How to Create a Bounce Animation in After Effects

A workflow taught by Adobe Certified Instructors at Adobe Video World.

A good bounce is one of the most satisfying animations there is, and it’s a cornerstone of lively motion design — from a logo that drops into place to a button that springs on screen. After Effects creates bounces by hand with keyframes or automatically with an expression. This guide covers both, plus the squash and stretch that makes a bounce feel alive.

What Makes a Bounce Feel Real

A convincing bounce follows the physics of a real object: it falls, hits a surface, rebounds to a lower height, falls again, and settles after a few diminishing bounces. Each bounce is smaller than the last as energy dissipates.

Getting this decay right is what separates a believable bounce from a fake-looking one. The object should also move fastest at the moment of impact and slow at the top of each arc, which is the rhythm your animation needs to capture.

Keyframe a Bounce by Hand

To build a bounce manually, keyframe the Position so the object drops to the ground, then set successively smaller upward keyframes for each rebound. The first bounce is tall, the next shorter, the next shorter still, until it rests.

Spacing the keyframes correctly — closer together at the top of each arc, faster through the bottom — gives the motion its weight. Hand-keyframing teaches you exactly how a bounce behaves, which is invaluable even once you start using expressions.

Add Easing for Weight

Linear keyframes make a bounce feel weightless, so easing is essential. Apply Easy Ease and then shape the velocity in the graph editor so the object decelerates at the top of each arc and accelerates into each impact, mimicking gravity.

The graph editor is where a bounce truly comes to life, letting you sculpt the speed of every arc. Mastering this, as covered in our keyframe animation guide, gives you full control over how heavy or springy the bounce feels.

Use a Bounce Expression

For automatic bounces, an expression saves enormous time. By adding a bounce expression to the Position property, you set just two keyframes for the drop, and the expression generates all the diminishing rebounds mathematically.

These expressions let you tweak the bounciness and decay with a few values, instantly restyling the motion. Learning to apply them, using the foundations in our expressions guide, turns a fiddly hand-animation into a one-line, adjustable effect.

Control Bounce Amount and Decay

Whether keyframed or expression-driven, two qualities define your bounce: how high it rebounds and how quickly it settles. A high, slow-decaying bounce feels light and playful, while a low, fast-settling one feels heavy and grounded.

Matching these to the object sells the animation — a beach ball bounces differently than a bowling ball. Tuning the bounce height and decay to suit what’s moving is what makes the motion feel like it has real, believable weight.

Add Squash and Stretch

Squash and stretch is the animation principle that brings a bounce to life. Stretch the object slightly as it falls fast, then squash it on impact, before it springs back to shape — exaggerating the deformation adds energy and personality.

Animate the Scale to stretch vertically during the fall and squash horizontally at the bottom. This classic technique, drawn from traditional animation, transforms a stiff bounce into a lively, characterful one that audiences instantly read as alive.

Use Bounces in Motion Graphics

Bounces appear throughout motion design — a logo that drops and settles, text that springs in, icons that pop onto a screen. A touch of bounce adds energy and approachability, which is why it’s a staple of explainer videos and UI animation.

Apply it sparingly and purposefully, since too much bounce everywhere feels chaotic. Used on key reveals within the broader techniques of our motion graphics guide, a well-timed bounce gives your animation a polished, professional bounce of life.

Bounce Animation Best Practices

• Make each rebound smaller than the last for natural decay.
• Shape the velocity graph so the object accelerates into impacts.
• Use a bounce expression for quick, adjustable results.
• Add squash and stretch for energy and weight.

Common Bounce Mistakes

• Equal-height bounces that ignore energy loss.
• Linear keyframes that make the bounce feel weightless.
• Forgetting squash and stretch, leaving the motion stiff.
• Overusing bounce until the animation feels frantic.

A Real Bounce Logo Example

Picture a logo that drops in from the top of the frame, hits the center, and bounces twice before settling. You keyframe the position so the first bounce is tall, the second much shorter, and the rest a small settle, then ease every arc in the graph editor so it accelerates into each impact.

To finish, you stretch the logo slightly as it falls and squash it on the first impact before it springs back to shape. That squash-and-stretch, combined with the diminishing bounces, turns a plain drop into a lively, characterful reveal that instantly reads as professional motion design.

Reuse Your Bounce as a Preset

Once you’ve dialed in a bounce you love, save it so you never rebuild it from scratch. You can save an animation preset from your keyframes, or keep an expression-driven bounce in a template project, then drop it onto new layers and adjust the height and decay in seconds.

This is how motion designers stay fast: a small library of go-to bounces, springs, and overshoots ready to apply. Built on the foundations in our expressions guide, a reusable bounce turns a fiddly hand-animation into a one-click move you’ll use on project after project.

Bounce Beyond Position

Bouncing isn’t limited to position — the same principle enlivens scale, rotation, and other properties. A button that springs up in scale with a slight overshoot, or a panel that rotates into place and wobbles before settling, both use bounce on properties other than movement. The decay-and-settle rhythm is what reads as ‘bouncy.’

Applying an overshoot to a scale animation, where the element grows a touch past its final size before snapping back, gives UI elements a satisfying pop. Thinking of bounce as a behavior you can apply to any property, not just position, multiplies how much life it adds across your motion graphics.

Key Takeaways

• A real bounce decays, with each rebound smaller than the last.
• Keyframe it by hand or generate it with an expression.
• Ease the velocity so the object accelerates into impacts.
• Add squash and stretch to bring the bounce to life.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I create a bounce animation in After Effects?

Keyframe the Position so the object drops and rebounds with each bounce smaller than the last, then ease the keyframes in the graph editor. Alternatively, apply a bounce expression that generates the rebounds automatically.

How do I make a bounce look natural?

Make each rebound shorter than the previous one to mimic energy loss, and shape the velocity so the object accelerates into each impact and slows at the top of each arc. Adding squash and stretch adds weight and life.

Should I use keyframes or an expression for a bounce?

Hand-keyframing teaches you how a bounce behaves and gives precise control, while a bounce expression is faster and easily adjustable. Many animators learn by hand first, then use expressions for speed on real projects.

Sources: Wikipedia’s overview of squash and stretch in animation.