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How To Animate

Postiwyd gan Shouttawe Editor o Abertawe - Cyhoeddwyd ar 24/09/2009 am 12:16
1 sylwadau » - Tagiwyd fel Celfyddyd, Addysg, Ffilmiau, Technoleg

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Written by ClaireRedfield68

It's worth mentioning that the writer of this article also made the video >>

Here are the basics of animation.

Think of a flip book.

You know how those are made, right? Tons and tons of pictures seem to barely move, but when cycled through in order at a fast pace it looks like the pictures are actually moving.

But for this to work you must change each picture a little (or a lot) different from the ones before, and put them in order onto Windows Movie Maker. Once you hit play, it makes it seem as though they really move.

And that is animation.

Programmes Required for simple animations:

MS Paint (default with Windows)

Windows Movie Maker (also default with windows)

A mouse or a drawing tablet

Step 1: Open MS Paint. If you can't find it run a search in Windows Explorer. Now draw your first frame; it can be as simple as you want. But know what your going to animate BEFORE you draw the frames. When you have finished, save your frame and for your sanity rename each frame clip 1, clip 2 etc.

Step 2: Draw the second frame but change it slightly. For example, if you draw a person waving in the second frame the arm should be positioned slightly differently.

Step 3: Now see if your animation will run smoothly. If not, go back and edit the faulty frame.

Step 4: When you're happy with your frames open up WMM. Now import your frames into a new folder (renamed to the title of the animation).

Step 5: So now you have your frames and your WMM programme, what now? You have to drag your frames onto the timeline in WMM, then you can add awesome effects to the animation. Windows Vista has more effects and transitions to offer than Windows XP.

Step 6: When you're happy with project, save it. Note that you’re saving it as a project file NOT a movie file. To actually publish the file you must click on 'Save Movie ('Publish Movie' in Vista).

Step 7: Follow on-screen instructions to publish your movie. Ta-da! You have your very own animation.

How to make it better:

You can start by colouring the background and animation in. You can add cool effects using Adobe PhotoShop (PhotoShop is not a default Windows programme and must be bought). Also add more frames and maybe some music.

Tips:

Try to make sure that the non-moving part of the animation matches all the frames.

Make sure the colour is the same on each frame.

Using an optical mouse makes the drawing easier.

Using a drawing tablet can be a great help.

When it comes to MS Paint you have to be quick! the slower the mouse, the more wiggly the lines are.

Did you know that you can apply for funding to make animation films from the Arts Council Of Wales?