animation-basics

12 Principles of Animation

1. Squash and Stretch

Stretch in the area of more movement, squash on collision. Always conserve area — if you stretch one axis, compress the other.

2. Anticipation

Build up energy before action, like a spring loading. Can be combined with squash and stretch.

3. Staging

• Avoid competing for stage presence — one action at a time draws focus.
• Use the Camera to zoom into interesting areas.
• Insert pauses to let the viewer process information.
• Let text remain on screen long enough to read (up to 3x the time it takes to read aloud).

4. Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose

Pose to pose: define the key states (start, end, a few in-between holds) and let tweens fill the gaps. This is the default for code-driven motion: each yield* is a pose. Use straight-ahead, frame-by-frame motion (physics, procedural noise, springs) for organic or chaotic movement such as particles, liquids or confetti.

5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action

Drag adds realism. The main body leads; appendages follow with delay. This communicates mass. Use different timing functions for leading vs trailing parts. Skew can sell the effect.

6. Slow In and Slow Out

Essential for realism. Objects ease into and out of motion. Exception: collisions — ease only on the outward motion, not at impact. When motion is very fast, no inbetween frames may be needed — perfect for swapping icons or SVGs at the midpoint.

7. Arc

Move in arcs instead of straight lines when appropriate, especially when gravity is involved.

8. Secondary Action

Supplementary actions that support the main action. Example: a background element pulsing while the foreground element transitions.

9. Timing

Duration and spacing set weight and mood. A heavy object takes longer to start and stop; a light one snaps. Fast timing reads as energetic, slow timing as calm or heavy. Hold important poses long enough to register. See Timing Guidance below for concrete durations.

10. Exaggeration

Not more distorted — more convincing. Quick motions need bigger exaggeration to be noticed at all.

11. Solid Drawing

Avoid parallel lines for a more natural, dynamic look. Exception: graphs and data visualizations where parallel structure is intentional.

12. Appeal

Keep it simple. Do not add too many details. Clarity and readability beat complexity.

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Timing Guidance

Pick easing by the role of the animation:

• Never animate opacity alone for an entrance: combine it with a transform (rise, scale, or masked reveal). No entrance should exceed ~0.8s.
• A quick ease-in-out animation lets you swap icons or SVGs at the 50% mark — the fastest point of movement where the change is least noticeable.
• Use arc-based interpolation for movements that should follow a curved path, especially with gravity.