Control in animation

I must admit, I'm an Internet addict. Hi my name is Ray and I have a problem :) I look at a lot of demo reels. I do it because I like to see how other people approach animation. Whether you are new to the field or a seasoned pro, I've probably seen your reel or something from it. I've decided to write a short post on demo reels after browsing strutyourreel and checking out a few. Yes, I got my fix for today :)This pretty much goes along with Mike wallings post on weight and polish. First off, I think looking at other peoples work is an excellent way to learn about polish. Polish isn't something you are really taught because it's too subjective. If you really study other peoples work, you can look at it with two ways of thinking. Depending on your mood for the day you can really focus on A) the acting of the piece or B) the polish. Overall, the acting is what really matters but polish is definitely important. You can watch the piece and say "I really believe this character is sincere" and/or "the polish of this piece is very well done." When I refer to control in animation, I'm talking about the polish. I'm sure people have heard about an animation being too floaty/swimmy or too stiff. It's that balance that is hard to master. If the animation is too floaty, the character feels out of control and thus we don't believe his actions. Right away we say it's bad animation. It's bad because we don't believe he's alive. We know he's CG or 2d but we don't want to think about that when we are watching it. I think stiffness works depending on the style of animation. If you are animating for ex. the penguins from Madagascar, then stiff, cartoony animation works. If not, it just doesn't feel right. Again we don't believe he's alive. Controlling the character is very important. You want the audience to believe in the actions of the character/s. For me, the first thing I usually look at is the acting. If the acting works, I'll move onto the polish. I think the best tool we have is our eyes. Try to step back from your work (If you don't have someone to look at it) and pick it apart. If something bothers you and your not crazy about a pose or gesture, fix it. Don't leave it in thinking that the polish will make it work. If the acting isn't right, no amount of polish in the world will fix it. It's easier said then done. I'm just trying to give an idea to keep these things in mind when animating. Make sure the character is sincere and his movements are controlled. (Not swimmy or stiff) Frame by frame your work helps a ton!! As your eye gets more trained you will be able to watch it while it plays and pick out the parts that need cleanup. These are things I've picked up from other animators in the industry that will hopefully help you one day :) I'm outtie. Holla!