My First Animation

[Anim8tor Cathy]

After much catastrophe and a 90 degree learning curve, I bring you - The humble Bouncing Red Ball.

http://www.digitalbacklot.net/BounceBallQT.mov

[Klaus Hoefs]

I would like to know what your goal with that clip was. You can do this realistic, exggerated cartoony and so on.
-I am not sure of the material of the ball: hard rubber ? - jelly ? - plastics ?
- why not draw the ground, and e.g. the shadow of the ball


More in general, I think it's always useful to refer to a movie-file with format, compression etc - not all here are able to see all formats, and have especially problems with QT.

[Paul Fierlinger]

The ground is what I am missing too. Start every exercise by drawing the stage because weight is an important part of acting. Without at least a line across the stage you aren't indicating from which direction the pull of gravity comes from. You seem to be drawing the shapes more or less at random, not for a purpose, but having said that, I for one detest stretch and squash and knowing your illustration style, my hunch is that you don't need it either. Stretch and squash is an overrated mannerism of the opening of the last century when animation was a novelty and the audience was easy to please.

[Anim8tor Cathy]

Yes, I must confess - this was a lesson I copied out of a book. So I didn't give much thought to the ball's make-up. Rather like a gel I think.

And you're right Paul, this is not going to be my untimate style, it's just an exercise in fundamentals ( again - I am going based on the books I have here.)

Thanks for your comments they are very helpful and make me think!

[Klaus Hoefs]

Why to run after books - isn't there real life around you ?
Throw a ball against a wall...

[Manuel]

Why a ball ?

[Klaus Hoefs]

Good news for the pottery business...

[ZigOtto]

I would add a "technical" advice too,
when you are not concerned to show us the image quality and richness, your purpose being only to show an animation test, try to export your .mov file at a smaller size than the original,
f.i, here, a 640x360 (half-size) would be sufficient for this first test, instead of your 1280x720 original size,
(my web dedicated computer don't handle such high-res format fluently, so how can I comment/appreciate your bouncing ball exercice when all I can see is a choppy/skippy animation in my brower player ?)


ps: you can adjust you export size (Width, Height) in the Export Footage panel, keep checked On the "Preserve Proportion" gadget.

[Anim8tor Cathy]

Why a ball ?

Manuel!! That picture is absolutely precious! I shall cherish it always! Thank you!