What techniques do you use to create smooth and fluid motion in animations?

@francisco 

When asked about the techniques used to create smooth and fluid motion in animations during an interview, you can respond with the following points:

1. Timing: Animations must be timed correctly to create a sense of natural movement. Animators use keyframes to set up the timing for different parts of the animation, such as the start and end points, and then fill in the intermediate frames to create a smooth transition.
2. Ease-in and ease-out: Ease-in and ease-out are techniques that help create a more natural movement by adding acceleration and deceleration to the animation. This helps to avoid sudden or jerky movements that can be distracting to the viewer.
3. Secondary motion: Animators also use secondary motion to create more natural-looking movements. Secondary motion refers to the motion of objects that are affected by the primary motion. For example, when a character jumps, their hair and clothing may also move as a result of the motion.
4. Squash and stretch: Squash and stretch is a technique used to add more personality and flexibility to a character's movements. It involves compressing or stretching the character's body parts as they move to create a more dynamic motion.
5. Arcs: Arcs are the natural paths that objects follow when they move. Animators use arcs to make movements look more natural and fluid. They do this by creating motion paths that follow the arcs of the movement.
6. Overlapping action: Overlapping action is the concept of overlapping different parts of an animation to create a more dynamic and fluid movement. This can include adding slight delays between different parts of the animation, such as the head and body movement of a character.

Overall, it's important to demonstrate a solid understanding of animation principles and techniques, as well as the ability to use animation software to create smooth and fluid motion.