Shake hands

The right arm reaches out and holds, then shakes three times; a small, quick up-and-down right where the hands would meet.

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

What it is for

Shake hands is for a greeting, a deal agreed, or two characters introduced. It is written to be done by two characters together: the moment marked partway through, when the arm has reached out but before the shaking starts, is where this move's own hand is meant to meet a partner's, so the site's pairing logic can line two characters up to touch at the right instant. On its own, the move still reads as the offer of a hand and the shake that follows.

The principle it shows: timing

After the single reach out, the shake itself is nothing but three identical, fast pulses, each a tenth of a second up and a tenth of a second down. A clear, steady timing like that, with nothing changing shape or speed from one pulse to the next, is what makes a small, repeated motion read as a deliberate shake rather than a shiver.

The program, line by line

when it starts
  glide right arm 56, right forearm 34, rot -2 over 0.3 s (out)
  set flag_touch to (tau)
  repeat 3:
    glide right arm 64 over 0.1 s
    glide right arm 48 over 0.1 s
  glide right arm 0, right forearm 0, rot 0 over 0.3 s

• when it starts — begins when the move is put on a character.
• glide right arm 56, right forearm 34, rot -2 over 0.3 s (out) — the right arm reaches out and the body leans 2 degrees toward it, slowing into the offered hand.
• set flag_touch to (tau) — marks this instant, when the arm is held out, as a named moment called Touch; it is how this move's contact point can be lined up with another character's.
• repeat 3: — the shake happens three times.
• glide right arm 64 over 0.1 s — the arm rises a little.
• glide right arm 48 over 0.1 s — and drops back, one pulse of the shake.
• glide right arm 0, right forearm 0, rot 0 over 0.3 s — the arm and the lean return to rest.

Try this

1. Shake 6 times instead of 3. The handshake runs noticeably longer, which reads as a warmer, more enthusiastic greeting.

   In the program: repeat · n 3 → 6

2. Raise the top of each shake from 64 degrees to 76. The shake becomes bigger and more energetic, closer to a vigorous pump of the arm.

   In the program: ramp · to.part:arm:1 64 → 76

How it differs from Wave hello and High five

Wave hello raises the arm much higher and waves the forearm back and forth continuously, with no contact point marked. High five is the other short move built around a marked touch, but it brings the hand up to meet a slap rather than holding it out to shake.

Works on

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