Pendulum critique & Planning for the tailed ball exercise
What is Anticipation?
Anticipation is an action that provides visual clues about the main action that is about to occur, often building up internal force leading to the main event.
Anticipation visually conveys the amount of strength and force that goes into a movement. The use of squash and stretch not only enhances the expression of movement but also makes it more convincing to the viewer.
Framework: Anticipation > Action > Reaction
This principle, as described by Bill Tytla, references Newton’s laws of motion.
- Anticipation: Prepares the audience for the action by showing the buildup of strength or force. For example, the ball stretches and squashes in anticipation of a bounce.
- Action: The main event, such as the ball bouncing.
- Reaction: The follow-through movement, like the tail following the ball’s motion.
(Reference: Rollercoaster principle)
Tail movement
The tail follows the same curve as the front part of the movement (e.g., a bouncing ball).
The natural pose for the tail is often an S-shape, which reflects the dynamics of motion.
Tailed ball animation exercise
Key guidelines:
- Begin with the ball animation.
- Once the ball’s motion is finalized, move to animating the tail.
- Deliver the animation in blocking mode, not in spline.
What is blocking?
Blocking is the foundation of the animation process. It involves setting the main keys, breakdowns, and using stepped tangents to sketch the motion.
- Purpose:
Blocking allows you to test and refine your idea quickly without worrying about transitions or splines. It’s a time-efficient way to sketch the animation’s key movements. - Delivery Details:
Use stepped tangents (flat or linear tangents) that create a strobe-light effect. This is similar to a Boolean system—either “on” or “off.”
Breakdowns: Adding Life to Motion
Breakdowns are essential to filling the space between keyframes. They define how the motion transitions, playing a crucial role in creating the illusion of life.
- Core Idea:
It’s all about time and space—integrating principles like stretch and squash to make the motion believable and dynamic.
The Four Stages of Animation:
- Planning: Laying out your ideas and structure.
- Blocking: Establishing the foundation with keys, breakdowns, and stepped tangents.
- Splining: Refining the transitions and smoothing out the motion.
- Polishing: Adding the final touches to perfect the animation.
What is ghosting?
Ghosting mode can be switched on for the controllers or object, to visualise tracking of the movement.
Planning for an assignment
To create an iconograph, I took screenshots of George’s demo in class, which showed the simple up-and-down motion of the ball with the tail. I used these as the guide, while working on delivering of my animation, so I could always go back to it an reference the key frames, and try to approximate my blocking against George’s.
I opted for a simple animation while applying the theory I’ve learned so far. My animation consists of a small jump, which serves as the anticipation for the bigger jump. This is followed by three smaller jumps, indicating that the initial jump was high in energy. To balance the energy accumulated from the jump, the ball requires several smaller jumps to come to a stop.
The sequence follows the pattern of anticipation > action > reaction:
- Anticipation: Preparing for the big jump.
- Action: The big jump itself.
- Reaction: The consecutive smaller jumps that help balance the accumulated energy.
Pendulum Feedback
My submission on SyncSketch: Pendulum -> Pendulum
The pendulum movement is effective, but the achieved velocity is not proportionate or justified relative to the velocity of the base moving from point A to point B before it stops. To address this, the number of frames allocated for the base movement should be reduced to around 23 frames to create a shorter, more rapid motion. (Refer to the graph editor highlighted in the red box.)
I have grasped the concept of C and S shapes well, but I now need to ensure they are accurately approximated so that these shapes do not appear exaggerated. (See the comparison above: an over-the-top S versus a correctly approximated S below.)
Consistency is key when mapping the movement. The S and C shapes should be spaced evenly around a middle line, which could be drawn as a reference through the anchor point of the pendulum at its base.
When the pendulum comes to a stop, the movement must account for both the middle section and the outer part of the pendulum (corresponding to the rotation of the respective joints). The final part to stop should always be the outermost section of the pendulum.