Can someone Guide me.(Animation)

3d10

Can someone guide me more about animations.I already know how to make animations but what i like to see is the quality of animations like the game Limbo.Really they are smooth and awesome.How we achieve that smooth animations.Atleast i can get an idea of the tool used for animations.For the tool i only have photoshop CS5.I think someone pro can help on this topic.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Adobe Illustrator is a much better tool for vector animations. I would look for tutorials on cartoon animation on youtube. Most really great animators have a formal education in art as well. Walt Disney started CalArts which is where most serious animators go to learn.

MotherHoose

agree that Illustrator is better tool for vector animations … for those using CS5 …PhotoShop would be best for beginners.

Recommend:
Seascape (for real beginners) … Gimp … Inkscape (this is also vector gfx)

any gfx program that has layer capabilities will work for you

-to make things smooth: you must Antialias the image to make the curves smooth!
(usually done in Filters: enhance)

for newbies:
-always work in a copy of your original image
-the base-size for all images in an animation sequence should be exactly the same
-the center of gravity (as your body maintains for you) must be maintained for the image by you: the imageLayers' X and Ys (not the visible pixels' X,Ys)
(so when manipulating parts in the layer: use at least a 50% horizontal guide and a 50% vertical guide)
(also, keep a low layer containing the original image … change its visibility so you can √ alignment)
(and never, never crop sections/parts/layers: transparent pixels for blank areas add minuscule amount to image fileSize)
-select an area to manipulate … float it and paste in a new layer
(use rotate, transform{perspective}, to change the pixels placement on that layer)
-things in the back are shorter, narrower, darker, and less detailed than the front elements
-erase all extraneous colored pixels
-as you complete each work-up decide which layer is the largest size … that will be the minimum size for your animation
-and that will be the 1st layer you will copy and paste as new image and set the correct size for it (if your program doesn't do automatically)
-duplicate that newImage for each layer you will use from your WU
-individually copy the other layers … add one to a newLayer in the correctSize duplicate
-if alignment in the duplicates looks good … delete the original layer … and save as .png and import intoGS

this takes time and patience … and often a few start-overs
start with only one simplistic image … such as: a door opened/closed;

MH

3d10

@mothergoose
Thanks for your help i appreciate it but i was looking for something different.I know how to make animations.That is all stuff you at least have to do.I do have illustrator but i don't use it as i have been using photoshop from childhood.I appreciate all this but most of the stuff i do as you mentioned.And when making a smooth animation and making them layer by layer takes too much time.And also a smooth walk cycle needs to have many many frames.

Has anyone used toon boom or anime studio like pro tools for animations.I know they cost a lot but i don't have much idea about those.On paper they look awesome.But i don't know they will be any good for 2d games.Again the target here is to get smooth animations like the game limbo.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

I would try and email the artist. It looks to me that they are just great artists who have a great technique and understand human movement. I don't think it has anything to do with their software just like a guitar doesn't make a great guitar player.

3d10

@FryingBaconStudios
You are right it has to do with traditional 2d animation techniques whoever has the best understanding of Human movement will always make great smooth animations.Understanding the movement and behavior and absorbing the real life is the best way to learn it.It all starts with a pencil and paper and goes in the software.But still they are numerous software available so it is a difficult to choose in which one do you apply your animations.But is does not matter.
But which one would make them easy is also an option.

Pixelgun

I would add to MotherHoose's great list:
Think about how your characters read.
-Look at your characters at the size they will be on your target device. Don't make details too fine or small, they will get lost or confuse the read of the character.

-Think about the different backgrounds on which your characters will be seen. Make sure they contrast enough on each background, that they don't get lost in a scene. One trick to make your characters contrast well is to mute the backgrounds. Either desaturate them or make sure the brightest and darkest colors are reserved for your characters and important foreground elements.

-Fear the rainbow! Don't use every color on your character. Select a few of colors that go well together and limit your palette for each character. Likewise limiting the palettes for each scene makes the whole scene more visually appealing and readable.

These are things that are in my mind as I'm creating character animations for my game anyway.

Clock

@FryingBaconStudios

Somewhat is true. It's all about art skill, but a good software helps a lot.

Pixelgun

I hear Toonboom is great for animation not sure how well it applies to game animations.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Toonboom+review

Clouds

For someone who has been using Photoshop for a long time, I would suggest After Effects, as it's kind of like a moving Photoshop with it's layers and filters and so on - the puppet tool is especially useful for 2D animation.

old_kipper

Toonboom is very good, but I have no experience of the anime software. You can Download pencil from source forge for free which is ok but a little buggy. Check out Richard Williams' book which is a great guide to starting out on animation. One of the main thing to remember is that is a portrayal of movement and a performance. Closer in someways to acting and dance than straight graphics. Basic walks and running should be possible with a little work but it take time to get more complex things working well. If you can get yourself a tablet I would recommend it as I am not sure how you could manage without, without it being a painfully slow and difficult process. And play with it. If you do then spend time playing with simple lines to see if you can animate them to do the underlying movement and have fun.