How to Animate a Bouncing Ball

In the tutorial below we show how to tackle the entry-level "Bouncing Ball" exercise. Below is a collection of some of the best "Bouncing Ball" exercises completed by Animation Apprentices over the years. 

At Animation Apprentice we start with the bouncing ball, as students learn to apply the principles of timing, spacing, paths of action and weight - four of the Twelve Principles of Animation.  Even a simple exercise can be entertaining to watch.

Bouncing Ball Animation

 

 

Bouncing Ball Rig

The free bouncing ball rig is one of the rigs we suggest that students download when they first start learning animation.  It's available for free download at highend3D. We also recommend the Ultimate Ball, also downloadable from highEnd3D.com.

Why start with a bouncing ball? Well, pretty much every animation course on the planet starts with a ball. It's where students first encounter the concepts of timing and spacing, and also how to use important tools such as the Graph Editor.

But it's also where students begin to learn the importance of giving a performance. Even a bouncing ball can be made to look fun and interesting or dull and boring. 

Bouncing Ball

How Does The Ultimate Ball Work?

This rig is a simple bouncing ball with top and bottom controls for the squash-and-stretch, and also independent controls over its orientation, as well as the rotation and the position of the ball itself.

Change the Ultimate Ball Type

You can easily change the Ultimate ball type by selecting the Root Control and then, in the channel box, change Ball Type to any one of a number of different options, such as basketball, football, golfball etc.

Ultimate Ball Technical Video

https://vimeo.com/286546306

Bouncing Ball Tutorial Video

Part 1

https://vimeo.com/286543426

Part 2

https://vimeo.com/286543984

Other ball rigs
We also recommend the Bouncin' Ball rig, also available from Highend3d.com. 

To find out more about Animation Apprentice, click here for a link to Frequently Asked Questions. To sign up for our next classroom at Animation Apprentice, follow this link.