How to Animate a Bouncing Ball

 

In the video below we show how to tackle the entry-level "Bouncing Ball" exercise.   Students at Escape Studios, like students at almost every course in animation, start off with the bouncing ball. This simple exercise introduces the principles of timing, spacing, paths of action and weight - four of the Twelve Principles of Animation.  Even a simple exercise like the bouncing call can be entertaining and interesting, and can be completed to a demo-reel level of skill.  You can download the rig for free at highend3D.

 

Bouncing Ball Rig

The free bouncing ball rig is one of the rigs we suggest that students download when they first start learning animation.  It's available for free download at highend3D. We also recommend the Ultimate Ball, also downloadable from highEnd3D.com.

Why start with a bouncing ball? Well, 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.

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. 

How Does The Ultimate Ball Work?

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.

Change the Ultimate Ball Type

You can easily change the Ultimate ball type by selecting the Root Control and then, in the channel box, change Ball Type to any one of a number of different options, such as a basketball, football, or a golfball.

Bouncing Ball Tutorial Video

You can find the tutorial at our Vimeo Channel below:

https://vimeo.com/showcase/10614963

The password is the same as for all our tutorials. 

Other ball rigs

Bouncin' Ball rig

We also recommend the Bouncin' Ball rig, also available from Highend3d.com. (see right)

Student Bouncing Balls
To see some examples of bouncing balls done by our students here at Animation Apprentice, watch the videos below. 

Below are samples of bouncing ball animation by students.

1. Bouncing Ball by Greg Gordon

2. Bouncing Ball by Rory Marchant

3. Bouncing Ball by Jeff Smith

4. Bouncing Ball by Phil Loeffler

To find out more about our BA/MArt courses, now recruiting for September 2023, follow this link.   To apply, visit the official page here.