![Breakdowns - animating a cute bouncing monster part 3 - 2D animation class [014] @AnimatorIsland](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/J0vzh3jvTA4/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Good breakdowns can bring your animation to a whole new level. We take a close look at how they define the path of a motion and also dive into some advanced tips and tricks that make your animation smooth, fun and believable.
In this animation tutorial we continue following a professional character animation workflow step-by-step. It's part of our 2D animation class for beginners. Learn all about how to animate in OpenToonz!
Support us on PATREON:
patreon.com/animatorisland
PREMIUM CLASSES:
2D logo animation: animislnd.com/skillshare-logo-animation
Weight and Impact Goblin and Orc character animation: animislnd.com/2d-weight-impact-fb
0:00 Intro
0:43 Breakdown basics: Defining the motion path
1:44 No easing around
3:01 Classic arc and middle position
4:08 Flipping through your drawings
5:11 Offsetting location and rotation
6:43 Contrasting curve
7:33 Tail drag and follow-through
8:47 Premium classes
9:52 Fast breakdown jumping up
10:33 Stretch, smears and multiples
12:14 Eye blinks in breakdowns
12:48 Drag of the arms
13:49 The way down
14:46 Head tilt and lean
15:09 Reversing the drag direction
15:47 Trying a different arc for the bend
17:37 Fix contact points
18:24 Final result
18:46 Support through Patreon
A breakdown is a pose at the turning point of a motion path – often during the fastest moment of a motion.
It’s often seen as the middle of a motion, but it doesn’t have to be in the exact middle of both the timing and the spacing.
While key poses and extremes are often (but not always) surrounded by similar looking ease frames, a breakdown is most of the time just a passing position with a large spacing before and after it.
In breakdown poses during a fast motion, most characters instinctually close their eyes to protect them.
Good breakdowns can bring your animation to a whole new level. We take a close look at how they define the path of a motion and also dive into some advanced tips and tricks that make your animation smooth, fun and believable.
In this animation tutorial we continue following a professional character animation workflow step-by-step. It's part of our 2D animation class for beginners. Learn all about how to animate in OpenToonz!
Support us on PATREON:
patreon.com/animatorisland
PREMIUM CLASSES:
2D logo animation: animislnd.com/skillshare-logo-animation
Weight and Impact Goblin and Orc character animation: animislnd.com/2d-weight-impact-fb
0:00 Intro
0:43 Breakdown basics: Defining the motion path
1:44 No easing around
3:01 Classic arc and middle position
4:08 Flipping through your drawings
5:11 Offsetting location and rotation
6:43 Contrasting curve
7:33 Tail drag and follow-through
8:47 Premium classes
9:52 Fast breakdown jumping up
10:33 Stretch, smears and multiples
12:14 Eye blinks in breakdowns
12:48 Drag of the arms
13:49 The way down
14:46 Head tilt and lean
15:09 Reversing the drag direction
15:47 Trying a different arc for the bend
17:37 Fix contact points
18:24 Final result
18:46 Support through Patreon
A breakdown is a pose at the turning point of a motion path – often during the fastest moment of a motion.
It’s often seen as the middle of a motion, but it doesn’t have to be in the exact middle of both the timing and the spacing.
While key poses and extremes are often (but not always) surrounded by similar looking ease frames, a breakdown is most of the time just a passing position with a large spacing before and after it.
In breakdown poses during a fast motion, most characters instinctually close their eyes to protect them.
![Breakdowns - animating a cute bouncing monster part 3 - 2D animation class [014]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/J0vzh3jvTA4/mqdefault.jpg "Breakdowns - animating a cute bouncing monster part 3 - 2D animation class [014]
Good breakdowns can bring your animation to a whole new level. We take a close look at how they define the path of a motion and also dive into some advanced tips and tricks that make your animation smooth, fun and believable.
In this animation tutorial we continue following a professional character animation workflow step-by-step. Its part of our 2D animation class for beginners. Learn all about how to animate in OpenToonz!
Support us on PATREON:
https://patreon.com/animatorisland
PREMIUM CLASSES:
2D logo animation: https://animislnd.com/skillshare-logo-animation
Weight and Impact Goblin and Orc character animation: https://animislnd.com/2d-weight-impact-fb
0:00 Intro
0:43 Breakdown basics: Defining the motion path
1:44 No easing around
3:01 Classic arc and middle position
4:08 Flipping through your drawings
5:11 Offsetting location and rotation
6:43 Contrasting curve
7:33 Tail drag and follow-through
8:47 Premium classes
9:52 Fast breakdown jumping up
10:33 Stretch, smears and multiples
12:14 Eye blinks in breakdowns
12:48 Drag of the arms
13:49 The way down
14:46 Head tilt and lean
15:09 Reversing the drag direction
15:47 Trying a different arc for the bend
17:37 Fix contact points
18:24 Final result
18:46 Support through Patreon
A breakdown is a pose at the turning point of a motion path – often during the fastest moment of a motion.
It’s often seen as the middle of a motion, but it doesn’t have to be in the exact middle of both the timing and the spacing.
While key poses and extremes are often (but not always) surrounded by similar looking ease frames, a breakdown is most of the time just a passing position with a large spacing before and after it.
In breakdown poses during a fast motion, most characters instinctually close their eyes to protect them.")
![Parenting in OpenToonz - Animation Exercice - 2D animation class [#008]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JblN4nDkjck/mqdefault.jpg "Parenting in OpenToonz - Animation Exercice - 2D animation class [#008]
Learn how to animate in OpenToonz using parenting to link multiple elements together.
Motion Design course on Skillshare: https://skl.sh/3cCXFHF
Support on Patreon: https://patreon.com/animatorisland
You can set parents in OpenToonz in the stage schematics, building a hierachy with the node connections. Watch 8:30 in the animation tutorial to see how we parent two child elements to a helper layer to move them together.
In this OpenToonz animation tutorial for beginenrs we will use keyframe animation to animate a character pushing an object.")
![[Live] Good animation? Tips & tricks how to animate better - 11 Second Club December 2023](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JmfqFrFe2Ks/mqdefault.jpg "[Live] Good animation? Tips & tricks how to animate better - 11 Second Club December 2023
In this live stream, we watch animations submitted by animators from all over the world to the 11 Second Club competition. Lets see what we can learn about animation principles, acting choices and more to improve our own animation.")
![[Live] Animating wizard kitty!](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JsLPhZwyk-o/mqdefault.jpg "[Live] Animating wizard kitty!
Some live 2D character animation. With wizard kitty!
FREE 2D animation class: Free 2D class: https://animatorisland.com/2d
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/animatorisland
Group Mentoring: https://animatorisland.com/group-mentoring")
![[live] Animating a 2D morph frame by frame in OpenToonz](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JscE_WrHDN8/mqdefault.jpg "[live] Animating a 2D morph frame by frame in OpenToonz
In this live stream we find out how animate a morph. This will be the base for an OpenToonz tutorial.
Support me on patreon.com/animatorisland")
![Blueprint for good animation / Anticipation & Breakdown in a Headturn - How to animate 2D [#005]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KeKFk8iOePo/mqdefault.jpg "Blueprint for good animation / Anticipation & Breakdown in a Headturn - How to animate 2D [#005]
Support this course and learn faster - purchase the premium tutorial here: https://www.animatorisland.com/courses/2d-animation/lessons/learn-animation-basics-creating-a-fun-morph/
Its difficult to give instructions on how to animate. But these are probably the most important elements you need to have a look at when you learn animation:
Key poses - used to define the most important moments in your animation are vital to understand the action that you are animating. Craft these keyframes carefully e.g. by developing poses with thumbnails.
Extremes or extreme poses like anticipation and overshoot are needed to prepare and catch the animated motion.
Breakdowns - define the middle position between two keyframes. Use this to define the arc that the element will travel on.
This video gives you all the step by step instruction you need to animate a headturn in any animation software. This exercise is a good start to learn character animation.")
![[Live] Choosing Harmonious Colors for your Art!](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KuOC-M0lfKM/mqdefault.jpg "[Live] Choosing Harmonious Colors for your Art!
Were focusing on PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES in todays Live Stream, all about choosing color! How do you find harmony with the colors you pick? Where do you even begin after the line-art is finished? Come check out these tips and tricks, plus a full analysis of some beautifully crafted pieces and what they can teach us.
Learn more about Art Intuition here: https://youtu.be/Ms0h8CiWXwI
Want more in this series? The whole playlist can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnf5AcU_9T9rGvQYH1hxXtsIuJmVD4mHy
Looking for some personal mentoring? Animator Island has you covered, dont miss out! Learn the details at https://www.patreon.com/animatorisland")
![[live] Animation Tricks, Tips & Critiques - 11SecondClub entries](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L0nGFD3w52o/mqdefault.jpg "[live] Animation Tricks, Tips & Critiques - 11SecondClub entries
Lets discover what great animation is by looking at the character animation submitted to the 11 Second Club. As always we will learn a lot about animation principles, posing, timing, spacing, acting for animators and more.
Support us: https://patreon.com/animatorisland")
![[NEW] Basics of OpenToonz 1.5 - How to animate 2D animation class [#003]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L72Ix0abQ8E/mqdefault.jpg "[NEW] Basics of OpenToonz 1.5 - How to animate 2D animation class [#003]
NEW! Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/animatorisland
Find out how to get started with OpenToonz. We take our first steps with the most important animation tools: the brush, lasso selection, control point editor and the pump tool. Learn all about how bitmap and vector drawings, the timeline and colors work in OpenToonz.
More about the group mentoring: https://animatorisland.com/group-mentoring
Saving projects in a custom location: https://youtu.be/m1gKqVIUHSY")
![[live] Behind the animation of Minute of Islands (2D game animation in Spine) part 2](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LHxH3mjpFoI/mqdefault.jpg "[live] Behind the animation of Minute of Islands (2D game animation in Spine) part 2
Animators have to face many challenges when creating 2D rigs and animations for indie games. In this live talk, three animators who worked on the platform-puzzle game Minute of Islands by Studio Fizbin give you a behind the scenes peak at the animation process in Spine.
Support Animator Island on Patreon https://patreon.com/animatorisland
Animators Moritz Biene (Animation Lead), Kerstin @noodydraws Buzelan (Animator) and Ferdinand Engländer (Animation Lead) will show how the Spine rigs work and explain some of the crazy solutions we had to come up with.
While playing, we will talk about all the interesting things and anecdotes that come to mind.
Of course, you can also ask all of your questions about 2D game animation and this project.
Its going to be a cozy live stream with lots of game animation know-how. So, join us with a cup of tea and lets have a closer look at how we did the character animation in Minute of Islands!
Minute of Islands is out now:
Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1049710/Minute_of_Islands/
Play Station - https://store.playstation.com/concept/234861
XBox - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/minute-of-islands/9mw6lbk0v0n0
Nintendo Switch - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/minute-of-islands-switch/")
