so after getting the hang of materials and modeling(thought not perfect), i thought I'd get familiar with animation. so i did the first one witch is the bouncing ball.

and don't go easy one me!!!!!
i have high standards....

Welcome to Bootcamp soldier. We'll make a man-i-mator out of you

OK, first off, your movie file size is way too big for such a simple exercise. No need to be cute with lighting, motion blur and all that. Besides, it makes watching your movie for critique difficult.

I'd like to ask if you have Richard William's "The Animator's Survival Kit" book? If not, get it, somehow, maybe you can find a second hand copy from Amazon.com. In this book you'll find all the exercises we do here and in detail.

From what I can see of your bounce, the ball is squashing before it hits the ground. Rule of thumb: first frame ball touches the ground it must be in maximum stretch. Next frame ball is squahsed. Next frame ball is off the ground and in maximum stretch again. The only time the ball is in default shape is when it is in its highest point up.

All this you'll find in the book I mentioned. Now get back there and do 50 laps

The motion blur is a bit strange. As Dhar said, distracting.
It doesn't look like standard motion blur.

I've added some commentary to the attached.
You are off to a good start!

lol sorry, i don't use motion blur that often. and i just thought ...well, what the heck. i'll post an improved and non motion blured one.

btw sorry i accidentally rendered it at vga.

heres an improved version, this time theres no motion blur and i rendered it at low this time . but i had to keep the lighting, i hate the basic set up.....

Would the ball be stretch both coming down rapidly as well going back up ?
It looks kind of odd to me that the ball changes shape from up and down. As if hits the floor going up and turn into a ping pong ball then revert back down to rubber squishy ball.

heres one with hair, dose that count as a tail?
btw its not perfect just a test

Yes. The ball should touch the ground in only two frames, one frame is fully stretched and one frame is squashed. After that it's off the ground fully stretched on the way up.

Hey Isiac, I don't think the hair woul count as a tail since the tailball exercise includes animating the behavior of the tail as the ball bounces.

Take a look at the exercises the other students have done and see if you can learn from their progression and pick up on some of the do's and don'ts of this exercise.

heres my new bounce, but i think the ball falls to slow on the first drop....

faster bounce

2 balls with 2 different materials

A couple of things about the bouncing ball; I see three frames on the ground, which is giving the bounce a "sticky" feel. And watch the arcs of the fall in your channel editor. The ball needs to accelerate as it reaches the ground, accelerates as it bounces up and then decelerate as it reaches the highest point. The same goes for the two balls