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Timing Director

Real-Life Activities

Real-Life Communication

"Animation is a totally collaborative business," says Dave Howe. He teaches animation and timing. This means timing directors must be excellent communicators. They have to be able to work with producers, writers, storyboard artists, and most importantly, with the animators who have to translate their instructions onto film.

Jon McClenahan worked as a timing director before starting his own animation studio. He says timing directors must be absolutely clear about what they want animators to do. If they cannot communicate their ideas, the project will suffer. Written communication skills are especially important, since animators work off timing sheets put together by timing directors.

Marlene Robinson-May is the director of animation for an animation studio. She says timing directors will spend hours writing timing sheets that detail every nuance of how a character moves and acts. They can, of course, overdo it.

"Timing directors who get too detailed in their work sometimes strangulate the creativity out of the animators," says McClenahan.

You are a timing director. Below you will find 12 drawings. They are called frames. If you present them rapidly in succession, they give you the illusion of movement.

Frame 1