*Blink Blink*

This article is about blinking sequences of optical eyes in anime shows. I did a little research on this so that I could animate CG eyes that depend on frame rate. The writeup used to be on my Facebook which seems out of place. Now moved to this blog.



An animated blink usually lasts about 6 to 8 frames in an anime with a frame rate of 23.9 fps.

A blink has about 3 to 4 states.
State 1: Fully opened (O)
State 2: Closed tight (C)
State 3: 3/4 opened (O1)
State 4: 4/5 opened (O2)

Common sequences (at about 0.415s per state):


Sequence: O -> C -> C -> C -> O1 -> O1 -> O1 -> O
Conclusion: Requires least work but jerky animation.


Sequence: O -> C -> C -> C -> O1 -> O1 -> O2 -> O
Conclusion: Pretty convincing.


Sequence: O -> O2 -> C -> O1 -> O2 -> O
Conclusion: Would be better if there is one more C state.


Sequence: O -> C -> C -> O1 -> O1 -> O2 -> O2 -> O
Conclusion: Too linear(?)


Can anyone guess whose eyes are these? No peeping at the above post!