# naturalistic-motion

Animation guidelines for organic creatures and natural elements. Guides agents to create continuous subtle motion instead of robotic stiffness.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 537 installs · ★ 129
- Author: dylantarre
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles/tree/HEAD/skills/02-by-thinking-style/naturalistic-motion/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2025-12-30
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/naturalistic-motion

## What it does

This skill directs your coding agent to approach movement from a biological perspective. Living organisms never freeze into absolute stillness. The guide adapts classic animation principles for organic subjects, prioritizing arcs over straight lines, staggered timing, and continuous deceleration. It recommends exaggerating organic traits by 10-20% beyond reality to keep them readable.

The rules focus on telltale signs of life: breathing cycles and subtle weight shifts. It flags common synthetic errors like twinning and mirrored poses. Real creature video reference is mandatory here, because guessing biological mechanics without real-world footage leads to stiff results.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill naturalistic-motion -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/naturalistic-motion/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/naturalistic-motion/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill naturalistic-motion -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/naturalistic-motion/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill naturalistic-motion -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/naturalistic-motion/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install dylantarre/animation-principles naturalistic-motion
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/naturalistic-motion/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill naturalistic-motion -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles --path skills/02-by-thinking-style/naturalistic-motion
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/naturalistic-motion/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dylantarre/animation-principles --skill naturalistic-motion -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/dylantarre/animation-principles/tree/HEAD/skills/02-by-thinking-style/naturalistic-motion/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- bring life to static creature idle poses
- eliminate twinning and mirrored limb movement
- layer overlapping action through joints and soft tissue
- clean up noisy secondary motion without losing organic feel

## Example prompts
- Build an idle animation for a resting dog with breathing cycles and subtle weight shifts
- Review this creature locomotion cycle to eliminate mirrored limb timing
- Adjust the tail movement to follow natural arcs and soft-body overlapping

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 281a14f683a073ae.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 281a14f683a073ae
```text
---
name: naturalistic-motion
description: Use when animation should feel organic and lifelike—creature animation, realistic characters, nature elements, or any motion that needs to breathe with authentic living quality.
---

# Naturalistic Motion

Think like a biologist watching life unfold. Nothing in nature moves mechanically. Everything breathes, adjusts, responds. Life is continuous subtle motion.

## Core Mental Model

Before animating anything alive, ask: **What is this creature feeling and responding to?**

Living things are never truly still. They shift weight, breathe, notice, adjust. Naturalistic motion isn't about copying reality—it's about capturing aliveness.

## The 12 Principles Through Organic Life

**Secondary Action** — Life is layered motion. While a character talks, they breathe. While they breathe, they blink. While they blink, their weight shifts. Stack subtle actions.

**Follow Through & Overlapping Action** — Bodies are systems of connected parts. Movement cascades through joints and soft tissue. Nothing moves in isolation.

**Arcs** — Nature abhors straight lines. Every joint creates rotation. Every movement traces curves. Study the path of a hand gesture—it's never linear.

**Slow In & Slow Out** — Organic motion accelerates and decelerates continuously. Muscles engage and release. This is what makes movement look "alive" rather than robotic.

**Timing** — Life has varied timing. Quick glances, slow stretches, medium walks. The diversity of speeds creates believable organism behavior.

**Squash & Stretch** — Flesh is malleable. Skin wrinkles, muscles bulge, fat jiggles. Even subtle squash and stretch sells organic tissue.

**Anticipation** — Living things telegraph intention. Watch a cat before it pounces. The body organizes itself before action. Include preparatory micro-movements.

**Solid Drawing** — Anatomy matters. Understand skeletal structure, muscle groups, and how they connect. Organic motion respects physical construction.

**Appeal** — Naturalistic doesn't mean realistic. Appealing organic motion is idealized life—the essence of a cat, not a veterinary diagram.

**Exaggeration** — Subtle exaggeration. Naturalistic motion pushes organic qualities just 10-20% past reality. Enough to read clearly, not enough to break believability.

**Staging** — Let organic motion read. Don't let naturalistic complexity become visual noise. Clarity serves believability.

**Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose** — Organic motion often benefits from straight ahead animation for its emergent quality. Let movement discover itself.

## Practical Application

**Signs of Life:**
- Breathing: Constant subtle chest/belly movement
- Weight shifts: Never perfectly balanced
- Micro-saccades: Eyes are never frozen
- Postural adjustments: Comfort-seeking behavior
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 281a14f683a073ae

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