What should you animate once you've mastered the bouncing ball?
So, if you’ve mastered the bouncing ball what should you move onto animating next?
The next lesson of my Into Motion course centres around drag and follow through. These are easily observed in hair and loose clothing but can also be found in many other things which you’ll animate.
Since drag and follow through can’t be animated with a ball, I’ve animated an orange bouncing so that I can demonstrate how to add drag and follow through to its leaf.
Creating a believable result is a balancing act. If there’s not enough drag and follow through, the result will appear stiff. Too much and it will seem floaty.
Different materials have different levels of stiffness and, as with the bouncing ball, the best results will usually come from observing reality and applying it to your animation.
Experience also helps and, the more you animate, the easier it will become to judge things correctly.
Within the 12 Principles of Animation, Follow Through is combined with Overlapping Action into a single principle.
As I mentioned in my video about the Principles of Animation, Follow Through can be seen as a form of Overlapping Action, but the two things could be considered as separate principles.
Either way, adding drag and follow though to your animation, where relevant, really helps to create a feeling of flexibility and life.
I hope you enjoy this latest lesson!
