Catch

A ready stance, a wait, and a flagged instant something lands in both hands — then the catch is pulled in and absorbed before the pose eases away.

Use it in a cartoonOpen it in the block editorThe pack file (JSON)

What it is for

Catch is for the moment something lands in a character's hands — a ball thrown across a scene, a dropped object. It opens into a ready pose first, both hands out and the body in a half-crouch, waits, then tightens around the catch right on the flag. It pairs well with a thrown object, or with another character's own Throw.

The principle it shows: follow-through

The flag_catch marker fires right as the ready hold ends, before the hands actually close around anything: the grip-in ramp that follows — both forearms bending further, the body dipping and turning a little more — happens after the moment of contact, as the arms keep absorbing the catch's momentum rather than stopping dead the instant it arrives.

The program, line by line

when it starts
  glide right arm 80, right forearm 30, left arm 80, left forearm 30, rot -2, dy 4, right leg 8, right shin 10, left leg -8, left shin 10 over 0.3 s (out)
  wait 0.2 s
  set flag_catch to (tau)
  glide right arm 70, right forearm 56, left arm 70, left forearm 56, dy 8, rot 3 over 0.12 s (out)
  wait 0.3 s
  glide right arm 0, right forearm 0, left arm 0, left forearm 0, rot 0, dy 0, right leg 0, right shin 0, left leg 0, left shin 0 over 0.3 s

• when it starts — begins the moment the move is put on a character.
• glide right arm 80, right forearm 30, left arm 80, left forearm 30, rot -2, dy 4, right leg 8, right shin 10, left leg -8, left shin 10 over 0.3 s (out) — both arms come up and out level, the body dips a little and the legs bend into a half-crouch: a ready stance.
• wait 0.2 s — holds the ready pose, watching for the catch.
• set flag_catch to (tau) — marks the flag named Catch the moment the wait ends.
• glide right arm 70, right forearm 56, left arm 70, left forearm 56, dy 8, rot 3 over 0.12 s (out) — both forearms bend in further and the body dips and turns a little more, as the catch is pulled in and absorbed.
• wait 0.3 s — holds the catch.
• glide right arm 0, right forearm 0, left arm 0, left forearm 0, rot 0, dy 0, right leg 0, right shin 0, left leg 0, left shin 0 over 0.3 s — eases back to neutral.

Try this

1. Hold the ready stance for 0.9 seconds instead of 0.2 before the catch lands. The character now looks like it is tracking something slow and far off, not a fast, close throw.

   In the program: wait · s 0.2 → 0.9

2. Pull the catch in over 0.4 seconds instead of 0.12. The grip tightens much more gently and slowly, as if cushioning something fragile rather than snapping shut around it.

   In the program: ramp · over 0.12 → 0.4

How it differs from Throw and Kick a ball

Throw is the move this one is built to pair with: one character's throw, timed to another's catch. Kick a ball is the other ball move here, but it swings a leg through a kick rather than closing two hands around a catch.

Works on

c4c:beh:catch · version 1.0.0 · c4c-free · by Jabbertoon