Timing

The speed of an action, i.e., timing, gives meaning to movement, both physical and emotional meaning. The animator must spend the appropriate amount of time on the anticipation of an action, on the action, and on the reaction to the action. If too much time is spent, then the viewer may lose attention, if too little, then the viewer may not notice or understand the action.

Timing can also affect the perception of mass of an object. A heavier object takes a greater force and a longer time to accelerate and decelerate. For example, if a character picks up a heavy object, e.g., a bowlng ball, they should do it much slower than picking up a light object, e.g. a balloon. Similarly, timing affects the perception of object size. A larger object moves more slowly than a smaller object and has greater inertia.

These effects are done, not by changing the poses, but by varying the spaces or time (number of frames) between poses.

Timing can also indicate an emotional state. Consider a scenario with a head looking first over the right shoulder and then over the left shoulder. By varying the number of inbetween frames the following meanings can be implied:

• No in-betweens - the character has been hit by a strong force and its head almost snappedd off
• One in-betweens - the character has been hit by something substantial, .e.g., frying pan
• Two in-betweens - the character has a nervous twitch
• Three in-betweens - the character is dodging a flying object
• Four in-betweens - the character is giving a crisp order
• Six in-betweens - the character sees something inviting
• Nine in-betweens - the character is thinking about something
• Ten in-betweens - the character is stretching a sore muscle

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