Animate a Ball Throw [Locomotion and Mechanics for Animation - Unit 11]

Animate a Ball Throw
01/11/24

Introduction

Theory Analysis

The above and below images analyse the line of action in animation and what can be achieved in an animation like a ball throw. There are some really exaggerated poses, however, its interesting to see this smooth line of action create lots of smooth, fluid arcs in the animation. It also shows some super exaggerated poses and exaggeration in the 360 degree anticipation as the character springs to create the wind up before throwing the ball. This couldn't be achieved in real life but does create a super exaggerated version of the animation which still remains true to real life, particularly with the amount of force that is involved.

The below image captures balance and shows how a character can remain in balance and keep their centre of gravity realistic in a ball throw animation. This is viewed from the front and shows how the limbs are balanced and how the weight sits on one foot at all times. This is shown through the cross that sits behind the character. This is interesting as it shows how the limbs counter balance each other to keep to keep the character from falling over. This is particularly interesting as the limbs move fairly fast and throughout a range of poses throughout the animation.

This section from the Animator's Survival Kit explores anticipation. This stresses that the anticipation is slower than the main action and tells the audience what is about to happen. This means that how the aniticipation poses read to the audience are argueably more important than the action poses themselves. It also highlights that in a ball throw the hips will lead and then the body is forced into the action as the throw follows through. You can see a really exaggerated forward pose that emphasises the force behind the ball.

The book builds on this further by suggesting that you can exaggerate anticipation further by pushing the movement in the opposite direction to the anticipation pose for no more than 2 or 3 frames first. It highlights the importance of making sure the anticipation pose reads well to the audience by being simple, direct and clear to make a statement.