I think the idea of not blinking can also be a cool way to show emotion, kinda like negative space ig, showing what a character feels not by blinking but by the lack there of. A complete lack of blinking is a great way to make a character seem uncany and not quite human aswell
It's the Stare or the Glare. Deliberately looking at someone and NOT blinking also deliberately is an emotion, usually judgement of some kind whether concerned or angry. In fact that's the secret to the brow lift, it's drawing attention to the fact they're not blinking or the lack of blinking amplifies it.
yeah! an example that comes to mind is this "evil clone" of one of the MCs in a show called Camp Camp, his whole gist was that he was supposed to seemingly nice but off putting and he doesn't blink once in his episode
@@D4wn0fAppl35 yeah, for me and probably 99% of the population blinking is automatic same with breathing but if they ever get mentioned we start doing it manually, are you always doing it manually?
another thing that is environment if it’s really dusty they’re going to be blinking or having their eyes closed a lot or something happens like throwing something at them they’re going to blink like a reflex
The average person actually goes about 10 seconds per blink, which I only know because my eyes are so damn dry I should blink every 4 instead. So, it’s not unrealistic, all the characters just have really dry fucked up eyes
It isn't really about realism but more what feels realistic for the audience. It can also depend on the framerate of the animation (I personally animate on 12 frames per second) It also depends on how long you're in that scene for. Let's say you're only in a scene for a few seconds? You might notice that the character never blinked even if they technically didn't need to at that point. That's what's fun about animation! We have to copy or even overdo certain things just so it feels natural and people don't focus in on it!
If you'd time yourself blinking every 2-3 seconds, you'd see that it would be very excessive and feel unnatural. I'd recommend having them blink at least every 8-10 seconds. If you pay attention to your own blinking, the people around you, or those from people in live action shows/movies/videos, you'd get a better grasp on how often people blink naturally. But in general, people do not blink 30 times per minute, it's actually around half of that.
This is animation, they're not trying to be realistic, they're trying to copy what feels natural for people to look at. Usually when I make really short animations I make the character blink again after 6-8 frames. (I animate on 12 frames per second) Obviously if the style was more realistic, you would notice the blinking is off but you're likely to skip it when it's not that realistic.
@@TheVillainousSoul In order for it to be natural for people to look at, it needs to be realistic. Watching someone blink every other second is not natural to watch. Same with looking at someone who rarely blinks. Because they're both unrealistic.
@@warningdeadinside2537 I didn't know about the ten second thing before reading this, so seeing them blink every ten seconds exactly, without fail, would feel uncanny and strange.
I think its good to watch the eyes in live action shows as well very closely for when to blink, as theyd blink a lot more naturally. Natural is good in anination too, as it can tell you when to blink for more lighthearted casual scenes (if any)
see, using video references can be so helpful for things like this When i used to animate faces, i would act it out myself first and record it, and try my best to recreate the feel of it
Buddy, I don't want "realistic" blinking, I want something that I think blinking is like, which 2-3 seconds fits perfectly. Why do you all care so much anyways?
I wonder if you could also tie in mannerisms to this also? Maybe someone's tell is they blink a little faster when nervous and/or lying? Which could be accompanied by rapid eye movement or slightly raised eyebrows? Although i don't animate. I do understand it is a very difficult thing to do. I just thought that it would be a possible thing to take note of? Just a fun thought i wanted to share
I have an idea to make characters more unique, you could like in close ups shows the vein color on their wrist, some green some blue some both and some might not see them
Thank you for breaking down blink animation! I could never get it to look smooth or clean or have the right pacing I wanted... So thank you so much for explaining!
I always liked that details like blinking or the lack of it can show things like emotions or tell something about a character despite being such a minor thing.
In my 10+ years of working in animation this is the FIRST time I've ever seen anyone talk about blink frequency! Which is crazy to me. Thank you for highlighting this :D
If you really want to disconcert viewers, have an unnerving character not blink at all in any shot, with cold, piercing eyes. From real life experience, I’ve found it tends to make people very uncomfortable, especially when used with a hard stare, particularly in contrast to more amiable seeming characters doing the natural lidded-eye motion of blinking regularly.
This is very helpful! Because I have characters but I never knew how to make them seem alive. Blinking is a big part of that! It also helps my non-human mimic-like character seem more out of place by how he rarely blinks
This is my first video about this series and it’s so cool to see the process of something as simple as blinking. I’m gonna go down a bit of a rabbit hole to learn more about the series brb
You also blink when you turn your head or when the lighting changes! It makes your eyes adjust to the new lighting easier. I’ve found that characters not blinking when they turn definitely makes them feel uncanny and robotic. Just a bit of a note for any animators who don’t know that already! :)
Blinking is also something people dont subconscious notice. You can use to make a character like a shape shifter feel unature when transformed by not having them blink
another thing i've noticed is that people usually blink when making large head movements!!! idk why but it's a thing we do automatically for some reason :)
I also feel like it depends on the characters personality or just in general!! They could be a more open character so they wouldnt blink much if they were about to cry because theyre quite open right?
Walking animations are difficult, but it's either that or keeping the camera above the waist and convincing people they are "walking". Practice makes perfect, but practice first makes good enough.
sorry but the first thing i noticed about this video was that a sped up pitched up version of boccherini's minuet in G and i about flipped because i spent a whole year of my life playing and replaying this song in class with my art friends. good video.
My shortcut: I like to "cheat" by drawing the character with closed eyes in one of the lip-synching moments (e.g. "tuh/duh") and just watch the scene over to see how natural/unnatural it looks if every moment of that sound has blinking. This usually works.
I always blink alot when people say stuff about blinking because i don't actually blink that often😭😭 Which actually could be a cool character trait? A character that doesn't blink that often or something
personally i blink extremely frequently in random bouts. sometimes it's due to my allergies, and i think that's what started me doing it naturally because my eyes water all the time. it's irregular just like where i look, which i can't control when it starts. so i think if i were to animate myself, there'd be a lot of blinking ww p.s i also don't blink for long periods of time and usually after, i blink manually. so I'm either blinking really fast or staring some corner down frozen while I'm actually looking at something else but don't bother to move my eyes or head X)
Don’t forget about environment. Obviously stuff like rainy/snowy and sandy regions are gonna have a lot of eye irritates. But also stuff like dry air in cold climates and bright sunny landscapes also affect how often you’ll blind. Then again, this could also be different based on what your character is. Like… if it’s a dwarf then you’d expect him to be more sensitive to bright lights and take more time to adapt, meaning that sudden bright lights would result in more blinking.
Oh right, so the fun thing about animating blinks is that you always want to use more than what you think is needed. 2D animation can come off as stale, but frequent eye movement helps inject life into the animation
would blinking be a step later on in the animation process, namely after major poses and partway into tweening? So you can judge when a blink would occur depending on what the character is doing? Say, they are standing idle and watching (so normal blinking rules apply) but then something hits them in the face to force another blink, followed by an alarmed glance as they see more items being thrown their direction (so fewer or no blinking), etc.etc.
![Lets redesign Adrien Agreste!!! [x5]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Vps7m5ahD7c/mqdefault.jpg)
Now I am blinking manually
Me too 😔
Same. 😔🤚
Same, every 3 seconds..
I never think about it till I think about it
ME TOO 😭
I think the idea of not blinking can also be a cool way to show emotion, kinda like negative space ig, showing what a character feels not by blinking but by the lack there of. A complete lack of blinking is a great way to make a character seem uncany and not quite human aswell
Or just in disbelief of what they see/feel
Oh yeah like Wednesdays that blinked just a few times in the whole series to make her seem more cold and creppy I guess
It's the Stare or the Glare. Deliberately looking at someone and NOT blinking also deliberately is an emotion, usually judgement of some kind whether concerned or angry. In fact that's the secret to the brow lift, it's drawing attention to the fact they're not blinking or the lack of blinking amplifies it.
yeah! an example that comes to mind is this "evil clone" of one of the MCs in a show called Camp Camp, his whole gist was that he was supposed to seemingly nice but off putting and he doesn't blink once in his episode
Agreed, like when super angry or in shock.
One video that made everyone realize they’re blinking
You mean, normal people are able to forget their blinking??
the fact that i blinked only a few times during this vid cause of me being concentrated on this vid lol
The fact that your pfp is an eye lol
@@D4wn0fAppl35 yeah, for me and probably 99% of the population blinking is automatic same with breathing but if they ever get mentioned we start doing it manually, are you always doing it manually?
@@D4wn0fAppl35tf do you mean? Are you telling me you go day to day having to remind yourself to blink? broskie.
Thanks, now I need to blink manually 💀
Reading this made me need to blink manually, thanks dude
So do the animations.
So it's not just me then, thank you
See now why would you make me realize I'm blinking
Well now I have to breathe manually 😭
2-3 seconds seems pretty frequent. I go about 10 seconds between every blink.
I blinked so much in this video, and I don't even know how long I go without blinking 💀
(I just, don't blink sometimes idk?)
ur eyes must be so dry
@@beepobeepo nope! Maybe, idk
Hasn't caused me many problems🔥🔥
@@unicatiscoolernot you the other person who said every 10 seconds lol
@@marvinsalmeron585 I go for longer sometimes XD
another thing that is environment if it’s really dusty they’re going to be blinking or having their eyes closed a lot or something happens like throwing something at them they’re going to blink like a reflex
I don't think i can express how helpful these videos are!
It's not when the info is wrong tho lmao but the spirit is here
I’m now hyper aware of my blinking, but I think it’s worth it to be able to help with my animation
The average person actually goes about 10 seconds per blink, which I only know because my eyes are so damn dry I should blink every 4 instead.
So, it’s not unrealistic, all the characters just have really dry fucked up eyes
It isn't really about realism but more what feels realistic for the audience. It can also depend on the framerate of the animation (I personally animate on 12 frames per second)
It also depends on how long you're in that scene for. Let's say you're only in a scene for a few seconds? You might notice that the character never blinked even if they technically didn't need to at that point.
That's what's fun about animation! We have to copy or even overdo certain things just so it feels natural and people don't focus in on it!
If you'd time yourself blinking every 2-3 seconds, you'd see that it would be very excessive and feel unnatural. I'd recommend having them blink at least every 8-10 seconds. If you pay attention to your own blinking, the people around you, or those from people in live action shows/movies/videos, you'd get a better grasp on how often people blink naturally. But in general, people do not blink 30 times per minute, it's actually around half of that.
This is animation, they're not trying to be realistic, they're trying to copy what feels natural for people to look at.
Usually when I make really short animations I make the character blink again after 6-8 frames. (I animate on 12 frames per second)
Obviously if the style was more realistic, you would notice the blinking is off but you're likely to skip it when it's not that realistic.
@@TheVillainousSoul In order for it to be natural for people to look at, it needs to be realistic. Watching someone blink every other second is not natural to watch. Same with looking at someone who rarely blinks. Because they're both unrealistic.
You should definitely learn to shut up when you're not even sure or coherent about what you say...@@TheVillainousSoul
@@warningdeadinside2537 I didn't know about the ten second thing before reading this, so seeing them blink every ten seconds exactly, without fail, would feel uncanny and strange.
@@Lockedupmymouthandthrewawa-x6b I never said anything about them blinking every 10 seconds exactly.
You made me Blink manual again !
Omg I feel like there's so many trivia things you could do with blinking, like if they have constant dry-eye or if they are under/over-hydrated
I think its good to watch the eyes in live action shows as well very closely for when to blink, as theyd blink a lot more naturally. Natural is good in anination too, as it can tell you when to blink for more lighthearted casual scenes (if any)
see, using video references can be so helpful for things like this
When i used to animate faces, i would act it out myself first and record it, and try my best to recreate the feel of it
Characters should only blink as we blink normally everyday of our lives or blink multiple times for whatever scene is required it.
Buddy, I don't want "realistic" blinking, I want something that I think blinking is like, which 2-3 seconds fits perfectly. Why do you all care so much anyways?
I wonder if you could also tie in mannerisms to this also? Maybe someone's tell is they blink a little faster when nervous and/or lying?
Which could be accompanied by rapid eye movement or slightly raised eyebrows?
Although i don't animate. I do understand it is a very difficult thing to do. I just thought that it would be a possible thing to take note of?
Just a fun thought i wanted to share
Bro turned off my blinking autopilot
Omg thank you so much
I had not thought about that
I’ll try to incorporate that in my animated series when I animate it
NEVER. BLINKING IS FOR THE WEAK. I've not blinked for seven years
Have you ever closed your eyes?
This made me manually blink and breathe
Blinking during pose transitions is also a good idea poses
This is so helpful! Thanks!
Damn, I'd never really thought about that!
This is rlly into detail of tiny details in the animation industry!
I have an idea to make characters more unique, you could like in close ups shows the vein color on their wrist, some green some blue some both and some might not see them
Glad I found this before I started doing rough animations
I love the Mermista drawing!!!!
What the heck how dare you make me experience such emotion and recollection of my own previous experiences this is not fair i love you for making this
As someone who wants to get into animation,this helps on the blink frames✨
Okay, cool. I’ll need this for my animations too. Thanks!
I love your whole animation guide! Very smart!
Help the animation style reminds me of several shoes and that's so cool
BRO
THE GREEN HAIRED CHARACTER HAS MY OCS HAIR FOR SOMETHING I WAS WRITING
WIG SNATCHED CANON!?
I’m so excited for this!
What a great tutorial for me to remember when I should blink once I become aware of my blinking-
The Family Guy animators should take notes
Thank you for breaking down blink animation! I could never get it to look smooth or clean or have the right pacing I wanted... So thank you so much for explaining!
When is this series out? This is very intresting
❤
love this!! thank you!!
I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS SHOW TO DROP
OMG AS AN BEGINNER ANIMATER, THIS HELPS ALOT!! i camt wait for the pilot!
I've been wondering this for a minute, thank you for the explanation
this is super helpful also ur style remindeed me of the owl house lolol
the blue guy reminds me of raine from The Owl house! cute design :)
I see it
Every character there seems straight out of TOH
I always liked that details like blinking or the lack of it can show things like emotions or tell something about a character despite being such a minor thing.
Gee thanks now im blinking manually
In my 10+ years of working in animation this is the FIRST time I've ever seen anyone talk about blink frequency! Which is crazy to me. Thank you for highlighting this :D
Whenever the voice actor blinks the character blinks
If you really want to disconcert viewers, have an unnerving character not blink at all in any shot, with cold, piercing eyes.
From real life experience, I’ve found it tends to make people very uncomfortable, especially when used with a hard stare, particularly in contrast to more amiable seeming characters doing the natural lidded-eye motion of blinking regularly.
This is very helpful! Because I have characters but I never knew how to make them seem alive. Blinking is a big part of that! It also helps my non-human mimic-like character seem more out of place by how he rarely blinks
This is my first video about this series and it’s so cool to see the process of something as simple as blinking. I’m gonna go down a bit of a rabbit hole to learn more about the series brb
Imma need this
Tysm
I'm trying to make my characters blink every 192 frames to keep it realistic, but no eyes darting around slightly like you realistically would
You also blink when you turn your head or when the lighting changes! It makes your eyes adjust to the new lighting easier. I’ve found that characters not blinking when they turn definitely makes them feel uncanny and robotic. Just a bit of a note for any animators who don’t know that already! :)
2-3 seconds feels kinda short for me... maybe at least 5 would be nice?
I don’t think my main character would blink a lot, not because she’s scared, but because she’s always overstimulated
Blinking is also something people dont subconscious notice. You can use to make a character like a shape shifter feel unature when transformed by not having them blink
Thanks for the tip :)
Oh great amazing NOW IM BLINKING MANUALLY
I feel like people who are about to cry would move their eyes but not blink as much in an attempt to keep the tears from falling
Aw dude i swear these shows are al great i wish i had an animator for my show
Love the guy using magic to clear his tears ngl
No way , that green haired girl looks like one of my ocs its so cool , I already love this show
Details. I love 'em.
I can not imagine blinking that much
BEAUTIFULLY
personally I don't blink, but I can see why it would be useful here. cool art tip!
another thing i've noticed is that people usually blink when making large head movements!!! idk why but it's a thing we do automatically for some reason :)
I also feel like it depends on the characters personality or just in general!! They could be a more open character so they wouldnt blink much if they were about to cry because theyre quite open right?
Walking animations are difficult, but it's either that or keeping the camera above the waist and convincing people they are "walking". Practice makes perfect, but practice first makes good enough.
God’s work researching and sharing this! Thank you!
I'm having so much trouble with the story of my pilot, but now I know this and somehow I feel better
sorry but the first thing i noticed about this video was that a sped up pitched up version of boccherini's minuet in G and i about flipped because i spent a whole year of my life playing and replaying this song in class with my art friends. good video.
"a character that's about to cry would blink a lot"
actually when I'm about to cry I avoid blinking...
this way of marketing is both smart and educational - I am curious about the pilot now
IVE WONDERED THIS FOR SO LONG
This is SO cool!
It all really depends on the situation your characters are in.
This video made me realize that I forgot that people blink
is it just me or my eyes hurt just by listening to this 😭😭
My shortcut: I like to "cheat" by drawing the character with closed eyes in one of the lip-synching moments (e.g. "tuh/duh") and just watch the scene over to see how natural/unnatural it looks if every moment of that sound has blinking. This usually works.
I always blink alot when people say stuff about blinking because i don't actually blink that often😭😭
Which actually could be a cool character trait? A character that doesn't blink that often or something
that feels like very frequent blinking. but maybe i just never blink, i do stare a lot ig
thank you!
I don't like reminding my brain that I blink because it makes me feel weird until I forget about it.
Thanks, now I'm blinking manually
personally i blink extremely frequently in random bouts. sometimes it's due to my allergies, and i think that's what started me doing it naturally because my eyes water all the time. it's irregular just like where i look, which i can't control when it starts. so i think if i were to animate myself, there'd be a lot of blinking ww
p.s i also don't blink for long periods of time and usually after, i blink manually. so I'm either blinking really fast or staring some corner down frozen while I'm actually looking at something else but don't bother to move my eyes or head X)
Don’t forget about environment.
Obviously stuff like rainy/snowy and sandy regions are gonna have a lot of eye irritates. But also stuff like dry air in cold climates and bright sunny landscapes also affect how often you’ll blind.
Then again, this could also be different based on what your character is. Like… if it’s a dwarf then you’d expect him to be more sensitive to bright lights and take more time to adapt, meaning that sudden bright lights would result in more blinking.
Now I’m thinking of blinking
The characters are giving The Glass Scientists and I love it
For the most part I only blink once the pain kicks in.
Oh right, so the fun thing about animating blinks is that you always want to use more than what you think is needed. 2D animation can come off as stale, but frequent eye movement helps inject life into the animation
Omg the metaness of deadpool's part was absolutely amazing lmaoo. 4th wall breaks all over the place holy crap
Bro I've always wondered about this!
Tbh I wasn’t blinking manually till I read the comments
Something funny is that when I'm about to cry I stop blinking
THANK YOU. I am now realizing why many of my animations turn out uncanny LOL
“HE NEVER BLINKS. HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT?” - Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls)
Whenever you remember that “oh shit they haven’t blinked in a long time” during animating
would blinking be a step later on in the animation process, namely after major poses and partway into tweening?
So you can judge when a blink would occur depending on what the character is doing?
Say, they are standing idle and watching (so normal blinking rules apply) but then something hits them in the face to force another blink, followed by an alarmed glance as they see more items being thrown their direction (so fewer or no blinking), etc.etc.