← Animation Glossary

Exaggeration

Exaggeration in animation means making things bigger, smaller, or more extreme than they would be in real life. This helps to make the animation more interesting and fun to watch. For example, a character might have really big eyes or make really exaggerated facial expressions to show how they're feeling.

Exaggeration is one of the most powerful techniques used in animation to add interest to a character’s personality and emotions. It helps create memorable and expressive characters that are relatable to the audience. One of the primary reasons for using exaggeration in animation is to give life to characters that otherwise might come across as flat or dull.

Animators use exaggeration to emphasize or amplify certain actions, poses, expressions, or movements beyond their natural limits. This technique is not just about making things bigger or more prominent. It involves adding an extra layer of expressiveness and personality to the character’s animation. In fact, a good animator knows how much exaggeration is needed and where it should be used in order to create a balance between realism and entertainment.

One of the most common uses of exaggeration in animation is to convey emotions. For instance, if a character is surprised, animators might use exaggerated facial expressions such as bulging eyes, raised eyebrows, and an open mouth to make the emotion more pronounced. Similarly, if a character is angry, they might use exaggerated movements such as clenched fists or stomping feet to show their frustration.

Another way that animators use exaggeration is by playing with timing and spacing. By adding or reducing time or space between actions and poses, animators can create anticipation or surprise for the viewers. For example, if a character is about to jump over a hurdle, animators might add extra frames right before the jump to build up suspense.

Physics are also an area where exaggeration can be used effectively in animation. Animators can alter the laws of physics like gravity and weight to create a sense of weightlessness or impact that adds an extra level of interest and entertainment value to the animation. For instance, if a character falls from a high place, animators might slow down the fall and exaggerate the bounce at the end to make it more comedic.

Exaggeration is an essential technique in animation that adds depth and interest to characters and their emotions. It can be used in various aspects of animation, including timing, spacing, and physics, to create memorable and expressive characters that are relatable to the audience. A good animator knows how to use exaggeration effectively to create a balance between realism and entertainment.

Animation Terms

2

2D Animation

3

3D Animation

A

Alpha Channel

Ambient sound

Animation

Anti-Aliasing

Anticipation

Aspect Ratio

B

Bezier Curve

Bitmap

Blue Screen

Bone Animation

Bounce

Broadcast Standards

C

Camera Angle

Camera Shake

Casting

Cel Animation

Character Animation

Character Design Sheets

Cinematic lighting

Claymation

Clean-up

Close-up

Color Correction

Color Grading

Compositing

Composition

Concept Art

Continuity editing

Cross-cutting

Cut

Cutout nimation

D

Depth of Field

Dialogue

Dissolve

Distributed Rendering

Dolby Atmos

Dope Sheet

Dutch Angle

E

Easing

Emitter

Exaggeration

Eyedropper

F

Foley

Follow through

Forward Kinematics

Frame Rate

Frame

Framing

Freeze Frame

G

Ghosting

GIF File Format

Golden Ratio

Graph Editor

H

High key lighting

Hue and Saturation

I

Inertia

Infographic Animation

Inverse Kinematics

J

Joint

JPEG File Format

Jump cut

K

Keyframe Interpolation

Keyframe

Kinetic typography

L

Layers

Lens distortion

Level of Detail

Lighting

Line of action

Lip syncing

Low key lighting

M

Match cut

Matte painting

Montage

Morphing

Motion blur

Motion capture

Motion graphics

Motion path

Motion trail

Mouth shapes

MP3 File Format

MP4 File Format

N

Network rendering

Non-linear editing

O

Occlusion culling

Onion skinning

Overlapping action

P

Pan

Parallel rendering

Particle system

Persistance of Vision

Phonemes

Playback speed

Plot

PNG File Format

Pose-to-pose animation

Props

Puppet animation

R

Render farm

Rendering

Resolution

Rigging

Rotoscoping

Rule of thirds

Run cycle

S

Safe zone

Scene

Score

Screenplay

Script

Shot

Silhouette

Skeletal animation

Slow Motion

Smears

Sound Design

Sound effects

Soundtrack

Special Effects

Split screen

Squash and Stretch

Staging

Stop Motion Animation

Storyboard

Straight-ahead Animation

T

Time Remapping

Timeline

Timing

Title Card

Title Sequence

Tracking shot

Tweening

V

Vector graphics

Visemes

Voice acting

Voice-over Narration

W

Walk cycle

WebM File Format

Weighting

Wide shot

Z

Z-depth

Zoom

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