Tennis Ball Animation
This project was for an introductory motion graphics assignment. We had to explore the 12 principles of animation and apply at least 3 of those principles to a short animation of an inanimate object. In this case, I used a clip from the “Legendary Shots” YoutTube channel and brought a little tennis ball to life.
PROJECT GOAL
The overall goal of this project was not just to include the technical aspects of animation, but also to make the inanimate object expressive as fluidly as possible. The main challenge with this project was adjusting to using Adobe After Effects since it was a program I had never used before the class. Therefore, getting the timing of movement and expressions right was a little tricky since each appendage had its effects. However, I was successful in adequately conveying the animation I had planned since my storyboard phase, reaching the expectations I had for the outcome of this small animation.
PROJECT EXPERIENCE
Animation is a medium I have always had an interest in since I was young, and it has had a significant influence on deciding my career path. I was so excited to receive this opportunity in my class to learn a bit more about the principles of animation and practice evoking emotion and movement in a non-living object. In terms of the process of this project, I decided to take screenshots of the peak points of action in the video and used those to sketch out the types of emotions I could portray in my project. I then went into Adobe Illustrator to make my vectors for the tennis ball, ensuring that I still applied my art style to the tennis ball’s design while also not making it more challenging to move around and track in After Effects.
PROJECT OUTCOME
I feel proud of the outcome of this project, primarily because of how it is the first time I used something like motion tracking to animate. I also enjoyed getting more creative in determining the story that I could tell in such a short amount of time with one object; I believe I was successfully able to tell a short story with the resources and knowledge I had.
All credits to the original video source used go to Legendary Shots on YouTube.