Easy Bounce Pro

In the competitive world of motion design, the "bouncing ball" exercise is often cited as the litmus test for an animator's understanding of physics, timing, and weight. While the concept is simple, executing a realistic bounce in Adobe After Effects—complete with perfect arcs, decreasing peaks, and organic squash and stretch—is notoriously labor-intensive. Easy Bounce Pro by mamoworld has revolutionized this workflow, transforming a tedious manual task into a physics-based automation that respects the artist's creative intent.

The Logic of "Rough Keyframing"

The most innovative aspect of Easy Bounce Pro is its "Rough to Refined" workflow. Unlike traditional scripts that force you to input complex mathematical variables into a text box, Easy Bounce Pro starts with your intuition.

You simply set a few rough keyframes to define the general path: one at the start, one at each point where the object hits the floor or a wall, and one at the peak (apex) of each arc. At this stage, the animation looks robotic and linear. However, with a single click of the "Easy Bounce" button, the script analyzes these points and calculates the necessary gravity, velocity, and easing to create a physically accurate motion path.

Pro-Level Physics: Beyond the Floor

While the free version of the tool handles basic ground bounces, the Pro version introduces a level of complexity required for professional broadcast and character work:

• Wall Bouncing: Easy Bounce Pro understands boundaries. You can define "walls" in your composition, allowing objects to ricochet off the sides of the frame with realistic momentum transfer.

• Secondary Keyframe Retiming: This is perhaps the most powerful "Pro" feature. If you have already animated the rotation of your object or the shape paths of a character's face, Easy Bounce Pro will intelligently shift those keyframes to match the new, physically corrected timing of the bounce.

• Gravity Control: You aren't limited to Earth's physics. By adjusting the gravity slider, you can simulate a heavy bowling ball on Jupiter or a light balloon drifting on the Moon, all while maintaining the mathematical integrity of the bounce.

Integrated Squash and Stretch

To truly bring an object to life, it needs to deform upon impact. Easy Bounce Pro automates this "Squash and Stretch" behavior by applying a non-destructive Bezier Warp effect.

The script calculates the impact velocity and applies a proportional amount of deformation. In the Pro version, you have granular control over the Squash Amount (how much it flattens), Squash Duration (how long it takes to recover), and even Squash Chaos, which adds subtle randomness to the deformation to make it feel less like a computer simulation and more like a hand-drawn animation.

Automation and Pipeline Integration

For studio environments, Easy Bounce Pro offers a KBar and Scripting API. This allows technical directors to integrate the bounce logic into larger automation blocks or custom toolbars. By removing the need to navigate a separate UI for every bounce, teams can maintain a high-speed pipeline without sacrificing the "organic" feel of their motion.

Conclusion

Easy Bounce Pro is the definitive "shortcut to quality" in After Effects. It bridges the gap between high-end physics simulations and manual keyframing, providing a tool that is as useful for a 2D character animator as it is for a UI/UX designer. By automating the math of gravity and the nuance of squash and stretch, it allows the artist to focus on the storytelling and "acting" of their layers.