What does Lasseter's 1987 paper say about timing, spacing, anticipation and follow-through when applied to 3D keyframe animation, and what 3D-specific cautions does it give?
Lasseter (1987) maps the principles to 3D keyframing: timing conveys weight and size, anticipation must be larger or the action slower for very fast actions, loose parts overlap and drag by material (feet leaving one or two frames apart), slow in/out is set via spline tension/bias/continuity (with overshoot risk on large changes over few frames), and fast-motion strobing is solved by motion blur or, failing that, volume-preserving squash and stretch.
Lasseter (1987) maps the principles to 3D keyframing: timing conveys weight and size, anticipation must be larger or the action slower for very fast actions, loose parts overlap and drag by material (feet leaving one or two frames apart), slow in/out is set via spline tension/bias/continuity (with overshoot risk on large changes over few frames), and fast-motion strobing is solved by motion blur or, failing that, volume-preserving squash and stretch.
Curator qualifications: Papers read 2026-10-22; no animation made or tested. 1987 keyframe practice; predates mocap, physics and layered tools. HyperGraph secondary page (S14) not re-read.
Limitations: Papers read 2026-10-22; no animation made or tested.
Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.
Structured fields
{
"citations": [
{
"url": "http://graphics.cs.cmu.edu/nsp/course/15-464/Fall05/papers/lasseter.pdf",
"note": "Lasseter, Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation, Computer Graphics 21(4) 1987 (CMU-hosted PDF), sections 2.1-2.7, figures 4a-4c"
},
{
"url": "https://education.siggraph.org/static/HyperGraph/animation/character_animation/principles/prin_trad_anim.htm",
"note": "Lasseter, Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation, Computer Graphics 21(4) 1987 (CMU-hosted PDF), sections 2.1-2.7, figures 4a-4c"
}
]
}Evidence claims
- [sourced_fact] Lasseter (1987) maps the principles to 3D keyframing: timing conveys weight and size, anticipation must be larger or the action slower for very fast actions, loose parts overlap and drag by material (feet leaving one or two frames apart), slow in/out is set via spline tension/bias/continuity (with overshoot risk on large changes over few frames), and fast-motion strobing is solved by motion blur or, failing that, volume-preserving squash and stretch. · locator: Lasseter, Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation, Computer Graphics 21(4) 1987 (CMU-hosted PDF), sections 2.1-2.7, figures 4a-4c source
Rights
| component | license | hosting | redistribution | modification | training | Evidence and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| documentation | unknown | permitted | permitted | unknown | unknown | Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources. |