Brian Horgan shows a simple way to figure out overlap animation in Maya.

Overlapping action is an essential component of animation. While overlap animation can seem like a bit of a head-scratcher, some methods can help. Check out this new tutorial from Brian Horgan that offers a simple way that you can use to figure out an approach.

Horgan shows how to take on a layered approach, starting first with the upper pendulum motion and then working down to the others. The key is taking speed and inertia into consideration. The best way to do this is to have a look at the graph editor to get a visual overview of the motion.