Creating the Tie Down Animation

Once your rough animation is correct, you can start adding extra details, such as arms, clothes or hair. You can add the extra details on the same layer with the same colour or you can also create a new colour so that you can always see your original sketch.

If your primary and secondary animation were done as a rough drawing, it is now time to put your drawing on model, also known as tie down. This means that you have to review your animation and ensure that every single detail is on model and there is no volume distortion. You can do this directly on the original sketch layer or on a new layer.

If you want to keep your rough animation as it is to avoid any mistakes, you can add an extra drawing element and use the Light Table feature to draw over the first drawing element. This technique can also be used if you want to reuse your rough animation for other characters. For example, if you have a rough walk-cycle, you can reuse it for another character and add its personal features in a new layer. This way, you only need to animate the secondary animation instead of the whole body again.