How to make your animation lively?

Animation is among the most effective tools to communicate ideas in a creative way. It is largely being used in businesses and marketing these days. Through animation, characters are infused with movements, speech and life-like features. It is captivating and impactful, as it creates the desired impression in the minds of the audience in a very little time.

When rightly integrated into your business strategy, animation can work wonders. However, the most common issue with weak animations is that they lack life and realistic features. Here are some hand-picked character animation tips that can breathe life into your character animation design.

Analysis of the psychology of action and movement

You need to analyse the movements of a person to replicate the character; this is one among the very basic character animation design techniques. Simply analyzing the actions is not enough. Study the intentions behind these actions. It is necessary to do a good research about the character. The realistic actions and movements should be reflected in the animation to make it compelling enough.

Incorporate references from the real world

People love to relate animated videos and media messages with their real-world happenings. Try to use real-world references in your animations to make them lively. It makes them more believable and interesting. The 3d animation should mirror the real-world situation so as to be impactful.

The gravitational impact

Animation is a creative art which becomes closer to reality when you infuse it with life-like features. The animators should analyse the effect of gravity on different objects while making these animations as it is one of the key elements of animation. The influence of gravity on heavy and light objects should be assessed and presented in an authentic way. No essence of amateurism should be evident from the animated programs.

Movements of characters

A common problem with poor animations is mistiming of events. You need to keep off irregular shots from the animation. The time-movement synchronization should be maintained along with speech. For instance, you can replicate the happy moments in quick motion and the depressing elements in slow motion.

Following movements of body

Before starting, the animator needs to have a clear idea of the movement-features of the character’s body. Focus on the eyes, head, neck and then the rest of the body when you depict the movements through animations. As the eyes attract the attention of the audience first, you need to focus on the eyes at the beginning and then the entire body.

Saving the basic animations

When the basic poses, movements and primary features are integrated into the character, you should save them for use in future. Keep them aside and concentrate on the more delicate features and subtitles.

Designing the reactions

The movements and actions of a character revolve around three key areas. These are reaction, action and anticipation. These should be replicated in the animated characters as well. This is what a typical leading animation service provider always ensures.

Integrating wave movements

At times, the characters may remain fixed at a certain place, but the body parts show movements. In these cases, you may need to use wave-like movements for the limbs or tail to make the character realistic.

Observation of real characters

The actions, emotions and movement patterns of real-world characters are to be studied. The animator has to make the video as close to reality as possible. Accurate observation plays the key role behind his success.

Recording yourself

The best way to proceed is to start with recording yourself. You can replicate the movements you want to present in the animation, capturing them on a camera. Now play the clip when you make the animation. You can replay, rewind and pause at specific moments where you want to focus on.

Generating the main poses

The animator should proceed systematically, one stage at a time. At the outset, he can create the primary poses before going deeper and working on them. After these are created, you can work further on their accuracy.

Don’t try to make the lips utter every word

In 3D character animation, it is not necessary to guide the lip-movements word by word. A general, organic movement of the mouth is enough. Trying to make the animated character speak every word will make the lips move too fast. It will look irritating for the viewers.

Maintain the simplicity of rig

Apart from the skills of the animator, the essence of animation depends on the rig that he/she is using in the program. He/she should customize it according to the requirements. The animator should use effective dresses that can stimulate the characters. You need to keep it as simple as possible.

Balancing the character

A good animator should balance the center of gravity in the body of the animated character. It is a natural movement of the body, so he should stimulate the movements in the animated version as well.

Use a suitable basic tool

You can enhance the character quality of the animation by using a suitable basic tool. Your system may be affected when you work on models with high-resolution constantly, slowing down the process. Use a proxy model to work upon. 

Most of the businesses approach experts to simplify their tasks. There are several reputed animation outsourcing companies specialized to make seamless animation projects. Seeking assistance from professionals is always recommended for being assured of impeccable outputs.