WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:03.960 This tutorial is going to show you the secret to animating a perfect blink. 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:08.170 This method works for every eye shape and type. 00:00:08.170 --> 00:00:12.570 If I say take out a piece of paper and animate a blink, a less experienced person is going 00:00:12.570 --> 00:00:14.060 to do this: 00:00:14.060 --> 00:00:18.570 Open, halfway open, closed, halfway open, open. 00:00:18.570 --> 00:00:20.369 Here’s what that looks like. 00:00:20.369 --> 00:00:24.160 It gets the job done, but it is rigid and artificial looking. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:29.909 The secret formula to animating a regular blink is this: 00:00:29.909 --> 00:00:41.019 Open, slightly less open, closed, closed two, slightly open, repeat earlier drawing, open. 00:00:41.019 --> 00:00:43.750 Note these two closed drawings are not the same. 00:00:43.750 --> 00:00:49.429 The second keeps the same endpoints but curves down in the middle more than the first. 00:00:49.429 --> 00:00:52.149 This blink method is called one down, two up. 00:00:52.149 --> 00:00:56.600 You’ll also frequently see the other version, which is two down and one up. 00:00:56.600 --> 00:01:00.090 Just change the order of the frames, move this one here. 00:01:00.090 --> 00:01:04.890 Whether you take one or two frames to close the eye is an acting choice. 00:01:04.890 --> 00:01:09.930 Use whatever you feel looks best for that character in that situation. 00:01:09.930 --> 00:01:14.170 If you are in a rush and don’t have time to draw the secret formula, you can use the 00:01:14.170 --> 00:01:15.700 condensed version. 00:01:15.700 --> 00:01:19.530 Get rid of the second closed drawing and reuse the first one. 00:01:19.530 --> 00:01:21.590 Get rid of the repeated open frame. 00:01:21.590 --> 00:01:27.159 Those two drawings create the fluidity of the blink, but they aren’t necessary. 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:28.159 See? 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:31.969 So, at the very least, this is what you want. 00:01:31.969 --> 00:01:33.060 Not this. 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:37.740 Experiment a lot with blinks because even tiny changes will make a big difference in 00:01:37.740 --> 00:01:39.520 attitude. 00:01:39.520 --> 00:01:44.990 I like to switch out this repeated open position to one that is wider than the resting position. 00:01:44.990 --> 00:01:46.899 It makes the blink nice and bouncy. 00:01:46.899 --> 00:01:53.219 I also tend to add an extra frame on the way back up to make a more slow, gentle blink. 00:01:53.219 --> 00:01:58.200 That makes my usual formula the standard one, but with one more frame: the slightly wider 00:01:58.200 --> 00:01:59.200 one. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:04.820 A superfast cartoony double blinks switches from open to closed immediately, with one 00:02:04.820 --> 00:02:07.899 transition frame before or after closing. 00:02:07.899 --> 00:02:09.970 Now, eyelashes. 00:02:09.970 --> 00:02:13.980 For short, realistic eyelashes there’s not much to worry about other than the shape of 00:02:13.980 --> 00:02:16.980 the eyelashes in open, closed, and middling positions. 00:02:16.980 --> 00:02:17.980 There’s no bounciness to short eyelashes. 00:02:17.980 --> 00:02:22.730 On the other hand, you need to animate long cartoon eyelashes because they are different 00:02:22.730 --> 00:02:25.870 on the way down than they are on the way back up. 00:02:25.870 --> 00:02:29.230 If I use the same eyelash positions this is the result. 00:02:29.230 --> 00:02:30.569 But if I animate them… 00:02:30.569 --> 00:02:31.569 Yeah. 00:02:31.569 --> 00:02:33.090 Huge difference. 00:02:33.090 --> 00:02:37.670 Notice that because long cartoon eyelashes are so floaty, I need to give them time to 00:02:37.670 --> 00:02:41.970 return to resting position. 00:02:41.970 --> 00:02:46.910 When you are doing eyelashes, all you have to remember is point up on the way down, and 00:02:46.910 --> 00:02:48.760 point down on the way up. 00:02:48.760 --> 00:02:53.760 One last thing about blinks, the lower eyelid actually rises up to meet the top one in a 00:02:53.760 --> 00:02:54.760 real blink. 00:02:54.760 --> 00:02:59.970 You’ll see it a lot in 3D animation, but for 2D art you’ll rarely see the lower lid 00:02:59.970 --> 00:03:11.489 move in a regular blink because it looks weird.