About the Book:

Timing for Animation is a brilliant book whose size belies its usefulness. A classic of animation education since it first published in 1981, this book was conceived as a learning tool for hand drawn animation. However, because of its comprehensive coverage of this fundamental aspect of animation, it is an invaluable tool for computer animators as well.

For more than 25 years, copies of Timing for Animation have been sitting dog-eared and spine-split on desks and workstations around the world wherever animation is produced. The original edition was published in the U.K. and generally only available in Europe. Now, this less expensive edition is available, and all you need to breathe life into your animation is at your fingertips.

What makes this book so useful? As the President of Pixar Studios John Lasseter says in his new introduction to this edition, "Getting an object to have a sense of weight, size, scale, motion and humor has to do with how you move an object. The computers don't create animation for the animator – the animator still needs knowledge of the principles of timing in order to make the computer animation come alive."

All the vital techniques employed by animators worldwide are explained using dozens of clear illustrations and simple, straightforward directions. Learn how animations should be arranged in relation to each other, how much space should be used and how long each drawing should be shown for maximum dramatic effect. If you come from a background of drawing your work, there are sections such as animating in perspective which literally will bring depth to your work. If you come from a background of computer animation Timing for Animation is an absolute necessity for you, as it shows the techniques to breathe life into your work. Fully revised and updated by well-known animator Tom Sito, the second edition includes timing for digital production, digital storyboarding in 2D, digital storyboarding in 3D, the use of After Effects and much, much more!

What people say:

"Among my favourite books, Timing for Animation, by Harold Whitaker and John Halas ranks high. Originally written in 1981 (and newly revised in 2009) this slim volume presents a thorough analysis of the many kinds of timing issues one encounters in producing a narrative style animated film. Timing on Bar Sheets, Movement and Caricature, Newton's Laws of Motion, Objects Thrown Through the Air, Timing a Slow Action, Timing a Fast Action, Timing to Suggest Weight and Force… these are only a few of the many chapters included. A thoroughly compiled manual, it's an old and current favourite." — Animation World Network

"Most importantly 1981 also saw the release of a book based on Harold's animation experience Timing for Animation, still in print today through a 2009 edition updated by Tom Sito to encompass digital animation. Co-authored with John Halas, this is really Harold Whitaker's book but he admitted that he probably would have kept tinkering away at it endlessly without result if it had not been for John's encouragement and focus. It is an important legacy for Harold's work and a mainstay of many an animator's bookshelf." — Jez Stewart, Curator responsible for the animation collection at the BFI National Archive

"Whether you are working on your characters acting, or the overall mood of a scene, one of the great secrets to making it work is the timing. Concentrating on the subject with a laser like intensity, yet managing to cover all aspects of the subject, Timing for Animation is an important book to have in any animators reference library." — Animation World Network

About the Author:

Harold Whitaker (1920 – 2013) was a British animator and educator for 50 years, many of his students number among today's most outstanding animation artists. He animated some of the most memorable scenes of British animation history, including the downfall of Orwell's drunken Farmer Jones in his country's first feature-length cartoon Animal Farm (1954). He went on to make further films, including Popeye the Sailor, Asterix and The Lone Ranger. Well-known TV series work included Dodo the Kid from Outer Space (1965), Tomfoolery (1970), Tales from Hoffnung (1965), Jackson 5ive (1971). He was nominated for a BAFTA for his work on The Hoffnung Palm Court Orchestra in 1965. He also worked on the Grimaldi and So Beautiful and So Dangerous segments of the 1981 anthology Heavy Metal. He was one of the key animators on Jimmy Murakami's seminal 1986 feature When the Wind Blows.

John Halas (1912 – 1995) was a British motion-picture animator and producer. Born Janos Halasz in Budapest in 1912, he learned his craft under the animation pioneer George Pal, who later became a Hollywood producer. He moved to England where later, with his wife Joy Batchelor, he was the force behind Halas and Batchelor, the largest cartoon film studio in Great Britain and creator of some 2,000 animated films, notably Animal Farm (1954), the first ever full-length animated feature to be made in Britain that was released worldwide. Known as a "father of animation," he was also the founder and president of the ASIFA and former Chairman of the British Federation of Film Societies.

Tom Sito is an American animator, animation historian and teacher. He has been called a "key figure in the Disney Renaissance," and was named in Animation Magazine's list of the One Hundred Most Important People in Animation. He is also the Chair and Professor of the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California.