What's the secret to creating natural 3D movements?

In my opinion, the most crucial of these basics(after easing) is "arcs". Nothing in nature moves in a straight line, unless its falling. Just by introducing arcs, movements feel so much more fluid. You are animating cameras, use arcs! Characters? without arcs, they will feel like robots even if they have stretchy limbs. Though all of the basics have an impact on the animation, Having arcs in the movement will make the most impact.

Form follows function is an architectural catchphrase but I think it works well in this context. You need to consider what function accurately fits the environment.

The basis to set those basics (in my opinion) is understanding reality and how animation works in real life, as also described in the next chapter. This requires a lot of study and subject based analysis. The motion of a tiger is totally different to how a bird flies or a car brakes... Therefore, study reality, understand the forces and movement and then find the tools and methodologies to apply to your animation. Do not reinvent the wheel, there is plenty of information already out there to get you going!

The secret to creating natural 3D movements lies in a combination of meticulous observation, attention to detail, and a deep understanding of animation principles. - Observation - Reference Footage - Keyframes - Timing and Spacing - Ease In and Ease Out - Secondary Motion - Overlap and Follow-Through - Squash and Stretch - Feedback and Iteration - Practice:

Imitating nature, using real life nature videos or frame captures as reference, preferably as an underlay. Or using motion tracking sensors. However, one must understand that nature is never liner, at least to the best of human cognition.

When you just started, make sure to stick to the reference and try to animate non-living objects first. They can force you to understand timing and spacing to emulate real world physics before you start adding living character's movements. When you already grasp that, the next level is to animate a character with minimal limbs first, like a ball with tail or a ball with two legs before a full body creature or humanoid.

I think the best way to creat a realistic renders is : 1.modeling the details od the project 2.creating high quality and realistic materials. 3.find a best reference and look carefully to the lights and the cobination of the materials and natural lights in the reference.

Curve editor (or graph editor in most 3D software) is the most often used tool for animators. 3D software fills the inbetween poses automatically-which is actually very helpful-but this results in a very uniform mechanical movement for all objects. Some tweak to adjust the timing and spacing is better done in the curve editors rather than keyframing them manually. Understand and learn how to use them so you can work faster and tidier.

For looping animations it is again nice to explore graph editor, you have control on how the overall speed of animation should be.

Don't forget the anticipation (or recoil). For example when you throw a ball, you first reach back to give it the push. Film yourself, then watch it back frame-by-frame.

However, make sure you fine tune your primary actions before moving to secondary... As an example, hair and fur animation can be as challenging as animating the actual character, or if not animated properly may ruin tha primary animation...

After I finish an animation, I like to 'sleep on it' or just step away for a couple of days. Then go back and watch it again with fresh eyes. I usually find a lot of things that could be tweaked.

Yes 3D is a very experimental activity that you get better at everyday. Once you start exploring it you realise it's potential. What you explore and find becomes the base of your knowledge. So take your time and keep a little patience.

Specifically for human/oid natural 3D movements, Animators need to evolve their workflow. While there's a certain 'romance' in doing it the old way, modern professional mo-cap (motion capture) is so affordable today - it makes no sense to not use it. The animator would do well to keep their toolkit and the art in a constant state of evolution. While I won't make this a "what software are you using" reply...one has to look at A.I. for curve editing and smoothing... look at tech like WonderDynamics' WonderStudio can do... look at what mo-cap like MoveAI with a single iphone is capable of... etc.