Amount of Extremes (Animation Workflow 03)-
Once a flow for a scene is established, it can be broken down to smaller phrases with each phrase representing one arc path of movement. From here, a minimal amount of extremes can be determined for the scene.
To express one arc, there is a minimal of 3 extremes- starting point, transition and arriving point. For big arc, more extremes are needed to generate adequate movement info with a minimal of 5 extremes- starting point, transition, mid arc, transition and then arriving point.
In a pose-to-pose approach, the animating mindset can be- starting extremes, transitional extreme, arriving extreme, next transitional extreme, arriving extreme…until reaching the end of the entire flow.
The number of extremes for an action can be varies based on how much details the animator wishes to express. The fewer the extremes there are, the more direct a movement.
Do keep in mind that movements are information. The numbers of extremes control the complexity of a movement.
From a ping pong volley action, the differences in texture of movement can be seen between the use of fewer and more extremes.