Appeal: The Heart of Every Great Animation
From iconic silhouettes to strong poses and perfect timing—appeal is what makes animated characters stick. Learn how to master this vital animation principle and build more engaging, memorable work.
From iconic silhouettes to strong poses and perfect timing—appeal is what makes animated characters stick. Learn how to master this vital animation principle and build more engaging, memorable work.
Timing controls the pace, rhythm, and emotional weight of your animations. Learn how to refine your timing using tools like time charts, onion skinning, and motion trails to bring your stories to life.
Onion skinning helps animators see past and future frames at a glance, making smoother motion, better timing, and fewer mistakes possible. Learn how this powerful tool works and why it’s still a must-have in modern animation workflows.
Hard surface modeling is essential to 3D animation—from coffee cups to spacecraft. Learn how artists build detailed environments with the right topology, clean geometry, and time-saving techniques like kitbashing and subdivision modeling.
Exaggeration is a key animation principle that pushes emotion, timing, and poses beyond realism to tell more impactful stories. Learn how animators use it across design, sound, and camera work to create iconic scenes.
Levels of detail (LOD) help animators optimize performance by adjusting rendering complexity based on a scene’s needs. From bump mapping to texture baking, learn how LOD keeps 3D animation efficient without sacrificing quality.
The Slow In and Out principle makes animations feel more natural by replicating real-world acceleration and deceleration. Learn how to use easing curves, secondary actions, motion trails, and keyframe placement to create smoother transitions in animation.
Previsualization (previs) is the key to planning complex animation scenes before production. From storyboards to animatics, previs artists shape the blueprint for smooth, cost-effective workflows. Learn how previs enhances storytelling, camera work, and timing!
Follow-through & overlapping action bring realism and fluidity to animation. From hair swaying after a stop to clothing trailing behind movement, these principles add weight and believability. Learn how to apply them effectively in our latest article!