Video process

Prologue

As you know, I usually create animations in 2 ways, and they have their own drawbacks.

Using KEYFRAME

Make the motion quite stiff cause I can NOT every single point of the object.

Even transform the setting into [FREE TRANSFORM] Mode or [SKEW] Mode, it only allows me adjust 4 corners of the object.

 

 

Drawing frame by frame

As you know, this type of animation is really tedious so that an indie animator like me can NOT draw every details each frame cause it costs me a lot of time.

Puppet warp

By allowing me adjust any point of the object, I can move the object along their natural flow smoothly without redraw them each frame.

1. Add PIN at the spine of the lantern.

2. Hold and drag the PINs to make the lantern move along the flow.

Introduction

What is Puppet warp?

To apply Puppet warp

1. Select a raster layer or folder which contain rater layers.

2-3. Go to Edit tab > Transform > Puppet warp

Basically, the object on selected layers or selected folder will be covered by a triangle net [which called MESH].

Adding PIN by clicking at any point you wanna adjust.

This PIN will be used as a joint or a tense point to bend, smear, rotate or stretch … any parts of the object.

1. Stretch the object

2. Bend the object

3. Click OK to finish the adjustments.

Let's go through the Tool property.

1. Click this symbol to open Tool Property

2. With the low number, your object will be covered more details

3. Turn it off to make the net invisible.

[I usually turn it off to make the screen clear]

Notice: There are 3 types of layers

- Raster layer.

- Vector layer.

- Image material layer.

And this feature only use for RASTER LAYER.

You need to CONVERT your layers or RASTERIZE layers before using [PUPPET WARP].

There are 2 ways to open the Layer settings menu.

First way

1. Hold the selected layer.

2. Choose this option > the box will be showed

3. If the selected layer is a RASTER LAYER, Rasterize option will be unavailable.

Second way

Select a layer

1. Click this Symbol

2. Choose this option

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Animation process

Plan for the animation

When I finished the sketch, I mark all elements that I will animate by red.

And my plan before starting to use Puppet warp is

1. I will move the lanterns slowly likes they're drifting in water.

2. By adding a PIN at this point, I make the tail waves.

3. And making the hair strands flow too.

4. I will try to move the water surface.

Illustrate those elements into separated layers.

I choose to separate elements into layers to avoid affecting other details during adjustment.

1. Each element will have a folder which includes 1 layer for line and 1 layer for color.

2. Hold the selected folder few seconds to open Layer setting list.

3. Choose this option to combine all layers.

Make a rough animation

- Open[TIMELINE] tab from [WINDOW] menu

- [New timeline] > [New animation folder]

- Draw frame by frame til create a rough movement like this to be used as skeleton of the animation.

1. The rough animation will be under the layer which contain the element [lanterns]

2. At the layer for lanterns.

3. Click to add New animation folder

1. Drag the [Lanterns] layer into animation folder

2. Click the animation folder

3. Decrease the folder opacity

4. The [lanterns] opacity will decreased for all frames along the folder so that I can see the rough movement clearly.

Add new Animation cel til the last frame.

At the first frame which contain the lanterns image.

Go to Edit tab.

Choose Copy.

At the next frame, go to Edit tab again.

Choose Paste.

Go to Edit tab > choose Paste at the following frames.

- Apply Puppet warp for the frame I need to adjust.

 

 

- Turn off the mesh.

1. Adding PIN along the center of the object.

2. Hold and drag the Pin to move that area follow along the rough movement.

Create another rough animation for the tail then replicate the whole process above.

Notice

Pin can be used as a mooring for parts which need to be stayed still.

Especially for parts are cut by edges like 1 and 2, I need to add a PIN here to hold them when I adjust the other parts.

Open more settings

1. When moving Pins along the rough animation, some details will be overlapping.

[ This tail must be behind the hand NOT in front of the hand]

2. To fix that, let’s open Tool property.

3. At Order function, click this symbol

4. The area around the pin will be put under the hand

5. Choose the pin that has area I wanna put under.

Here is GIF to show above steps.

To optimize the working screen for Tablet, a lot of settings will be hidden.

1. Click this to open Tool Property

2. This is the default interface with simple settings. There is NO Order function here.

3. Click this symbol to open Sub Tool detail box

4. At Mesh/pins tab

5. Click to pull this function into the default interface

6. Function has this EYE symbol will be added into the Tool Property

Last words

1. This is Skew mode. It allows me adjust corners of the object, however, when a corner is moved, the others will be moved along.

2. This is Free transform. It allows me adjust each corner separately.

3. This is Mesh transform. It allows adjust deeply inside the object by divide the object into 9 parts. However it don't make independent net for each object in the same layer to adjust.

4. This is Puppet warp. It make each object in the same layer a net, and I can add as many PIN as I want to adjust each spot of the object.

Instead of illustrating every details frame by frame, now I only create all elements very detailed once then adjust them by the tool and still keeping their natural flow.

However, this is the 1st time I use this feature, so it took me quite long to finish it and I also get rid of some movements on the final result compared to the plan as you noticed :”<

But like I said, this really helped me create a detailed animation.

Hope that I can get used to it to create faster.