Datasheet

Weight
Weight is an implied facet of design and animation. Weight denotes the heaviness or pres-
ence of an element in a design. The more weight an element has, the more power it has in
the composition. The weight of an object in a composition is affected by its color, its con-
trast, its background, its position in the frame, and other variables.
The weight of an object in animation roughly follows that idea, but more pragmatically
denotes the actual weight of the object as it relates to its environment. Giving an object a
good weight in animation is critical to the believability of the animation. You will have a
chance to animate an object and edit the animation to give it weight in Chapter 8’s Bounc-
ing Ball and Knife exercises.
Weight in animation is a perception of mass. An object’s movement and how it reacts in
motion and to other objects are critical to conveying the feeling of weight. Otherwise, the
animation will look bogus or “cartoonish.”
Over the years, animators have created a set of techniques to give their subject weight
in animation. Manipulating these concepts correctly in your work will greatly help your
animations.
Squash and Stretch
“Squash and stretch” is a cartoon concept that allows a character to physically squash
down when he is landing from a jump, or stretch out thin while he is jumping up. The
overall mass of an object should never really change. When you squash an object down,
you should also reduce its height to make it seem as if it’s squashing down. Similarly,
when you stretch an object up, you should also thin it. This technique will make a charac-
ter seem to respond to gravity. You will see how this applies in the Bouncing Ball exercise
in Chapter 8.
Ease-In and Ease-Out
Things in the real world don’t immediately come to an abrupt stop. There is always a
slowing before a stoppage, no matter how fast the stop may be. This is called ease-out.
Just as objects don’t suddenly stop, they don’t immediately start moving either. Pretty
much everything needs to accelerate, no matter how fast it begins moving. This is called
ease-in. The mechanics of ease-in and ease-out will also be illustrated in the Bouncing Ball
exercise in Chapter 8.
Follow-Through and Anticipation
Exaggerating the weight of an object in animation is sometimes necessary. Objects ending
an action usually have some type of follow-through motion. For example, a ponytail on a
girl jumping down from a chair will continue to move after she lands on the floor. There
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