Principles of Animation; Timing, Spacing and Arcs

Here is a sequence of animated GIFs I created in a 2D animation session demonstrating some of the principles of animation.

This animation describes the difference between timing and spacing. The timing of the movement is the same for both disks; each takes equal time to reach their start and end points. However, their movements appear wildly different because the spacing is not the same; the red circle moves at a constant rate, but the blue circle 'eases in and out'.

Objects in the real world do not tend to move in straight lines, they tend to move in arcs. This GIF demonstrates why using linear movement to animate a supposedly real object seems unnatural.

This ball follows and arc, and it's motion feels as if it could really exist within the real world, such as the pendulum on a clock or a ball on a string.