things to ponder in animation

Posing with exaggeration

ACTIONS - LEADING AND FOLLOWING actions are easy - example: when a character land one foot makes contact and then the other...or if you lift the arms - one arm goes up and then the other.

OVERLAPPING ACTIONS - example the character comes to a halt and her hair and dress continue to flow and settle into place. To be effective the overlapping has to use "S" curves to change direction.

DRAG ACTION - is where you show a drag on a form as it moves through space. This usually occurs at the ends of the form. If a rubber raft is falling, the middle edge will be intact - the other edges will bend or drag back.

MOTIVATIONAL FORCES - what makes thing move - 80% or more of all actions happen because of the hips and legs. If a character throws a ball the action starts with the extension (unfolding) of the front leg which rotates the hips and create toque with the torso and allows the unwinding of the torso to lead the shoulder and the rest of the arm through a throwing motion.  Another example: a character can't turn unless he pushes off on the outside foot - then he can change direction.

Thinking time (a character ALWAYS thinks before it does anything).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY ACTIONS - easy example in a walk - the legs are the primary action - then arms are the secondary action.

ANTICIPATION - (or ANTIC) In a grab, the hand comes up and backward before it goes forward.

COMPENSATION - If a character is running and stops - you have to compensate for the forward momentum (usually by driving the forces up - or down and then up.)

REVERSALS - try to work as many reversals into the spine as possible (as long as it makes sense to the action). The spine is curved forward - then curves back during an antic and then curves forward when the character picks up a stone. HINT: My next lesson at the Toon Institute will have this information.

A CUSHION OR SETTLE is where you move passed a key frame into an extreme/extreme and then cushion back into the original key frame.

A MOVING HOLD is a very, very slow slow-out of an action - to where the movement is coming to a creeping halt.

Staging (how the action is composed within the frame)

Character Design - the ability to caricature a person utilizing good design skills and have appeal