As animators, we are living, breathing, walking video cameras with an ability to analyse things. We have an eye to observe how different people walk, express themselves, or even observe nature, like how the wind has effect on trees. So, what do we do with that information? We process it and then we animate it (if we can). Even itty bitty details like animating a balloon falling will bring a certain animation to life.

"Animating a balloon? Hah! Easy peasy!" -coughs- Well, I can honestly tell you, it's not a one hit wonder for me to animate a balloon floating down in stop-motion.

I definitely had fun modeling the balloon out of plasticine (I'm still keeping it). Basically, animating a balloon floating down is like animating several pendulums in an entire sequence. I had a struggle trying to get the timings right in the first place but after observing a balloon falling, which we had one for experimentation sessions in the studio, and also watching videos of balloons falling, it pretty much gave me an idea of how a balloon should realistically float downwards and have that little bounce at the end when it hits the ground.

Another exercise that was completely different to the balloon exercise is actually animating a heavy ball. I chose a cannonball and this is how it came out to be:



Even this took me several tries, but thanks to the power of the internet and the loop button on the keypad, you get to see mistakes clearly after several rounds of replaying.

Until then, have a nice day!