Character Animation: The Fun Part - Blender Foundations: The Essential Guide to Learning Blender 2.6 - page 305

Figure 11.14 shows the next pose, which should be
created on frame 36. Not a whole lot has changed,
compared to the amount of setup we had to do on the
initial pose. The big difference is obviously the left hand.
Auto IK and a few different view orientations make it
fairly easy to position it near the head, like the figure.
For a bit of additional life, I've also rotated the left col-
larbone a bit so that the shoulder hunches upwards. You
probably won't be able to see it in the figure, but
remember our old rule: subtlety. Yes, we want to com-
municate a good pose and action, but that is best done
through an accumulation of small, good choices as
opposed to a single, glaring one.

A couple of other things have been changed too. The
head is inclined toward the hand, incorporating a bit of
a nod into the motion. The torso is slightly twisted away
from the camera. The hand holding the cube has come
forward a bit to balance the backward motion of the
other hand. As a final consequence of the motion, the
character's center of gravity has changed a fraction, so
we move the body_control bone subtly to reflect this
shift. It's a lot to think about, but after you've worked
through a couple of animation sessions, this stuff should
become second nature to you.

Figure 11.14 The prewave pose.

Try to remember this: The mechanics of character animation are all about balance. A character's primary
action, like bringing an arm up to wave, must be balanced by other motion and action in the body.
Sometimes that balance might be achieved by an almost equally obvious large motion in the other arm, if
appropriate. More often though, it will be balanced by an accumulation of smaller motions from the entirety
of the rest of the body. Animators refer to this type of motion as secondary action.

With that pose built, skip ahead 12 more frames, to somewhere around frame 48. On that frame, build
the pose shown in Figure 11.15 .

Once again, notice how body parts other than the left hand change position to attempt to balance the
major waving motion. It's important enough to repeat that these kinds of compensatory motion and posing
shouldn't be gigantic. That will make your character look like they're dancing, or at least like they have
some kind of neurological disorder.

A glance at the Dope Sheet upon completing this pose should show something like Figure 11.16 . Notice
that bones that were moved either directly by you or through Auto IK have received keyframes automati-
cally. Later on, when the animation has become complex, this is fine. At this early stage though, it's going