The essential principles of animation every creator should know.

How can you apply each principle of animation? (12 principles of animation with examples)

Below we provide 12 principles of animation with examples to illustrate practical applications in digital projects.

1. Squash and stretch.

• Example: In Adobe Animate, rig a bouncing ball symbol. Squash the ball vertically on impact and stretch horizontally before rebound.
• Tip: Maintain the volume by keeping the product of width and height constant.

2. Anticipation.

• Example: In After Effects, animate a character’s shoulders dipping before a punch.
• Tip: Use easing curves to emphasise anticipation timing.

3. Staging.

• Example: In Premiere, use a zoom-in effect on a character’s face during a pivotal expression.
• Tip: Combine opacity fades and scale adjustments to direct attention smoothly.

4. Straight ahead action and pose to pose.

• Example: For fluid water animations, draw frames sequentially (straight ahead). For character dialogue, block key poses first (pose to pose).
• Tip: Use onion-skinning in Animate to guide in-between frames.

5. Follow through and overlapping action.

• Example: In After Effects, add a secondary hair layer with dynamic link and apply a simple inertia expression so hair continues swinging after head stops.
• Tip: Offset timing of child layers by a few frames for overlapping action.

6. Slow in and slow out.

• Example: Adjust keyframe interpolation to Bezier in After Effects, adding ease-in and ease-out on position and rotation.
• Tip: Manually fine-tune motion paths in the Graph Editor for precise control.

7. Arc.

• Example: Animate a thrown object following a parabolic path using the Pen tool for motion paths in After Effects.
• Tip: Draw the path first on a guide layer to visualise the arc before applying keyframes.

8. Secondary action.

• Example: While a character walks, animate subtle breathing in the torso using a scale property keyframe.
• Tip: Keep secondary actions small so they do not overpower the primary movement.

9. Timing.

• Example: To convey weight, animate a heavy object with longer frame counts on the rise and shorter on the drop.
• Tip: Create a timing chart on paper or in a spreadsheet to map out key pose durations.

10. Exaggeration.

• Example: Amplify a character’s facial expression by extending eyebrow movement beyond natural limits in Animate.
• Tip: Use moderation. Too much exaggeration can break immersion.

11. Solid drawing.

• Example: In Photoshop, sketch character form on multiple layers for line quality, then import the cleaned frame sequence into After Effects.
• Tip: Use 3D layers sparingly in After Effects to maintain dimensionality without overcomplicating the scene.

12. Appeal.

• Example: Design characters with clear silhouettes and distinctive colour schemes in Illustrator before rigging in Animate.
• Tip: Test thumbnail-sized versions of characters to ensure readability.

What troubleshooting advice can resolve common animation challenges?

Even experienced animators encounter issues; below is a list of issues along with two solutions.

1. Jittery motion or frame popping.

• Increase ease-in and ease-out on keyframes
• Align motion-path tangents in Graph Editor

2. Stiff or robotic character movements.

• Add overlapping action on limbs or clothing
• Introduce slight timing variations between joints

3. Losing silhouette clarity.

• Emphasise strong poses at keyframes
• Use staging to separate character from background

4. Lack of weight or punch in actions.

• Apply squash and stretch judiciously
• Adjust timing - fewer frames on impact, more on recovery

5. Overcrowded scenes.

• Simplify backgrounds via masking or blur
• Focus on staging to highlight main action

6. Inconsistent line quality or shape (solid drawing).

• Clean up frames in Photoshop before importing
• Use vector shapes in Animate for uniform line work

Troubleshooting tip: Record a quick preview at full speed rather than slowed-down playback to assess natural flow.