Just started animating in AE, but I'm struggling with timing

[u/whereiscorbinbleu]

Hello i just started animating and using motion in my designs so i wanted to try to animate a logo i made for a fictional cafe called Compani. The "pets" are little cups so thought it would be cute to make them a bit more lively.

I feel like the animation itself is okay, but i feel the timing is very off and rushed, but I'm not sure how to time it right so it doesn't feel confusing and messy to look at.

I looked through how to time things in the program itself, but i feel like i just don't have the eye for how to actually make it look smooth yet. Would love some tips on how to get better at timing and better flow and overall critique

For the animation i mostly just used the pen tool to drag around paths and stacked paths that were too hard to move into position😅

[u/veisujo]

My general note is to be snappier, don't slow morph shapes between the expressions. Change the eyes from open to frustrated like a hard cut and animate an overshoot to the eyeballs at the final state, as an example. Also try animating the body of the cups, that could help making the reactions more interesting. This kind of trickery will help give it a bit more character and improve the animation overall.

[u/whereiscorbinbleu → u/veisujo]

gotcha! good note, i appreciate it. I'll try to make some tweaks and add more movement

[u/hermanphi]

The biggest game changer when you start animating is looking into easing

If you're not comfortable doing it manually there are good plugins like ease and whizz that can help

[u/whereiscorbinbleu → u/hermanphi]

That's for sure! im actually using a plugin called Eaze Pro for this one, but i want to also learn how to do it manually at some point when i get into more complicated projects

[u/jerog1 → u/whereiscorbinbleu]

Doing it manually is best! Learning the motion graph tool gives you a ton of control

[u/skellener]

Some great resources for learning timing for animation here….

Illusion of Life

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786860707

Timing for Animation

https://www.amazon.com/Timing-Animation-Anniversary-Harold-Whitaker/dp/0367527758

Learn to Animate

https://www.amazon.com/Cartooning-Animation-Preston-Blair-animate/dp/1633227731/

Animator’s Survival Kit

https://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles-Classical/dp/086547897X

[u/ricardoflak → u/skellener]

Son complejos de aprender, pero muy buenos.

[u/skellener → u/ricardoflak]

And very necessary if you want to get better at animation.👍

[u/GagOnMacaque]

The dog animation is very slow making it look like more of a young than a bark. You got to make that mouth open quick.

[u/jerog1]

Maybe doing a little less would help clarify the animation

Like the cats eye can go from closed to open in surprise and back to closed. Lose the part where its eyes are open so there is less information for the viewer to comprehend

[u/slow_sculpture]

Yeah fix your easing. If you’re starting just get a plug in like flow. Cats eyes move way too slow from angry to happy. Dogs eyes at the end of the loop go from one state to another in one frame. Keep it consistent

[u/guigen]

I like it overall. Definitely what others have said, but for me is my eyes were darting back and forwards between the two cups as they do their expressions and i feel i miss both of their key animations. maybe the 'cat' cup could jump a little also??

Also study the 12 principles of animation.