Flour Sack Leap [Locomotion and Mechanics for Animation - Unit 09]

Flour Sack Leap

27/10/24

Introduction

This post explores the development of the flour sack leap animation. This is an exercise predominantly in weight, focussing on how the flour sack land and bounces on the ground. Depending on how an animator approaches this will tell the audience what the flour sack is made of. Getting the right level of bounce and settle will change whether how believable this animation is. This blog post shows the exploration of this animation exercise.

Thumbnails

The following thumbnails from the theory lecture (Williams, 2012) were used as the foundation for this animation.

(Williams, 2012)

Animation

This section details the development of this animation over time.

Blocking :

Refinement :

Conclusion

This exercise was well explored. The timing overall feels good with a nice hang in the air and fast movement down. To exagerate the fall down smear frames have been used to blend large transitions over few frames which works well. The settle at the end makes the flour sack feel heavy and not bouncy. There is a reaction at the end with a small bounce but the energy quickly leaves this. This contrasts a bouncy ball that would have much larger secondary bounces. To improve this animation the flour sack could perhaps flip forward and the third tiny bounce could be turned into a smaller settle motion. However, overall this was a good exercise to explore and consider how timing can be explored to represent weight.

The learning outcomes, listed below, have been achieved because :

1. Timing has been explored to represent weight and materials within the flour sack.
2. The leap has been animated and polished to a good standard.
3. The flour sack rig has been used to bring this animation to life.
4. Timing and spacing has been used to control this animation. Smear frames have been used to blend frames together and make the initial landing feel impactful. The secondary bounces are small to make the sack feel heavy and not-bouncy!
5. Overall, these have created a convincing animation that feels believable by controlling timing to represent weight and real world materials.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the principles of animating weight
2. Animate a flour sack jump
3. Use the Flour Sack rig
4. Apply timing and spacing techniques
5. Create convincing and engaging animations

Reference List

1. Williams, A. (2012) ‘Flour Sack Suicide‘ [Video Lecture], 7WCT2010-0901-2024: Locomotion and Mechanics for Animation. University of Hertfordshire. 24^th August. Available at: https://vimeo.com/48162389 (Accessed: 03 January 2025).