Bouncing Ball by Amanda Costa

All animation courses begin with a bouncing ball, and ours are no exception. The bouncing ball exercise introduces animators to the basic concepts of timing and spacing, weight, paths of action and also squash and stretch.

A ball can be bounced well or badly, and the exercise - although superficially simple - can be done to a high level of skill and complexity.  As with most of our classroom content, we have online videos to support classroom study.

Missed a class, or fallen behind? We've got you covered.  In this video, hosted at our Vimeo Channel, Studio Assistant Amanda Costa walks students step-by-step through the basics of animating a bouncing ball.

Why start with a bouncing ball?

Amanda Costa

The bouncing ball introduces student animators to many of the most important principles of animation. Pretty much every animation course on the planet starts with a ball. It's where students first encounter the concepts of timing and spacing, and also how to use important tools such as the Graph Editor.

The exercise can be done with inventiveness and skill - contrasting different kinds of balls, and showing their different properties.  But it's also where students begin to learn the importance of giving a performance. Even a bouncing ball can be made to look fun and interesting - or dull and boring.

Tutorial by Amanda Costa
The bouncing ball tutorial was created by one of our talented Escapees and studio assistants, Amanda Costa. You can see her demo reel here.

Rigs
Which rig should you use to animate the bouncing ball? We recommend two free rigs to choose from:

Bouncin' Ball 1.0.0

1. Bouncin' Ball Rig

The free bouncing ball rig is available for free download at highend3D. This rig is a simple bouncing ball with top and bottom controls for the squash-and-stretch, and also independent controls over its orientation, as well as the rotation and the position of the ball itself.

Who created the Bouncin' Ball?
Saul Garcia

What is the license type?
Freeware. Anyone can use it.

2. Ultimate Ball Rig
We also recommend the Ultimate Ball, downloadable from highEnd3D.com. Ultimate Ball has the great advantage that it comes with built-in textures, so you can choose from a variety of different choices, such as a football, basketball or golf ball.

Where you do find the tutorial video?
You can find the bouncing ball tutorial video here https://vimeo.com/album/5605446
As with all our tutorial videos, this one is password protected, for our students and Escapees. If you're a current student or Escapee and you'd like the password, ping me a mail at alex.williams1@pearson.com

To see more animation tutorials available at our Vimeo channel, follow this link. As with all our online tutorials at Vimeo, this one is password protected. If you're an Escape Studios student or an Escapee, and you'd like the password, email me at alex.williams1@pearson.com

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To find out more about our BA/MArt, follow this link.  To apply, visit the offical page here.