Layout and Composition for Animation

In Layout and Composition for Animation, Ed Ghertner shares the visual planning methods behind animated scenes. This digital PDF edition is ready for instant download after purchase.

The book focuses on the layout artist’s role in animation and covers the practical decisions that shape a scene, from story and perspective to camera movement and lighting. It is written for students, artists, and professionals who want to understand 2-D animation as a crafted visual art.

Book Overview

Layout and Composition for Animation is a practical guide by Ed Ghertner, published by Focal Press, an imprint of Elsevier. The 217-page digital edition explains how to prepare and compose backgrounds, camera moves, and effects for animated productions.

Examples are drawn from classic animated features, including Beauty and the Beast, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Black Cauldron, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The book also includes Ghertner’s Gallery sections that show finished layout art and personal collection pieces.

What You’ll Discover Inside

• Story tools such as scene and sequence planning, script breakdowns, workbooks, thumbnails, and research.
• Approaches to perspective, including models, horizons, vanishing points, values, and practical tricks.
• Composition and path of action, with example notes on Belle’s house design from Beauty and the Beast.
• Camera grids, movement arrows, pans, crossing the line, match cuts, bi-packs, and multi-plane set-ups.
• Lighting effects for shadows, gradients, and reflections.
• Workflow from development and pre-production through production, post-production, and distribution.

Why This Book Matters

Ghertner emphasizes the layout artist’s contribution to animation and makes the case for preserving 2-D animation as an art form. The book offers a record of techniques used in traditional animation and connects craft knowledge to the history of the medium.

It is a useful reference for animation students, layout artists, story artists, and anyone interested in the visual language of animated films.

Book Details

Device Compatibility

This is a digital download, so no physical item will be shipped. You will receive access to the PDF after purchase.

The file can be opened on desktop computers, tablets, mobile devices, and reading apps that support PDF files.

FAQ

When will I receive the book? Access is provided immediately after purchase, and the PDF is available for download from your account.

Will a physical copy be shipped? No. This listing is for a digital PDF only.

Which devices can I use? The PDF can be read with compatible PDF applications on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.

Bring the planning and composition techniques of animation into your own work. Start reading this digital edition today.