What are the best ways to use timing and spacing for effective character animation?

You cant have one without the other. Think of it like this, timing is WHEN you get there.. spacing is HOW you get there. You take the train, how long does it take? how many starts and stops are involved? And whats the energy? spacing and timing directly correlate to the energy you’re character has.

I agree with Peer Lemmers, it is next to impossible to discuss timing and spacing without referencing one another. Moving Holds also become an important animation aspect for explaining timing choices. To provide clarity, I prefer to use the terms Phrasing and Texture. Phrasing can be likened to the rhythm section of a band, comprising the drummer and bassist, while Texture resembles the lead guitarist. Phrasing involves identifying accents within dialogue or performance, dictating the pace, or timing, of the acting. To discern the essence of "phrasing," it's essential to articulate the character's emotions in the given moment. Clear phrasing proves invaluable not only in dialogue-driven scenes but also in pantomime or silent acting.

For Example, we can imagine it if we have a character that wants to go from the POS A to POS B, how much time we need it to do that which we can call it the timing, but spacing means how character goes from POS A to POS B, how much ease in and ease out it has, how mush soft or hard it is its movement, how much the all parts of its elements have delay or drag or overlap, how much it has anticipation, or how to reach or settle in POS B, so both of these principles are very important while animating any character to make it believable

What I would add to that is that time and spacing is extremely helpful when we trying to show weight. For example, fast time and spacing means that something might be light, while slow shows heaviness of a movement.

Manipulating timing and spacing in animation serves two primary purposes: conveying performative intent and elucidating body mechanics. Regardless of the specific objective, the beats you establish in your animation are crucial in ensuring clarity for the audience.

I've summarized the key points from my one-hour lecture on this topic. ?? Every emotion or action stems from a mental process, and credibility is achieved by effectively communicating the character's thoughts and feelings. ?? Physicality adds specificity to the performance. ?? It's crucial to vary timing; uniform timing can make a scene feel monotonous - You want jazz, NOT TECHNO! ?? Adding texture to timing emphasizes specific actions. ?? Consider whether the timing and spacing serves body mechanics or character performance, and once you've answered that, you'll know your next steps.

If you are creating gameplay animation, the traditional rules may not apply. What looks good in a playblast may not look good in-engine because game engines can often display animation between keyframes and at a different framerate than animated which will affect the look of the animation. For best results, view the animation in game, and go back to Maya to iterate.

If you are new or even experienced animator a good way for finding right timing is to make sound effects for your animation. When you visualise your animation and will make sound to it (even with your mouth) for every movement like: steps, squats, jumps, efforts, sword swings, basically everything that would be included in animation it will be much easier to find a right timing that you looking for in your work.