Animation principles

You have seen how animation developed over the space of 16 years. People learned techniques that aided in making an interesting and exciting animation. It didn't happen overnight, but when everything came together, the synergy of the techniques made animation come alive.

The following table lists techniques to think about and incorporate into your work as you learn to animate in Blender:

Technique	Benefit
Squash and stretch	Makes animated objects such as clay. A ball hitting a wall gets taller and narrower as it flattens on the wall momentarily, and then resumes its original shape. This punches up the motion and gives the viewer clues about the weight and rigidity of an object or character.
Anticipation	Anticipation prepares the audience for something that is going to happen. When Wile E Coyote goes off a cliff when chasing the Roadrunner, he pauses mid air before falling into a deep canyon and then he falls.
Staging	How is the action framed by the camera and what part of the image area is used? You want to present the action in the clearest and most dynamic manner.
Straight ahead action and pose to pose	Most 3D animations are pose to pose. You set keyframes of the most critical points of the animation and then Blender creates the motion between those points. However, you can modify this action so it flows on a curve and speeds up or down as it travels.
Follow through and overlapping action	A baseball pitcher's arm doesn't stop instantly when the ball leaves his hand. That's follow through. The pitcher's arm moves rapidly, and his head moves much more slowly. That's overlapping action.
Slow in and slow out	Think of a drag racing car accelerating or an F1 car stopping in the pits. Motion rates do not change instantly. You need a period of transition.
Arcs	Arcing motion and curvy lines can be more attractive and powerful.
Secondary action	Motions that emphasize the main motions can add a lot to how interesting the motion is. Think of the motion of a woman's dress as she walks along.
Timing	The use of time in animation will affect pacing, characters, and the effect of an action. Events must happen at a believable rate but you can exaggerate time dramatically.
Exaggeration	Exaggerating size, timing, or motion makes it more interesting and accentuates what you want to be most important.
Solid drawing	This is applying basic drawing principles of form, weight, and volume to animations. For Blender, this becomes modeling, texturing, and moving the object to give it a proper feel of weight and mass.
Appeal	A character does not need to be as cute as Hello Kitty to have appeal, but the audience must have a way to relate to them and enjoy them. An object should also have pleasing proportions, and perhaps some sparkle to catch the eye or motion to add detail.
Misdirection	It can be used to change the plot, or guide the viewer's eyes, magician-like, so that they will not notice entrances, exits, or changes.
Contrast	How does the character or object being animated stand out from the background so your eyes know what to follow?