Animation- Rock Splashes in Water

So I just started my latest full animation, after months of being out of commission. It's nothing more than a short gif really, but it works like a charm.

(I would upload it as a .mov, but blogger won't let me upload videos for some reason.)

So, I began this video on Sunday, and worked on it for about two hours. I got the idea in my head when I decided that I wanted to experiment with water for a little bit, so this was the product of that idea. 

The hour before the two hours was spent conceptualizing the idea, and thinking of timing. I drew up some diagrams on how a rock would fall in the water, and how long it would take for it to drop, using video reference to help me with the timing. 

I also did my best to try and understand what happens when something does splash. How does the water react? Does the rock significantly slow down when it gets in the water, or does it still go at a fast pace? 

Through this, I learned that there's this thing called buoyancy; a force that pushes things out of the water, however because the rock's gravitational force (what pushes it down) is stronger than the buoyancy, it sinks. So I realize that the rock will slightly slow down upon impact with the water, and as it sinks, but only slightly.

Also, with the water, I figured that when the rock sinks in the water it creates a temporary crater in the pool. The side of this crater will shoot up rapidly, unleashing the first splash of water, and making the rings in the pool. 

It's at this point, when the rock is fully submerged in the water, that water is rapidly filling the hole. So rapidly that it shoot out a huge jet of water from inside the ring, making the second splash. The water from this splash spreads out and usually will create multiple little splashes that will have the same effect. 

For this animation however, I decided to take it easy with the splashing and just used a small rock at close up. However, I drew this thing entirely straight ahead, no pose to pose or extra hours put in to fix timing. But it was fun to do this and I look forward to experimenting with water again. 

To all other animators wanting to try an experiment like this, I have to recommend these videos to you, they're great for understanding the nitty gritty details of how the water works.