Making the art

Hbkmadness

Hi,

I have a question. I read a lot and I saw that the only way to make a character move is to make every single movement and then play it fast. Well like the old cartoon movies are made.

My question is if I draw my character on a paper then scan it then use a program to paint it and etc. and then I draw the next movement of my character again I scan it and paint it and etc. and so on and so on I could make him run right? Right! But what if I can't draw it in the exact same size for example its height is different and when he runs he will also move up and down a bit in the head. Is there a way to make sure that everytime he is with the same size or you have to be really good in drawing ? Is there a way just to draw the character once and then on a computer to make all other moves ? I mean of course there is a way but you have to be a pro with photoshop I ask if there are any tutorials about this problem ?

Socks

I have a question. I read a lot and I saw that the only way to make a character move is to make every single movement and then play it fast. Well like the old cartoon movies are made.

Yep.

My question is if I draw my character on a paper then scan it then use a program to paint it and etc. and then I draw the next movement of my character again I scan it and paint it and etc. and so on and so on I could make him run right?

Right.

Right!

Right !

But what if I can't draw it in the exact same size for example its height is different and when he runs he will also move up and down a bit in the head. Is there a way to make sure that everytime he is with the same size or you have to be really good in drawing ?

No, just make sure the character is always on the same size 'canvas' - so for example even though he/she/it is running and bouncing up and down the character never leaves your - for example - 512 x 512 pixel Photoshop file.

Is there a way just to draw the character once and then on a computer to make all other moves ?

Sure, there are numerous animation systems / software packages that do this kind of thing, you enter key frames for various poses and it interpolates the frames in between, everything from After Effects to 3D software works like this, but you'd need to learn how to animate, you can simply draw a character and hit the 'make him walk' button.

I mean of course there is a way but you have to be a pro with photoshop I ask if there are any tutorials about this problem ?

Google 'animation', 'key framing' and perhaps 'walk cycle'.

Hopscotch

Drawing every frame:

If you google "animation walk cycle" you will find loads of good examples that can be used as a template to draw over. Choose one that fits your character the best. This will also help getting the size right.

If you draw/paint on paper, it is a good idea is to draw relatively large images. After you have scanned it in, the images are then more forgiving if you have to remove backgrounds or do scaling adjustments.

Alternatively,

Is there a way just to draw the character once and then on a computer to make all other moves ?

I use Anime Studio for this, it is quite powerful.
You can bone rig your 2d character, similar to a 3d package and asign predefined walk/jump cycles to it.

There is quite a learning curve to do it well though.

Hbkmadness

Thanks for the great answers, guys.

Wboko

I use Flash for all my work since you can save the key frame animate as .png sequence...
seems to work really well.