This week, I received valuable feedback from George. He pointed out that the rhythm of my animation could be improved by refining the timing and using more moving holds. Following the same principles of motion I’ve been practicing, I focused on letting the character’s movement ease in and out — starting slow, speeding up, and then slowing down again. To achieve this, I placed more keyframes around the main poses and kept fewer in-betweens, so that the action flows clearly from pose to pose.
Eyebrow Offset
I need to add an offset to the eyebrow movement so that the eyebrows do not move exactly in sync with the eyes. Instead, they lag slightly behind the eye motion, creating a more natural and appealing secondary motion. This subtle delay helps convey more believable facial expressions and adds an organic feel to the character’s performance.
Focusing on the Nose Position
In this week’s feedback session, George pointed out that one of the key areas I should focus on is the position of the nose. Since the nose is the central element of the face, it serves as a good reference point for the overall facial movement. By observing the nose’s position, I can better understand the main arc of the head and face, and translate that into more dynamic motion.
George noted that some of my nose trajectories were too linear. To improve this, I’m trying to think of the nose movement more like a bouncing ball, like to give subtle curves and arcs instead of straight lines. This helps add life and fluidity to the facial animation and makes the performance feel more expressive and believable.
Animation Rhythm and Timing:
Following the same principles of motion that I’ve been practicing, I focused on refining the rhythm of the animation by adding moving holds. This means the character’s motion eases in and out — starting slow, accelerating, and then slowing down again. To achieve this, I placed more key frames around the main poses and fewer in the in-betweens. This pose-to-pose approach helps emphasize the clarity and impact of each major action.
While this method gives the animation better weight and more natural timing, I realized I still need to pay attention to how evenly I space the moving holds. Sometimes, I tend to hold a pose for too long, making the movement feel stiff instead of alive. Also, I noticed that my transitions between poses can sometimes lack subtle overlapping motion, which slightly reduces the fluidity.
Mouth Pose:
I noticed that the corners of the mouth in my animation are quite sharp, and the lower lip has an exaggerated, obvious curve. In reality, the lower lip usually stays closer to a gentle horizontal line or has a softer, rounder shape.
Because of this, the mouth shape in some of my poses looks slightly stylized and unnatural. To improve this, I plan to adjust the mouth poses to make the corners smoother and the lower lip more subtle and organic. By doing so, the facial expressions should feel more believable and better match the overall naturalistic look I’m aiming for.
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