Customer Reviews
Every animator or character artist should have a copy! - By: Topscore1632, 16 Sep 2008 
This is the one, the daddy, the absolute MUST-HAVE for anybody with an interestin animation, character design, or concept art. Richard Williams is a genius & he shares his observations on the difficult life of a trainee artist as well as giving the benefit of his huge amounts of talent & experience.
This book is full of easy to follow hints & tips covering character posing & animation of all sorts. There's no hiding from the fact that even if you use computers to create 3D animation you still need a solid groundingin the fundamentals of motion, weight & timing & this is what Williams helps to explain. Everything is accompanied with detailed illustrations & sketches to help you work through to basic character setups through to complex walk cycles.
I've seen a lot of art booksin my time but this is the one that stands head & shoulders above the rest. Invaluable advice from a master of his art.
Fantastic even for the younger artists - By: Mary Mungomidge, 12 Jan 2008 I bought this book as Xmas present for my 11 year old (animation mad )son having read the reviews. In his own words "I havn't got through all of it but it is extremely helpful for my animation".
Apart from the digital blue camera we bought, this has been his most used & loved present. He finds the wording & pictures understandable, & the moving charactor pages fascinating. I have stumbled across a treasure that may well turn out to give him advancement for when he gets to high school (where they finally teach this stuff!)
Beyond price and yet totally affordable - By: Alan Sturgess, 08 Feb 2007 Don't be fooled by the fact that this a paperback - this is an arm-wrenching book that more than justifies the effort needed to lift it. A humungously fantabulostic whizzbang of a book.
Other reviewers have pretty well said it all - but one comment I just have to repeat & add to is this -
If you're a newcomer to animation, this book is utterly essential.
If you're an experienced amateur or professional, this book has no other purpose than to enrich your life & extend your talents.
If you're just interestedin animation, this book will have you reaching for a pencilin double-quick time.
The only book I've ever enountered that comes close to being this good is a slim (and now sadly out of print) little book by Bob Godfrey & originally published by the BBC. That was called 'The do-it-yourself film animation book' & this new book by Richard Williams is very muchin that mould. This book is a 'how-to-do-it-yourself-book' of the highest order & covers just about every style, technique & idea you care to think about. More importantly, it will open your mind to the power & possibilities of traditional pencil-based animation.
After all, not everyone has the time, talent, inclination (or software) to learn computer animation, but almost everyone can use a pencil or brush (even amputees!) - & that is all you need. You don't even need to be a good artist to make animation work. Naturally, it does help - but it isn't essential, & this book will show you so many ideas & ways to go about making images move that you'll soon be itching to find your own solutions & ways forwards.
And THAT is the overpowering impression you get from this outstanding book - it makes you want to explore & to find out just what as-yet undiscovered worlds lie out there, a fraction of a millimetre beyond the tip of your pencil.
A Must Have - By: James W. McCue, 27 Oct 2006 This is one of those books that every lecturer who teaches any kind of animation will tell you to buy, not suggest, TELL YOU TO BUY. A large section of the book explains animation history & some guide lines (like don't listen to music! lol) before breaking down different walk cycles & then moving on to other various things that can be animated. THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY LEVEL OF ANIMATOR (as even the legendary animators rules are alteredin this book at some points).
Official Guide! - By: X. Phan, 17 Oct 2006 I remmber backin college where I had to take this book out & borrow it to study them at home. But then I managed to take it with me when i finished college lOl... That's because this book is sooooooo great, it covers the most importances of animation. It demonstrate thein between drawings, the movements of a character, describing the weight of an objects & how to exagerate your character. But by saying this, there is much more to this. Buy this book. This is the only book you need!
