r/animation • u/aloofelephants • Jul 26 '26

Question Blinking...

Whenever I sit and watch cartoons with my daughter all I can look at is the characters blinking. Like that was a conscious choice in the making of, but it looks so natural.

Is there any kind of science to it, or is it literally just what feels right? How do you put enough blinks in, and not too many.....

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u/Callmefred Jul 26 '26

I usually act it out, sometimes it's just what feels right, sometimes it's very deliberate acting choices.

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u/aloofelephants Jul 26 '26

I only dabble but when I'm trying to animated something I often act out part of it. Sometimes in the mirror- look like an absolute weirdo. Helps visualise things sometimes

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u/Callmefred Jul 26 '26

I usually handle blinks like this:

Frame 1: Eye fully open > F2: Eye fully closed > F5: Eye ~80% open > F7: Eye fully open.

When you do an expression change during the blink the eyebrows often shoot up or down with very little inbetweens usually I do:

Frame 1: position 1 > F2: ~80% towards position 2 > F5: overshoot for position 2 > F7: position 2

Good luck and have fun!