PoA Anticipation!

The second topic in the subject of “Principles of Animation,” we bring in “Anticipation.” The hallmark of
ability required to draw back the robotic mechanics of stale animation; this allows animators to give a
sense of motivation to their movements. Chris Hurtt gives any examples about what and what not to do,
using 3d models enveloping the differing types of anticipation in sync to show how to use it correctly.
The addition of Squash and Stretch with Anticipation brings an element of life to any animation, and
Hurtt explains that even a bit of anticipation can add to the “surprise” effect of something popping out.
This bit of info is explained as implemented so the audience can enjoy the movement instead of missing
it due to a lack of context. He then explains how most forms of anticipation come from broad actions,
such as a batter’s swing or a head turning in the opposite direction before looking somewhere. Adding
organic flow to your animations takes practice, but implementing differing types of anticipation in your
work will help you in succeeding in this aspect. This along with overlapping action and SnS will level up
your work. Hurtt explains that anticipation sells the idea of built-up energy and the combinations you
use will improve your ability to make the actions believable. Mastering this skill requires an
understanding of the materials going in to anticipation and a good trick to finding mistakes you may
have made is to play it backwards. Hurtt says if the animation appears stiff, it’s time to edit.

My thoughts about this subject are that anticipation have quite a large role in our lives. Without this
simple subject, we’d be a robotic cult of stick people, never knowing what would come next. The usage
of this in our work and daily lives attributes to the liveliness of our movements and the more organic
you can make it, the better it’ll work. Good luck with these.

-Ari J