The Animator’s Survival Kit is the first book I ever got as an animator.
It’s still the book I grab when I feel the motion of my characters isn’t quite working. It shows you what to look for, and how to apply the principles of animation. It’s a great book to start with, but it also works as a reference when you’re not too sure about what you’re working on.
Richard Williams was the animation director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and he spent years learning from the old Disney and Warner Bros. animators. This book is basically his master class on paper. It doesn’t matter if you animate by hand, in 3D or in After Effects: the principles are the same.
What makes it so good is that almost every page is a drawing. Williams doesn’t just tell you how timing and spacing work, he shows you, frame by frame. The chapters on walks and runs alone are worth the price. You will keep coming back to them.
It’s a big, heavy book and you won’t read it in one go.
A tip on the edition: I own the older one, but I’d go for the latest, expanded edition. It has even more good stuff in it.
Get the book
The Animator’s Survival Kit
Richard Williams · Faber & Faber, expanded edition
The book to grab when a character’s motion isn’t working: timing, spacing, walks and acting, frame by frame.
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