12 Principles of Animation

1. Squash and Stretch

Stretch in the area of more movement, squash on collision. Always conserve area — if you stretch one axis, compress the other.

2. Anticipation

Build up energy before action, like a spring loading. Can be combined with squash and stretch.

3. Staging

• Avoid competing for stage presence — one action at a time draws focus.
• Use the Camera to zoom into interesting areas.
• Insert pauses to let the viewer process information.
• Let text remain on screen long enough to read (up to 3x the time it takes to read aloud).

4. Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose