How to create a simple animation in illustrator and photoshop - Part 2

Now that I have finished the animation material in AI we can continue to part 2. If you came here though somewhere else, Part 1 is here.

Part 2:
Animation in Photoshop

Open the exported file made in Part 1 in PS.

Now each movement should be on separate layers in the correct sequence. (If they are not, you can go and check the layers in the AI file and move them around if needed.) Open the Animation options under Window -> Animation. Click on the right corner for Frame sequence- this is so we can edit the frame times in a more visual way that by Timeline sequence.

Then, click the top right corner of the animation window for the menu and choose Make Frames from Layers.

Ta-da! Click Forever by the play options and play to watch it go!

Additional info:

• To edit the timing of the frames, select them all and choose the time you desire in the drop down menu below the frames.
• To add a white background, create a new white-filled layer and drag it under the frame layers. Activate in animation by selecting all the frames and clicking the eye in the layer options. If a text is desired, you can paste or write on a separate layer over the frame layers and then activating it similarly to the background.
• Want your pencil in a different color, but don't want to re-do the tutroial? Add a layer with your desired color, set to screen and activate it by selecting all the frames.

When you're satisfied with your result, click File -> Save to Web & Devices and choose GIF from the drop down menu under file type. You can preview before saving and make necessary changes if needed.

Finished!
Enjoy your new animation.

Any questions?
Comment below!

How to create a simple animation in illustrator and photoshop - Part 1

This is a small guide on how to make small animations in AI and PS!
It should be said that I am still experimenting and learning. This is just one of the ways it can be done, and probably not the best way either. I hope it is of some use to people out there wanting to try out some simple animations and need a starting point.

Onward to the guide!

Part 1:
Setting up your animation material in illustrator:

In this guide I will show how I did the spinning pencil animation for my portfolio. It's pretty simple and easy to make! An obvious start is making the object you are animating:

Ta-da! My pencil! As you can see it's shapes are merged and expanded compared to the "sketch" version where the shapes are unexpanded. Note: If you're making a more complex shape, it's a pretty good idea to keep one version where you have not expanded your shapes or merged them. Just so if you decide to change something you have a back-up.

My goal is to spin the pencil so I use the rotate tool, hold ALT (WIN) and click on the center of the pencil marked with a blue cross!

This is where you decide:
Do I want a smooth animation or a more choppy one?
Less movement per frame = smoother animation, larger file size.
More movement per frame = choppier animation, smaller file size.

For the pencil, I've decided I wanted a smooth animation, so I choose 10° and check preview to make sure the movement isn't too large.

Phew! 

Click on copy and the first movement is finished. To complete the movement and make the pencil continue around, hold CTRL+D (WIN) and watch it go!

Copy the whole collection of movements into a new file- The reason for this is that I am exporting it to a PSD file. Select all of the movements, go to the layer options and click Release to Layers (Sequence).

Now only one thing left to do: File -> Export -> PSD
Keep it CMYK to allow the option Write Layers.

Additional info:

• If you are making a more complex shape where parts of the shape is grouped but not merged with the other they will get separate layers. This makes animating it a little more work, but not impossible. For this tutorial I will not get into it, but if you have a question please e-mail me or comment!

Ready to animate!
On to part 2!

Need any help?

Comment below!

x AnneM

Animation | Alien girl

Last week there was a sale on Anime Studio Debut and I jumped at the chance at trying it out for a few dollars. I played around with it last night while trying to learn how to rig a character with bones. A couple of fails later I figured out how to export PS files, link bones to the layers and make them ~dance~ to Shake It Off. It isn't perfect, but it turned out pretty cute.

Here's the result!

Happy Thursday!

xAnneM

SB009

Woah!
I've been busy-busy with work lately and working on updating my portfolio.
Hopefully I can post something from the projects soon!

xAnneM