Bounce your balls! A foundation in timing and spacing.

[Sangfroid]

I'm sure many of you are aware of the almighty bouncing ball that any industry working animator will have in his portfolio. But how much do you yourself personally understand it? Perhaps I should explain a little bit about why it's important to do so.

Throughout animation history there is a mix of optical/scientific discovery alongside the draftsman and creative ingenuity. Now of course everyone has there chosen areas of study and ambition. But most animators have a desire to achieve a certain technical level of competence to further there vision. The bouncing ball is more a skill of imagination and trial through error than a quest for the exact kinetic forces that equate the balls function. How ever if understood properly Provides an ever growing fundamental understanding of how to make a drawing or an object move convincingly. The trick is not to look at this as simply producing a real ball on the screen but Understanding what makes an animation convincing.

Be you Professional, beginner or armature. The bouncing ball seems to be the most commonly supported phenomenon within animation. If you look for it on the screen you will find them everywhere. What ever stage you're at I can see nothing bad from bringing yourself down to my level and re visiting the bouncing ball.

So, what's involved?

I've basically broken this exercise down into 2 components. Firstly the Diagrammatic ball bounces. Followed by the comprehension and exaggeration/experimentation with what you've learned.

So here's how the game goes.

The Diagrammatic bounce

There are plenty of diagrams for the bounce out there. Some books I recommend to source include: Animators survival Kit, Timing for animation and the Illusions of Life.

An immediate beginning would be to try out each diagram (one at a time). Remember to stick exactly to the diagram as closely as possible studying what you see. Don't simply do one diagram and think by Joe I’ve got it, because you probably don't. You should be doing 100's of frames before you really feel you're getting an understanding.

Keying


It's always a good idea for key positions to come first in animation. The sooner you learn to do this the better. The key frames are essentially the crux of your animation. The important drawings that absolutely could not be left out of the action you're depicting.

timing and spacing

This is essentially what the ball bounce comes down to, how do you control how something moves in the same way that your mind depicts it. And this is what it boils down to. How many frames and how far apart each drawing is from it's preceding frame.

http://www.nanokostudios.com/uploads/Ball%20Tatorial%201.swf

In your key frames you should be thinking how long everything will take place for and how many frames that action will fill (how long it will take). For instance in this case you will notice that with each bounce amount of time it takes for the bull to move the entire arc decreases as the ball gets faster (less frames). So each arc contains less frames than the previous as the ball speeds up.

breakdowns

Breakdowns are essentially the frames that determine the motion. The closer they are to either drawing will determine the motion.
I wish I had a good example but I’m seriously too tired to do one right now. Look at the ASK book, it's all in there ;_;.

http://www.nanokostudios.com/uploads/Ball%20Tatorial%202.swf

So this is more or less what the diagrammatic ball bounce looks like. Very monotonous, precise. And usually on first go looks like it's hovering rather than bouncing (this one does a little bit too).

exaggeration/experimentation

So once you've really understood the first phase you will want to apply what you've learnt and take it to the next level. This basically involves using your imagination a lot more. For the keys and break downs and even in betweens try turning off onion skinning and flipping thru the frames (using < and > if you're using flash) and seeing where the missing frames need to be. Then turn onion skinning back on and make any needed corrections. Also before you start think of what you're ball is made of. Is it heavy? Is it soft? Is it hard? Think of how you can show these things and exaggerate them. Inject some life into this inanimate object, make it personal. .

http://www.nanokostudios.com/uploads/Ball%20Tatorial%203.swf

Ok I’m seriously pooped, I think that' about all I can manage for today. But I’ll come back and do this thing up. So keep an eye out for updates if you're interested.

O one last note. Don't rely on me, ASK or anyone else to do it for you. At the end of the day it boils down to you getting off you're ass and animating like there's no tomorow.

Also (from ASK) always always remember (K.I.S.S) Keep.It.Simple.stupid.
I can't stress this enough, if the simple thing is good then the complicated thing will be too, it doesn't work the other way around.

[KOTK]

Bloody marvelous of you mang.

I'll have another crack at this since the one over at JA did'nt go to well. :cool:

[Evil Demon Creature]

Bloody marvelous of you mang.

I'll have another crack at this since the one over at JA did'nt go to well. :cool: Yeah, I'll have to do the one over here as well, given that I quit JA once the third server jump happened. (I can only take re-signing up for SO long, and I didn't feel that attached to the community)

[TheEYE]

No squash and stretch on the ball Sang? :eek:
:rolleyes:

[Sangfroid]

hehe it's there (in the exageration example), i just don't like to hit people over the head with it. And in teh diagramatic bounce probibly best to leave it out (as done here).

[elephant]

Here's my first try. Animated at 15fps.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/elehpant/ball1.swf

[Sangfroid]

ah nice to see somone takling it stireght up. Try animating at 24/25 fps default (the industry standard) tho. You might be overcomplicating stuff for yourself at 15fps especaily when it comes to timign things out. Aside from that it looks like a solid first atempt. Just dive on in there, lock the door and bold the windows if you have to O_O...haha just kidding....or am i? O_o.

O and quick tip, not gonna give to much away at this point cause as you do more you'll pick it all up anyway. But when the ball hits the ground it's better to hold it as a solid for 1 frame instead of 2. Otherwise it gives teh impression that the ball is sticking to the floor.

I'm hoping to put up a refrence diagram soon, but in the meantime i'd recomend the books listed for good diagrams.

[Sharlston]

Click Me (http://img458.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ball1vg.swf)
my first go, I tried to implement squash and stretch (maybe too much :S) but I only read not to put the bounce on twos after I'd done it :P


edit: imageshack messed up the last bounce >=(

[Walker]

Your explanation is awesome, but you gotta fix that volume issue in the squash and stretch geij, its already being mimicked ><'.

heres 2 of mine from JA. props to geij for walking me through the first one.

http://img469.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ballbouncescene14sl.swf

The second one is my attempt at squash and stretch. ( i recommend animating the first one before attempting squash and stretch.)

http://img459.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ballbouncess4jc.swf

[NOOB!]

i would post mine,but then that would be an embarrassmentto the whole forum...

[Wmic - ?]

doesn`t matter :D we're all learners. ;)

[Sharlston]

yeah but good old Nubian has a reputation to keep up and he doesnt want to tarnish it ;)

[KOTK]

Nubian's ball is sticky while mine is alive and floats. I need to do one damn it. :mad:

[jakiloblanco]

This is just a suggestion, but I would recommend anyone who has a tablet to actually rough out the animation, and not stick to motion paths and symbols... that way, you'll practice your volumes and stuff... get to drawring! :D

[elephant]

Well, here's my second. This time I animated on 30fps. :P

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/elehpant/ze-ball.swf

[Sharlston]

I dont think there needs to be a stretch when it comes down from the first bounce, but otherwise its pretty good!

good consistancy.

[Evil Demon Creature]

Pretty decent effort, with pretty good squash and stretch techniques. Although if you want to get the best sense of 'weight" you really need to move your ball in arcs. It also helps people comment on your sense of timing and spacing. Maybe make your next attempt use a smaller ball or a bigger canvas, so you'll be more inclined (even obligated) to have the ball move in arcs rather than diagonals. Oh, and your volume is a tad skewed, the ball seems to be shrinking shrinking as it bounces. (of course that type of thing is aggrivating to fix, I noticed it on one of my first trys and keeping it consistent is tough)

I might post one or two of my earlier trys along with making some new attempts. Hopefully I can get some good criticism on them. (of course college isn't making the whole "free time to animate" thing easier)

[dental_taco]

here's my attempt- i'm quite happy with it!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/Dentaltaco/Ballbounce.swf

[Wmic - ?]

well...
the ball seems to get volume when he hits the ground
and then gets more flat when hitting the second and third time.
and he gets smaller when goes along the trail to the right.
and it's not a ball, it's a thing of rubber. :D

but nice attempt. ;)

[NOOB!]

hey,welcome dental,i think theres way to much sqaush and strech used in this,it seems like its some kinda creature more than it is a ball.

work on keeping the ball a consistant size.and don't over strech.

Practice makes perfect ;)

[sharkcellar]

Here is my bouncing ball. It's basically the same one I posted on the JA2 site (of which I can't access lately), except that this is now at 30 fps instead

http://img406.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bouncingball0ot.swf

[NOOB!]

doesn't seem to load for me shark :(

[Terro]

I'm runnning into the same problem Shark :( whan I right click on the white box, my browser does recognize it as a Flash movei, but it also states that the movie has not loaded.

[sharkcellar]

should work now.

http://img406.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bouncingball0ot.swf

[Terro]

Yup, this one works fine and it looks very good too. The timing does kind of make it take on a life of it's own though, like the ball is trying to get as fa ahead as it can before it's force runs dry. Reminds me of that Kirby toon.

[sharkcellar]

Yeah, I think the problem may be in the severity of the arcs. Correct me if I'm wrong in this. Jakiloblanco, what do you think? :blink:

[Sangfroid]

ah buggerations the host images for the tutorial are down cause the JA2 server is ><. I did say before this might be a problem :P. I can send teh swfs to the site admin (it's terro i think righgt?) if you want to upload them to af server so they run direct.

p.s: sorry for the delay on updating the tutorial i do intent to give it a good fixer upper asap i've just been helva busy ;_;.

another quick tip is don't forget to roll/scrub whilst you animate. and not just one or two frame realy get a feeling for the motion whilst you're drawing or else it will become mechanicle and you won't be able to see what you're doing.

[Terro]

Yeah gpo ahead and email the files to greg@animationforum.net , I'll host them.

[Howie]

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6649/ball50vi.swf

EDIT: http://img344.imageshack.us/img344/2633/ball68jm.swf
I think this came out a little better.

[NOOB!]

thats great howie,sorry nobody replied lol!

[Howie]

:) Thanks NOOB

[Dryn]

Here is mine:

http://img81.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bouncingball0ec.swf

Perhaps it is a little stiff at the end. What do you think?

[NOOB!]

welcome, its a little stiff through out,theres no sqaush and stretch when the ball bounces,keep at it :D

[vicjperry]

I'm having a heck of hard time to make these bouncing balls look natural. The gravity doesn't seem right or something. Could some one give me some pointers?

http://img489.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bouncing7yj.swf

[NOOB!]

:Blahblahb

lol! why oh why!!!!

[Sangfroid]

haha i suppose it was only a matter of time before somone took that litraly :D .
the spots on his balls multiply!

[Monsieur Rat]

Disturbingly delicious my friend :p

[Jabronimon]

Hey peeps, did a quick ball bounce took about 15mins

http://img368.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ball2mh.swf

did a quick clean up on it aswell:

http://img399.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ball9pa.swf

c&c welcome :)

[Monsieur Rat]

Looks good, but the call almost seems to stick when it hits to ground, rather than squash and contract back upwards

[vicjperry]

But at least no spots multiplied. :D :D

[nobhdy]

hello, obviously im new here. i found this contest through the other site i frequent, www.fallenangelseries.com (the guy does awesome animation)

i have been using flash the wrong way for a few months, but ill try anyways.

i already made a bouncing ball, my first animation, actually, but i wont submit it. however if you want to see and comment about it. ill put up the link when i can get imageshack to work...


EDIT: ok heres my first ever animation...

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d109/nobhdy/bouncingballexport.swf

[NOOB!]

hi there,nice first try,but like many people especially in our lastest challenge,i don't think you understand the point of the bouncing ball,its about learning timing,spacing and practicing curved motion.These are all techniques used within character animation.

So in short the ball going around diagonally isn't goin to help you learn,this is something the book animators survival kit explains more cleary,it may be a good idea to buy,or even try to win it.

keep at it man! hope to see more from you soon.

[nobhdy]

i know, thanx for the encouragement, though. actually the only thing i did was made a circle and tween the hell out of it. i'va actually ben experimenting with fbf, bt its very tedious. i also still need to get a digital drawing pad, though.

here was my first attempt at fbf. i was eventually going to make it explode, but never got there.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d109/nobhdy/exportedbomb.swf


if it isnt any trouble to anyone, do you mind posting up link to good tutorials? thanx

[NOOB!]

hmm i wouldn't really call this frame by frame,you've taken one symbol and rotated it per frame.frame by frame is drawing each frame seperatly.

You could of done that bomb just buy using the tween function in flash.If u want to try real FBF do something that differs as it goes on.

Yes it is tedious,i guess thats something u get used too.What type of tutorials are u looking for?

[nobhdy]

well thank you. i am looking for fbf tuts adn ones on how to import from photoshop(if thats even possible) and how to add detail to flash.

i really apreciate this, thanx.

[Greg-Anims]

Heres mine:

http://www.cinematictheatre.com/~biofusion/swf-view.php?id=617

Ill probably do another to try and improve, then try with lighter, bounces, or the ball bouncing in a puddle, or a bowling ball being dropped..comments appreciated.

[robber3000]

wow, this thread is kinda old?.. but woh.. thats awesome! nice one!:)

[-NL-]

well i gaver a go .... 25 fps and about 57 frames or something like that i belive
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/-NL-/ballbounce.swf

[Sharlston]

it's a little slow coming down on the first bounce, then as it accelerates it should be a bit faster, but otherwise, good attempt!

[-NL-]

thanks for the tip sharlston ill have to fixer up a little bit later,

i was kinda going for a slow down when the ball arc's (and speed back up when decending) is that wronge?

but i agree should be a little faster than what it is (all around)

[RageArtworks]

If it's okay for me to say so, I know something most of you don't! :p

I learnt this from Animator's Survival Kit.
The regular same old bouncing ball you all do is OK, but it can be better. You should use stretch the ball and let it touch the ground in the last frame before it starts squashing. That way the eye sees the ball going from one shape to another. You don't really see it, but you feel the impact of the bounce more. Then, when it goes up again you shouldn't make it touch the ground as it's going up, there's new energy.

I saw in Jabronimon's animation (in slowmo) that in the first bounce he applied it too, but not in the others.

Hope it helps.

[myshkin]

A very quick ball bounce.
My wife just bought me a scanner, and i was in a hurry to try out my animation software.
It is a little shakey, it is on scrap paper with me trying to line up the edges as best as i could.
First animation i have done since the margines of my high school textbooks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdfUjs4MDMI

[Virgil Mihailescu]

Hi guys,
My comment, as this thread is quite shocking... (sorry) guys, please check out some video reference of real bouncing balls, check out the Animator's Survival Kit as well, but especially video references. At Animation Mentor for example that's the first thing they do, this is what I've heard, and it makes very much sense to do so. Tricks can't replace true knowledge, they might help you once you already have some of that knowledge, but laying your foundation on tricks is dangerous, I think. Get to know this bouncing ball really well, as it's a foundation of timing and spacing, and not only. Peace out.

[jtg91]

It is good to make the ball contact the ground 1st then squash it. the book animators survival guide gives tips on timing and spacing very useful

[Walker]

It is good to make the ball contact the ground 1st then squash it. the book animators survival guide gives tips on timing and spacing very useful

the trick they show in the book, doesnt have to be followed exactly every single time a ball is bounced. everyone has theyre own sense of timing and spacing. The examples in ASK are just that, examples. they are useful, but not 100% necessary.

[KOTK]

the trick they show in the book, doesnt have to be followed exactly every single time a ball is bounced. everyone has theyre own sense of timing and spacing. The examples in ASK are just that, examples. they are useful, but not 100% necessary.
I agree.

Everyone seems to say that everything in ASK is how it's done.

[RageArtworks]

the trick they show in the book, doesnt have to be followed exactly every single time a ball is bounced. everyone has theyre own sense of timing and spacing. The examples in ASK are just that, examples. they are useful, but not 100% necessary.

Agreed. But I DO like this trick to give the bounce more impact.

[pixelmark]

Animation is certainly (for me) 'try everything, and see what works'. But this is a great concept to stretch your inbetweens foreward or back to get more fluidity!

[Walker]

try everything


well said, good sir (:

[Rasheed]

Here's my attempt of animating a bouncing and rolling ball, done in Moho (now Anime Studio Pro).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUOJhT7WNV4



PS Please, can someone tell me in a PM how to use that UTUBE tag, because I can't get it to work?

[Zwickel]

The gravity there is kinda like magnetism, it doesnt goes down but like ..it goes back when it bounces, and the bounce before he goes up the small hill isnt strong enough so it looks as if he flies.
Last part is convinving enough tho.

[Rasheed]

I now understand it has to be more subtle. Gravity is a force, but that doesn't mean the floor has to be sticky. Here is another attempt, simpler, and I hope better:

http://www.youtube.com/v/gsqflMUdrNA

[Terro]

Very nice R. It looks very smooth.

When the floor tilts,the last bounce kind of slows down then speeds up. Thats the only crit I could find for you :)

Good Stuff.

[Zwickel]

Thats a thousand times better.
Here's my attempt

http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bounzballzwickelte1.swf

[vlasvlasvlas]

i really want to do my bouncing ball nowwww!!

today i think i will work with this....!

and then i will put it online !

;)

see you soonnnn!

[Katsuko]

the bouncing ball. lol. I remember that exercise, I thought it was pretty simple; it's pretty much common sense to me, I remember for my class we had to do it in 1pnt. perspective and we had four balls I think...-.-; a beach ball, a baseball, a bowling ball and a water balloon. the water balloon had to hit the bowling ball. it's a good exercise but I dont know why people would want to have a bouncing ball in their portfolio though.

[Psychedelic_Ni]

the bouncing ball. lol. I remember that exercise, I thought it was pretty simple; it's pretty much common sense to me, I remember for my class we had to do it in 1pnt. perspective and we had four balls I think...-.-; a beach ball, a baseball, a bowling ball and a water balloon. the water balloon had to hit the bowling ball. it's a good exercise but I dont know why people would want to have a bouncing ball in their portfolio though.

If you can show that the ball has a special accel/decel movement, that shows that you'll have had a background in physics (which helps for realistic motion ;) ).

Will be posting mine in a while, by the way ;)

[maxuser]

just trying 3D MAX 9:

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/5193/bb1xq3.gif

[Squash-n-Stretch]

Really nice max user. Maybe remove a frame from the part where the ball is falling because the timing is a bit even at the mo but overall really cool!

[maxuser]

another version:

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4239/bb2hb5.gif

[Icaruss]

here's my first attempt
http://youtube.com/p.swf?video_id=VOn6m3dBK1s&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//img.youtube.com/vi/VOn6m3dBK1s/2.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskJxlBHoexR9_1YQzXj7EHNb
it gets cut off at the very end. next time i make a video I'll add some extra time so it doesn't do that.

[sharp21]

Here is my first one, shot with a cellphone & drawn on a wallmounted whiteboard...
I know it looks like it was filmed in an earthquake! Just humour me until I get a camera with tripod going.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RqulTzYvi8
S.

[sharp21]

Take 2. I think this one turned outa lil better & I tried holding the camera steadier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzHow7A2Qds
S.

[sharp21]

Fair enuff. Ill take another stab at it
S.

[sharp21]

As promised...
I did this one on paper with a sharpie & used something to steady the camera, so its a lil easier on the eyes.
I tried using more frames, or shorter distance moved between frames, but i dont think it looks any better because of it, almost choppier.
http://www.youtube.com/v/0zPQ_kZCiVc
S.

[1uc]

first animation for me. btw done in photoshop and imageready:rotfl
Tail ball front view (http://www.esnips.com/doc/88eeed6b-bace-4fda-a25e-bf1f9e7241d3/Tail-ball-front-animation)

Ok I made another one. I think the first one is better
Ball jumps out (http://www.esnips.com/doc/67d56119-70aa-424b-8cd1-c5d952190fdd/Ball-jump-out)

[LanceITP]

Here's my balls (oh man that didn't sound right:o). I mean, my bouncing balls. I just started using my new tablet, yesterday.

First, the rough:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h156/LanceITP/other/bb-rough.swf

And using the ellipse tool to make it round:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h156/LanceITP/other/bb-round.swf

Practically the same thing.

[Dreamfaller]

My ball...to you... he he :D

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/jazz_renegade/bouncing-1.gif

[vicjperry]

Here's my balls (oh man that didn't sound right:o). I mean, my bouncing balls. I just started using my new tablet, yesterday.


Lol, been there!:D:D:D

(Bouncing balls) (http://img489.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bouncing7yj.swf)

[vicjperry]

I agree with Noob. The ball should bounce higher on the first bounce. Don't think about animating a moving ball, instead think of what the ball is made of, in this case, rubber. Animate how rubber affects the surface it contacts, then you should get it just right.

It's like the flour sack exercises. It's not just a sack but a heavy, flour filled sack and you animate accordingly. :D:D

http://www.geocities.com/crea8it/ball.jpg

[Dreamfaller]

I'm noticing that the walk cycle challenge is really making me work on this...so I thought I'd show my ball handling improvements... ;)

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d9/jazz_renegade/boucningball2.gif


~D.

[kdog]

Was bored & scribbling, never actually tried the old ball bounce exercise, so I tried it. :rolleyes:

It's supposed to be going slightly into the distance as well as to the right. Still not sure my volume is very good. Anyway, fire away :)
Oh & it's supposed to be quite rubbery.

http://www.pirateproductionmedia.com/Animations/BallBounce2.swf

[Ferx]

Nice practice Pat, the distance effect is well achived, cool ! :) I like the final bounce and roll :D

[GatesuRyu]

heres' a bouncing ball I cooked up, I noticed that I wasn't reducing the return height enough (so It would take a very long time for the ball to stop bouncing or rolling completely) but for the sake of consistency I didn't want to change it half way through, so I popped the ball. :D http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/9156/bouncingball1tj5.swf

[J6Studios]

Great job GatesuRyu! The last part was great!

[cloud]

Hi there!!! :) :)
GatesuRyu Your work is great!!!!And I'm agree with Jester, specially love The last part!!
I'm spending my first animation course, so our instructor asked us to bounce our balls! Here is one of my attempts! It was more difficult then it seemed to me!!! But was a fun time also! :D

http://img102.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bouncingball3zq8.swf

Oh again I couldn't embed! Just a white page!!! :( can any one help me! :o I put the embed code between SWF tags! but it didn't work!

[J6Studios]

Here you go Cloud! :D

http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/7535/bouncingball3zq8.swf

[kdog]

Great job, cloud! The arcs look good & the ball isn't too squishy (like mine :o) it has nice weight & good timing & spacing. Well done! :)

[cloud]

Oh Thanksss sooo much JESTER!!! :rotfl :) :)
N thanks kdog my friend! Thanks 4 your encouragements! :) I think viciperry's guidance was very useful to me!At firs my balls were very playful like yours! :p when the ball bounced against the ground i kept it's pose for 3-4 frame (squash,squash..more n more!!...) N then bang!!! A huge stretch! it seemed to me the ball alive n move with it's power! But I wanted to make a realistic movement n when saw viciperry's guidance said AHA! :p Just 1 frame!!!!! Oh guys this is really an awesome practice!

[J6Studios]

Here's mine. Damn this is hard!! :banghead

Softer Ball:
http://www.j6x2.com/IMG_ANIM/BALL/ball.swf

Harder Ball:
http://www.j6x2.com/IMG_ANIM/BALL/ball2.swf

High Drop, Hard Ball:
http://www.j6x2.com/IMG_ANIM/BALL/ball3.swf

High Drop, Heavy Hard Ball:
http://www.j6x2.com/IMG_ANIM/BALL/ball4.swf

-

[Terro]

Hey Guys, this is looking great and yes the damn little ball bounce is super important because it is basically a representation of the hips on a real character.

Cloud asked me to give you guys a few practice ideas that would help.
I would definitely try out comparison bounce. Pick two contrasting balls , a heavy and light or a bouncy vs non-so-bouncy and have a go at it.

Important aspects to keep in mind. Force of the ball going up will most likely be stronger/snappier then the fall. Most falls a similar because our gravity has a stable pull. This also applies to character animation and is a good principle to remember. A jump will utilize inner force as oppose to the fall in which gravity takes over. But.... there's also an extra twist of momentum (direction in which the object is traveling) At first it may be a little confusing, but momentum is great at blending the force changes. Try to remember that every detail works in your favor and not against you. They will hint to the position of the ball on the following frame.

[cloud]

Oh! IT'S VERY GOOD! Just a little problem I can see is when it slides at the end of movement! Just this! Oh N i saw mine again! Every time i watch it can see more problems! Now i think it's little jumps at the end should be less! I can see your ball has really more credible movement n better! Yeah! :rolleyes:
Edit: Thank uuuu Greg! :) :)

[Terro]

Every time i watch it can see more problems!

Hehe, yeah that feeling will never stop. You will never fully finish a shot. Thats why deadlines are great. I have never had a situation where I didn't find something wrong about a shot.

Give yourself deadline. 1 Week and not a minute longer.

[cloud]

Give yourself deadline. 1 Week and not a minute longer.
AHHA!!!! :rolleyes: Thank uuu.... :)

Jester good works my friend! I think about the 3rd Work when the ball hit the ground shouldn't jump up very high, If it is very heavy ball! :rolleyes: I'm not sure! Just a comment mate! :) :)

Hey mates what's your opinion about this one?:) This is my previous attempt! But i tried to correct it! Moving place of frames n adding more frames!
I found out when we want to show movement of a light ball we must use more frames specially when our ball is in the highest point! slow slow......:confused: :p

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/1278/bouncingball4br0.swf

The previous...
http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/7535/bouncingball3zq8.swf

EDIT: Just wanted to say when i was turning around here found post #38 really good work(Jabronimon's attepmpt) n also found n very light ball In post #21 (sharkcellar's work) :D :D

[Rasheed]

Here's my attempt. This isn't easy, people. I made it up a lot faster than it was originally, but it still seems slow somehow. Getting the timing right and getting the feel of each of the two big bounces right was the most difficult. I had to insert an extra frame at the first two bounce positions. And then the spacing when the ball bounces upwards the second time is a bit off.

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/2379/bounce1vm1.swf

[JohnGames]

http://www.johngames.com/games/images/ball.png
Still prepping the image, the blue dots represent increase in motion, and red dots mean a slowing down. The Green line is the arc, and the purple line is how long it takes from point blah to blah in frames.
http://johngames.com/games/flash/ball.swf
First animated test

[Metalmadcat]

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1yGNzTW86Fw"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1yGNzTW86Fw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>


This is my VERY VERY FIRST ATTEMPT.

Don't kill me, I am innocent XD LOL

[J6Studios]

Metalmadcat, your movie isn't working.

Does anyone have any animations or information on a bouncing balloon?

It seems like it doesn't have that much squash and stretch and floats longer and reacts fast when it hits a surface.

-

[shane22]

just trying 3D MAX 9:

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/5193/bb1xq3.gif

cool! nice one

[shane22]

heres' a bouncing ball I cooked up, I noticed that I wasn't reducing the return height enough (so It would take a very long time for the ball to stop bouncing or rolling completely) but for the sake of consistency I didn't want to change it half way through, so I popped the ball. :D http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/9156/bouncingball1tj5.swf

Very Very nice! :blink:

[shane22]

GREAT stuff nice bouncing balls guys, im gonna have to do one of these, ill post one in a bit :D

[shane22]

here we Go :D first attempt :D

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn115/22shane/ballbounce.gif

[J6Studios]

Shane22, don't forget your initial arc and the arc the ball takes after you kick it!

-

[shane22]

oh yeah, cos it seems to just go up in a line dosnt it? and it slows down a bit, ill try a better one next time, or i might make a Mini Shiny McBroadback show 2 and have a bouncing ball in that :rolleyes:

[rhubarb]

Maybe Shane you should just try to master your initial bounces before adding in the kick. I thought the the ssmall bounces at the end didn't look right. And maybe it slows down a bit too fast while bouncing. :)

[Metalmadcat]

gotcha!!!!!

thanks dude!

http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=VfFijp0151o&rel=1&eurl=http%3A//www.animationforum.net/forum/showthread.php%3Fp%3D38427%23post38427&iurl=http%3A//i.ytimg.com/vi/VfFijp0151o/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskLhbdRG_Rs_5tgwBoP4h2tN

[Sabyr]

http://img501.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bouncyballqb2.swf

There ya go.

But I guess for serious practice I should have another one.

http://img386.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ballbouncehu9.swf

[flashcartoons]

a few of my bouncing balls

http://www.myanimespace.org/animation/ballbouncingpractice3.swf

http://www.myanimespace.org/animation/ballbouncingpractice2.swf

[J6Studios]

Does anyone have any animations or information on a bouncing balloon?

It seems like it doesn't have that much squash and stretch and floats longer and reacts fast when it hits a surface.
-

Anyone??

-

[kdog]

Here's a couple I found real quick, hope they help.

Bowling ball/bouncy ball/balloon bounce (http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=animated%20bouncing%20balloon&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#)

Balloon floating & bouncing (http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=animated%20bouncing%20balloon&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#)

[J6Studios]

Thanks KDOG. I saw that one but not really what I needed. Were there 2 different links? Both of those show the same link.

I bought some balloons and let the kids play with them yesterday. That was a blast. I know the timing is a lot slower so I guess I have to work out the timing, then keyframe it etc. etc.

thanks

-

[kdog]

Ooops :o

Here's the correct second link: Balloon floating & bouncing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBHxPjbbTPk).

Though if you saw the first one already you've probably seen this as well, but I think this is a better example even though it's short.

*ooh I just checked the link too & noticed a whole bunch more vids on the right side under related videos. I had found this one as a related vid in the first, but that didn't have nearly as many appropriately related vids as this one does. Gotta be something good in there, they all look to be from the same school/class.

[J6Studios]

There are more than 1 version!! It must have been a class because they use the same background.

This one was pretty good:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMyBXveackc&feature=related

[flashcartoons]

actually the user that submitted those, have alot of animation tests

some are pretty good!

[RickyDbZ]

uhm i tryed once ... : http://img176.imageshack.us/my.php?image=asdddct6.swf

[Evil Demon Creature]

It looks like you were trying too hard to do too much stuff too quickly.

Simplify your movement and put more patience/focus into realising it (keeping it consistent), and you'll get a lot more out of the exercise. You can worry about the tricky stuff later.

[Outlawstar]

Theres a lotta nice balls on this thread^___^

Im whipping one up now, be up soon.

[algarcia]

Even if you've read 20 different descriptions of how to do a ball bounce, check out these two tutorials that cover the details of how to do it realistically:

http://www.algarcia.org/AnimationPhysics/Timing_Tutorial.pdf

http://www.algarcia.org/AnimationPhysics/PathAction_Tutorial.pdf

The first tutorial details how to get the timing right and the second is on the path of action. Of course the principles apply to all animation work, which is why the bouncing ball is such a classic exercise.

Happy Bouncing,
Alej Garcia

[Don Bluth Productions]

Hi there,
This is my first post to this site and I think I can help out lots of new animators with the Bouncing ball / squash & stretch phenomena. Somewhere in our archives, there is a video tutorial by Don Bluth, animating and explaining the above theories in great detail. Hopefully, by mid week, I can find the tape, reformat into Quicktime file and either embed the movie on this site(with moderators consent) or on youtube and post the link here. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but when you see the construction of the sequence from start to finish on video, then that's priceless.
Check back this week for the online tutorial.

[madtooner1968]

that really would be cool. still cant seem to get it right

[flashcartoons]

wow, don bluth productions posting here!

[madtooner1968]

can't get much better than that, unless ol' Walt himself started posting

[Evil Demon Creature]

Glad to see more professionals deciding to stick around here.

[arien1986]

Hi there,
This is my first post to this site and I think I can help out lots of new animators with the Bouncing ball / squash & stretch phenomena. Somewhere in our archives, there is a video tutorial by Don Bluth, animating and explaining the above theories in great detail. Hopefully, by mid week, I can find the tape, reformat into Quicktime file and either embed the movie on this site(with moderators consent) or on youtube and post the link here. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but when you see the construction of the sequence from start to finish on video, then that's priceless.
Check back this week for the online tutorial.

eagerly waitin.. these are coming ryt?:blink:

[dcb3424]

Hello all,
Here is my bouncing ball (http://megaswf.com/view/c8ed9ee06e3fffb267136fc9c8dd90d9.html). The ball could have been cleaned up a little, but I think it's pretty good? Please let me know.


---------------

http://animationtribulation.blogspot.com

[vicjperry]

Needs some major work but you've come to the right place!:D

[Ferx]

Hey dcb, nice start. Try three types of balls 1) the classic children ball ( lighter and very elastic) 2) a tennis ball and 3) a bowlling ball ( heavy and not elastic) :) Try to take references and if you have some sort of ball use it to take references :)

[dcb3424]

Thanks for the comments guys. I updated Bouncing Ball Tutorial (http://megaswf.com/view/76605a1cfc5a93fd2228e4eb17fb509a.html), using the tutorial at www.idleworm.com (www.idleworm.com/how/anm/01b/bball.shtml) Please let me know if this is any better

[Ferx]

hey dcb, nice works, you are improving fast :D. Ok you can try now a ball without air, make an animation to see how "plaff" :D on the ground (perhaps bounce one time) Here is important the deformation on the ball when hit the ground because dont have air. And you can make the bowlling ball but falling over a elastic bed :D (time to think a bit on the weight) Again, nice works! :)

[Outlawstar]

Posted this on my thread, but hey, may aswell contribute here.

http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?swf=http%3A//s.ytimg.com/yt/swf/cps-vfl56573.swf&video_id=cJ_gwbWjOQ4&rel=1&eurl=&iurl=http%3A//i4.ytimg.com/vi/cJ_gwbWjOQ4/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskKqn-NXhhBoVBGuMq41oNDT&use_get_video_info=1&load_modules=1

[Metalmadcat]

hahaha I don't know really why but it makes me laugh when I see this kind of things, how you make it all serious with the atmosphere for an insignificant little bouncing ball. I know is not a joke but I always have this..behavior.
Other than that, I think you succeed, I am planning on practicing some more of bouncing technique. Yours have urged me .mm

[Metalmadcat]

uhm i tryed once ... : http://img176.imageshack.us/my.php?image=asdddct6.swf

I like the changeable shape on it, make it all so abstract and simbolic, or so it seems to me that when I saw I was pleased. :)

[Metalmadcat]

a few of my bouncing balls

http://www.myanimespace.org/animation/ballbouncingpractice3.swf

http://www.myanimespace.org/animation/ballbouncingpractice2.swf

wow..all I can say. The realism is perfectly applied in here. Seems like you are good with numbers..huh?

[CycoMerlin14]

Here is my first attempt. I keep noticing the "swing" towards the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rCs0PEIIPg

[Meschaffe]

I haven't gotten to scan anything yet, but I've done a couple of these and I tend to drift off too far to the right as I move through my frames. I'm pretty certain this'll go away as I practice, but I'm really curious to know what some of you guys do to keep stuff like this from happening. I'm guessing this is a strong case for a light table?

[Peter Berkovski]

Hey guys/gals here is my first ever pencil test - bouncing ball
click (http://berkovski.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-first-pencil-test.html)

and one rotating ball face click (http://berkovski.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-home-made-pencil-test-d.html)

[glenfoxman]

blog commenting to your related niche is one way of having qualified traffic to your site... Theres no way in getting rid of bounce rate, just make sure that you have interesting site and it is updated every week to increase your traffic.
_______________________________________
Website I designed for payday cash loan (http://www.paydaytown.com) company.

[Metalmadcat]

Hey guys/gals here is my first ever pencil test - bouncing ball
click (http://berkovski.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-first-pencil-test.html)

and one rotating ball face click (http://berkovski.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-home-made-pencil-test-d.html)

m_) Nice Journey!! ---Keep moving/bouncing it.

m_) Keep me posted. ;)

[Vanmotion]

Hi Fokes, I hope not too late to show you my ball exercises :).

I did two: One boucing from one point to other and one Boucing above it self.

Ball A:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqCDlYhJ-Bk

Ball B:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IStUcZyByMM


What do you think?

I tried to put the videos wraping the code, but only appears a blank square.

[Vanmotion]

I added another one:

A rotating bouncing ball:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOJC2J1GhCU

[Vanmotion]

A ball bouncing down stairs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88FI8JoGkOg

[infotechproximity9]

k I’m seriously pooped, I think that' about all I can manage for today. But I’ll come back and do this thing up. So keep an eye out for updates if you're interested.

O one last note. Don't rely on me, ASK or anyone else to do it for you. At the end of the day it boils down to you getting off you're ass and animating like there's no tomorow.


________________________________________-
Ben 10 Games (http://www.kingofgames.net/ben-10-games)

[Pillgrim]

OK, here is my attempt at the bouncing ball exercise. :sweat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tfFppqwZdE

[PeterC]

OK, here is my attempt at the bouncing ball exercise. :sweat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tfFppqwZdE

Very nice, but it looks like it is being forced downwards and not falling on its own. There is also a snap at the end. Possibly a frame out of order.

[Pillgrim]

Very nice, but it looks like it is being forced downwards and not falling on its own. There is also a snap at the end. Possibly a frame out of order.

Ok, take 2. I think I got it looking a little more like gravity is doing the work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM7dMuh4g90

[Dreamfaller]

Back to basics with me... <in German Accent> I'm ready to head to unt fields and go bouncy-bounce!
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0Nppamg-mYo?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0Nppamg-mYo?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

[vicjperry]

Wow, this basic test seems to be tough. We actually had a challenge on this a while back and we learned a lot. It's not as easy as it looks. A lot of people got the squash and stretch down pat, but struggled with the gravity part. (myself included) Then came the flag wave, then the flour sack. Excellent exercises.

I think Vanmotion's is more natural in its bounce, but the momentum, it seems, would force the ball to skip some stairs in it's forward motion.

Keep them coming. It's one of the best exercises out there as far as I'm concerned.1)

[Pillgrim]

OMG this is driiving me mad, another evening bouncing damned balls and still not happy with the results.

Any crits and pointers will be gladly recieved.:banghead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcmCPygRkPQ

[PeterC]

I think this will help

Questions to ask before animating.

What kind of ball is it? What is it made of? Is it a bouncy ball or a ball of cement?

What mood is it in? is it a happy ball? Angry ball? If it is angry, why is it angry? What happened to it to cause it to become pissed off? How would an angry ball bounce compared to a happy ball? How would a "I hate my boss" angry differ from a "Late to my most important meeting in my life cause stupid traffic! There isn't even an accident! People are just stopping to watch two pigeon have sex!" angry?

http://www.animationforum.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1741&d=1283140050

http://www.animationforum.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1742&d=1283140057

http://www.animationforum.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1743&d=1283140062

[Pillgrim]

Hi Peter

Thanks for taking the time to look at this, your feedback is really helpful. So back to the drawing board....that's if I can stop watching those pigeons!! lol.

[flashcartoons]

figured i'd throw some more of my balls in here

http://www.myanimespace.org/animation/bouncingball1.swf
http://www.myanimespace.org/animation/bouncingball1.swf

For some of you guys/girls that need help, I made this a bit ago and you can go through it frame by frame to really see how the bouncing ball is always in motion.

[Siri]

...this is a huge help. :lovewink Sadly several images at the beginning of this thread are not available any more.

[PeterC]

I one thing I'm tired of seeing is that everyone animates rubber bouncy balls wrong. Open your eyes people! Throw a rubber ball down the hallway and you will see that it has two different bounces.

http://www.animationforum.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1744&d=1283187531

the spin bounce, and the fast bounce.

it goes from spin, fast, spin, fast, spin, fast, spin

It happens because the energy from the fast bounce is stored in the ball making the ball spin. So the spin arch is much narrower and the ball doesn't move forward much. (I've seen a rubber-band ball not move an inch forward during its spin bounce). Rubber has a lot of friction to it, it can grip a floor very easily, so when the ball touches the ground, BAM! the rubber grips to the floor. But where does all that energy go? It propels the ball forward at such a sharp angle that when the rubber grips the floor once again, the forward momentum energy of the ball has nowhere to go except into the ball. This causes the ball to "roll over" the griped part of the floor resulting in a spin bounce.

[Ferx]

I one thing I'm tired of seeing is that everyone animates rubber bouncy balls wrong. Open your eyes people!

Richard Williams is looking for you, to help him with "bounce the rubber balls" chapter of his new book: "Rubber Balls Survival Kid .... " :rotfl :rotfl :D

[PeterC]

I decided to do things differently

Here is my attempt at a ball with character (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4523510/BallWithCharacter.mov)

[Siri]

...for sure more a character than a real ball. I like it Peter :) Cool!
It seems Mr Williams doesn't like this squishy squash thing so much. He wrote in his book: "In other words, if you do this squishy squashy thing to much, everything comes out a bit 'sploopy', like it is made of rubber. Life ain't like that. At least most of it ain't" So I guess it depends on what kind of story you want to tell and what kind of animation you are after....a more realistic or more overacted one. Right?

[sparrow]

Mr. Williams’s book is fantastic... BUT.... if you do everything too technical, everything looks clunky and mechanical (not that I know anything) and of course I agree with you about the sloppy thing, so I personally use William’s theory but try to round everything off a bit...

[Evil Demon Creature]

Animating is a lot like drawing.

In the sense that it is complicated and full of a large variety of technical things, but if you try to work it out thinking about it that way, everything will come off as stiff and disconnected from life.

You aren't supposed to really "understand" the lessons, as much as you just "get a feeling" for them.

It's like the same difference between learning something because you read it in a book and assume that what is written there is true, and learning something because you tried doing it with your own hands and seeing directly how your efforts translated into giving you that result.

This is really what this bouncing ball exercise is all about. Anyone can understand what a bouncing ball is, and you get your working knowledge of some of the most important animation concepts in aligning that understanding with your direct experience trying to re-create the sensation through drawing each frame individually.

Wow, I sound even more technical when I'm trying to describe how to work on something intuitively. I think that is a bad sign for me.

[PeterC]

:banghead your right. :banghead Now I just want to crawl into a corner and die. :Xead:

Animation is about expression, not about getting it right. Why it took me 5 years to realize this I shall never know.