storytelling – AnimSchool Blog

Blocking Plus Workflow: Breakdowns

In animation, moving from blocking to spline isn’t just about flipping a switch. It’s a shift in mindset and detail. While a shot may look “done” in blocking plus, the real depth of motion often only starts to emerge when you stop and assess if you truly have all of the information you need. In this clip from a live AnimSchool lecture, instructor Jean-Luc Delhougne shows his workflow for getting your blocking animation to the next level.

The point between blocking and splining is where many animators pause and reassess. The character might be hitting the right key poses, but the transitions, timing, and energy might still feel off, like the movement starts or stops abruptly. In order to remedy this, pay attention to the shape of the moving hold—that subtle buildup of energy before a big motion—so the viewer feels the intention behind every movement.

Before adding breakdowns: the transition between one pose to the next feels extreme

Making small changes, such as nudging the hips down and forward, and adding slight opposition in the spine and head, you begin to create that feeling of anticipation. Even subtle details like an arm shifting forward or the head lifting slightly can inject life into a still pose. It’s not about big moves—it’s about involving the whole body in the motion, giving the character a sense of internal momentum. As the motion develops, timing becomes a key focus. A transition between two strong poses might only need three frames, but those frames have to be very selective. As you set keys and adjust arcs, think about how the different body parts move together. Everything contributes to a feeling of weight and energy.

Every time a change is made, don’t forget to go back to check the relationship between poses. This level of care ensures continuity and clarity in motion. Tiny adjustments can dramatically improve the flow and believability of a shot, eventually bringing it all together. At this point, you might finally feel like you have enough information to transition into spline.

This process might seem slow or overly meticulous, but that’s the magic of animation. By the time the shot hits spline, the hard decisions have already been made, and the shot is already working.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Blocking Plus Workflow: Arcs

Once an animation starts to feel right, it’s easy to move on. However, that’s actually the perfect time to dig in and refine. During blocking and splining, arcs might be roughed in or implied, but in the polish phase, they need to be made intentional. If something feels off in your shot—even if you can’t articulate why—chances are it has to do with a broken or inconsistent arc. In this clip from a live AnimSchool lecture, instructor Jean-Luc Delhougne demonstrates how to use arcs to take your blocking to the next level.

A good place to start is with the head and spine. These parts often reveal arc issues because they tend to move with subtle complexity. If the head suddenly changes direction over a few frames or shifts too quickly between poses, it can break the flow and feel visually jarring. The key is to step through the animation frame by frame and examine the head’s motion across time. Often, the fix involves selecting the head, neck, and spine controls together and nudging them to form a more continuous arc. You’re not adding frames—you’re adjusting spacing and orientation to reinforce the shape of the motion. The result is a smoother, more intentional line of action through the upper body. The head no longer pops or feels disconnected from the rest of the movement.

Add visual markers to help track the arc

Overlap also plays a role in arcs. If everything moves at once—especially in vertical actions—the motion can feel stiff. For example, if the head rises with the body too quickly during an upward movement, the arc may technically be there, but the lack of overlap makes it feel forced. Slowing the head’s rotation slightly or delaying its path just a bit can help reintroduce the feeling of follow-through and drag, which not only improves timing but also enhances the arc visually.

Sometimes an arc exists but lacks clarity due to poor spacing. One frame might be too far off the path, causing a visual pop. The solution isn’t always to add more keyframes but to redistribute what’s already there. This is where simple tools like moving controls by single pixels (using something like Alt + arrow keys) can be invaluable. These tiny shifts can help smooth out a curve without affecting the depth or creating messy curves in the graph editor. It’s a low-impact way to bring spacing and silhouette under control when things feel close but not quite there.

This is the essence of polishing animation arcs: noticing the small things that don’t quite sit right, identifying whether it’s a path, a spacing issue, or a lack of overlap, and making small, thoughtful adjustments. The arcs guide the eye, control rhythm, and anchor poses in space. During polish, refining arcs should be as important as refining timing or easing. Don’t wait until something looks broken to address them; the best results come from being proactive and observant. If something feels off, it’s often a broken arc waiting to be cleaned up.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Blocking Plus Workflow: Timing

In animation, one of the first major steps in developing a believable performance is blocking—laying down the key poses that define how a character moves and reacts. Refining this workflow, especially in the blocking stage, can be crucial in laying the proper foundation for a smooth animation. In this clip from a live AnimSchool lecture, instructor Jean-Luc Delhougne discusses his workflow for blocking, with emphasis on timing.

During blocking, the goal is to understand the character’s physicality and intent. Whether it’s a jump, a step, or a weight shift, it’s important to capture the essential actions and emotional beats through clear, well-designed poses, with focus on the spacing, or the relationship between the poses. These poses form the skeleton of the animation. At this point, the animation might not necessarily feel right when played, but don’t worry—timing comes later.

Note that all of the keyframes are currently on twos. Jean-Luc explains that, in the blocking stage, he ignores the timing and instead focuses on the spacing (the relationship between poses) in order to clearly understand what the character is doing.

Once the poses are working, the next step is to introduce timing, which transforms the static poses into a convincing and dynamic performance. Good timing isn’t just about counting frames; it’s about feeling how the character moves. For example, anticipation before a jump needs to be strong and readable—often holding for more frames than the jump itself—so the audience can register the build-up of energy. Similarly, the peak of a jump might benefit from a bit of hang time to convey weight, before quickly snapping back down into the landing.

Timing is rarely perfect on the first try. Animators often go through rounds of experimentation, pushing keyframes forward or backward, adjusting spacing, or adding breakdowns to smooth transitions. A common pitfall is trying to stop motion too quickly—after a jump, for instance, it can be tempting to have the character land and immediately hold. But real motion doesn’t stop on a dime. Adding extra steps, weight shifts, or slight bounces after a landing helps absorb momentum and makes the action feel grounded.

As the timing gets refined, an important detail to look for is variation. Evenly spaced keyframes tend to create robotic, lifeless motion. A well-timed animation should have a mix of fast and slow moments—sharp transitions, longer holds, staggered steps. This contrast gives the performance rhythm and energy. Looking at the timeline and seeing irregular gaps between keyframes can be a good visual sign that the timing has a natural, organic flow.

Ultimately, strong animation comes from the balance of thoughtful posing and refined timing. Blocking lays the structural foundation, while timing injects life and rhythm.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Reference Analysis: Capture Convincing Footage

Do you ever wonder how an animator can capture such realistic and convincing movements? For most animators, it all starts with good reference. Being able to act authentically and realistically can elevate a scene from unexceptional to awe-inspiring. AnimSchool instructor and professional animator Scott McWhinne breaks down some reference from his friend and mentor, Jeff Gabor, and gives tips on how to capture convincing reference quickly, effectively, and economically.

One strength of a good animator is to extract the essence of the reference footage—keeping what’s useful and discarding what isn’t. Rather than simply copying the reference, push it further to serve the animation, emphasizing clarity, caricature, and believability. A key part of his process is camera alignment. In the example below, he ensures that the framing of his reference matches the intended shot as closely as possible. If it’s a close-up in the animation, he shoots a close-up. This minimizes the gap between reference and final output, making it easier to translate movements and poses accurately.

Jeff also keeps his shooting environment clean and clear. He avoids clutter, wears clothing that highlights body movement, and ensures the lighting is strong enough to clearly see facial expressions and physical shifts. Props are another essential part of his method—if the scene involves a hat, he uses a real hat. If the character is lying down, he lies down too—authentic interaction matters.

What sets apart a good animator during the reference process is taking a deliberate and analytical approach. In Jeff’s case, rather than recording dozens of takes in a row, he records one take at a time, reviews it, critiques it, and then makes purposeful adjustments before shooting again. This iterative method allows for real progress with each attempt. Additionally, he experiments. He’ll do takes where he restricts head movement, or emphasizes a different physical choice, pushing himself to explore a broader acting range and ensuring each take is different. This helps break creative habits and leads to unexpected, sometimes better, performances.

In the end, the goal isn’t just to imitate reality, but to enhance it through animation principles—improving silhouettes, exaggerating weight, and making sure every choice supports the emotion and storytelling of the shot. Don’t just copy the action—focus, analyze, and create something new.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Animating a Quadruped

It’s time to walk the dog… or, at least, the quadruped. Learning how to animate a human on two legs walking is no small feat, much less a creature on four legs! How can we break down a quadruped walk into something more approachable? Luckly, quadrupeds aren’t that different from bipedal or human characters. Simply put, a dog walk cycle is just two bipedal characters walking slightly offset from each other. Animschool instructor and professional animator, Daniel Paul, is here to “walk” us through the doggie steps.

When animating a quadruped like a dog, understanding the underlying structure of its walk cycle is essential. Much like bipedal animation, dog locomotion relies on key poses—contact, passing, down, and up positions—which form the foundation of believable motion. While the specifics differ from human movement, the core principles remain consistent and extremely useful for animators.

In a typical dog walk, think of the front and back limbs as two offset bipedal systems. When the front right leg hits a contact pose, for example, the back right leg is likely passing through a mid-stride position. This offset timing is what gives dogs their distinctive gait, and getting this relationship right helps maintain balance and rhythm in your animation.

The pelvis and spine play crucial roles in this movement. As the legs spread during a contact phase, the pelvis drops downward. It then lifts again during the up position, mimicking a wave-like vertical motion throughout the stride. This “up and down” movement is not symmetrical front to back. The rear hips typically show more vertical bounce due to the strong, springy musculature in the hind legs, while the front chest—weighted with organs—moves with more restraint.

From a top-down perspective, the spine also rotates subtly. The chest twists in the direction of the lead paw, while the hips counter-rotate, helping to maintain balance during stride transitions. While this sounds complex, much of it happens naturally if your leg and pelvis animation is accurate.

Another key point: dog walks are not one-size-fits-all. Breed, size, and personality all influence gait—a large German shepherd is not going to have the same walk as a chihuahua. You must adapt your movement style to suit the anatomy and character of the dog you’re animating. Think of it not as copying a generic walk, but as crafting that dog’s version of it.

When studying reference, a good rule of thumb is to study the motion as it happens in real life. For a dog walk, that may involve finding the nearest pet dog and observing its movement. However, as real footage may become cluttered and hard to track, Paul also recommends studying the Balto pencil test, which breaks down wolf locomotion into clear, color-coded poses. One of the most important insights from the Balto pencil test is how the wolf transitions from contact to passing in just two frames, much faster than a human walking, making timing critical.

A good dog walk animation is about balance, rhythm, and sensitivity to anatomy. Use the foundational poses to block in your motion, study strong references like the Balto test, and then refine based on breed and performance. It’s a fine balance between technical accuracy and expressive storytelling. When done correctly, it brings your character to life, adds charm, and, most importantly, creates believability.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Avoiding Spline Depression

Spline and polish—two essential stages in the animation process—can often feel like a frustrating uphill battle, especially for newer animators, which can result in “spline depression.” Yet, as with any skill, with time and practice, the process becomes more intuitive and manageable. Still, that dreaded “ugly phase” never completely goes away—it just becomes easier to push through. In this clip from a live AnimSchool lecture, instructor Martin Scotto offers some important step-by-step tips in taking an animation from blocking to spline.

One of the most effective strategies to navigate this stage is to break the shot into manageable chunks. Whether it’s by frame range or body parts, working piece by piece helps avoid feeling overwhelmed. For example, you might start from the root of the motion and begin by polishing the body and center of gravity, then move on to the legs, spine, arms, and so on. Trying to spline everything at once often leads to chaotic results and progress that feels scattered, or, even worse, feeling like you are undoing work.

Track the arcs. If something feels off, it can often be traced back to the arcs. Try to draw out what is happening, whether on the screen or on a separate piece of paper or whiteboard, to help visualize the flow of motion. Furthermore, don’t solely rely on the computer to do the work for you—the default spline and auto tangent settings don’t take into account timing, weight, or intent. It’s only the first step in connecting the dots.

Don’t be afraid to delete keys. Simplifying the animation can make it easier to create a clean arc and polish up the motion. Analyze the curve and reduce it to just the essential poses; this will offer better control and cleaner results. If needed, don’t hesitate to rework a section by starting over from the blocking. Clean up and lock in the key poses, delete the clutter, and spline from a clean slate so that you are not working with a messy timeline.

Finally, be intentional with your tangents. Auto tangents can introduce overshoots that ruin otherwise solid motion. Use linear tangents when you want a clean hold, or adjust handles manually to sculpt the curve just right. You may even find that adding a few more keys in the right places creates better control than trying to wrestle with just two.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

What Makes Good Reference

Whether you’re a painter or an animator, reference is essential to any artist’s creative process. In this clip from a live AnimSchool lecture, instructor Timothy Suarez explains how to film good video reference that will make animating easier. He covers the importance of proper staging, collaborating with others, and how to film when you don’t have the same props as your character. Though reference may seem like it’s taking away from your time animating in Maya, Suarez reminds us that reference is the basis of the animation so it’s important to put the time in and get it right.

Using video reference doesn’t mean copying or rotoscoping. Instead, it’s about building a solid foundation to caricature and push performance. Having real physicality and genuine acting beats to work from gives your animation weight, timing, and believability.

What Makes a Good Video Reference

Cover All Acting Beats
Reference should include every key moment — emotional shifts, physical actions, and most importantly, moments of thought. Characters don’t always move; sometimes they pause, hesitate, or react internally, and these subtle beats bring performances to life.
Match the Camera Angle
Shoot your reference from a camera angle that’s as close as possible to the animation camera setup. This helps with staging and ensures that movement translates properly in the final animation.
Act It Out
Whether the character is lifting a heavy object or reacting to sticky goo on a wall, don’t fake it. Use props with real weight, or collaborate with someone who can physically perform the motion. Your body needs to experience the mechanics for the animation to feel right.
Consider a Sketch Pass
For shots that are too fantastical for live-action reference — like a bird shooting ice from its beak — rough sketches can help block out timing and layout.
Shoot Multiple Takes and Edit
Don’t settle on the first take. Record several and review them, then edit the best parts together or pick the strongest single performance to guide your work.

Don’t fake the physicality, and don’t be afraid to direct the actors!

Ultimately, good reference starts with good planning. Research the shot, understand the physics and emotion behind the action and characters, and don’t be afraid to look a little ridiculous in the process. The best performances come when animators let go of self-consciousness and fully commit to creating a great shot.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Dynamic Poses: Tilt, Rhythm, & Twist

When it comes to creating compelling animation, strong posing is everything. But crafting great poses isn’t just about technical skill—it starts with understanding character. Effective posing is a storytelling tool, and every pose should say something intentional, emotional, and clear. In this clip from a live AnimSchool lecture, instructor Tyler Kakac talks about how to create appealing, interesting poses that are genuine to who the character is using tilt, rhythm, and twist.

Before even touching a rig in Maya or any animation software, animators must ask the core questions: Who is this character? What are they doing? Why are they doing it? A pose is more than a static image; it’s a reflection of the character’s personality, mood, and intent. If you, as the animator, do not have a solid grasp of who the character is, you will not be able to translate that effectively to the audience—they will not understand the character anymore than you do.

Kakac draws from The Illusion of Life, explaining how three guiding principles can shape stronger poses:

Emotional – A pose should carry feeling. But avoid overcomplicating it: “Too much action spoils acting.” Subtle, intentional movement often speaks louder than a flurry of motion.
Intentional – Every pose must have purpose. Mushy actions lead to unclear storytelling. Clear poses stem from knowing exactly what the character is trying to convey.
Simple – Clarity is king. If a character is doing too much, the pose loses impact. Keep it focused so the audience knows exactly what to feel.

To add dynamism and visual interest, three elements can elevate any pose:

Tilt – Breaking symmetry adds appeal. A simple tilt of the head or hips loosens a stiff pose and creates a more natural feel.

Consider the bust in the bottom right: it feels stiff in comparison with the drawings to the left, demonstrating how tilt can add life and loosen up an otherwise rigid pose.

Rhythm – Think of the body’s overall flow. Strong poses use curves and lines to lead the eye where it needs to go. It’s not about detailing fingers or facial expression right away—it’s about capturing the essence of the movement.

Twist – Turning different parts of the body in varying directions adds form, movement, and dimensionality. Avoid flat, direct-to-camera poses unless there’s a good reason. Twist introduces energy and helps tell the story more clearly.

Strong posing is the animator’s first line of communication with the audience, bridging the gap between motion and meaning. When used with intention, tools—tilt, rhythm, and twist—power is added to the pose, and a single pose can not only tell a story, but elevate the entire story to another level.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Creating Rig Controllers in Maya

Whether you are an aspiring character rigger or an animator trying to rig a simple prop for a shot, knowing how to create rig controls is essential. In this clip from a live AnimSchool lecture, instructor Daria Jerjomina demonstrates how to create rig controls with NURBS curves, change their colors, and create attributes attached to them.

Controllers allow animators to interact with complex rigs in an intuitive and manageable way. While there are various options for building these interfaces, NURBS curves have become the standard for a number of reasons: non-renderable, easily distinguishable, scriptable, customizable, and overall easy to use.

The fastest way to create a controller is by creating a NURBS circle, which can instantly be used as a controller. However, the circle an also be further customized, or the user can draw out their own custom control using the CV curve tool. More complex and three-dimensional shapes can be achieved through creating a polygon and snapping the curve points to the vertices. These shapes are easily distinguishable from the rest of the 3D scene, which make them more user-friendly. Color coding further enhances usability—typically red for right-side controllers, blue for left, and yellow for center—allowing animators to instantly understand the layout of the rig.

Some things to keep in mind when creating a controller:

The controller should be a single object (parent shape or draw one curve)
Delete the history on the controller
Freeze transformation on the controller

Custom attributes can be added directly to curves to expose useful controls—like switches, sliders, or dropdown menus for facial expressions, visibility toggles, or rig modes. NURBS controllers also support advanced UI functionality. By locking or hiding certain transform channels, riggers can prevent users from breaking constraints or applying unintended transformations. Attributes can even be muted temporarily or add additional data with string or enum fields for scripting.

NURBS curves controllers blend seamlessly into the animation workflow by being visible where needed and invisible where not. Their scriptability, customizability, and efficiency make them ideal for building controllers that are both technically sound and easy to use.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

Animating Weight

When animating any sort of physical action, understanding and being able to effectively convey force is crucial. It’s about using motion to communicate struggle, weight, and intention. In this clip from a live AnimSchool lecture, instructor Anthea Kerou discusses the basic principles of animating weight. Through the classic “lift a heavy object” animation assignment, Anthea demonstrates what key features your animation should have in order to create a feeling of believable weight and force.

Force and weight becomes visible through the pose. A character pushing a heavy object won’t stand straight—they’ll lean, brace, and shift their center of gravity. This imbalance, with feet pushing backward and the torso leaning forward, is how animators signal effort. If a character’s center of gravity stays balanced, it won’t convincingly show that the object is heavy. Another useful way to assess how heavy an object is is the relationship between effort and effect. If a character puts in little effort but causes a big movement, the object appears light. But if there’s a lot of effort and little effect—like a character straining to lift something that barely moves—it signals weight and struggle, and force being applied.

An example of a character lifting a heavy bowling ball – the action of lifting the ball upwards and back creates momentum in that same direction, causing the character to step backwards to compensate for the change in center of gravity.

Note the difference in poses. In the upper example, the character stands straight—if they tried to push a box, it wouldn’t appear heavy/work properly because the center of gravity is straight with the body. In the lower example, the character’s pose allows for more force to be applied towards the box, indicating that it is heavy and requires more effort to be moved.

Gravity also plays a major role in how we perceive weight. Heavy objects fall faster and take longer to change direction. This principle can be applied through proper spacing—using arcs that accelerate as objects fall and decelerate as they rise or shift direction. Even spacing takes away from believability and realism, feeling robotic and stiff; instead, variation in timing and arcs gives the impression of mass and momentum.

From cristinateachingart.com

Storytelling in animation goes beyond motion—it’s about intent and response. If a character tries something that doesn’t work, they should visibly readjust and try harder. This adds realism and emotional depth, creating a much more compelling shot. Whether it’s a simple lift or a complex push, mastering these principles of force and weight is essential to creating realistic animations that resonate with audiences.

Watch the full clip from an AnimSchool lecture here:

At AnimSchool, we teach students who want to make 3D characters move and act. Our instructors are professionals at film and game animation studios like Dreamworks, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Blizzard & Disney. ⁠Get LIVE feedback on your Animation from the pros. Learn more at https://animschool.edu/

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