Animation basics: The art of timing and spacing - TED-Ed

View full lesson: ed.ted.com/less...
Expert timing and spacing is what separates a slide show from a truly amazing animation. TED-Ed demonstrates, by manipulating various bouncing balls, how the smallest adjustments from frame to frame can make all the difference.
Lesson and animation by TED-Ed.

[@Flikaline]

They never mention anything! If they had just mentioned that timing and spacing relationship at college, everything they told me this year on my animation course would have made a lot more sense. The simple things are the easiest to miss and it doesn't depend on intelligence. It's like art classes at school, the ones who were good at it were the ones who applied the principles naturally and subconsciously while the rest of us didn't learn anything. This is a wonderful video which could solve many problems.

[@maryerre7092]

I thought the same thing, was it that hard for my teacher to explain like this instead of just read or repeat like a robot??

[@deliverus6856]

That’s why I dropped out of art school cause I learned more on my own than those teachers taught us

[@crisptomato9495]

Omg are you me?? First day of school our prof hands us an x sheet, says “fill it out” and nothing else and then fails a third of the class on the first assignment because none of us knew how to label properly 😭

[@kerokerobonita]

That last sentence was such a mic drop moment, so good.

[@arnaudkupke2606]

so true :')

[@gtfghj3267]

Ikr

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Just as entertaining as it is educational.

[@nuttynoah5342]

I really like your animations,man!keep it up!

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

@@nuttynoah5342 Thanks, I really appreciate that :) Working on new animations and animation tutorials.

[@chairmanofdabored4120]

Luv your stuff m8

[@wistfulpinecone]

This is the best explanation of animation timing I've ever seen! Very easy to understand while also explaining important concepts. Great job!

[@astroshock2191]

I'm a junior animator working for an animation studio. Believe me when I say this , if you want to be an animator this is what you need to know and master. If you can understand this 6 minutes of content then trust me, learning other 11 principles won't be very hard then. Yes you will have to work really really hard because animation is not easy. But nothing is more powerful than giving life to things.

[@UpAt3.00AM-o_o]

😭soo true also a animator 👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼

[@johnjoeparrot]

Those examples of timing in real scenarios (push, saw, punch, ball) are very useful. Going to make a photo with those as a starting point when I map out my thumbnails

[@AkshayKumarX]

The most effective visual tutorial I've been blessed with on this particular topic yet.

[@Bluehousesys]

I almost teared up because after searching for years on this same subject I finally understand at nearly 3 am

[@thesleepydot]

I am so impressed with this explanation. Helped tremendously! Thank you!

[@z4ls7]

there is something about this video that is very catchy, one cant just stop watching the video until it ends

[@impastostudios-animatedcri4440]

Really fantastic explanations! I love the inclusion of Norman McLaren, an unknown in many respects but definitely worth studying. Would love to see more from you!

[@Al_Rey]

The words used to explain spacing and timing in animation is just absolutely perfect. I couldn't understand spacing and timing my entire time *making* animations

[@Abdallah_yusuf]

the whole semester in just 6 minutes! wow thanks guys

[@BirdOfParadise777]

I really liked the bouncing ball part. :)

[@werewasyo]

brought a tear to my eye at the end

[@ChristopherHale]

Best bouncing ball lecture I've seen... and I've see quite a few.

[@HosamSultan]

"What you see is much less important than what you Don't see"... WOW! such a quote that sums it all up...

[@GraceMojicaR]

Brilliant explanation about timing and spacing

[@professorparks5543]

great explanation of one of the most basic principles of animation - one that is so basic it's often overlooked! The comparative examples are particularly helpful.

[@DollieRott]

I struggled to understand this the first time I heard about it but now with just a six-minute video it become so much clearer

[@mrwabit]

Wonderful stuff TED, more of this kind of thing please!

[@NiazMohammad]

One of the easiest explanations to understand without too many jargons

[@Martingus484]

Explicaste la magia de la animación en poco tiempo y en un solo video tutorial, muy buen trabajó.

[@animeforever8508]

It is definitely one of the best videos I have ever seen

[@GSPV33]

Very well made and presented.

[@sonicboom428]

Understanding this is how you master a platformer, like Mario.

[@AnastasjaArt]

This is the best "so far" video I have seen about timing & spacing in animation

[@BridgeBuilder2006]

Brilliant presentation of the essentials with excellent illustrations for each point.

[@اطلبالحقوالرحمة]

your animation is so soothing, thank you Ted-Ed

[@brianbrewster6532]

Thank you for explaining this with clever illustrations. This will help me a great deal when I animate a bouncing ball using Visual Basic.

[@jaydeeh77]

That was really awesome, well explained, made my day to watch!

[@robcv420]

This really helps me understand more about timing and spacing. Thank you!

[@toonybrain]

Excellent video. Clear instruction, to-the-point, very well done.

[@samie273]

very useful video never seen such easy to understand content about timing and spacing great work ted

[@LaceyHollow]

This was very relaxing to watch.

[@aramshwany318]

Very useful information, thanks to those who made this video

[@symbolxchannel]

Will there be more "Animation basics"?

[@edenweb370]

they have 11 total lessons :) ed.ted.com/series/?series=animation-basics

[@jamiejones6236]

@@edenweb370 You were four years late on answering him

[@edenweb370]

@@jamiejones6236 14 people enjoyed the late response

[@BlazeZ__]

@@jamiejones6236 you were 2 years late and i am one month late

[@aiineyko224]

@@BlazeZ__ You were 1 month late and I am 4 months late

[@srgamingoverload3313]

Most best mind bending explanation

[@akinaguda]

OMG this... This explanation. It's all I needed

[@iamkind2771]

I understand it very easily. Nice explanation. Thank you.

[@Q8Police777]

Waw. Your videos never cease to amaze me.

[@filipemecenas]

That is realy good explanation on timming and spacing

[@AmulBhatia85]

wonderful explanation..

[@simonsteagall2300]

That was awesome! Told me so much!

[@bretthoppough]

Best explanation I've found comparing timing and spacing. Thank you!

[@markgrey5360]

This was very useful, I learned a lot from it thank you. 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@David__s2n]

Crucial details regarding the loss of funds and the steps for recovery.

[@michelles7601]

I think that just through watching Videos like this one, your animating skills will improve.

[@GreenBlueClouds]

Beautifully explained

[@davedave9]

awesome video!

[@otterkitty18]

This video is great, I was having a hard time trying to explain the difference between timing and spacing, but this video really helped me out a lot! Will you be going over the other principles of animation? I think it would be a great to make a complete series of the twelve principles. :)

[@jaynavajasso7734]

Very helpful!! Thank you so much for making this. Gonna need a lot of practice, but this is an amazing place to start getting info.

[@boneyvg475]

That was really helpfull .thanks a lot I had hard time understanding the time and spacing.this video has helped me understand that thanks once again

[@magnasolus2773]

Wonderful, this helped me for my animation subject since I'm having a bit difficulty on this principle.. :D

[@Martingus484]

Bestia de TUTORIAL😍

[@harrydvilchez6842]

great job explaining with this vid really catchy

[@aisham6819]

Very true. Time and Space sets the difference of how animation motion works. If the ball is bouncing, at what rate is it bouncing?(time), and at where is it bouncing?(space).

[@pepper-ds7gc]

2:21 golf ball 2:25 rubber ball 2:30 beach ball 2:35 bowling ball

[@Damain2-big_brother]

That was a great lesson.

[@drummermanic]

Nice educational video.

[@djERICSPEEd]

Great lesson.

[@HomegrownTyrone]

Thank you, I always wondered how this works

[@Benimation]

Great soundtrack!

[@lagle8]

Learned mor in this video than in 5 (45 min long) computer classes.

[@R-Otaku747]

That was awesome!

[@Iamlegend91]

Very Insightful!

[@MoosCode]

This helped a lot !

[@bakaiggy]

Beautifully explained :)

[@StarlingofAzerath]

I like how this separates timing and spacing. Some tea hers will say they are the same thing when they arent

[@MessingWithMatches]

that was beautiful

[@SimoneManna3D]

very nice! I share it on my blog! :)

[@aakankshatrivedi8078]

This is so helpful. Thank youuuu :)

[@geezerdk]

Good useful tutorial, thanks!

[@EdwinDPZ]

The problem I have is figuring out how many frames an action should last. I'll spend hours drawings frames only to see it all put together and realize it goes by way too fast or way too slow.

[@cornonthecob9294]

Same! Have you ended up figuring it out? I'm still at a loss, haha

[@Shining4Dawn]

1:44 You need to act it out or to experience it as it would happen in real time. That means you should perform the action or simulate it in some way while also measuring with a timer. There's an Android app called Animation Timer which was developed by a student animator which measures time and also converts it to different frame rates to make things easy for animators. If you can, you should film yourself performing the action and setting the camera to the same frame rate you're animating in or edit the footage to fit frame rates. You would have perfect reference for the length, the timing and the spacing.

[@stephanos6128]

Theres a thing Don Bluth talks about called Beats Per Frame I think, look into that too, interesting stuff for me, cus planning the timing and spacing still kinda fucks me up, I make my main keys/poses and sort of... I guess "space" them out on the timeline, usually 3 poses. I use FlipAClip so the spaces/frames are literally blank until the next pose (or sometimes just the previous pose copy pasted until the next pose, it really depends on what I'm doing) If its slow movement, my main keys/poses are WAAAAY far apart. I label them A1 A2 ect. Once I get that rhythm im looking for, then sort of just draw more poses in between it all (label those B1, then C1 and so forth), until I'm satisfied. Sometimes I draw tweens while still finding the rhythm cus sometimes 3 poses isn't enough. Like the previous comments mentioned, definitely use a clock your movements. Storyboard and thumbnail if you have to just to get a feel of it. If youre running on 24fps, 24 frames (drawings) per second, and your movement is 2 seconds, then youre gonna need at least 48 drawings (24 x 2).

[@Matadorstudio]

aaah timing and spacing my Achilles heel

[@thinthle]

Simple but essential

[@trainermanalyousef6482]

Good video good presentation thanks so much

[@gstapleton]

Really good!

[@arijruwaii]

Speechless! Absolutely loved it! I will definitely watch it again.

[@maridianimations]

Wow thanks for this

[@iwatcher69]

Wow! Good tutorial.

[@binyameenmohammady1471]

Damn this helped me do much

[@balajicherukuri]

Simple.. precise...

[@mohammadhijazi4498]

I personally want more

[@heat4life869]

Thank you for this TED-Ed! Oh and by the way, You sound like Alan Becker... seems legit...

[@badoocee1967]

Interesting and informative. Thank You.

[@maginpanic]

nice video! well done! :)

[@ltericdavis2237]

this should help my animation

[@SpoonyNin]

Better than Uni. Thank you :D

[@SoyJinzo]

Excelente vídeo :) directo y bien explicado

[@oliviaadel8324]

I LOVED THIS VIDEO,

[@RobbysArt]

thanx helped alot

[@Monchyjc]

excelente explicación!

[@1111thalamus]

That was very interesting

[@unagisauce]

Beautiful

[@thomasalexander1563]

Make more videos like this,, Amazing,,,

[@leobustatube]

Impresionante, me has iluminado!! jajaja Gracias.

[@officialrohinmusic]

I just realized that this was narrated by the creator of Animation vs. Animator, Alan Becker.

[@yen_bm]

Perfect !

[@JohnnyKidder]

5:09 Sorry to be picky, but the reason the ball looses speed has little to do with gravity, if the colision was perfectly elastic the ball would reach the same height every time