Hole in One!

For the first project, my goal was to animate a bouncing ball. How could I do that? The answer came to me thanks to my family's favorite activity to do in Florida, golfing! Featuring a flagpole, a sloped hill, and golf hole, this animation shows a golf shot ricochet off the pole, causing it to move, and then bounce and roll down the sloped hill into the hole for a beautiful hole in one shot!

I was sure to add a squash effect for the times the ball bounced off the pole and ground, a smaller one for the final bounce at the highest point it reached on the hill, and also added the ball rolling down the hill, and eventually into the hole after a tiny upward motion as it entered!

I first started by drawing the sky background with the grass, then adding a hole into it as well. I added a flag and pole on separate layers, and then laid out the general path of how I wanted the ball to go. From there I added rough sketches on how the ball would move, and then added a outline for the ball, which I then used a bucket tool to fill in with the white color! I kept the black outline to add a little depth and to show its shape easier.

The Wacom tablet I've been using has worked really well and I'm also proud of how I was able to draw the scene, as I'm not a really good artist! I added a little vibration to the pole after the initial hit as well. In technical terms, I made a minor error, as I forgot to upload the classwork I had done onto Dropbox, so I had to redo drawing my ball fully. Having practice the first time made it easier to draw this time!

I experimented with a moving flag to go along with the moving ball, but it felt a little choppy, so I simply decided to add extra detail with a number on the flag, and I think it looks better staying on the pole (and moving with it during the bounce!)

I hope you enjoy this project, and stay tuned for more! - Taylor