AR 002 - Bear Waving

I came across this funny video of a real bear waving back to some people in a car. I don't know the location of this place, but it is obviously home to the nicest bears around. Don't be fooled by their cuteness though, they rip your face off.

But anyway back to the reference... take notice of the girth and weight of the bear as he gets up. He needs to use energy and force to sit up and wave. So there is a small anticipation just before he sits up. It's small but watch the video a few times and you'll see it. The bear shifts his weight over to the right to balance himself. The balance he needs is for the shift in weight when he raises his paw to wave. Also he leads with his shoulders even though it looks like he is moving his head first. I'll talk more about what I mean by "leads" in a later post.

The bear's front paws roll off the ground onto it's claws before being lifted up. Also his right paw moves first and faster to avoid twinning - which I don't think the bear was thinking about. Which goes to show you that avoiding twinning is a natural movement that all organic creatures inherently do. Of course the principle of timing is all over this and we see a solid slow in when he begins to move and then a smooth slow out with a cushion at the en. I hope this reference will help you in your animations. More to come!

Later Animators!