ILP#2

ILP#2

Lynda Tutorial

The 30-minute tutorial I watched was about 2D animation using a software called Harmony, but technically the same animation is do-able on a similar software. I love to draw and create little characters, but I have never really understood how animation works so I decided that I should go ahead a watch a tutorial on how to animate. I watched this tutorial mainly to get a grasp on what 2D animating requires of its animators and to have a better understanding of animation in general. I did not have the Harmony software, so I was unable to follow along, but I learned a great deal just by listening and observing. This tutorial made me really want to 2D animate and was so informative that I feel like if I had the software, I’d be able to easily pick up on operating it. I honestly think that maybe I will consider purchasing the Harmony software and watching some more of these guy’s tutorials.

Lynda.com tutorial log

Creating 2D Animation in Harmony

Rolling and Flipping Frame rates

         Learned the basics of 2D animation frame rates and when to draw on which frame.

       Notes: traditionally, animators worked on 24 frames per second

                For a standing pose, work with 6 frames in a 24fps and 7-8 frames in a 30fps

   Only use ones if a character is walking on a movie background or if that character    doing something really fast.

In japan, much animation is drawn on 3’s ( a 10 frame per second rate)

Drawing the extremes and testing poses

                Learned how to operate Harmony software when creating and smoothing out a 2D drawing. The character’s arm was roughly sketched, then thicker lines were drawn in to tighten up the drawing and give it an overall, crisp appearance.

Making charts for timing, spacing, and arcs

                Used harmony software to begin adding frames. The character transitioned pose was sketched on frames 1,13, and 25 while the actual transitions took place in-between these frames. After having the main actions of the character, you should then begin to make a model of the frames spacing. In-between 1 and 13 use the 7^th frame as the mid transition to the transitioned pose, and do the same(find the middle) between frames  13 and 25. Then continue to do this between all intervals so that each transition makes sense and is proportionate to the characters body. Sketch an arc that connects the character’s wrist to each arm movement in each frame so that a smooth flow is visible.

Using the Clone layer for breakdowns

                What you will do now that you have constructed an arc is return to the previous frames, and sketch in the transitional movements of the character. To sketch an anatomically correct figure, you have to use a clone of the original 1,13, and 25 frame sketches. Basically, you use harmony to apply the original sketch to each frame with a very faint brush stroke, kind of like when you put a dark image under a piece of printer paper and there are faint lines to sketch over.

Cleaning up lines and color

                The hard part was maneuvering through the frames on harmony and tediously sketching each position. But, those sketches are only rough drafts so now you go through all of the frames individually and add ticker cleaner lines and insert the colors. The best way to make sure that the colors remain the same is to write down the corresponding number each color has, and the later just type in that number in the color box.