made in these shapes, will look when they appear from the aforementioned basic views.
Basic Views - front, back, side (profile), 3 /4 side, top
Common 2D Shapes – triangle, rectangle, circle, square, pentagon, hexagon, semicircle
Common 3D Shapes – cube, rectangular prism, cone, cylinder, sphere, triangular prism, pyramid, hemisphere
You can either learn about a shape and try to predict how it will be viewed based on your memory of that shape, or you can learn to visualize it based on how it is drawn on paper or as a digital image.
This information will help you to learn to draw and animate cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny and so many others.
To review what was discussed in the previous lesson, look at the hexagonal prism below. A hexagon is a 3D shape made up of two hexagons (a six-sided figure) connected by six rectangular sides.
The front view of this shape is a rectangle. The side view of this shape is a rectangle. The top view of this shape is a hexagon.
What are the front, side, and top views of this cube?
What are the front, side, and top views of this pyramid?
The following figure is a trapezoidal prism. What are the front, side and top views of this figure?
Below is a picture of a hut or a small house. There are labels that indicate the front, side and top of the hut. We can assume that there are no additional features of this hut other than what we are able to see in this image.
The following three images show the hut from the three views indicated in the previous photo – the front view, the side view, and the top view. The front and side views do not conform to any common shape, but the top view does. The top view is in the shape of a rectangle.
Although the front and side views do not conform to any common 2D or 3D shape, we can tell how they would look if we were asked to draw the hut in those views on a sheet of paper. We would be able to VISUALIZE it from the images we are able to see. We could also draw the top view as a rectangle even with a line down the center of it to add detail to the structure as its roof.
Dice Quiz
Next, look at the dice pieces shown below. A die is usually made in the shape of a cube as these are. A traditional die is a cube with each of its six faces marked with a different number of dots from one to six.
1. What number is shown on the front, side and top views of this die?
2. What number is shown on the front, side and top views of this die?
3. What number is shown on the front, side and top views of this die?
4. What number is shown on the front, side and top views of this die?
Other items you can practice drawing and visualizing these basic views include donuts or bagels, juice boxes, jello or pudding cups, toy cars, and sponges.
Constructing 3D Shapes
After you complete the Dice Quiz, read the following instructions for your assignment for this lesson. You will need a computer with word processing software, a printer, and Scotch tape.
1. Copy and paste the following picture on a blank page.
2. Print the picture with all five images on a sheet of cardstock paper.
3. Cut out each of the images along the outside black, solid lines ONLY.
4. Fold the five images to make the 3D shapes shown.
5. Tape the edges together to complete your construction of these five 3D shapes.
Be sure to keep what you have made in a safe place because you will need to use them for reference in future math and animation lessons.
Have fun learning!
*Relevant Common Core Mathematics Standards
• Identify, describe, draw, compare, sort, classify, analyze, and compare 2D and 3D shapes and geometric objects
• Draw and partition shapes and other objects with specific attributes