Drawn and stylised acting

Drawn, anime, clay and 3D characters act in their medium's timing, not in photographic micro-acting.

Drawn timing [best available, not yet validated]:

• An anticipation before each big move: a small move the other way first.

• A held key pose at each beat, about 0.3–0.6 s.

• Squash and stretch on landings.

• A smear or speed lines only on the fastest move.

• One impact frame on a hit.

• One secondary motion settling after the main one: an ear, a scarf, a tail.

Comic timing lives in the hold before the reaction.

A worked prompt: Video with Seedance → 18. Stylised acting. Which images a drawn character attaches: Video with Seedance → Attaching references. The stills for stylised films come from Seedream 5.0 Pro (see Stylised films (Seedream 5.0 Pro) → Seedream for stylised films).

Sources

• The established principles of character animation, written as prompt lines. No AI creator is credited for this method yet.