vertical jump test

This is really just a preparatory study for a more complicated exercise I'm working on, so I didn't spend any time doing cleanup on it. I'm working on a character jumping forward and I did this to simplify it down to just the up and down motion.

red balloon, lead balloon

My hand-drawn, 2D interpretation of the second Animation Mentor exercise: the light ball, heavy ball test.



My goal was to make the light ball so light that air resistance is a major factor in its motion.

This is animated on ones, twos, threes and even some fours and fives. One surprising discovery was that more inbetweens did not necessarily make the light ball look smoother or lighter.

I recall when I was in elementary school that every year they would show us Albert Lamorisse's "Le Ballon Rouge" (The Red Balloon), which I guess was their subtle way of teaching us it was bad to beat up on red balloons.

squetchy jumping can

A quick warm-up I did a couple of years ago. I thought it would be quick. It took several hours.



That may not look like a big deal in 2D, but it would be a major hassle in 3D to try to rig a cylinder to do all that deforming.

Big mistake I just noticed: the can is bigger at the end than it was at the beginning. I'll do better next time.