Another animation question ... sorta

Crestwood

Trying to get some opinions.

I have been toying around with using Inkscape and Gimp for animating. Although they are great programs, the tools they lack eat up a lot of time. Watching tutorials on the web, and then seeing how you can easily animate (not frame by frame) in photoshop, makes me question my tool set.

I know Adobe software is HIGH dollar, but I think it is that way for a reason.

I have done some simple animations with inkscape and they look decent, but not good enough.

Maybe I am suffering from "I will never be satisfied with my graphics" syndrome, just not sure.

I just don't know if I can part with that kind of cash. Even CS3 is almost 400$ on ebay.

3xL

big EXAMPLE:

lets say you want that specific animation (of the fish) u don't need a series of animation. u just need the bowl, the fish and one bubble.


place the bowl. then the fish UNDER the bowl (in the layers panel) and then emit particles from the fish using the bubble pic as the image for the bubbles. see where i'm getting at?

u can use actors and motion and conjunction with particles to create a great animation.

MotherHoose

@Crestwood … think the artwork on the little guy is fantastic!

liked him so much … did some animation frames in Gimp … fun to do!

demo Gimp file: http://www.mediafire.com/?a1dyi0mu2siqppd

tips:
- make canvas large enough for size increase (center image)
- then add a colorLayer to block transparency
- duplicate the original and move above color layer … a baseImage
- name layers … select in Layer tool and rightClick to edit name
- duplicate the base and then click visible off …
… name that duplicate what you want to work on in that layer (EX: spines)
- erase/delete SelectedAreas/deleteSelectedColors/magicWandAreas/enlarge/flip … etc.
- keep duplicatingBase/applying effects for all elements of original image you want to change
- test effects with visible/invisible on/off
- select the layers you want for each frame of animation
…save each frame with the .png extension

MH

LiquidGameworks

PS will not make your art better. If animation is your primary concern, it's better to get a program that's got onion paper/bones, and other features that make animation easier. Probably your best bet at low cost is http://anime.smithmicro.com/

beefy_clyro

Post some samples of your work for a better gauge from people. PS is an awesome bit of kit but i've seen people create amazing art in inkscape, its like most things to a degree, its not the tool, its the user.

Crestwood

I guess I should have clarified my statements. I know I need to work on my art, but my concern is more about ease of animating and making it look good.

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/s473/crestwoodstudio/alien4.png

First time using photobucket, should work. Not the greatest art, but I am working on it.

The alien will be a lot smaller in game. Probably about 192px high.

This alien for instance is one of several that will spawn. It will be stationary, but I don't want it to be just a flat image. I was attempting to make the spikes go up and down a little, and have the eye wonder and blink. Just to give it some life. Doing it layer by layer works, but its not very smooth when animated.

Crestwood

Can't edit my last post, but here is a video of simple animation in Photoshop.



Nothing special, but the timeline and keyframes used to get an object from A to Z seems a lot less time consuming than modifying each image.

Crestwood

Thanks 3xL and MH for the advice!!! I think I can use both tips to get what I need done. Hopefully I will post some animation soon to get some feedback.

GS is a powerful bit of software I really enjoy, but the support from the community is tops!