For the body mechanics animation, I first wanted to make lifting a heavy object. But my teacher suggested that you should select more simple movement because you are still beginner. So, I changed it to getting up from a chair.
Getting up doesn’t have big movement, but it has a lot of up and down motion. So, I needed to focus on the movement of different parts of the body, like the hips and head. Overlapping movement is also extremely important. For example, when the body bends, the hips move first, and the head follows later. I also used ease in and ease out for the head. My experience with the pendulum animation helped me understand how to do this.
First, I followed my workflow: I watched reference videos carefully, then made a rough blocking of the motion. I focused on timing and spacing during this process.
Body Mechanics Blocking
Body Mechanics Spline Motion
According to this reference, I learned how the body moves when getting up from a chair. First, it is important to understand that the body does not move straight up and down suddenly. It swings forward and backward to create momentum. When bending the legs, the body arches slightly and the back touches the chair, which makes the motion look more natural. Then, using ease in and ease out, the body bends slowly and smoothly.
I also learned that even if the whole body does not move much, small movements of the head or face can help balance the motion and make it look more realistic. For example, the body may move only a little, but the movement of the head can make the action feel alive and show the character’s emotion or intention. Paying attention to these small details helps make even simple motions look realistic and believable in animation.