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PSYSkip — Animation Exercise: 1.3

#2d #animation #gifanimation #penciltest
Published: 2016-02-03 18:53:07 +0000 UTC; Views: 904; Favourites: 3; Downloads: 0
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Description #3: Brick falling from a shelf onto the ground. Did this on 2's when I probably should have done it on 1's. Also not overly satisfied with the impact, which probably could have used a a dust cloud or something else to sell it a bit more. I'll try not phone it in for the remainder of the list 

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After realizing just how inept I am at animating anything other than an ambiguous, amorphous blobs, I decided to go on a bit of an animation pilgrimage. I'm going to be plowing through a list of 51 animation exercises (found at the very excellent animatorisland.com) to try and get myself going. I've found it's easier to just follow a list than it is to try and think up little tasks for myself. I'll also be timing how long it takes for me to complete the exercise. I theorize that this will encourage me to stop being a lazy twit and letting myself get distracted by stuff. The list is as follows...
Level 1 Exercises
  • Ball Bouncing in place, no decay (loop)
  • Ball Bouncing across the screen
  • Brick falling from a shelf onto the ground
  • Simple character head turn
  • Character head turn with anticipation
  • Character blinking
  • Character thinking [tougher than it sounds!]
  • Flour Sack waving (loop)
  • Flour Sack jumping
  • Flour Sack falling (loop or hitting the ground)
  • Flour Sack kicking a ball
  • Level 2 Exercises
  • Change in Character emotion (happy to sad, sad to angry, etc.)
  • Character jumping over a gap
  • Standing up (from a chair)
  • Walk cycle [oldie but goodie!]
  • Character on a pogo stick (loop)
  • Laughing
  • Sneezing
  • Reaching for an object on a shelf overhead
  • Quick motion smear/blur
  • Taking a deep breath [also tougher than it sounds!]
  • A tree falling
  • Character being hit by something simple (ball, brick, book)
  • Run Cycle
  • Level 3 Exercises

  • Close up of open hand closing into fist
  • Close up of hand picking up a small object
  • Character lifting a heavy object (with purpose!)
  • Overlapping action (puffy hair, floppy ears, tail)
  • Character painting
  • Hammering a nail
  • Stirring a soup pot and tasting from a spoon
  • Character blowing up a balloon
  • Character juggling (loop)
  • Scared character peering around a corner
  • Starting to say something but unsure of how
  • Zipping up a jacket
  • Licking and sealing an envelope
  • Standing up (from the ground)
  • Pressing an elevator button and waiting for it
  • Level 4 Exercises

  • Character eating a cupcake
  • Object falling into a body of water
  • Two characters playing tug-of-war
  • Character dealing a deck of cards out
  • The full process of brushing one’s teeth
  • A single piece of paper dropping through the air
  • Run across screen with change in direction
  • Sleeping character startled by alarm then returning to sleepy state
  • Opening a cupboard and removing something inside
  • Putting on a pair of pants
  • Opening the “world’s best gift” and reacting
  • Any of the above exercises using a very heavy character/object next to a very light character/object. Enhance the differences the weight change makes

  • Made in Blender using the grease pencil tool.

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    Comments: 2

    ChikaZuri [2016-03-18 16:45:43 +0000 UTC]

    Nice work. Even more so than a dust cloud at the impact, a shadow is one of the best (and simplest) ways to sell an impact.

    👍: 0 ⏩: 1

    PSYSkip In reply to ChikaZuri [2016-03-18 19:35:27 +0000 UTC]

    Yeah, that would definitely help show where the ground is. I would like to have at least basic shadows in all my animations, but it's usually a case of 'I can't be bothered'. You are right though; if it reduces the effectiveness of the animation I probably just have to bite the bullet

    👍: 0 ⏩: 0