Moho Forum

Does anyone know how fast one should open and close the eyes during eye blinking? I have created this animation on YouTube, but it is still not very clear to me.


click on image to watch video

I depends on the character and what you want to say with the blinking. An ordinary blink might be 3-6 frames. A tired person blinks a lot slower, maybe 4-5 frames closing, closed for 2-3 frames and then trying very hard to open them again for maybe 6 frames.
A girl flirting with you blinks very slow, a squirrel on speed on the other hand blinks on maybe 2 frames...
The blinks in your example feels quite slow.

Thanks for that good advice.

I noticed in my daily dose of animation, that in Spongebob Squarepants characters only blink when the viewer's focus is on the character's face (e.g. during talking). In all other cases there is no eye blinking whatsoever.

When I do a normal eyeblink I do it in 4 frames. 2 for closing, 2 for opening again.

normal blinking is pretty fast, so i have the eyes open, then completely closed for two frames then completely open on the very next frame, but in saying that it will totally depend on style and the emotional response of your characters

if it looks right, it works!

you only need to drag the key frames and press play to find out where they should be........yes?

same here, 2/2 for a blink at 30 fps (video). Seems correct at 24 fps as well.

If you notice your character blinking... then... it is probably "off".

Watch some animated flicks and you don't even think about when or how fast they blink. If you focus on the blinking... you can see it... you could use that as a guide. On a DVD step through the frames.

I have trouble determining how often the blink should occur. Sometimes less or none is better... depending on the length of the scene.

-vern

Thanks for those tips. I have made another animation, based on the tips you gave me.


click on image to watch video

At 24 fps, I use these patterns:
A normal blink is 1 frame half closed, then 1 or 2 frames closed, 1 frame opening half. Take care that the two half open eyelids don't have the same shape; a useful hint from Disney's Illusion of Life is to have the closing lid in the upper third, the opening lid in the lower third portion of the eyeball, and both following the outline of the eyeball next to them.

This is my common pattern I use for every character. I place them as randomly as possible over time, with some double blink here and there - think about how often you would blink in your character's situation. Quite often people don't blink for several seconds, depending on their concentration or alertness. A blink can be a reaction to something the character has heard.

Faster blinks, like the ones for a small "double take" or the fluttering blink of a flirting lass, can be done without the half-closed frames, or with them more exaggerated, like nearly completely open and nearly completely closed (good example: Maid Marian in Disney's Robin Hood).

Don't do just blinks. Think of expressions where you could combine a closed eye with a change of looking direction. Act with pupils and eyebrows.

With multiple characters one can play around with simultaneous blinks just for a gag; it's a bit better if they blink in sequence. Sponge Bob is a great example, especially Patrick acts a lot only with his blinks: he hears something, doesn't move an inch, then blinks - and you know instantly that he hasn't understand what was going on! The timing of this series is impeccable.

There's some useful info on eye blinking in this thread. Of course, with animation, the sky is the limit as far as what you can do with it. As some of the posts above have mentioned, eye-based sight gags can really add to a scene.

For example, a character who's eyes blink in unison will seem normal, but one that never blinks while other characters in the scene blink normally will seem almost inhuman. Another common eye gag, is to offset the blink timing of each eye slightly, which creates the impression that a character might not be too bright.

The best way to learn how to do it right, is to simply experiment for yourself. There's a lot to be said for learning from trial and error.

Here's some trivia for you...

In the movie "Soldier" a sci-fi flick staring... uh... that guy from "Escape From New York"... forget his name....

Anyway... in "Soldier" his character was trained from birth to be a fighting machine. His emotions were supressed.

During nearly the entire film he never blinks on camera. In the audio commentary the director talks about this and why it was important for that characters portrayal in the film.

At one critical moment in the film he blinks for the first time on camera. A very emotional scene and a point of transition for the character.

So... eye blinks can be used for very dramatic effect.

-vern