Simple animation program? at DVinfo.net

George Odell · October 4th, 2005, 10:35 AM

Does anyone know of a program for creating simple animation sequences?

I need something a non-artist can use to animate rather sinmple line drawings
to show movement over time.

Something where I would create for first frame and the last frame and the program would generate the inbetween frames at a speed/rate I specify.

Thanks for the help on this.

George

K. Forman · October 4th, 2005, 10:43 AM

Do you have an NLE, and Photoshop or Illustrator? These would be something capable of creating an animation.

George Odell · October 4th, 2005, 10:57 AM

Yes, I use Premiere 6.5 and have Photoshop and Illustrator. Never really used Illustrator as I found it too complicated. Photoshop I can work with.

K. Forman · October 4th, 2005, 11:10 AM

I feel the same way ;)

Giroud Francois · October 4th, 2005, 12:43 PM

you need an "onion skin" capable editor.
at early time (long ago) painter was coming with a utility called Dabbler.
it was great.
try this

http://www.tappsplace.freeserve.co.uk/

http://www.digicelinc.com

if you do not have the time (or ressources) to draw thousand of pictures, the best is to have your first picture scanned , then you skip to the next significant frame (or picture). With any morphing application, you morph the two pictures to get the inbetween frames.(provided you place all the necessary control points)
If you are not an artist with pencil or an expert in reverse cinematic, you can even shoot video (for people walking for example, or complex movement) or steal it from other cartoon and draw over it.
once you get the sequence, you correct it into an application like digicel, add background and so on....
You can probably expect a ratio of real/interpolated frame up to 20.
(at 30 fps when each frame are very close the the previous one)

George Odell · October 5th, 2005, 08:02 AM

Giroud:

I looked at the first program and it will not do much unless you have all the frames ready for scanning... which I do not. The other one seems a tad complicated.

My needs are simple. I need to show a door opening as if one is looking down from the top. It is fully closed and then swings open to a 90 degree position in about 2 seconds. Then an arc draws itself to show the 90 degrees. Just a black on white line drawing of the door and door frame will work. It is an instructional video for installing a device.

I'm wondering if I can do this in After Affects. One layer being the door frame
which is stationary and the next layer the door which I need to pivot on a stationary point (that being the hinge) and the next layer the arc, etc.

Does seem possible in AE?

George

Keith Loh · October 5th, 2005, 08:29 AM

It is just a technical illustration animated, right?

Use Flash.

K. Forman · October 5th, 2005, 08:35 AM

Can you do tweening with AE? In some animation programs, you do a beginning frame, an end frame, and the program fills in the rest. This is called "tweening", or filling in the frames in beTWEEN.

Or, using photoshop, you create your door, rotate it a bit, and save as an image. Repeat this as often as needed, until you have your sequence. I know there is a function in Photoshop that will make this easier to export... I have just never used it.

Keith Loh · October 5th, 2005, 10:39 AM

In AE you can rotate an object. So yea you can do the door animation.

Greg Boston · October 5th, 2005, 11:23 AM

Corel makes Animation Shop 3.0 (they have acquired JASC software). This little program is a gem. Has onion skin preview, can adjust individual frame times, Will let you draw just as you were talking about doing with the door.

Here's the link. You can download a free trial. Price is only $39 and is well worth it to me.

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...=1047024390003

good luck,

-gb-

October 4th, 2005, 10:35 AM	#1
George Odell Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 270	Simple animation program? Does anyone know of a program for creating simple animation sequences? I need something a non-artist can use to animate rather sinmple line drawings to show movement over time. Something where I would create for first frame and the last frame and the program would generate the inbetween frames at a speed/rate I specify. Thanks for the help on this. George __________________ "the difference between an amateur photographer and a professional is the amateur shows you all his pictures"

October 4th, 2005, 10:43 AM	#2
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	Do you have an NLE, and Photoshop or Illustrator? These would be something capable of creating an animation. __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

October 4th, 2005, 10:57 AM	#3
George Odell Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 270	Yes, I use Premiere 6.5 and have Photoshop and Illustrator. Never really used Illustrator as I found it too complicated. Photoshop I can work with. __________________ "the difference between an amateur photographer and a professional is the amateur shows you all his pictures"

October 4th, 2005, 11:10 AM	#4
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	I feel the same way ;) __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

October 4th, 2005, 12:43 PM	#5
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	you need an "onion skin" capable editor. at early time (long ago) painter was coming with a utility called Dabbler. it was great. try this http://www.tappsplace.freeserve.co.uk/ http://www.digicelinc.com if you do not have the time (or ressources) to draw thousand of pictures, the best is to have your first picture scanned , then you skip to the next significant frame (or picture). With any morphing application, you morph the two pictures to get the inbetween frames.(provided you place all the necessary control points) If you are not an artist with pencil or an expert in reverse cinematic, you can even shoot video (for people walking for example, or complex movement) or steal it from other cartoon and draw over it. once you get the sequence, you correct it into an application like digicel, add background and so on.... You can probably expect a ratio of real/interpolated frame up to 20. (at 30 fps when each frame are very close the the previous one) Last edited by Giroud Francois; October 4th, 2005 at 02:15 PM.

October 5th, 2005, 08:02 AM	#6
George Odell Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 270	Giroud: I looked at the first program and it will not do much unless you have all the frames ready for scanning... which I do not. The other one seems a tad complicated. My needs are simple. I need to show a door opening as if one is looking down from the top. It is fully closed and then swings open to a 90 degree position in about 2 seconds. Then an arc draws itself to show the 90 degrees. Just a black on white line drawing of the door and door frame will work. It is an instructional video for installing a device. I'm wondering if I can do this in After Affects. One layer being the door frame which is stationary and the next layer the door which I need to pivot on a stationary point (that being the hinge) and the next layer the arc, etc. Does seem possible in AE? George __________________ "the difference between an amateur photographer and a professional is the amateur shows you all his pictures"

October 5th, 2005, 08:29 AM	#7
Keith Loh Air China Pilot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Posts: 2,389	It is just a technical illustration animated, right? Use Flash. __________________ -- Visit http://www.KeithLoh.com \| stuff about living in Vancouver \| My Flickr photo gallery

October 5th, 2005, 08:35 AM	#8
K. Forman Capt. Quirk Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Middle of the woods in Georgia Posts: 3,596	Can you do tweening with AE? In some animation programs, you do a beginning frame, an end frame, and the program fills in the rest. This is called "tweening", or filling in the frames in beTWEEN. Or, using photoshop, you create your door, rotate it a bit, and save as an image. Repeat this as often as needed, until you have your sequence. I know there is a function in Photoshop that will make this easier to export... I have just never used it. __________________ www.SmokeWagonLeather.us

October 5th, 2005, 10:39 AM	#9
Keith Loh Air China Pilot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Posts: 2,389	In AE you can rotate an object. So yea you can do the door animation. __________________ -- Visit http://www.KeithLoh.com \| stuff about living in Vancouver \| My Flickr photo gallery

October 5th, 2005, 11:23 AM	#10
Greg Boston Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DFW area, TX Posts: 6,117 Images: 1	Corel makes Animation Shop 3.0 (they have acquired JASC software). This little program is a gem. Has onion skin preview, can adjust individual frame times, Will let you draw just as you were talking about doing with the door. Here's the link. You can download a free trial. Price is only $39 and is well worth it to me. http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...=1047024390003 good luck, -gb-