Anticipation, Action & Reaction Tutorial

In this very simple tutorial we show how to animate an anticipation, action and reaction in Autodesk Maya, using the Yellow Beetle "AnyCar" rig. Instead of animating the Beetle out of the frame, we add a "smear frame", to get it off screen as fast as possible, in the style of the old Tex Avery or Chuck Jones cartoons.

The reaction at the end is the camera shake, simulating the air pressure as the car whizzes past. 

Anticipation, Action and Reaction

Yellow Beetle Rig
The Beetle rig, snappily titled ""Swappable Car Rig with Ubershockies - The AnyCar 3.1.4 for Maya" is a great way to get some fun, cartoony vehicle animation into your demo reel.  The AnyCar can be made to squash and stretch, and you can make it bounce and sway as it chugs along.  The Beetle can be made to have a personality all of its own.  If you can't download the AnyCar, you can replicate the tutorial with any cartoony vehicle. 

Yellow Beetle Exit and Camera Shake - Tutorial

You can watch the free video tutorial below:

Work Method

Animate a Yellow Beetle with Motion Blur

To animate this simple animation tutorial, follow the steps below:

1. Download the AnyCar vehicle rig.
2. Open Autodesk Maya, create a new project, name it, set to it, and save it. 
3. Copy the AnyCar vehicle into the Maya scenes folder and import it into your shot.
4. Download a copy of the free Cartoonland set from Turbosquid, copy that to your scenes folder, and import that into your shot.
5. Set your timeline from frame 101 to 137.
6. Set a keyframe on the car at frame 101 and another at frame 125 so that the car gets into an anticipation pose, as if it is about the exit stage right.
7. Add a vibration in the vehicle as it is about to leave. 
8. Now move the car off screen at frame 126.
9. At frame 126, create a long yellow tube, to simulate a "smear" drawing.
10. At frame 127, move the tube to the right.
11. At frame 128, remove the tube.
12. Now animate a short camera shake, to simulate the air pressure from the vehicle on the camera operator. 

Beginner Animation Tutorials in Maya

Animate a Simple Head Turn with Monty

To see more free basic tutorials in Maya, aimed at animation beginners, see below:

• Animate a Telephone Ringing in Maya
• Animate a UFO on a Motion Path
• Animate a Candle with Blend Shapes
• Animate a Simple Head Turn with Monty
• Animate a Flickering Neon Sign in Maya
• Animate a Foxy Tail in Motion
• Animate a Flag Waving in Maya
• Animate Two Dice Falling and Rolling
• Animate a Cartoony Vehicle Coming to a Sudden Stop
• Animate a Traffic Cone Being Knocked Over
• Animate a Submarine Underwater with Caustics

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.