Timing and Spacing tests: Week 1

Timing and Spacing:

These two concepts are the first two principles of animation we have covered. Timing refers to the time it takes for an object to travel from A to B or the action between these two points, in the case of the bouncing ball the distance between bounces. The diagram below form 'The Animators Survival Kit' by Richard William shows the principle of timing with a bouncing ball. As the energy is lost form the ball the bounces become more frequent meaning the ball is travelling slower.

Spacing instead is what happens between points A and B this gives the ball the feeling of weight. Uneven spacing can be used to create ease in/out by letting the frames overlap creating the feeling of the ball hanging in the air before it falls to the ground. The diagram below also form 'The Animators Survival Kit' by Richard William shows that as the ball reaches the top of the arc the spacing of the frames become closer and ease in and out of the top of the arc.

Before starting any animation test I found some secondary reference video research and used the first two balls for reference: an exercise ball and a basket ball. The exercise ball has a lot more energy in it's bounce that the basket ball and it bounces for much longer.

Animation tests:

Spline Graph:

When the key frames are made maya makes the spacing between each frame even but as seen above, uneven spacing gives the ball a feeling of weight. To alter the spacing I broke the tangents and freed the tangents of weight. Then I was free to create ease in and outs by plateauing tangents. By raising the tangent above or below the value of the key frame would also create anticipation but as I wanted to only create a simple bounce I apply that technique.

There is also a visible difference between the way the two graphs look for the different bounces. Test 002 has more bounces and the height of the bounce slowly decreases and the timing of the bounces come closer together. Test 001 by contrast has fewer bounces and the height of the bounces quickly deduces in value because it doesn't bounce as high.

Test 01: Hard Ball:

Test 002: Soft Ball