Unit One & the Foxy Tail
Updated: May 14
25th of January 2026
In the first brief of the module, we will focus on flexibility and overlapping action in animations, while getting a better understanding of their foundational principles. Whilst practicing the use of these key elements, we can achieve fluidity and expressive movement. This will contribute to successfully communicating emotion and personality.
The brief requires us to create an animation with a cartoon fox. The advised rig for this work is the Ultimate Tailed rig by Ugur Ulvi Yetiskin, which can be downloaded for free at
www.highend3d.com . It is a great rig with three tail options and easy control curves.
As per the tutorial, first we had to create a 16 frames cycle with up & down and squash & stretch motions for the body to achieve flexibility. Once that was done, we had to edit the tail following our thumbnail sketches we previously created. It is suggested to adjust the tail controls one by one in order to not confuse them.
The next step is to add forward motion. As the rig itself doesn't have a ‘world control’, we have to select all the controls and copy & paste the curves in the graph editor to create a longer cycle.
As seen in the above video, the ‘squash and stretch’ helped to emphasise the fox's motion, while the animated tail ensured fluidity.
Once I had the basic cycle ready, the next step was to create a basic environment. My idea started with the fox jumping towards a mountain and jumping up to the top of the cliff.
For the process, I did some research on environmental modelling and found useful sources provided by Academic Phoenix Plus on Youtube.
When the environment was ready, I had to set and block the camera view. This could be adjusted later on. My plan was to extend the animation to 300 frames, which is about 12.5 seconds on 24 fps.
The first 65 frames (about 3 seconds) showed a forward motion. For this, I copied and pasted twice the first 17 frames in the graph editor. When the fox reached the bottom of the mountain, I planned it to stop for a moment and stare upside down, suggesting its observation and decision-making. This was followed by its jumping up on the side of the mountain until it reached the top. As the list of objects was growing, it was important to name each layer approrioately and group them where necessary.
After the peer's review, I realised that the initial animation (above) was lacking flexibility, and the camera move needed adjustments. I had to look at the tail motion references and consider further exaggerating its ‘up and down’ motion, and also adding a side-to-side movement where the fox jumps up the mountain, and its body turns to the side.
In the next animation, I focused on the above-mentioned issues and further developed the project. Following peer and tutor feedback, I realised there was still not enough squash & stretch motion (anticipiation). I also wanted to do more in the scene, so after completing further units, I came back to the project to add butterflies.
I imported a number of butterflies as a reference in order not to overload the animation with data I don't need to edit. I had to create a new motion path for each or duplicate the one I already had. At some point, it became difficult to tell which was which, so I created separate layers for them. This way, they could be turned on and off when needed.
For further entertainment, I downloaded a nice polygon tree set from Turbosquid created by Just Create. It was very easy to use and uplifted the project.
I am quite happy with the final video; however, the butterfly's path is more like a rollercoaster than a swirling path, and due to the time limit, I left it as is.
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