The Bouncing Ball

Part 2
Using the Basic Animation Technique of the Bouncing Ball in
After Effects to learn advanced Ease Keyframes & Shadows

Shane Le Mar
0. Short Recap - Intro to AE & Project Setup

• Go to Google Classroom and Download the Project

Files I’ve uploaded
• Open up a New Project & Create a Composition
• Set it to the Standard Dimensions & Frame Rates
- 1920 x 1080 – 60fps – 10seconds -
• Import the Project Files you’ve downloaded
- Drag and drop the folder, or Right Click Import –
 Squash
1. Moving the Ball -
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch

Final –
Moving the Ball with Squash and Stretch

Advanced –
Moving the Ball with Timing
 Squash
2. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Open up the
Scale
Parameter and
record a
Keyframe at
the beginning
of the Comp
• Move the first
Keyframe
where the Ball
touches the
floor and
record another
Keyframe
 Squash
3. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Holding Ctrl or
CMD and the
pressing the
Left key, move
one click to
the left, record
a keyframe,
click again to
the left, record
a keyframe
and do this
once more so
you will have 3
keyframes all
next to each
other
 Squash
4. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Now Hold Ctrl or CMD
and click the Right
key and move one
frame right (the frame
in the centre of the 3)
• Unlink the scale
parameter and on the
‘Y’ scale axis stretch
the ball upwards to
130 and on the ‘X’
scale squeeze it
inwards to 70
Remember whatever you
change the stretch (Y)
to you MUST subtract it
from the squeeze (X) to
ensure the ball is a
consistent size at all
times
 Squash
5. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Now you’ve
made it stretch,
time to squash
• Move forwards
one keyframe
and do the
opposite,
change the ‘Y’
to 60 and the ‘X’
to 140 (keeping
it even)
• This will make it
look squashed
 Squash
6. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Now move
forwards one
keyframe and copy
and paste the
Stretch keyframe
here adjusting the
number by 10
either way so the
‘Y’ sits at 80 and
the ‘X’ at 120
We do this because
the ball would not
stretch as much as
it did on the
approach after it has
bounced
 Squash
7. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Now you’ll
want to move
ahead one
more
keyframe and
copy and
paste the
first of the
keyframes to
set the ball
back to its
original
dimensions
 Squash
8. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• This had the Squash
and Stretch motion
down but looks
funky!
• This is because the
angle at which the
ball is deforming is
directly on the
vertical axis,
whereas the arc of
the bounce is well,
an arc
• This means we need
to adjust the angle at
which the ball
deforms
 Squash
9. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Head to the
first ‘Ease’
keyframe, tap
‘R’ for Rotation
and create a
keyframe
• Go ahead to
the 2nd Squash
and Stretch
keyframe (the
long one) and
create another
Rotation
keyframe
 Squash
10. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Click into the
Rotation
parameter and
using the up and
down arrow
keys make the
top of the ball
follow the arc of
the bounce
The easiest way
to know you’ve
got this 100%
correct is to line
the centre
transform point of
the ball up with
the line of the arc
 Squash
11. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Move
forward 2
frames and
do the same,
line the ball
up with the
arc of the
bounce
 Squash
12. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
Now as you play that
back you’ll see that the
stretch frames look
better but suddenly go
all to fast, this is
because your eye isn’t
recognising them as
much and as a result
are flashing by the
motion.
• We can resolve this
by moving both the
start and end
keyframe of the
Squash and Stretch
back 2 frames each
to elongate the
animation
 Squash
13. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Now move to
the frame
where-in-
which the
ball hits the
ground and
set the
rotation to ‘0’
• Move ahead
to the next
frame the ball
hits the floor
and set that
to ‘0’ too
 Squash
14. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Highlight only the
scale keyframes
of the squash and
stretch motion
• Ensure you are at
the point in the
timeline where
the ball next
touches the
ground and paste
the keyframes,
with them still
highlighted
ensure that the
centre keyframe
lines up with the
point at which the
ball hits the floor
 Squash
15. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Move back one
frame from the
place where
the ball meets
the floor and
change the
scale from 70
to 75 and 130
to 125 this will
make the
squash and
stretch less as
the ball looses
momentum
 Squash
16. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Move forward
2 frames to
the frame
after the ball
touches the
floor and
change the
scale
parameters
from 80 to 85
and 120 to
115
 Squash
17. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Once again
change the
rotation to
follow the
arc of the
bounce, go
back 2
frames to
and align the
ball with the
arc again
 Squash
18. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Go forward to
the next time
the ball hits the
floor and set
the rotation to
‘0’
• Then go back a
frame and
record a scale
keyframe, go
forward two
frames and
record another
scale keyframe
 Squash
19. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• Set the scale
‘Y’ to 90 and
the scale ‘X’
to 110 to
squash the
ball one last
time
• There doesn’t
need to be
any
anticipation
this time as
the squash is
so small
 Squash
20. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Stretch
• The squash and
stretch motion is
complete
• Now pretty much
all the animation is
done but the ball
itself still looks a
little motionless
• We can fix that
with some design
rotation
• But first we need
to make a design
 Design
21. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• Ensure you
aren’t
selecting any
layers
• Select the pen
tool and begin
to draw any
swirly and
basic
pattern/shape
that can
over/fit inside
the ball
 Design
22. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• Turn off the fill
and turn on
the stroke, set
it to whatever
takes your
fancy
• Make sure you
connect the
pattern to
close the
shape
• Afterwards
ensure you’re
not selecting
any layer
 Design
23. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• Make sure you
are at the last
keyframe
• Using the rulers
again drag then
down and along
to mark the
exact centre of
the ball
• To make it
easier click the
ball layer and
use the square
transform points
to help mark the
centre
 Design
24. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• Align the
anchor point of
the shape you
just made to
the centre of
the shape and
move it so that
the anchor
point is over
the
intersecting
rulers
• Then move
away the
rulers once
again
 Design
25. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• Scale the
shape down
to fit the ball
better
• Select the
shape/design
and navigate
to Effect –
Channel –
Set Matte
 Design
26. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• In the Set
Matte effect
find the ‘Take
Matte From
Layer’ it will
currently be
set to the
Shape/Design
layer – We
don’t want this
• Click the drop
down box and
set it to be the
ball layer
 Design
27. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• Ensure
you’re on the
final
recorded
keyframe
and hit ‘R’ to
open up the
Rotation
• Record a
keyframe
 Design
28. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• In the Modes
menu there is
a Spiral next
to the ‘Mode’
and ‘TrkMat’
• This is the
parent tool,
click and drag
the spiral (a
line will
appear) and let
go of it over
the ball layer
• Hit preview
 Design
29. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• Now we can
see a
pattern on
the Ball but
the pattern
is not
rotating so
the ball still
looks static
and unreal
 Design
30. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• Head back to
the first frame
and drag the
Rotation back
into the minuses
There’s no real
way to tell what
to do as it will
change every
time as you’ll
animate at
different speeds
• A good idea is
to keep it
around -1x-200
or thereabouts
 Design
31. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• After you’ve
tweaked the
rotation (I’m
using -1x-323)
go to the final
recorded
keyframe
• Right click –
Keyframes
Assistant –
Easy Ease In
(or Shift – F9)
 Design
32. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
• Turn Motion
Blur on the
Shape/Design
layer & make
sure Motion
Blur is turned
on in the
Comp
Hit Preview
• Turn on the
Shadow again
and render
out!
33.1. Rendering Rendering
Recap

Media Encoder Method

File – Export – Add to Adobe Media Encoder Queue

This way will ensure

you get the smallest
file size whilst
retaining the quality
33.2. Rendering Rendering
Recap

• Click the Blue text

• Select H.264 for .mp4 (or Quicktime for .mov)
• Choose a location to render out the
file and name it
• Choose Match Source to ensure best
quality
33.3. Rendering
Rendering
Recap

• Finally click the

Green play button

Unlike when you

render in After Effects
you can close After
Effects and get to
working on something
else without it taking
up much CPU
 Design
34. Moving the Ball –
Bouncing Ball
and Demonstration
Rotation
What was learnt?
• Bouncing Ball
• Motion Blur
• RG Shadow
• Squash & Stretch
• Timing
• Anticipation
• Set Matte’s
• Parenting Layers
• Digital Animation
• After Effects
35. Independent Task 1
• Using everything learnt in the previous lessons
create a simple Text Reveal (see below) that will be
used as an introduction screen for your final
submission for this 2D Animation Unit!
You’ve got
15 - 25 mins
to do it!

If you need a
hand, give us a
shout!
36. Independent Task 2
• Create a new Ball Bounce animation
• But this time create a basic staircase with the
shape/pen tool
• Make the ball bounce down the stairs, complete
with Squash and Stretch, Timing etc
• This can be done with everything you’ve learnt
today, and you can even edit the one you’ve already
created if you remember how from the previous
lessons covering compositions
‘Homework’ Task:

Create a Logo you’d like to use for your own personal brand,
created in Photoshop to a document size of 5000 x 5000
Pixels! Remember to do most things on separate layers!!!

Next Time:
Creating a Brand
Logo Animation in
After Effects: Part 1

- Intermediate Animation Tools & Techniques

- Brand Identity Logo Animation: Part 1