Nowadays there are an array of free-to-use animating software out there for 2d animators. But what is the best choice for you? In my opinion Grease Pencil by Blender is one of the best to use right now, and has many techniques I believe will make 2d animation production smooth and easy. The way it works is that it allows you to draw your 2d images within the 3d space. The mix of 3d and 2d tools here seem like they would make animating more efficient, and a more enjoyable experience. We can see the usage of typical 2d animation tools like onion skins and strokes, however, tools such as materials, modifiers, and the ways you can edit the objects, using meshes, and sculpting are similar to what you would see in 3d programs. So what does this mean? Well, for 2d artists/animators you can have some of the efficiency of 3d animation in your own 2d work process, while still maintaining a high level of control over your artwork and frames. The only downside that I can think of for using this software would be the possibility of a steep learning curve, and it could take a while to get used to all the tools, but I look forward to learning more about, and using this software.
References:
2 Comments
Since we just finished our 3D unit I thought I would pay tribute to one of the best looking 3D animated shows out there: Land of the Lustrous. The story is closest to a coming-of-age story where the main character develops physically, emotionally, and mentally throughout the story, but what I really want to talk about is the beautiful animation. The creators really maximized the pros of 3D animation and 2D animation and combined them flawlessly. One of the most interesting parts of the character design, though, is the hair. Using unique textures for each model they were able to create movement and texture of hair in a way that couldn't be done through 2D animation. I've seen a few 3D animated shows before, but none hit the mark for what 3D animation could and should be quite like Land of the Lustrous. References:
We've gone into the basics and fundamentals of animation this past quarter, and began working in Adobe Animate. You may know Animate as flash. From my experience using Adobe Animate can be more efficient than the frame by frame technique using Illustrator and After Effects, but it seems much more difficult to create the exact motion/movement, with detail, that you want. While frame by frame is definitely time-consuming, and sometimes frustrating work, I feel that it has for me at least been able to come out with a better project. One tool that stood out to me when working in Animate was the shape hint tool. It in a way represented how I felt the entire time using Animate. Confusing and wrong. This isn't to say Animate can't be used to create some good animations, but in the little experience I've had, it would take a lot more time put into the program than I would care to do. Shape tweens in Animate are pretty necessary for basic animation, yet a lot of times shape hints need to be used, and even then without a thorough understanding of the tool they might still not do the trick. So, although frame-by-frame is time consuming, it gave me the final product I wanted without confusion.
In summary:
What do you think one of the most important parts of creating a video game is? If you guessed (or knew) world building you were correct. What can really make or break a game is whether or not it can make us feel like we are there, and that these characters could exist. One aspect of this is shown through idle animations. Sometimes we don't pay attention to them, but if you've payed video games before you have probably noticed a few. A character can appear more real if they try to spend their time idling by maybe tapping their foot, or jumping rope, and acting nonchalant, rather than doing nothing. This may be a more subtle form of world-building, but a good way to make a character real and appealing. Take this idle animation from Super Mario 64. It gives Mario a bit more character and personality, and since he is falling asleep waiting for the player, it makes him seem real. This isn't necessarily my favorite idle animation, as they have grown, gotten better and more complex over time, it's still quite impressive for 1996. It does the job of creating a fun atmosphere, and adding a yawn at the beginning makes Mario appear even more like he could be real. Instead of leaving characters to stand there and do nothing but stare into the abyss, isn't exactly good for your world building, even a subtle few blinks and sways can make all the difference between the shell of a character and one full of life.
In Summary:
References:
About a day ago Riot Games put out a new cinematic for the game League of Legends, Awaken. The League of Legends Youtube account has been very successful when it comes to videos such as this, pulling in sometimes over a hundred million views. So what makes up these animations, specifically the most recent? Well, to put it simply, a large budget, but when it comes down to the process of making the animations you can clearly see the amount of effort put into even a single frame. League's most successful cinematics seem to be the music videos, so I'll be focusing on how they incorporate motion and music in a cohesive manner because this is what makes them so engaging to watch. Something noteworthy about the Awaken animation especially is the stunning visuals. Pairing the detailed artwork and smooth animation together, you can only imagine how big of a team and how much work it would take to finish even a few minute long animation. Since this animation is centered around action, there must be attention put into fight choreography. This is where storyboarding and the pre-production phase of animation counts the most (in my opinion). The music and beat correlates really nicely with the choreography of the fight in their music videos, and if a team of animators can't properly think preconstruct or execute the choreography to match the sound, it can really make or break an animation, and Awaken uses the song in its favor. In Summary:
2D animation has a pretty straight forward title, so you probably already know the premise of this post by looking at the title. This type of animation is quite relevant to me and the other students in my course because we will soon be learning how to take what we have have been learning recently in Illustrator into our own animation. I am really interested in this aspect of media and design and have been waiting for this lesson because it literally puts the information we know into motion. It will be interesting to really break down how 2D animators create so much movement in their work just using 2D imagery. unlike what we've been doing so far, in order to successfully create animation we will need to have an eye for the process of movement and not just one still image. As you most likely can guess animation takes time because you need to create many images to make even one smooth motion, so we will definitely need to take advantage of as much of our in class work time as we can. When we think about the creativity aspect, this will not only be how you can create an interesting storyline,but also being able to make an animation that isn't too short for the story so it feels rushed, but not too long so the people watching lose interest. Since we will most likely not have the time to make long animations we will have to focus on what storyline can be interesting, but also not take too long to tell. Animators have to deal with this type of decision making all the time. Sometimes we can overlook the design aspect of animation in which we have to recognize what will make our animation more or less appealing. These are all things 2D animators take into account, and of what I'm sure we will be learning about soon.
In Summary:
|
About meI am a Senior at DSA and currently taking the Advanced Game Art and Design course. I enjoy playing video games and drawing in my free time. The opinions expressed within this blog are my own, and do not reflect that of Durham School of the Arts of Durham Public Schools Archives
May 2022
Categories
All
|