After Effects

This gives you practical implementations of Disney's 12 animation principles directly in After Effects, with expressions you can copy and paste. You get code snippets for squash and stretch, delay expressions for follow-through, overshoot formulas for exaggeration, and timing charts that map frame counts to animation feels. It's genuinely useful if you're animating but never formally studied these principles, or if you know them conceptually but need the technical AE implementation. The expression library alone (wiggle, bounce, loop) saves you from hunting Stack Overflow. Covers everything from bezier easing to motion paths to export formats like Lottie. More reference sheet than tutorial, which is exactly what you want mid-project.

install copies · 90 days. Times the install command was copied on this site in the last 90 days, bots filtered.: 37
skills.sh installs: 975
GitHub stars: 146
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill after-effects --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

After Effects Animation Principles

Implement all 12 Disney animation principles using After Effects' powerful animation tools.

1. Squash and Stretch

// Expression for automatic squash/stretch
s = transform.scale[1];
x = 100 + (100 - s) * 0.5;
[x, s]

Or manually:

Keyframe Scale X and Y inversely
When Y compresses, X expands
Maintain volume (X * Y ≈ constant)

2. Anticipation

Timeline structure:

0-10f: Wind-up (crouch, pull back)
10-12f: Transition
12-30f: Main action
30-40f: Settle

Use Easy Ease on anticipation keyframes for smooth wind-up.

3. Staging

Techniques:

Use depth of field (Camera > Depth of Field)
Apply blur to background layers
Use vignettes to direct focus
Adjust opacity of secondary elements
Light the main subject brighter

4. Straight Ahead / Pose to Pose

Pose to Pose (recommended):

Set keyframes at key poses
Fill in breakdowns
Use Graph Editor to adjust timing

Straight Ahead:

Animate frame-by-frame
Use Onion Skin (Layer > Onion Skin)

5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action

SKILL.md on GitHub

Details

Repository: github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles
Category: Design & UI/UX
First seen: Jun 3, 2026