Every day gravity works with us, or against us depending on our weight 😉

Those who do heavy work have learned to reduce fatigue, but above all distribute it on the body. If you look at masons or labourers in general you might be surprised how as you get older they often carry higher weights more loosely than young people, but in a different way.

The experience of life leads man to shift the weight from different points of the body, to reduce fatigue, and better maintain balance.

When animating a character you have to look closely at the type of character and where the center of gravity is and how much it weighs. Depending on the character, the center of gravity moves down or up, and the weight defines the balance. So the character will move differently.

If a character has a tail, it shifts weight and balance. If the character has a posterior abdomen (insects), the center of gravity will be moved again.

What does it mean to think about the center of gravity? It means that animating we have to imagine that the character will have all the weight of the body moved to that position and then will be unbalanced and will move to that position, if it tilts the body the weight unbalances it, if it rotates on itself this will take it out to centrifugal force, then you have to compensate by shifting the weight of the body.

When a character moves badly or is strange, do not look for technical reasons, but imagine where the weight is and check that it is in the right place.