Animating with Blender

Straight Ahead Animation

The “Straight Ahead” method is used heavily in the stop motion animation industry. Each pose and motion is built in full detail, going forward in the timeline. In the case of the Beast throwing the ball from the previous section, straight ahead animation would require you to first create a full pose in the anticipation phase. Then you would create a pose midway between anticipation and the start of the throw, building in the proper overlap so that, perhaps, the leg has moved more than the arm. Next, you build a pose showing the actual start of the throw, proceeding through the entire action creating fully formed poses.

Straight Ahead animation tends to produce a looser feel because the actions and poses are not necessarily ...