2D Flying Bird Cycle

For this week I was given a 'simpler task' of animating a bird flying. And it had to be a cycle. A bird cycle can become very complex, as the wings rotate, curve, and appear to expand. The key was getting a clear sketch layer to map out the movement.

I started by drawing the key frames and then on a separate layer drew some arcs so I knew where the outside of the wings sat. At first I thought I could cheat my way by just repeating the first few frames after the wings hit the bottom, but it clearly looks unnatural and more like the wings are bouncing.

So then I edited the repeated frames so the wings bent as they went back up, which looked much more natural. I also made the body float up and down in time with the wings, even though it wasn't in the brief, as without it the whole animation looked wrong.

Here's my final line art, and I'm happy it doesn't boil as much as my previous animations. However, I wanted to use thinner lines but ran out of time. If I could, I would make a new layer and go over all these frames using a thinner line for a more precise looking animation.

And this is my final animation. I still see things wrong with it, such as the wings get super long, and for the power of the flap the body should rise much higher and faster. However, it's not a bad attempt.