This week, I focused on refining the spline phase of my animation, pushing the movement to feel smoother, more natural, and emotionally consistent with the character’s performance.
In one shot where the character rushes toward the camera, the movement felt too linear and abrupt. To improve this, I added a buffer or anticipation at the start, and ensured the head followed a natural arc path rather than moving in a straight line. This helped convey more weight and intention behind the action.
In some shots featuring dialogue, I realized that the facial animation was active, but the body remained too static, which broke the illusion of a living character. I adjusted the torso, shoulders, and head to have subtle supportive movements, making the lip sync feel more grounded and connected to the whole body.
Spline Adjustments
After moving from blocking to spline, I concentrated on:
Cleaning up curves in the graph editor to remove mechanical timing and make the transitions feel fluid
Adding ease-in and ease-out to give weight and intention to each action
Polishing overshoots and follow-through so that the motion flows more convincingly
These changes helped bring more believability and rhythm into the animation, particularly in moments of anticipation, impact, and subtle reaction.
Pose Refinement
In parallel, I continued refining the character’s body poses, building on the feedback I received last week. I focused on:
Ensuring the entire body participates in each action—not just isolated limbs
Adding more twist, weight shift, and asymmetry to enhance visual interest
Fine-tuning the silhouette clarity for readability and appeal