How Do I Start My Animated Series

How Do I Start My Animated Series

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Before computers, animating two-dimensional cartoons was an extremely labor-intensive production, requiring whole teams and studios. Animation apps and software at present make it so much quicker for one person to create their ain content. ^[1] You all the same need a piddling patience, just creating your ain cartoon has never been easier!

1. 1

   Write a treatment. Come up up with a story and set up downwardly the general overview without worrying about how to execute it just yet. Include characters, settings, and action.

   • Keep it short. Animation takes a while. If you're a beginner, aim for a ii-minute video or less.
   • Go along it simple. Save the ballsy space battle for when you take more than experience. Beginning with a low-key exchange between two characters in a single setting.
   • Watch HISHE's Super Cafe segments for a great example of a curt and simple drawing.

2. ii

   Write a script. Have the bones ingredients from your handling and specify exactly what you lot would like to run into onscreen. Include dialogue, sound effects, establishing shots, fade-ins, fade-outs, etc.

   • Specify elements that are essential to your story, particularly if yous're working on a team. Continue everyone articulate on the specifics. For instance, if at the end your cartoon a character flattens an empty soda can on his forehead, specify from the showtime that they're drinking from a tin can of soda, and not just "drinking soda."

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3. three

   Storyboard your script. Map your story out visually by drawing panels for each shot, similar a comic strip. Keep it simple for time'south sake; use stick-figures for characters and elementary geometric shapes for objects. ^[2]

4. four

   Assess your storyboard. Make up one's mind which elements are in the background, middle-ground, and foreground respectively. Also determine which elements will remain static throughout a shot and which volition exist in motion.

   • Recollect in terms of labor. More elements in movement volition require more time spent animative them. Minimize the amount of work you have to practise by recomposing shots to minimize the amount of movement within each one. For example, if 2 characters get into a fistfight while others sentinel on, take the shot focus on the onlookers' reactions while using sound effects to indicate the brawl off-camera.

5. 5

   Sketch your designs. Draw each element that appears in your storyboard until you're happy with how information technology looks. Once you're happy with it, draw it a few more times for exercise until you can replicate your blueprint perfectly.

   • For each element that moves from panel to panel, draw it from every angle in which it'due south seen. For case, draw each graphic symbol facing the "photographic camera," so with their back to the photographic camera, and over again in profile; if whatsoever aspect of their appearance is asymmetrical (like a side part in their hair), depict each side's contour.
   • Go on your designs simple. Again, remember in terms of labor. Refrain from drawing as well many details that will need to be replicated over again and once again.
   • Sentinel The Simpsons for an example of simple, easy-to-replicate designs.

6. 6

   Tape your dialogue. Either record each line separately on your figurer or tablet and relieve it equally its own audio file, or record the whole conversation then splice each line into its own audio file.

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1. 1

   Install a cheap blitheness app. Popular software used by professionals, such equally Adobe Wink, Photoshop, and Toon Boom Studios, cost hundreds of dollars. ^{[three] [4]} Salvage your money for now and start with a simple app like Blitheness Creator Hard disk or Animation Desk Cloud, which are like shooting fish in a barrel to use and only cost a few bucks. Familiarize yourself with its functions and features. Learn how to duplicate frames and manipulate the number of frames seen per second.

2. 2

   Time your actions. Make up one's mind on a rate of frames that will exist seen per 2nd. And then perform each action that your characters enact and fourth dimension yourself with a stopwatch to determine how many seconds it takes. ^[5] . For each action performed, multiply the number of seconds information technology takes to complete by the number of frames seen per second to make up one's mind how many frames y'all'll need to draw for each activity.

   • Also decide how many frames each line of recorded dialogue will crave to animate. If the dialogue is spoken at a normal speed from showtime to finish, simply bank check the timeline for each line. If one give-and-take or more than is stretched out, nonetheless, check how long each syllable is prolonged. For example, imagine an announcer shouting, "Goooaaal!" at a soccer match; the shape of the announcer's oral cavity volition form the vowel sound for much longer than it will with the consonants.

3. 3

   Draw your background(s). Use regular cartoon paper to outline and color in the groundwork for each scene.

4. 4

   Depict each element. For each element that appears in the middle- or foreground of the first frame, lay an acetate sheet over the original design and trace the outline. Suspension information technology down into moving parts versus static parts and trace each separately on its own acetate sheet; for example, draw the base of a fan (static) on ane sheet and the fan'southward rotors (moving) on another. And then flip the sail over and color in the outline on the back of the sail. ^[6]

5. 5

   Photograph your frame. Secure your groundwork to a rostrum with a small amount of blue tack. Layer your acetate sheets in order on top of it, from middle- to foreground. Mountain a digital camera straight above, aiming downwardly, and photo. ^[vii]

   • Take a exam shot or two to make sure your photographic camera is distanced far enough to capture the whole image. ^[8]
   • Cull a make clean environs with controlled lighting for photographing. Avoid natural light, whose quality may alter. Besides avoid dusty or dirty environments, since particles may exist trapped between acetate sheets and visible on camera. ^[ix]

6. vi

   Etch the next frame. Reuse acetate sheets whose elements practice not alter. Create new ones for elements that move from one frame to the next. Layer your sheets in social club on top of your background and photograph. Echo this footstep until the end of your shot.

   • Keep a checklist of elements for each frame. Double-bank check that all are present earlier photographing.

7. 7

   Upload your photos. In one case a shot is complete, transfer your photos from your camera to your device. Create a new folder for each shot in your photograph library and characterization each image numerically, in sequence, for like shooting fish in a barrel reference (for example: "Scene 1; Frame i," "Scene 1: Frame ii," etc.).

8. 8

   Breathing your shot. For each shot, open up a new file in your animation app. Import the first paradigm from your photo library into the first frame. Add together a second frame, import the second epitome, and echo. Once you're finished, export the file to your video library.

9. 9

   Stop your cartoon. Create a new picture in a video-editing plan like iMovie. Import each shot and arrange in sequence. Import audio files for dialogue, music, and/or sound effects, and sync each to the video.

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1. i

   Install a cheap animation app. Popular software used by professionals, such as Adobe Flash, Photoshop, and Toon Boom Studios, toll hundreds of dollars. ^{[10] [11]} Save your money for now and outset with a unproblematic app similar Blitheness Creator HD or Animation Desk Cloud, which are piece of cake to use and only cost a few bucks.

   • Use a tablet if you have one. Cartoon directly on a screen is often preferred by artists. ^[12]

2. 2

   Take your app for a test run. Familiarize yourself with the program'south functions and features. Sample the unlike kinds of brushes it offers. Learn how to duplicate frames, add together more than layers per frame, and change the charge per unit of frames seen per second.

   • Practice past animating a stick figure running in place. In the offset frame, draw the whole body in a single layer. Add a 2d frame. With most apps, a new blank frame volition appear as a translucent "onion skin" and then yous tin can trace the previous frame underneath information technology. Trace the stick figure's caput and upper body on the second frame. Next, depict the arms so that one arm rises slightly forward, while the other falls backside. Do the aforementioned with the legs. Add a third blank frame. Trace the head and upper trunk as before and modify the position of each arm and leg again. Go on the process until you've created enough frames for your stick effigy to run a few strides, then play it dorsum to watch.
   • Practice drawing in layers side by side. Animate another stick figure running in identify, only this time draw the head and upper torso in a unmarried layer. Add a second layer to the first frame to depict the arms. Add together a third layer and draw the legs. Then duplicate the first frame so you lot at present take 2 identical frames. In the second frame, erase the arms in the second layer and depict them in new positions. Practice the same with the legs in the third layer. Duplicate the second frame and echo the procedure until your stick figure runs a few strides, without y'all ever having to describe the caput and upper torso more than in one case.

3. iii

   Open a new file in your animation app. Choose the screen ratio that you prefer for your opening shot. In your start frame, create layers for your foreground, middle-basis, and background respectively.

   • Depending on your app, you may exist able to create even more than layers; Animation Creator Hard disk, for instance, offers four layers per frame. Feel free to create multiple eye-grounds.

4. 4

   Reassess your storyboard. Think in layers and determine which elements will occupy the foreground, middle-ground(due south), and background respectively. Identify which elements will occupy more than one.

   • Imagine a person seated at a tabular array, facing the camera, with their elbow resting on the table and a can of soda in their paw. To animate them raising the can to their lips for a sip, retrieve of the arm and soda as your foreground, the tabular array and the residuum of the graphic symbol'south body as the middle-ground(s), and the surface area backside them as the groundwork.

5. 5

   Fill in each layer. Use a stylus to draw each element in the foreground, middle-ground(due south), and background respectively.

   • Think ahead. Keep in heed which elements will movement from frame to frame, possibly revealing details that are currently blocked from view in the starting time frame. For example, when a character raises their beverage, their raised arm may reveal more of their torso.

6. 6

   Duplicate the frame. In the new frame, alter the elements in each layer as dictated by your storyboard.

7. 7

   Cheque your progress equally you go. Play your animation back equally you lot add together and alter more and more frames. To slow your animation downward, either duplicate each frame without altering any elements, or reduce the number of frames seen per second. To speed it up, add together the number of frames seen per second.

8. 8

   Export the file. Once you've finished each shot, consign it to your video library. Open up a video-editing app (similar iMovie) and create a new "film" to edit. Import your first animated shot from your video library.

9. 9

   Echo this procedure for each private shot. Import each one into the editing app. Add them in sequence to your video.

10. ten

    Import sound files. Sync any dialogue, music, and/or sound effects to the video.

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1. ane

   Install a cheap animation app. Pop software used by professionals, such equally Adobe Wink, Photoshop, and Toon Blast Studios, toll hundreds of dollars. ^{[xiii] [14]} Save your money for now and start with a simple app like Blitheness Creator Hard disk or Animation Desk-bound Cloud, which are like shooting fish in a barrel to apply and only cost a few bucks. Familiarize yourself with its functions and features. Larn how to duplicate frames and manipulate the number of frames seen per 2d.

2. 2

   Time your actions. Decide on a charge per unit of frames that will be seen per second. Then perform each action that your characters enact and fourth dimension yourself with a stopwatch to determine how many seconds it takes. ^[15] . For each action performed, multiply the number of seconds it takes to complete by the number of frames seen per 2d to determine how many frames you lot'll need to describe for each activity.

   • Also make up one's mind how many frames each line of recorded dialogue will require to animate. If the dialogue is spoken at a normal speed from offset to stop, simply check the timeline for each line. If one give-and-take or more is stretched out, however, check how long each syllable is prolonged. For case, imagine an journalist shouting, "Goooaaal!" at a soccer lucifer; the shape of the announcer's mouth will course the vowel sound for much longer than it will with the consonants.

3. iii

   Create your background(s). Use a rigid textile to prepare your background, like paper-thin, wood, or preferably pinboard; whichever you lot utilize, be sure that it will fit on the rostrum for your camera. Make cutouts for each element in your background. Glue elements that remain static throughout your shot to the groundwork. Use blue tack to fix any that move, such as clouds. ^[16]

   • For elements with moving parts, create separate cutouts for those parts that movement. For example, with a flagpole, the pole itself volition remain static while the flag may flap or be raised or lowered. Mucilage the pole's cutout to your background and use blue tack to fix the flag. ^[17]

4. 4

   Create your characters. Determine how mobile your character will be. Decide how many joints each limb will have; for example, will the arm be jointed at both the shoulder and elbow, or just the shoulder? Make separate cutouts for each moving function, leaving a small tab at the end of each limb to be secured to the main body with either blueish tack or butterfly clips. ^[18]

5. 5

   Compose your first frame. Arrange your characters on your background, along with whatever additional cutouts you lot've made for the foreground. Use blueish tack to secure each to the background. Mount a digital camera to your rostrum directly higher up your scene and photograph it. ^[19]

   • Accept a examination shot or two to make sure your camera is distanced far enough to capture the whole image. ^[20]

6. half-dozen

   Compose your next frame. Rearrange each element that moves from your beginning frame to the next. Photograph your frame and repeat this step until you've finished your shot.

   • For each new frame, fix a checklist of all elements to be rearranged so none are missed.

7. 7

   Upload your photos. Once a shot is complete, transfer your photos from your camera to your device. Create a new folder for each shot in your photo library and label each image numerically, in sequence, for like shooting fish in a barrel reference (for example: "Scene 1; Frame ane," "Scene 1: Frame 2," etc.).

8. viii

   Breathing your shot. For each shot, open up a new file in your blitheness app. Import the first image from your photo library into the first frame. Add a second frame, import the second prototype, and repeat. Once you're finished, consign the file to your video library.

9. 9

   End your cartoon. Create a new moving-picture show in a video-editing program like iMovie. Import each shot and arrange in sequence. Import audio files for dialogue, music, and/or sound effects, and sync each to the video.

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Add together New Question

• Question

  What kind of software do I need to animate my ain show?

  

  Adobe Flash is a expert one, and some older versions (read: better, less complicated, but unacknowledged by "professionals") can go for about $600-$700 on Amazon. Toon Boom Harmony is about $forty/month, and that one'southward been used super-professionally, like on "Family Guy," "Hannibal" and "The Princess and the Frog."

• Question

  How did you movement the picture to the computer?

  

  Connect your camera to the computer via the USB charging cable that came with it. In one case connected, your camera should prove upward as an external drive; simply elevate the file to your computer.

• Question

  Is there whatever good free animating software for a PC?

  

  Scratch, Pencil, Stykz, CreaToon, Bender, Clara.io and Bryce. Just out of these, Scratch and Pencil are the all-time. Scratch is but a website, by the style, non an app you lot can download. Scratch can be downloaded, just I prefer to use the Scratch website.

• Question

  Why does it demand to be short if I'm a beginner?

  

  Making a shorter animation is generally easier for beginners while they're still getting the hang of animative. In one case you become more comfortable, y'all tin starting time making longer animations.

• Question

  What can I apply if I have an Android?

  

  ravilonely •

  Community Respond

  Flipaclip is my favorite app to breathing on Android. It'due south very easy to use.

• Question

  Should I use a windows laptop to create animation?

  

  You should use anything you can go your hands on. Even if a laptop might non create animation too equally a professional computer, you should see what works with it.

• Question

  What is the best app for tablet?

  

  ThatOnePotato

  Community Answer

  Blitheness Desk Cloud is expert. Information technology's gratuitous, simply you have to pay for layers, the eye dropper, and tags.

• Question

  What computer programme should I use?

  

  At that place are many yous tin use. Some are free, some aren't, some are expensive, some are cheap. Many people use Adobe Flash, a very popular one, albeit expensive. Do a search online to find one suited to your needs and finances.

• Question

  How can I transfer pictures from a piece of paper to my animation software?

  

  You'll have to have a picture of it and upload it onto your computer. Then open the file with your software program.

• Question

  Would using FlipaClip for video and iMovie for sound exist a expert technique?

  

  Aye! I think that is an incredible idea! Flipaclip is one of the all-time tablet blitheness apps, and I would never take thought of iMovie personally.

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• (For all methods) Salve each animated shot in your video library fifty-fifty if your editing app allows you lot to import direct from your blitheness app. Every second of animation onscreen requires minutes and/or hours of work to produce. Back your finished piece of work up by saving it in multiple programs in case any crash. Also, save it to disc or thumbdrive.

• (For Method iii) Install a drawing app like Procreate or Brushes. Drawing apps tend to offer more options for creating and manipulating images than blitheness apps: more brushes, more than layers, more ways to move and manipulate each layer inside a single epitome. Utilize the cartoon app to create more detailed backgrounds, then import the saved image to your animation app to use every bit the dorsum layer in your frame.

• (For all methods) To animate dialogue, apply a phoneme oral cavity chart to draw the different shapes a mouth makes when speaking, or mouth the words out yourself in a mirror.

• Watch cartoons. Pay attending to manner, move, and mistakes.

• (For all methods) For sound effects, search your video-editing app. Some, similar iMovie, offer a audio furnishings library. If it doesn't offer what you lot demand, YouTube is another great source. Exist sure to attribute your source when using other people's sound effects.

• (For Methods 2 & 4) Proceed your materials organized. Characterization and use folders to store acetate sheets or cutouts in case reshoots are necessary. For instance, in Method one, keep all acetate sheets animative a unmarried element throughout one shot filed together, like a character's arm or leg).

• Make your dialogue first before y'all do the blitheness so the animators, or yous, can make the characters lucifer the lip movements.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

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• Set aside ample time. Making a two-minute video doesn't sound ambitious until you've tried it.

• When using other people'due south work (music, audio effects, etc), familiarize yourself first with copyright and fair use laws. Avoid infringing on other people'south rights.

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How Do I Start My Animated Series

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