Using the Tail Rig involves learning how to effectively animate complex ball and tail movements through a method known as the blocking technique. Blocking is a crucial step in animation, where the key poses and movements are laid out in their simplest form without focusing on the finer details. This approach helps establish the tail’s overall timing, spacing, and major actions before adding smooth transitions.
with two distinct body parts: the tail and another part of the character (like the body or head). The challenge lies in coordinating the tail animation with the motion of another part, ensuring that the two elements move in harmony.
drawing mannequins and focusing on the line of action to help understand how motion flows through a character’s body. The line of action helps define the direction, energy, and posture of a figure, making it easier to create dynamic and balanced poses.
Reflecting on the drawing exercises, having never drawn before made it challenging to grasp the fundamentals of proportions, shapes etc. The process felt unfamiliar, and translating motion onto paper required more practice than expected. however this proved exciting as to further develop character animation skill.
When applying these principles to the animations, the blocking character often resulted in movements that appeared too smooth or lacked the sharpness needed to convey weight and force, especially in the tail and ball animations.