The Beginner's Guide to Procreate Dreams

24 Action + Timing

One of the harder skills for a new animator to master is timing out movements, which is why I’ve placed this near the end of our book. A lot of amateur animation comes across as much slower than it should be, and the concept of velocity in motion is another skill altogether beyond drawing skill. Rotoscoping—not just over video but other cartoons you like—is useful for practice and learning how fast things should move in frame-by-frame.

Velocity and Easing

In keyframe animations, velocity of movement is determined by two things:

• • How close your keyframes are placed
• • Ease between keyframes, the different rates at which movements approach and depart key poses

Most lifelike movement eases into transitional moments; walking ...