Here is a great set of animation exercises that young beginner animators can follow to improve thier work...I'm doing it myself right now so here it is:
-Character lifting/pushing weight
-Jumping and landing
-Sword Lunge
-Character using weighted objects (hammer, axe, etc)
-Baseball Throw
-Baseball Hit
-Discus/Javeline/Shotput Throw
-Fight between two characters
-Sports (basketball, skateboarding, boxing etc)
-Character showing off on a diving board
-Dancing
- A character getting angry, for that matter any and all emotional changes.
- A character being hit by a ball.
- A character throwing a heavy rock.
- A character slumping into a chair.
- A character standing up.
- A character getting a fright.
- A fish out of water.
- A character diving for cover.
- A character answering the phone.
- A character agreeing with what they are hearing, or disagreeing.
- A giant stomping on a house.
- A character bursting out through a door.
- A character clutching its head in dispair.
- A character slapping it head as if it just said something stupid.
- A character threatening to poke someone in the eye.
- A character who has just taisted something disgusting or delicious.
- A character who thinks it is smarter than who it is listening to.
- A character swelling up with pride as it recieves some praise.
- A character watching a scary movie.
- A character trying to take operate a complicated DVD player.
- A character doing or failing to do a rubics cube.
- A character trying to catch a fly with chopsticks.
- A character falling out of its chair.
- A character leaning on something only to find that it gives way and falls over.
- A character who is a burgler trying to carefully remove a painting from the wall.
- A casual glance.
- Noticing something amazing.
- Noticing something disgusting.
- Indigestion
- Remembering something amusing.
- Remembering a past love.
- Starting to say something but then forgetting what you were going to say.
- Trying to remember where you put something.
-Trying to move against wind, such as from a giant fan, trying to reach a goal.
-Dropping onto a soft surface, such as a giant pillow
-Catching a heavy object, such as a boulder.
-Climbing a wall
-Back/front flip
-Wall run/flip
-Running from something dangerous or scary
-A tightrope walker
-Trapeze artist
-Gymnasts in general doing flips and such
-Weightlessness/underwater
-Running through/avoiding obstacles such as an obstacle course.
-Having fun on a trampoline
-Two or more characters working together to reach a goal (i.e. a high place where character a gives character b a boost with his hands, then character b pulls character a up)
-A character climbing a ladder, but has to jump and pull himself up to reach the first few rungs.
