Week 4: Luxo Jump, continued

  "Secret of Nimh" by Don Bluth, master of secondary action

We've covered a lot of the Principles of Animation so far, but there's still a lot to cover in terms of secondary & overlapping action.  The Luxo character has only its head and base to drag and settle, so it's important to use them well to show gravity's effects.

Controlling secondary action takes practice. Too much secondary makes the characters look too rubbery. Not enough, and they look like robotic.

We'll look to our live action footage for some ideas of how to exaggerate the details to make our animation snappier and heavier.

We'll also look at some clips from the masters of secondary action -- Disney, Bluth, and Keane and study how it gives their work such nice flow and weight.


Homework:

• Finish your Luxo Jump this week! When the basics are working, polish secondary, overlap, drag, settle, and moving holds. If you have extra time, try adding in a little personality.
• Upload your work in progress to your blog along with video or photographic reference.