Contents -- Preface: When Worlds Collide -- Part I: Foundation -- Chapter 1 Fleas on the Shoulders of Giants -- The Evolution of the Art Form -- The Importance of History and Trends in Animation -- Digital Artistry Begins -- Times Are Changing: 1981-1994 -- Roger Rabbit Pushes 2D and CG Forward -- Popularity of the CG Medium or Story? -- Visual-Effects Movies Broaden the Audience -- The 1990s Shift: CG Becomes a Player -- A New Digital Artist Is Born -- The Animated Movie Industry: Moving into the Millennium -- The Best of Both Worlds -- Chapter 2 Tell Me a Story -- Plot and Premise -- Here Come the Talking Animals -- Desire and Growth -- Growth and Character Arcs -- Orchestration and Back Story -- Storyboards, Animatics, and Pre-Viz -- Storytelling -- Index 1: Storytelling Strengthening -- Index 2: Storyboard Musts -- Chapter 3 The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Annoying -- Memorable Characters -- Inspiration from Your Own Experience -- Flaws and Emotions -- Character Bio -- Stereotype versus Archetype -- Believability and Credibility -- Motivation -- Show, Don't Tell -- The Fine Art of Being a Bastard -- Design -- 2D Drawings Translated into CG -- Handling Textures in CG -- The Rig Equals Solid Drawing -- Index 3: Character Bio Questionnaire -- Index 4: Character Development -- Part II: Animation -- Chapter 4 The Thursday Animator -- Thinking and Planning -- Using Reference and Acting It Out -- Gesture Drawings and Thumbnails -- Sharing -- Ten Things to Think About -- Index 5: Ten Things to Think About -- Chapter 5 Every Frame Counts -- Spliney, Gooey, Computery, and Watery Motion -- The Graph Editor -- Stepped, Linear, and Spline -- Posing and Layering -- Breaking the Rig -- Using Breakdowns -- Animating Frame by Frame or on the Twos -- In-Betweening -- Creating Overlap and Secondary Motion -- Creating Principal and Secondary Characters.

CG Tools -- Pushing Your CG Animation to a Higher Level -- Chapter 6 Acting the Moment Again and Again and Again -- Motion Capture and Acting in CG Animation -- Improv -- Helpful Improv Tools for Animators -- Charlie Chaplin, Empathy, and Acting -- Get Inside the Character -- Body Structure -- Psychological Gesture and Subtext -- Stay in the Moment -- Index 6: Acting Tools for Animators -- Part III: And Now a Word from the Producer -- Chapter 7 When Push Comes to Stab -- Workflow -- Dailies -- Multiple Art Direction -- Mentorship Lost -- Competition -- Pigeonholing -- Core and Glitz Skills -- Responsibility -- Communication between Departments -- Problem-Solving -- Freelancing -- Networking -- Mass Production of CG Animation -- Death, Taxes, and Outsourcing -- Schedules and Production -- Chapter 8 The End of the Beginning -- Bridging the Gap -- Part IV: Appendixes -- Appendix A: Author Bios -- Appendix B: Traditional and CG Productions 1994-2005 -- Appendix C: The Digital Age of Animation Begins -- Appendix D: Animation Hall of Funny -- Appendix E: Principles of Animation -- Appendix F: Character Animation Terms -- Appendix G: Computer Animation Terms -- Appendix H: Further Reading -- Appendix I: Rigging Blog -- Appendix J: Timeline Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Z.