I see that you are having trouble making you're animation
somewhat good, so I'll help you as much as I can. Don't worry,
though, all animators need to start somewhere, and all of us
have been where you are right now, so don't feel bad if you're
flamed or mocked.
1. Basics
Basics include easing, smoothness, basic movements, stiffness,
jerkiness, and physics. Practice these before moving on to more
difficult things like effects, storyline animations, and other
things that you won't be able to do at your current level.
I. Easing: Easing in an animation is when an object or limb
gradually move faster, then slows down. This basic is hard to
explain in words, so I'll try to show you with text.
This is an uneased example. (|= Frame, -= Space)
|--|--|--|--|--|
See how the spacing stays ,the same throughtout the whole
thing? That makes that particular movement unnatural.
This is an eased example.
|-|--|---|----|---|--|-|
Notice how the spacing gradually becomes bigger than smaller?
That's what easing is.
II. Smoothness: This is exactly what it sounds like. To make
your animation less choppy and make it more fluid. It really is
easy to fix, simply by adding more frames to movements. A 3
frame run will be really choppy, but a 8 frame run will be less
choppy if animated correctly. Which brings me to my next point.
Movements.
III. Basic Movements: These include running, walking, jumping,
punching, kicking, etc. Practice animating these in simple tests
with simple stks, then put them together to make more complex
animations like fight sequences. If you're having trouble making
you're movements realistically, find a video with the particular
movement you're trying to animate, and try to imitate that. Or
find a mirror and watch yourself.
IV. Stiffness: Stiffness is when the stickman you animated looks
stiff and unrealistic. This may occur because you did not move
the backbone that much (probably because you're using the
default) or you just neglected to move one the limbs. To fix this,
just try to move ALL the limbs in every frame, no matter how
small the movement. Make sure to ease the movements though.
V. Jerkiness: Jerkiness occurs when you move a limb suddenly
for an amount that is noticable to the human eye. Basically, you
completely through easing out the window and just moved a
limb to a location with no frames in between.
VI. Physics: This basic is probably the most lenient, because
some animators ignore this and make cartoony animations,
which have pretty wacky physics. But until you develop a style
of animating, just stick with normal physics, or else some
animators may call you lazy.
Now, just remember these aspects, and continue making more
animations. You'll get better as you animate more, and you'll
move on to more difficult and fun things, like effects. If you have
trouble with something, check some great tutorials made by
members of the forum, or go to
www.darkdemon.org for other
great tutorials. And remember, never be discouraged! You'll
probably see that there are some douchebags who put down
animators who are worse then they are, just because they can.
Ignore these people, but if they become more and more abusive,
report them and don't respond. Responding to them is the last
thing you want to do. A way to avoid these people is to go to the
beginner's section, where animators at your level congregate to
post their animations in a friendly environment. Link here:
http://www.stickpageportal.com/forums/showthread.php?
t=35330 Have fun animating!
THIS IS AN EXAMPLE.