It's one of the 12 principles of animation, “ Follow-through and Overlapping Action '' but what

does it mean? In animation, you can generally move an object in two different ways, robotically

or organically. But if you have the exact same character rig, how do you make a character look

like a robot in one scene and a living, breathing human in the other?

Picture this, you are animating a hand slapping down on a table. In the first version, you pose the hand up high and add a pose once it contacts the table. Now in between these two poses, you keep the arm perfectly straight, and the entire arm hits the table at once. Now let's try again, we have the

same start pose and the same end pose but in between as the elbow gets pulled down by force,

the hand drags behind, and suddenly the motion feels organic and forceful. Let's add another layer,

instead of just the hand dragging behind, allow the fingers to drag as well.

In this example instead of the entire arm contacting the table at once, first, the upper arm will make contact, then the lower arm, followed by the palm, and lastly the fingers follow through as the final point of contact before the hand and arm come to rest. Did you feel the difference? In the second

version, we used force to create overlap and drag in our action which allowed our character

to feel Alive!

In this lecture, Animschool Instructor, Tim Rudder, explores the fundamental

Principle of Overlap in Animation and demonstrates how with just a bit of additional overlap you

can make your animation truly feel alive.

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. ⁠

Our alumni currently enjoy an 82% placement in the industry within 6 months of graduating.

Start your animation journey in our accredited online animation program at animschool.edu (ACCSC)⁠