Animating characters with appendages
We often need to animate characters with appendages such as long ears, tails, antennas, a necktie, or even mesh-based hair. Their motion follows the body part they are attached to, usually at a different pace due to their soft and bouncy nature.
When the character stops its movement, the appendages continue to follow it and keep moving for some time until they overcome inertia. This nature is described by the Follow Through principle of animation, and is often applied as a layer of detail over the main action.
The appendages are often animated after the main body parts—as the torso or head—because it's easier to visualize and test their behavior after you have finished the main action. In this recipe we'll apply the Follow Through principle to a ponytail.
How to do it...
Open the file
009-Appendages.blend. You'll see our character Otto with a beard and new hairstyle—and a ponytail—with the same action we got as a result of the previous recipe on moving holds...
