Timing for Animation, 40th Anniversary Edition, 3rd Edition

Traditional Camera Movements

Before the Digital Age all animation was shot on a down-shooter camera, called at times a “Rostrum camera” or an “Oxberry camera,” named after the American engineer John Oxberry (1918–1974) who designed an industry-standard camera stand. These cameras set-ups could be as simple as a home camera with a single-frame shutter, clamped on a shelf or table, up to the huge, motorized two-column professional camera stands. But, in most cases, the set-up was similar: a single-frame camera was mounted on a column and the animation artwork was placed on pegs on a compound table and held down by a heavy glass plate called a “platen.” The table had long top and bottom peg bars to move (pan) artwork, could rotate 360 degrees (a ...