Timing

Everything in life has a rhythm and a pace, from a conversation to walking down the street. Of course not all of these rhythms are the same. You don't walk at the same rate that you speak, and you don't tell a joke the same way you tell a sad story. Without Timing, doing these things, or animating these actions, wouldn't make any sense.

What is Timing?

Timing is the principle that establishes when things will happen, and how fast or slow they will happen [1]. If the animator wants to make actions slower, they will create more drawings (traditional animation) or keyframes (3D animation), because more means smoother and gradual changes over time. If the animator want to create quicker movements, they will not use as many drawings or keyframes. The missing frames creates the illusion of speed because the character jumps from one position to another all at once, and our eyes blur what happens in between.
There is different Timing depending on the situation, the style of the animator, as well as what is being animated. Edmond is running late, but he arrive later in the post to help explain further.

Please watch this very humorous example of Timing in Disney's Tangled [2]:

Meeting Maximus

What am I looking at?

• First let's look at the smoothness in the very beginning of this clip. Everything is slow and smooth. This Timing creates a mood of peacefulness, even though Maximus (the horse) is very angry.

• In the next moment (0:15), Rapunzel (the girl) leaps up and looks around. These movements are very fast and jerky. Notice that there are large differences between her poses (when she stops moving). This makes the Timing very quick and the mood very frantic.

• Both fast and slow Timing are used together in many actions. For example, eyes usually move very quickly compared to the head, but they are both apart of looking around. 

• Watch how the animator moved Maximus, starting at (0:45). Most of his movements are very jerky and fast. However, the combination of fast and slow movements in this scene create a lot of humor and make the character very appealing.

• As Rapunzel tells Maximus to drop the boot (0:57), watch the way Maximus moves. What makes it humorous is that he doesn't move for at least 3 seconds before he spits out the boot. Then once he spits it out, the action surprisingly quick. By using the right combination of fast and slow, and inserting that pause in between the command and the action, the animator has given us a great example of the use of Timing. 

• Continue to look for these moments throughout the rest of the clip.

How can I use this in my work?

Just like anything else, gaining skills in Timing takes a lot of hard work and practice. The more you play around with it, try different techniques and discover what works, what looks good, and what doesn't work or look good, the more you will learn. 

• When deciding whether to make an action fast or slow, think about how it would be in real life.

• After studying real life examples, think about what emotions come up with different speeds of actions.
•  For example, quick movements can imply:
• Urgency
• Frustration
• Skill
• Efficiency 
• Slow movements can imply:
• Sadness
• Age
• Calm
• Control

• Once you know the Timing of an actual movement, and what emotion you want to bring to the action, you can then try to work the two together. You can make certain actions shorter or longer to see what comes out.

Ah, here is Edmond now to help put these ideas to practice. Here, Edmond sees a delicious looking flower. He then proceeds to eat it. Edmond will help us play with different combinations of timing.

Between each picture, label it fast or slow. Then, try to imagine Edmond moving quickly or slowly depending on what you put. For example:

A. Fast
B. Slow
C. Fast

In my example, Edmond looks quickly (fast) behind him, slowly (slow) moves to eat the flower, and then quickly (fast) snatches it up and eats it. Try to imagine different combinations that you can make with this situation. 

 A.                  

B.                   

C.                   

Sources:

[1] Atkinson, David. Animation Notes #5 Principles of Animation.  Retrieved from http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_principles.html.

[2] Conli, R., Keane, G., Lasseter, J., Scribner, A. (Producers), Greno, N., & Howard, B. (Directors). (2010) Tangled. United States: Walt Disney Pictures.