timing

The speed of an action gives physical and emotional meaning to movement.

The animator must spend the appropriate amount of time on the anticipation of an action, on the action, and on the reaction to the action. If too much time is spent, then the viewer may lose attention, if too little, then the viewer may not notice or understand the action.

Timing can also affect the perception of mass of an object.

A heavier object takes a greater force and a longer time to accelerate and decelerate. For example, if a character picks up a heavy object, e.g., a bowlng ball, they should do it much slower than picking up a light object, e.g. a balloon. Timing can also contribute greatly to the feeling of size or scale of an object or character. A giant has much more weight, more mass, more inertia than a normal man; therefore he moves more slowly. Like the cannonball, he takes more time to get started and, once moving, takes more time to stop. Any changes of movement take place more slowly. Conversely, a tiny character has less inertia than normal, so his movements tend to be quicker. These effects are done, not by changing the poses, but by varying the spaces or time (number of frames) between poses.

The emotional state of a character can also be defined more by its movement than by its appearance, and the varying speed of those movements indicates whether the character is lethargic, excited, nervous or relaxed. Consider a scenario with a head looking first over the right shoulder and then over the left shoulder. By varying the number of inbetween frames the following meanings can be implied:

• No in-betweens - the character has been hit by a strong force and its head almost snappedd off
• One in-betweens - the character has been hit by something substantial, .e.g., frying pan
• Two in-betweens - the character has a nervous twitch
• Three in-betweens - the character is dodging a flying object
• Four in-betweens - the character is giving a crisp order
• Six in-betweens - the character sees something inviting
• Nine in-betweens - the character is thinking about something
• Ten in-betweens - the character is stretching a sore muscle

Does the added action in a scene contribute to the main idea in that scene? Will it help sell it or confuse it?

From: Animation Notes by Disney animator, Ollie Johnston