smooth animation

Question

This might be a bit unrelated to the current exercise but i'hv always wanted to know this. How does our eye catch all these movements, like initially i made this animation a straight line with the antenna movement and it looks kinda static?? and then i followed the tutorial and added all the overlaps and dips and rotations and it looks good and smooth, So, does our eyes like more movement even if the movement is tiny? . I wish i could express myself better but the language barrier is limiting me

Answer 1 · 2025-03-28T17:27:04Z

Omar Domenech replied Friday at 5:27pm

Wayne will know better, but I guess it's along the lines of millions of years of evolution, seeing faces everyday and that depending on our survival, to notice all the small gestures in the face and movements, to know if we're in danger or we have to run away from a lion. In other words, the human brain is probably wired and adapted from natural adaptation to look for those tiny movements, since our passing on our genes depend on it. At least that's my crazy theory. TED Talks here I come.

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Answer 2 · 2025-03-28T20:47:33Z

Wayne Dixon replied Friday at 8:47pm

I believe Omar is on the money. Our sight has evolved from evolution driven by survival.
There is information embedded in movement that our brains have learned to interpret.

For example...
a tree branch blowing gently in wind = that is not dangerous
Vs
a tree branch shaking weirdly = arg, there's a drop bear that is about to attack.

If it's something that helps us survive, the brain pays attention.

As animators we learn to heighten this skill. First we learn to notice the tiny subtleties that make a difference to the different meanings of movement.

Then we learn to add that to our art, to craft better motion.

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