# 1. Animate from the inside out….not the outside in.
a. The torso, how the pelvis and spine are working together to move your body.
b. Define the relationship of feet to pelvis and torso
i. Where is the weight?
ii. Is there balance?
c. Arms, necks, fingers and toes come last
# 2. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the limbs and appendages….it’s a bouncing ball.
a. Arcs………everything organic moves in curves, robots move in straight lines.
i. Pick a point on the body, or a locator and track it’s motion with an expo marker. See what shape arc you are making.
b. Timing……what part starts moving first and what is the last thing to get there?
i. Give the eye enough time to see a pose, or an action. If you have two
Objects touching one another- 1 frame is not enough time to see it.
ii. Pauses are as important as the action. The contrast between them is what
Makes each work
iii. Rhythm. Bad pop music is repetitive and everything happens on the beat.
Jazz music has melody but also has off-beats and departures.
c. Spacing……determines your slow-ins and slow-outs and your timing
i. Favor a pose
ii. How quickly do you want it to move from pose A to pose B
iii. Cartoony animation vs. Realistic animation. A lot is determined by
both timing and spacing. Snappy vs. flowing.
# 3. Overlap and Follow-through. Flow from one pose to the next.
a. Each part of an arm, leg or torso doesn’t move at the same time.
b. Decide where the energy or need for the movement is coming from –
and move that part first. Follow the this flow of energy as it travels through the body.
c. Everything shouldn’t come to a dead stop. Except in extreme cartoony cases, complete
stillness is a killer.
d. Flow. One part of the body starts to move into the next pose as another part is still
finishing it’s motion from the last pose.
# 4. Weight and Texture
a. Within the human body, the majority of the weight lies in the pelvis and lower
torso area. On every single pose, and throughout animation you must keep
track of that weight. There is a constant relationship between the 2 feet and
that lower torso area. If the lower part of the body is off balance – it must
counterbalance using the rest of the weight it’s got. This could be arms, other
legs, the upper torso or an object or prop.
b. Everything you touch or move including yourself or your character has it’s
own weight. Decide how much each thing weighs. Show us how much
by how it affects the body. Am I holding a pillow, or am I holding a safe?
What does my arm look like when holding each? How I choose to hold it will
show weight and how much the rest of my body is affected by it will show weight.
c. Tension or Effort. Sometimes you have to put in some random looking frames
to show tension, struggle, or effort. If you are trying to move something heavy- it
is not going to “give” right away. Your arms may “give” before the object does.
Try dragging something along a carpet- it will catch on the rug fibers…this is
quite different than dragging something along a cement floor- or ice for that
Matter. Things get rub, slow down or get stuck when in contact with other things.
d. Everything you touch, move or walk is made up of different material. Keep
this in mind when animating. Is it soft grass, is the handrail metal or wood,
will the object “give” slightly, or is it solid marble. Remember to show this
visually…after all- we can’t go in there an touch it ourselves.
Other Passes You Can Do On Your Animation……………
# 1. Hips…………. The hip is there to help “take up” the weight of the lower torso, pelvis area.
Animate the majority of the pelvis direction with the root. Save the hip control
For another pass. It is there to help your leg take the weight. It will go into action
shortly after the weight has moved over one leg – and it will happen in a matter of
a couple of frames. If you were a giant dinosaur- this hip shift would take longer
to happen – bigger bones have to rotate more to get the same effect.
# 2. Clavicles or Shoulders…….. are very similar in function to the hip rotation. Particularly
If the hand is being used to rest on or leaned on. The arm will try to take up as
much weight as possible- then the scapula be forced to take up the rest.
# 3. Breathing …. Think about when your character is going to take a breath.
a. A breath can happen during an anticipation. When swimming it literally happens before you dive in and swim underwater. Perhaps you take a big gulp before a golf swing.
Yoga is based entirely on breath and motion. Pulling in the air before a posture and
pushing it out through the next posture.
b. A breath can determine the character’s mood or state of mind. Nervous people
breathe fast, shallow breaths. Someone who has just run may be out of breath
to the point where they literally can’t get it back to normal breathing. Someone
who is asleep may snore or “saw logs” in a regular rhythm. Or they may have
sleep apnea which can cause them to gasp violently all of a sudden. Have someone
scare you- did you suck in air- or blow it out?
c. Breathing doesn’t just happen with one bone rotation. There is no breath control.
The entire spine and shoulders, head and neck are involved in breathing. If it
is the out of breath runner- than maybe the whole body. Again- here is your timing
and overlap following the breath in the abdomen, up through the diaphragm, into
the lungs, up in the chest- up the shoulders and neck into the nasal or mouth.
The Human Body is a large, intricate, complex machine made up of many working parts that all work together
and affect one another….
a. The torso, how the pelvis and spine are working together to move your body.
b. Define the relationship of feet to pelvis and torso
i. Where is the weight?
ii. Is there balance?
c. Arms, necks, fingers and toes come last
# 2. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the limbs and appendages….it’s a bouncing ball.
a. Arcs………everything organic moves in curves, robots move in straight lines.
i. Pick a point on the body, or a locator and track it’s motion with an expo marker. See what shape arc you are making.
b. Timing……what part starts moving first and what is the last thing to get there?
i. Give the eye enough time to see a pose, or an action. If you have two
Objects touching one another- 1 frame is not enough time to see it.
ii. Pauses are as important as the action. The contrast between them is what
Makes each work
iii. Rhythm. Bad pop music is repetitive and everything happens on the beat.
Jazz music has melody but also has off-beats and departures.
c. Spacing……determines your slow-ins and slow-outs and your timing
i. Favor a pose
ii. How quickly do you want it to move from pose A to pose B
iii. Cartoony animation vs. Realistic animation. A lot is determined by
both timing and spacing. Snappy vs. flowing.
# 3. Overlap and Follow-through. Flow from one pose to the next.
a. Each part of an arm, leg or torso doesn’t move at the same time.
b. Decide where the energy or need for the movement is coming from –
and move that part first. Follow the this flow of energy as it travels through the body.
c. Everything shouldn’t come to a dead stop. Except in extreme cartoony cases, complete
stillness is a killer.
d. Flow. One part of the body starts to move into the next pose as another part is still
finishing it’s motion from the last pose.
# 4. Weight and Texture
a. Within the human body, the majority of the weight lies in the pelvis and lower
torso area. On every single pose, and throughout animation you must keep
track of that weight. There is a constant relationship between the 2 feet and
that lower torso area. If the lower part of the body is off balance – it must
counterbalance using the rest of the weight it’s got. This could be arms, other
legs, the upper torso or an object or prop.
b. Everything you touch or move including yourself or your character has it’s
own weight. Decide how much each thing weighs. Show us how much
by how it affects the body. Am I holding a pillow, or am I holding a safe?
What does my arm look like when holding each? How I choose to hold it will
show weight and how much the rest of my body is affected by it will show weight.
c. Tension or Effort. Sometimes you have to put in some random looking frames
to show tension, struggle, or effort. If you are trying to move something heavy- it
is not going to “give” right away. Your arms may “give” before the object does.
Try dragging something along a carpet- it will catch on the rug fibers…this is
quite different than dragging something along a cement floor- or ice for that
Matter. Things get rub, slow down or get stuck when in contact with other things.
d. Everything you touch, move or walk is made up of different material. Keep
this in mind when animating. Is it soft grass, is the handrail metal or wood,
will the object “give” slightly, or is it solid marble. Remember to show this
visually…after all- we can’t go in there an touch it ourselves.
Other Passes You Can Do On Your Animation……………
# 1. Hips…………. The hip is there to help “take up” the weight of the lower torso, pelvis area.
Animate the majority of the pelvis direction with the root. Save the hip control
For another pass. It is there to help your leg take the weight. It will go into action
shortly after the weight has moved over one leg – and it will happen in a matter of
a couple of frames. If you were a giant dinosaur- this hip shift would take longer
to happen – bigger bones have to rotate more to get the same effect.
# 2. Clavicles or Shoulders…….. are very similar in function to the hip rotation. Particularly
If the hand is being used to rest on or leaned on. The arm will try to take up as
much weight as possible- then the scapula be forced to take up the rest.
# 3. Breathing …. Think about when your character is going to take a breath.
a. A breath can happen during an anticipation. When swimming it literally happens before you dive in and swim underwater. Perhaps you take a big gulp before a golf swing.
Yoga is based entirely on breath and motion. Pulling in the air before a posture and
pushing it out through the next posture.
b. A breath can determine the character’s mood or state of mind. Nervous people
breathe fast, shallow breaths. Someone who has just run may be out of breath
to the point where they literally can’t get it back to normal breathing. Someone
who is asleep may snore or “saw logs” in a regular rhythm. Or they may have
sleep apnea which can cause them to gasp violently all of a sudden. Have someone
scare you- did you suck in air- or blow it out?
c. Breathing doesn’t just happen with one bone rotation. There is no breath control.
The entire spine and shoulders, head and neck are involved in breathing. If it
is the out of breath runner- than maybe the whole body. Again- here is your timing
and overlap following the breath in the abdomen, up through the diaphragm, into
the lungs, up in the chest- up the shoulders and neck into the nasal or mouth.
The Human Body is a large, intricate, complex machine made up of many working parts that all work together
and affect one another….
