How To Animate Movement

this video is based on the 12 principles of animation, as described by frank thomas and ollie johnston. alright, the 7th principle of animation is called arcs. so very few organisms are capable of movements that have a mechanical in and out or up and down precision. most living creatures will move in a circular path, otherwise known as an arc. so let's say that we were given these key poses and were told to fill in the poses in between.

How To Animate Movement, simply taking the midway point between the poses will not work, because this look way too mechanical. the ball needs to follow an arc. of course, we also need to consider the slow in and out, caused by gravity. when doing this in 3d and motion graphics, we can achieve this effect by keeping the movement in the x axis constant,

but giving the movement in the y axis a slow in and slow out. this will give the ball its arc. now let's look at this head turn. right now it looks pretty dull and straight, but if we add an arc to it, it gives it a little bit more character. forgetting about arcs can lead to some obvious mistakes. for example we may in-between this movement by calculating the midpoint like this, and cause the shape of the object to shrink. if we were to draw a simple arc as reference, then this movement would be a lot easier, and more realistic.

arcs can be added to almost any figure movement. this guy is landing on the ground. let's have his body settle in an arc. this guy is reacting with shock. let's have his body and arms follow an arc. this guy is taking a step. have his body move down and up in an arc, before he even takes his next step. this guy is kicking. have his leg and body follow through, in an arc.

when movements are very fast, you can add arcs in the form of a smear. take the beginning and end pose, and draw an arc in between, and fill it in the same color as the object. maybe slightly transparent, or fragmented towards the end of the action. so that's it for arcs, next we will be discussing secondary action. thanks for watching and i'll see you in the next video!