8:TIMING

Timing are the thing makes difference between a good animation and a bad animation...
You can have good drawings, wonderfull arcs, sweet overlappings..but if you haven't timing, the animation are bad..
Timing are strictly linked to x-sheet and the use of charts...of course slow in and slow out are part of timing.
When i animate i try to imagine a kind of musical rhythm....
music..pause..music...
The pause are important....the pause are everywhere...a music, a sing without pause are flat,boring..try to give rhythm to your animation and you will give life....

SAMPLE OF SECONDARY ACTION

7:SECONDARY ACTIONS

The secondary action as an animation wich are necessary to underlines the primary action.
THE SECONDARY ACTION ARE NOT THE OVERLAPPING AND THE FOLLOW-TROUGH
A character enter in the stage walking and stops (master pose) are very worried... (i think are the singer of a band, before the test for x-factor)
On this pose the animator developped other animations called SECONDARY ACTIONS to increases the mood of the character.
The finger taps nervous on the table...the expression are really in panic.
Usually when i've done the full master animation (without overlapping and secondary action)i taking one more time the animation and on the master pose WHERE I INDICATE SECONDARY ACTION i begin to drawing secondary action (also the moving hold are considered a sort of secondary action but i will talking about...)

SAMPLE ARCS

6: ARCS

ARCS:
The arcs are fundamental to makes ORGANIC ACTION.
The bone's junction are based on pivot, so WHEN A OBJECT ARE FIXED ON A PIVOT AND ROTATES ON HIM there always an arc.
All the actions are based on arcs.
When we must rough an animation, infact, i talking always about FLIPPING ON 3 POSES.
because drawing a poses and flipping the precedents two give THE CORRECT PATH OF AN ARC.
To causes CONTRAST (the contrast remember are the way to understanding the action!)
please working on opposited arcs.
IN OTHER WORDS WHEN YOU DRAWING AN ANIMATION TRY TO FOLLOW A ARC ON AN ACTION; AND THE OPPOSITED ARC ON THE NEXT ACTION.
Arc:

SAMPLE SLOW IN AND SLOW OUT

5:SLOW IN and SLOW OUT

SLOW IN and SLOW OUT:
This rule are very important cause cause the slow in and the slow out gives at the animation fluidity and naturalness.
Normally we can operate on two ways to makes slow effect;
With the spacing and with the timing:
SPACING
If we adjust more drawings at the begin of an action and more drawings at the end of an action do we have slow in and slow out;
As we can see on the pic above the chart are stuctured in this way..
When an action begin and an action finish?An action involved in an animation are gived by the arc used for the animation.
When begin the arc there are the begin of an action, when finish this arc there will be the end of the action.
TIMING
If we operate with the timing we gived 2 on the x-sheet at the begin of the action, 1 in the middle and 2 at the end of the action.
That's are the way used by the old Disney's animators.
THE GOOD WAY
Anyway the better way are to combined the 2 methods.
The spacing where adjust more drawing, and the timing.
That's will give you a better fluidity, and overall a good timing without compromised the action

SAMPLE OVERLAPPING AND FOLLOW TROUGH

4:OVERLAPPING E FOLLOW TROUGH

Overlapping and follow trough are the physical reactions gived by an action..
In other words EVERY ACTION CAUSES A FOLLOW TROUGH AND A OVERLAPPING on the parts attached at the body as the hars, a cap, etc...We called this parts "appendices"
Analyzes this two rules:
FOLLOW TROUGH:
When the appendices follows the arcs and the action lines of the animation, this process, are called FOLLOW TROUGH.
Please looking at the sample above.
OVERLAPPING

When the action finish, there are a late of this stop beetwen the various appendices.
This late where the ACTION OF THE APPENDICES FINISH AFTER THE POINT OF STOP OF THE TOTAL BODY, are called OVERLAPPING

3:STAGING

The staging are the position of character on the screen, the composition of scene.
Also staging can be considereed the clearity of silouhette.
The staging are very important cause a good composition in the scene cause a better understanding of the animation by the audience...
In the sample as we can see, there are a good silouhette and a bad silouhette.
In the bad the cup are invisible..the legs caused confusion...also in the bad composition, the character are half-cuts and are too big...

2:ANTICIPATION

Anticipation:
The anticipation of an action help the audience to understand the action...ergo, the action without anticipation can't be exist....
When you do it an animation you must think always "i must drawing this pose..so i need the CONTRARY FORCE of this pose.
One of the best samples are the baseball player..first to throws the ball charge the body over in the opposite force of the action...
As we can see also in that case we have creates CONTRAST
ANTICIPATION

1: SQUASH AND STRETCH

This is the first rule of animation.
Squash and stretch are not only the deformation of the shape, but are also finding the right contrast beetwen the pose, a "closed" pose (squash) and a "open" pose (stretch).
The contrast are very important in the animation process cause
MORE CONTRAST=CLEAR READING
Squash and the stretch: