Studio Secrets: Animator's Acting & Timing Kit (Stopwatch, Mirror, Posable Hands)

Ships in 1–2 weeks. We put each kit together by hand when you order.

Whether you animate in pencil, clay, or Blender and Maya, the best animators all act it out first. These are the three tools you'll find on nearly every character animator's desk, and none of them are sold as "animation supplies."

What's in the box, and how the pros use each one

• A stopwatch. Act out the move and time it: a head turn, a double take, a sip of coffee. Multiply the seconds by 24 (or 12 for stop motion "on twos") and you know how many frames it needs before you draw or key a single pose.
• A desk mirror. For facial expressions and lip sync, animators pull faces in a mirror and draw or pose what they see. You also feel where your weight shifts, which tells you what the character's body does.
• A pair of posable wooden hands (left and right, 12"). Hands are the hardest thing to draw and pose. Bend the fingers into the pose, turn it to your camera angle, and you have a reference that never gets tired.

Studio tip: film yourself on your phone while acting with the stopwatch running, then step through the video frame by frame. It's the fastest way to find the key poses.