Walking, running, crouching, jumping, posing, moving objects with different weights and the good old pendulum movement are just some of the things a good animator should know how to do perfectly. Basically if you are applying somewhere for a position as an animator, the company that you are applying for will most likely ask you to do one of those exercises as part of your interview even if you have already submitted your portfolio. From these exercises an animator can be judged whether he understands the basic concepts of animation or not.
Here is a list of the the basic concepts that an animator should know how to do:
- Squash and stretch
- Anticipation
- Staging
- Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose
- Follow Through and Overlapping Action
- Slow In and Slow Out
- Arc
- Secondary Action
- Timing
- Exaggeration
- Solid drawing
- Appeal
(source)
Cartoonish walk cycle I did a while ago. I’m just using it as an example to show you how you can combine multiple concepts in one action.
Dannik1 