2D Animation Tips? Timing, Spacing, ect.?

Question

I'm making my first animation, so I wanted some pointers from some people who've been doing it a while. :) I hope tracing paper is alright, because that's what I got.

I just wanted some basic rules. So I'll have an idea on how to get the effect I want by spacing and the number of frames. I know there's 24 frames a second, and 2 frames for each drawing. So that's 12 drawings a second.

But if you want the illusion of a faster movement, do you achive that more by spacing, or by fewer drawings? Likewise, if you want the illusion of slowed timing,(For instance something jumping into the air and reaching the heigh of the jump before speeding back downward) Do you place the drawings closer together, or just draw more frames?

I was thinking of perhaps doing the leap of a rabbit. Just to give you guys an idea. Thanks! :)

Answer 1

I can recommend the book Timing for Animation By Harold Whitaker, John Halas. The name says it all. I've used this to help with both 3d and 2d animation but most of the examples in the book are 2d.