This first post isn't exactly a bootcamp exercise... It's sort of a fundemental exercise I decided to do for myself. I did a single ball bouncing using squash stretch and ease in and out in flash. I did it in the course of a classtime here at school (We don't have a computer animation major... so I make use of the time I can ) It wasn't a perfect animation by far, but acceptable for the time being. I decided to go back to my dorm room after class and recreate the 2D ball bounce animaiton in A:M. This is the result. I've been doing lots of character animation tutorials and such, and I wanted to go extremly simple and try to apply the fundamentals that I've learned through research in 2D and 3D. I'm much more pleased with the A:M version, and I encourage your expert critiques. I'm going to move from this to the bootcamp exercises soon.

The flash version:
http://rapidshare.de/files/10997074/ballbounce.swf.html
The A:M version is attatched.

I forgot to add the link to the original flash version, which is not updated. I'm using a rather limited host for the file, if anyone knows of a better one, please let me know.

A few quick notes...

- the "stretches" seem to be skinnier without actually stretching longer. It's losing "volume".
- the ball starts to unstretch before it hits the ground the first time. The contact frame should be the most stretched of all.
- the stretched contact frame before the squash is not quite contacting the ground.
-have the frame immediately after teh squash be already off the ground,but not in the same position as the frame immediately before it contacts the ground (to prevent our eyes from seeing them as the same thing)

The timing is generally good. The above are small details, but important ones for convincing action.

Keep animating!

I fixed the stretches being smaller at the point of contact, and also made it that the longest stretch is making contact. The ball keeps volume now, that was a really good point and I don't have a good excuse for missing that, just wasn't paying attention I guess. The repeated postition has been corrected as well. Thanks a lot for the critique! Here's the updated render:

When the ball comes to its final resting position I think it could use a very small amount of squash and stretch, just to keep it from looking dead. The last bounce, right before it stops is completely still. Just a slight nudge of squash and stretch will put some life back in it.

Allright, sounds like a good idea. I'll apply it tommarow and post the render here. Any other suggestions before I tackle it again tommarow?

Hmmm... i still feel like th ball is losing volume. the stretch is still only a hair longer then the ball was high and the squash is definitely no wider that the ball was at the start.

But the timing is really good on the first bounce. It's classic bouncing ball. The hang time on the subsequent bounces seems long.

Allright, here's a repost after making the recommended adjustments. I adjusted over the timing of the bounces with the exception of the first one, I feel the results feel more heavy. I also worked on the squash and stretch a bit, and now the overall consistency is better. It's easy for me to say all this, so what are your thoughts?

Looks pretty good in general.

To nit pick, instead of having 3 frames of contact with the floor, make the second stretch above the floor. IOW it leaves the ground immediately after the squash.

The stop is too abrupt.

Ah yes, I mis-read that. I was thinking that the first bounce up frame should be making contact as well. I'll fix it tommarow.

Allright, all adjustments made. Any improvments at this point that you guys see?

MUCH, much better

Tweak the last few bounces, their hight dies off to quickly, need more bounces.

Hey Lynx,

Nice spacing. The stretch before impact seems a little long (5-6 frames), maybe try one or two. Overall nice bounces.

Bruce

Hi Lynx,

Good job on the bounce. Overall it looks quite good, but two things stand out for me. First of all it seems that they stay at the top of the bounce a little bit too long. It is good to have the ball slow as it reaches the top of the bounce and slowly accelerate back down, but it feels to me that it is hanging there a little too long (I could be wrong). Secondly, the end of the bounce seems to stop too abruptly. Maybe have it roll just slightly when it stops. Keep up the good work!

Paula

Those are pretty good bounces. You might add a small jiggle at the end so it doesn't look quite so rigid after the last landing.

Thanks a lot to everyone for the comments, they've all been great.

Here's a repost, making the suggested improvments. I gave the ball a little bit of forward momentum, with a very gradual deceleration. At the end, the ball has some small jiggle fluxuations, and I am really pleased with those thoughts alone. Let me know your thoughts guys.

...Now that I think about it, I didn't adjust the stretch frames. What do the others think about Bruce's comment?

Hey lynx-O,

Very nice bounce, nice spacing. On the first fall particularly, you may want to start the stretching a little later, the ball is stretched out most of the fall. Even for a ball as elastic as yours, you want the stretch to be more of an anticipation of impact than the ball’s basic shape during it’s fall. Great job, nice work.