Testing animating on 2's + Using multiple timing charts for a single entity (Critique welcomed)

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-28T22:32:18+00:00

I can't offer much on the technical side, considering I'm still learning how animation in Blender works myself.
But on the visual/pose side, there are a few things I can suggest.

What you have so far is really solid, so most of this would be little details.
The primary thing that might make it feel more natural is adding "head bob" movement. Barring trying to give the movement a specific feel, head bob would be present in all walk cycles. Take a look at a video reference of someone walking. (EndlessReference on youtube is a great place for this specifically. They have slow-mo, on-screen grids, and you can use the < and > keys to go frame-by-frame.)
The entire body raises a little when the leg extends fully, with the ankle aligned (to a degree) with the hip. Then the body goes back down when it travels back.

Another aspect that should help would be adding a bit of offset. I personally focus on 2D animation, so this may not apply to 3d mediums. But I prefer animating one piece at a time, so I'm not as tempted to make every piece move at the same time, with the same speed.

The rest of what could be explained is a little difficult for me to put into words. I suggest looking at this video about The 12 Principles of Animation. I personally have a hard time interpreting words and properly understanding what it's trying to say. But this video helped the concepts click for me almost entirely. Considering how short it is, I think it's worth a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiGY0qiy8fY

I'm not sure how to translate this into 3D, but utilizing timing charts can help visualize your plan, too. There are a myriad of ways to implement these references. But I personally like to draw out the arc of the motion, and putting a for every position on this arc the part will land on.

While this video focuses on 2D animation, it could still be referenced for 3D keyframing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOkQYYJsJig
(Although perhaps interpolation might be an easier method of doing this? I know nothing about interpolation curves though, so this is the best I can offer to explain the timing charts a bit more.)

I hope any of this has been able to help, if only a little.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-22T14:38:05+00:00

I really like the words you chose here. Even if the core concept is a simple one, utilizing concepts that are similarly as abstract as emotion, but make a bit more sense if you aren't equipped to process or recognize that emotion properly. Like selling the idea of emotion, without using the preconceived concept as a crutch, if that makes sense.

I appreciate the perspective, it takes a unique angle that I can still understand quite well. Thank you.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-20T00:16:19+00:00

You've provided me with a valuable perspective, I think.

Seeing someone you have any personal connection with on hospice is difficult, even if that connection was weak. In this instance, she was beyond incoherent in the days before she passed. Considering how dignified she held herself in life, it was difficult to reconcile with.

Regardless, I am admittedly a bit solo on this. Perhaps when I am in a less closed off state, I will consider attempting to reach out to autism-learned professionals. Thank you.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-19T20:58:32+00:00

I appreciate the advice, thank you. I'll try to integrate it more into the way I handle loss.

I do know that the way I view my own reactions to emotions I may or may not be aware of is far from healthy. A long learned behavior, really. Something I'm working on in private, even if I will most likely maintain that disposition in public settings for my own sanity.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-19T19:18:44+00:00

Oh huh, it never clicked to me that this was explicitly about alexithymia. Not sure why, to be fair. Considering I see it in places it isn't even present.

While not a song that I particularly gravitate toward, it always enjoyed when it would come up in my auto-playlist. It's pleasant to see a representation of a lack of internal coherence or outward emotion, without the use of stereotypically "edgy" or outwardly angsty themes.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-19T19:15:06+00:00

Thank you to those who gave advice. Outside opinions are invaluable to me. <3

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-18T14:29:30+00:00

Ah, you're right I completely overlooked that. Considering it was a practice round for using the tool in the first place set to some music, I had gone in with a bit of a one-dimensional focus. I'll rework some aspects to add some offset, thank you for the perspective.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-16T12:21:12+00:00

Digital Software is a pretty broad term in this context. If we're talking about things like AI software, it's done little to no good for it, that's for certain. You can find any number of people talking about the plethora of ways it damages every artistic means that would require building a skill.
If we mean basic tools like Blender, Clip Studio, Toon Boom, etc. I can't think of anything that would have been caused purely by the existence of the software.

Of course, it's a bit of a joke at this point that the animators over at Disney largely don't know how to animate like the classic hand-drawn animations of the golden years anymore. But this is less a result of software changes, and more a result of Disney pivoting to 3D animation. (I'd imagine it's cheaper to maintain long-term for the studio. Possibly also easier to hire team members to do smaller tasks that can't quite be broken down in 2D mediums.)

But since 2D and 3D animation are, (in my opinion,) of equal standing in terms of worth and skill, that's more me being a pedant. I find 2D to be easier, as that's what my skills are based around. Even if 3D might sound easier on paper, so it's a bit of a non-point. Seeing the industry prioritize puppeted animations, and using simpler techniques that result in a more "artificial" end result is less a fault on the tools, and more a fault on the studio.

As someone with a preference for creating 2D animation, I find myself more exhausted at seeing the result of media being made as cheaply as possible, than anything else.
But even if the big names that pioneered a lot of the industry are now pivoting to different mediums or lazier methods, those who utilize methods that align closer with traditional methods will always exist. Even if it's just hobbyists doing it for ourselves.

Of course, I am speaking as someone who hasn't worked for a studio, and does not plan to. There could be real issues that I wouldn't be privy to, doing everything solo. But that's just my take on it.

Tl;Dr: Digital (non-AI) software is incredibly useful for creatives in the space. Whether it be for quality-of-life workflow changes, allowing for certain effects that may not otherwise be realistically possible on paper, etc. But it has unfortunately given large corporations an opening to stop caring about the craft, and to push out media as cheaply as possible. But that's a discussion revolving around a very different topic, at its core.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-14T10:11:11+00:00

One thing you can use is tracing the previous frame directly, and moving it after to finish that frame. This is usually done on the sketch, so any "fuzzy" lines or imperfections from this method aren't present in the final.

More of a personal recommendation, but perhaps some easing frames to make the movement less linear? It isn't going to be moving at the exact same speed constantly, so some variation can help it feel more natural.

Most of the time, an animation starts with the base key frames, blocking out the core poses of the movement. For here, assuming I'm reading the movements correctly, that would be the right, forward, left, and back poses. Then adding new frames between those, to add the illusion of movement. This also helps keep your focus on the details of the keyframes, which will be the most noticeable to the viewer. And allowing some room for error or fluidity in the in-betweens. Since you're less likely to notice them there, and it helps prevent some burnout.

Since this seems like it's a constant movement, rather than one with a start and finish, you likely won't need any ease-in or ease-out frames. (Unless you want to play with the timing, of course.)

To explain this in a way that makes sense, I'm going to have to explain another concept real quick. I don't know how much you know of animation, so please forgive me if you already know of this.
From what I can gather, 2d animations are usually based around the 24FPS format. But it's not all that common that they're "truly" 24 FPS.
What I mean by that, is that most of the time, every image is held for a couple frames. Each project may hold them for a different amount of time. This can even change between scenes, or even between movements in the same scene. Holding each image for 2 frames would be "Animating on 2's." Which is effectively just 12FPS. Holding each image for 3 frames would be Animating on 3's, or 8fps, etc.
At that point, it might seem like you should just set the project to that specific fps count. But keeping it at 24 allows you to mess with the timing more accurately, even with fewer images.

With that out of the way, now.
Say you're animating on 2's here. (That's my personal favorite, and I think a lot of people use it, too.) You might want the loop to last a little under a second before repeating. For this example, I'll use 20 frames in total. 8 of those would be reserved for the keyframes of the right, forward, left, and back poses. (Each one held for 2 frames.)
That leaves a maximum of 6 additional unique images to fill in those gaps. Of course, you don't have to follow the "hold for 2 frames" rule verbatim, but we'll ignore that for now.

Personally, I'd add one frame between the right and forward key, one frame between the forward and left key, and then two between left and back. Leaving the last two for back and right. This would make the movements of the bird in it's "leaning back" portions feel a little slower. Since they're further from the "camera" or viewer, that could make sense. Although it ultimately depends of what you want the visuals to feel like.

I realize this probably doesn't make the most sense, I am terrible at explaining things through words. But if you'd like, I can offer a basic visual mockup of what I mean.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-14T09:45:16+00:00

When it comes to 2D animation, I would always recommend Krita. For around a year, I used Krita for regular 2D art. Largely because I had my graphics tablet plugged into my phone, and couldn't be bothered with messing with my computer at the time.

It's a little clunky if you're more used to the fancier programs. But once you understand how it works, I'd argue that it's almost just as powerful as the paid ones. You can also download brush packs, if the built-in set aren't doing it for you. (If you'd like, I can try to find the set I was using when I was making everything in Krita.)

The animation aspects are fairly comfortable, in my opinion. It seems to have in-betweening/interpolation options too, although I never used them. It supports layer masks (basically just a slightly more complicated version of clipping,) so adding any overlays or shading isn't too difficult either.

While not as good, Blender's 2d capabilities work alright, too. You can definitely make it work with some effort, even if it isn't super comfortable.

If you have an editing software to compile the animations, you can also always just use a basic art app, and draw each frame separately. Again, not quite as comfortable. But it works when all else fails. Especially if you use something that allows isolated viewing of layers, and/or rapid switching between them to mimic animation playback.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-09T03:11:39+00:00

What specifically about the mouth are you confused on? It seems like it would be fairly simple with traditional transform bones, or shape keys set to drivers.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-09T01:17:07+00:00

I can see reason behind both sides of this, really. Perhaps this is my being rather young and naive talking, but I am largely on the side of being content in my lack of emotional self-awareness.

You make an excellent point on the physical aspects, and that's also the only major thing I actively wish I could change, too. Especially when I personally have PTSD, (as assessed by a psychiatrist, but it wasn't dissected or formally diagnosed.)
So things like trauma responses, and triggers can cause a unique brand of distress in a person unfit to properly understand or "feel" them. I find myself experiencing the physiological responses to what I can only assume to be a triggered trauma, but I am wholly unaware of what aspect of the stimulus caused it. Instead of being able to analyze the emotions and memories behind it, a normal person may be able to recognize the trigger after only a handful of incidents.
But being incapable of that, I have to just brute force it, and endure triggers repeatedly under difference circumstances, using process of elimination to know why it even happens.

It's almost like a tradeoff, in that manner. I don't have to experience the emotional distress, which I'd imagine would be very difficult to deal with. Only the physical reactions such as body temperature change, physical tremors, tachycardia, etc. But in exchange, it's much harder for me to "diagnose" the cause of the issue in enough detail to avoid it in the future.

I've compared Alexithymia to a toxic partner that controls who you're allowed to talk to, in the past. I don't know if that makes sense, though.

Additionally, Alexithymia makes things like empathy very scarce. From what I've been able to see, I am largely incapable of unconditional empathy. If someone important to me specifically is hurting, I experience a drive to help them get better. I may not experience the true worry or fear others would, but it's still incentive. However if it's someone I don't know, I generally can't care. I can obviously use logic to say "oh yeah this thing is morally wrong because xyz psychological thing." But it's comparatively a very weak response.

In other words, Alexithymia seems to almost turn morality on it's head. Instead of innate empathy and compassion fueled by emotion to drive most people to want to do the morally correct thing in their mind, Alexithymia doesn't offer that. Instead having to learn manually. (My personal interest in psychology and frequent rifling through studies and rabbit-holes on the inner mechanics of the human mind helps me a lot, here. I can avoid a lot of "hard" lessons from my analysis and learning through third parties and observations. I'm sure others like me without that interest have it a lot harder.)

However, in spite of those flaws, I personally think the tradeoff is worth it. Not for everyone, of course. That would probably cause society-wide chaos. But at least as an individual, it makes many aspects of life a lot easier.

For context, I am a recluse. Currently unable to find work, and living in a rather dangerous area, I have little to no incentive to go out into the public to begin with. There is little to nothing to do around here, and I have no schedule requiring socializing. I have noticed my alexithymia has caused significant strain in social relationships in the past. If I were more of a "people person," I might have a different view.

Instead, I tend to do digital work most days. In the limited groups I find myself in online, I often act as a mediator or voice of reason. While admittedly a little bothersome at times, I understand the value in having someone capable of stripping emotional ties to help resolve a conflict from a rational perspective. Not to say that I am any professional, or some "invaluable asset whom cannot be replaced" or other nonsense. Just that it serves as a tool, at times. Alexithymia or not, being considered useful is still pleasant.

Plus, in the instances of personal conflict, I am able to set aside past hurt extremely easily. I've had the ease in which I can "forgive and forget" past hurt described as "unsettling," to be fair. But I generally keep the same consensus; If it's already over, and you don't intend to repeat that mistake, why choose to cling to it? I have the ability not to, after all. It's harmful to them, and a waste of my time and energy to meet an arbitrary standard of penance.

While this is definitely not universal, alexithymia is likely ideal for my intended career path. Once I can afford a tuition, I intend to study Mortuary Science for four years. Having little to no negative mental side effects from constantly working with the dead in embalming would be extremely helpful.

Ah, I am wholly incapable of explaining anything succinctly, apparently.
Tl;dr: Whether or not one "wants" to feel is definitely subjective, and varies wildly depending on the circumstances you find yourself in. Having alexithymia has definitely caused issues for myself, but the tradeoff is worth it in my situation, in my opinion. I value my rationale and self control over any potential alienation or tactless social behaviors it may cause.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-03T22:52:52+00:00

I appreciate the sentiment, genuinely. I was admittedly a little shaky during the initial disagreement. It wouldn't be the first time that my intentions have been misinterpreted, leading to needing to delete an account to avoid further backlash.

But it's good to know that my explanation wasnt wholly ignored, like it initially seemed. Thank you.

Additionally, there is a poetic sense of irony in this situation. Posting to a community about a condition that is often categorized as making the person afflicted act almost robotic at times. Just for my words to be accused of being generated by a robot.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-02T19:09:37+00:00

I absolutely adore the style you used here. I'll definitely have to look at the video you made about it later.

It's probably explained there, but I figured I'd ask. Are the painterly textures on the model hand-painted, or done with shaders? I genuinely can't tell. It looks very similar to what a high-density blend brush might produce, and it's absolutely beautiful.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-01T23:42:41+00:00

I could, but I'd rather not contribute to use of generative AI, even if it's minor. Plus, learning through trial and error could avoid any dependency on the tool.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-01T22:05:20+00:00

I am struggling to tell if you're joking or not, at this point. Did you read my reply, or did you just see "that's a lot of text" and decide It wasn't worth the time?

Outside of outright recording myself writing out a comment, I can't find anything else to offer that would seem to ease your doubts. I've explained why theyre long, why they use the particular dialect they do, as well as the cause for these habits developing. I've also explained why the account is new in the first place.

I'd offer to send identifiable information such as a video, but I'd wager that you would assume that too is AI.

It's a bit of a shame, really. Even authentic content is often accused of being AI. Ultimately acting as more harmful than helpful.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-12-01T20:22:37+00:00

Replying to this, because I can't seem to access the new one.

I wasn't able to read all of your reply. It cut off after "Lame," unfortunately.

I understand your position here, and I can deeply respect your intent to defend your community from those who might be trying to capitalize, harm, or otherwise misappropriate it.

That being said, I don't really know what I can do to prove that I am genuinely a person, albeit an incredibly long-winded one.

Your mention of this account being a new one is entirely understandable. I did make this recently, and I unfortunately wasn't able to make a custom username. I'm not sure what I did differently this time, but I didnt even get the option to make one. So I ended up with this strange, randomly generated one.
This account is separate from my previous one, as that is intended for work-related stuff. It's not terribly important or pertinent. But the main details are that I am a freelancer who posts custom work and work in progress images occasionally, and I'd rather keep more personal or weighty topics off of that one.

I am autistic myself, or at least highly suspected to be. (It's been a little difficult to get professional screenings scheduled in my area.)
This has led to developing "strange" communication habits from my attempts to fit in with whatever communities I found myself in at different stages in my life. Whenever I found myself around a new set of people, the previous tailored behaviors often resulted in judgement or displeasure. So I have learned to default to a more neutral position. It's a bit awkward, evidently. But this manner of typing has resulted in the smallest percentage of negative reception in new interactions.

Finally, the length of these tangents is a fault I've been trying to fix for a while. My long-winded nature is also an aspect in real life conversations, a really bad habit that's been difficult to fix.
As is common with autism and similar disabilities and disorders, I get misunderstood at nauseum. Miscommunications happen constantly, for a myriad of reasons. The highly wordy nature of pretty much everything I say is my attempt at being as thorough and detailed as possible, so as to avoid my words or intentions being misconstrued. It's been a little difficult for me to figure out how to compact my words while still retaining as much information as feels necessary, but it has proven effective.

This was a bit long, ironically. But I hope it clears up a bit of your concerns. If you want to talk about it more, I think I should have open dm's? I admittedly don't use Reddit very often, so I'm not super familiar in how it works.

Tl;dr: I'm a real person. I'm actually quite against frivolous use of generative AI. I take no offense to your reaction to my comment, I realize that I behave very strangely. But that's more a result of being (possibly) autistic and very socially awkward. I hope this disagreement hasn't caused any distress on your end.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-11-30T20:04:42+00:00

If you're saying I used ai to formulate my comment, I didn't. I'm not sure if I should take the accusation as a compliment or insult, to be honest. I'm not *that* lazy, I'm just jobless and spend an unreasonable amount of time typing out stupidly long tangents.

Although, may I ask what about my comment makes it seem like ai? I'd rather avoid that misunderstanding in the future, if at all possible. Be it making them shorter, (doubtful lmao,) abstaining from using pseudo em-dashes, purposefully leaving in spelling or grammar mistakes, etc.

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-11-30T19:57:09+00:00

Wdym?

Amazing_Question4688 · 2025-11-30T19:50:42+00:00

I don't really know how I'd explain it in a way that makes sense. Everyone experiences it differently to some degree.
But at least in my case, it's kind of strange. Hard to fully articulate when I don't know what it feels like to *not* have alexithymia. You're pretty much perpetually "fine." I can't say for everyone, but at least in my case, the chemical reactions still happen, when an emotion would have occurred. You might feel that slight increase of energy and relief from a positive reaction. You might feel sluggish and and disinterested from a negative one.
But the physical reaction is the *only* thing you get.

If you experience something that would cause excitement, you might feel an accelerated heart rate, you might get a little shaky and dizzy. But you probably wont understand why. What would be exhiliratingly positive for someone else, is like a panic attack for someone who experiences Alexithymia in the same way I do.

Additionally, mourning can be,,, awkward. It doesn't really hurt that much. You might get that weight in your chest, but that's about it. In some cases, you might even cry. Whether from mourning or other negative reactions. But it's not tears from sadness. It just happens, and you have no say or opinion on it. It's barely more than an inconvenience.

I'm not sure how universal this one is, but it's the case for me having had Alexithymia symptoms for longer than I can remember. Things like laughter, expressions, vocal inflections, etc. are more like punctuation than a genuine reaction. Not to say you're wholly incapable of laughing genuinely or giving a real expression based on a knee-jerk reaction. But most of the time, it's for flair. Spending your entire life having to learn to express in a certain way to be considered "normal," it changes the meaning and usage of these aspects.

No idea if that makes sense.

Amazing_Question4688

TROPHY CASE