You might be missing out, by animating only the big bits.

It's funny since it has been awhile that I have actually posted my own points. But here it goes...

I'm going to put this in Big and Bold
"You are missing Bit's that need animated!!!"


Unless you one of these people already,  there is a myriad of thing's that you forget to fill into your animation...

Point.. 1 the Neck
People don't notice how much your neck does, it alone moves your head and supports it and in turn it is only made of 7 spinal bones from C1 to C7. if you miss out animating the neck your character will look like it has a floating head and also you miss out a vital point of your line of action, also you can make it counter react the body with the head and neck turned away from the other character, making the your character not seem to be interested in the character and more interested in something else.

Point.. 2 The shoulder blades
If you have controllers for the shoulder... use them it makes the the character move more realistic. The shoulder blade moves freely in space, it is not tethered other then the point at the clavicle. It then in turn holds in place the head of the shoulder in place.That is why is can achieve so much moment, don't think that action starts at the shoulder think of it like the movement starts at the shoulder blade.

Point ... 3 the wrist.
Now this is what really gets me, the wrist has some great movement in it. I'm not saying that spend your allotted time on it but know that is there. the wrist is rotated by the two bones in the lower arm and by the tendon's that originate from the elbow. The movement is constricted from the shape of the bones and the the two bones being rotated. Don't just animate the fingers, remember the wrist.

Point... 4 the ankle... the last thing I will include in this post I promise.

The ankle I love it. It braces and supports the body but it also can show attitude (just think how much it does on a sneak). it is also like the wrist in the way it is controlled by tendons that are part of the muscles of the lower leg. You can also see a lot of different walks because of the ankle sometimes getting weak on one side so the body has to compensate with turning the leg inwards or outwards and if it has been going on for a long time the body will have curved the spine to the side that is weak to support the balance of weight.

So before cleaning up, adding eye moment, arcs and lip-sync. Just remember have you thought of the easily forgotten areas of the body that can give you attitude?