Introduction and Clarifications

Hello!

In this tutorial, I will explain how to make basic animations for an animated emote using keyframes.

 

 

Before starting, it's important to mention 3 things:

 

1. Clip Studio Paint PRO (the base license of Clip Studio) has a limit of 24 frames for animation. If more are needed, it will be necessary to purchase the EX version of the program.

Since these are simple animations, we don't need many frames, so 24 will be sufficient, and this tutorial will explain based on this limit.

 

2. This tutorial will only use keyframes, not frame-by-frame animation. This tool helps a layer to be transformed and edited, to make a movement or size change from an indicated point to a final point. We will take advantage of these tools to make a quick, cute, and simple animated emote.

 

3. It is not currently possible to export a GIF with a transparent background using Clip Studio, but instead, we can export the frames to render the GIF later. I will explain these steps at the end of the post.

As examples for this tutorial, I will use 4 of my emotes to create different animations:

◦ Hello: Hand movement and heart beat

◦ Smug: Eyebrow movement with layer mask

◦ Scream: Vibration

◦ Sleep: Moving text

For support, you can also visit my video tutorial on this Clip Studio Tip

How do I prepare my emote for animation?

Consider two scenarios:

 

 

• You haven't started your emote yet.

 

You can view this tutorial to get a head start while you create it:

Think about the parts or elements you want to move (letters, arms, pupils, etc.) and draw or create them on separate layers. In "How should I separate my emote?" I will describe this process in more detail.

 

• If you already have an emote.

 

It's not necessary to create a new canvas; just open your file from FILE -> OPEN and find your image

Remember that it must be a .png image with a transparent background

Since your emote is entirely on a single layer, it will be necessary to separate the parts or elements you want to move.

 

• How should I separate my emote?

 

You will need to have separate parts to begin. If your image is on a single layer, you can achieve this using the SELECTION tool:

And using the SELECTION PEN, you will select one by one the parts or elements you are going to separate.

Once your element is selected, cut (CTRL+X) and paste (CTRL+V). This should create a new layer above where you were positioned.

Tip: To better notice any selection errors, use a background layer and fill it with a dark color of your preference.

You must deselect to continue with your next element. You can find this option in the SELECT -> DESELECT window.

Repeat this step for the necessary elements and arrange them in logical order according to their position. In my example:

 

• The heart goes on top of all of them, because it's a floating element in the emote.

• The body goes on top of the arm, so the arm can pass behind the head.

• The hand goes behind the arm, so the wrist is covered by the clothing sleeve.

 

Tip: If your emote has lines to express movement, you can remove them, as they might get in the way in the animated emote and wouldn't be very useful anymore.

Finally, it will also be necessary to add 'tabs' to your separated parts, hidden by the element above them. This will prevent separated parts from showing when you move the arm during animation.

 

These 'tabs' only apply to emotes that need them when dealing with an element of a larger system, such as the Greeting emote. Emotes that only have vibration or floating element characteristics will not require creating these 'tabs'.

In the example in the illustration, you can see how I extended the color a bit more behind the body. The effects won't be noticeable at this point, but you'll notice them later.

NOTE: Remember to save your file (if you opened it as .png) in CLIP STUDIO FORMAT to save your animation changes.

In FILE -> SAVE AS... you can change your file's format. You can see it below your file's name in the window that will appear:

Once the elements are separated and the file is saved in the correct format, we can begin.

Fundamentals

 

• TIMELINE

To begin, we'll need the animation timeline. By default, Clip Studio does not display this bar. We can make it appear in our workspace by looking in WINDOW -> TIMELINE.

This new bar will appear:

In it, we will look for the NEW TIMELINE icon located in the upper left corner.

The following options window will appear:

For Name, you can put anything; it doesn't matter much, as you can change it before saving anyway.

For speed, preferably keep it at 24, because if our frame limit (duration) is 24, it will translate to 1 second of animation.

 

The other options can be left as they appear.

In the timeline, the layers we have created will now appear.

 

 

• KEYFRAMES

Keyframes can be activated using the second to last icon at the end of the bar, by clicking on "ENABLE KEYFRAMES FOR THIS LAYER"

You'll be able to verify that your layer can now use keyframes because a pencil and lock icon will appear to the left of your layer.

To insert keyframes, we will use the icon indicated in the following image:

Where we can also deploy the animation options for keyframes:

• Hold: The image will remain static until it reaches the exact frame where it should change position. The keyframe icon is yellow.

• Linear: Creates movement animation, directly from the indicated position to the next. The keyframe icon is green.

• Smooth (curve): Creates movement animation similar to Linear, but adds an element of "smoothness" to the element's transition. The keyframe icon is purple.

Each one can serve different purposes. In the examples I will show, we will only use Linear and Smooth (curve) interpolation.

 

On the other hand, you can see how your emote's animation progresses as you create it using the "PLAY" option in the timeline.

Greeting Emote

We will use the Smooth (curve) mode for this emote.

 

 

 

• ARM

 

 

Starting with the arm, we click INSERT KEYFRAME while positioned on frame 1, and a diamond-shaped symbol will appear to indicate that the first keyframe has been generated.

Once our first keyframe is set to the initial position, we can start moving the element.

We position ourselves on another frame, where we want the arm's second position to be.

We look in the toolbar OPERATION -> OBJECT

And we can start moving the element as we like.

As soon as we move the element while positioned on another frame, we will notice that a keyframe is automatically generated on the timeline:

Then we will move the arm from the center, upwards and downwards, to generate the greeting movement.

NOTE: To make your emote loop, you can add an identical keyframe to the initial one, but at the end of the timeline.

 

The way to do this is by right-clicking on the keyframe (the diamond icon) and the following options will appear:

Click on CUT, position yourself on the last frame of the timeline, right-click there, and select PASTE.

Tip: If you notice that some of your elements leave unwanted gaps when moving, don't worry! You can still correct it.

With the "EDIT LAYERS WITH KEYFRAMES ENABLED" option, you can modify your layer, and with a brush, draw anything you might have missed. Your canvas will appear as follows:

It's normal for it to appear this way; it's to help you get a better view of your layer.

Once you're done, you can click the "EDIT LAYERS WITH KEYFRAMES ENABLED" icon again and continue creating your animation.

 

 

• HAND

We follow the same steps to insert an initial and final keyframe.

 

Since it's an element related to another, we need to create the keyframes in the same positions as the arm has them:

In the high and low positions of the hand, you can tilt the hand a bit more to create an extra movement that gives the illusion of a wrist.

 

 

• HEART

This is the simplest one.

It consists solely of creating keyframes by making the heart smaller and larger. This way, the heartbeat is created.

You can leave a part of the timeline without keyframes, so the heartbeat has a waiting time before returning to the rhythm.

Smug Emote

This emote has two layers:

• Base face layer, without eyebrows

• Eyebrow layer

In this emote, instead of separating the hair to allow the eyebrows to pass under the hair and over the head, I used a layer mask instead.

BEFORE activating keyframes for the layer, look for the "CREATE LAYER MASK" icon.

A second white box will appear next to your layer. While positioned in it, use an eraser to go over the parts where you DO NOT want your element to be visible as it passes.

 

In this case, I don't want the eyebrows to be visible above the hair, so I erase the area where the hair is located.

You will see the blocked areas in black.

Once the mask is activated, you can enable keyframes for the layer and make the eyebrows move up and down.

For this emote, I didn't find the 24 frames necessary, so I reduced them.

Sleep Emote

For the sleep emote, since it's an emote with a moving text effect, we will only need the base emote, without any other additions:

 

 

• LETTER

To start our text animation, we need to go to this tool:

With our preferred font and color, we will write the text.

In this example, I will only write a Z

We insert the keyframe and adjust the letter according to our preference.

 

I will place it near the mouth, with a small size. I will insert keyframes, transforming it into a larger letter to create a steam-like movement.

The middle keyframes are for making small variations in size and angle as the letter moves up.

 

The letter at the end is positioned outside the canvas to make it "disappear".

 

 

 

• OPACITY

To add a more vapor-like effect, we can change the letter's opacity as it moves up.

To do this, simply position yourself on keyframe 1 (make sure the diamond has a red border after selection). And in the opacity bar (above your layers), move it to 0.

Next, go to your keyframe 2 and set the opacity to 100.

 

With this, your letter should perform an appearance animation.

 

 

 

• REPEAT

Now, you will repeat the previous steps with two more letters to get the text "Zzz".

 

Place the new letters you add below the first one you created; this way, as they appear, they will follow one after another, without interfering with order and superposition.

 

 

• BORDER

Once you have your three letters animated, you can apply a colored border to make them more attractive in the emote.

In LAYER PROPERTY, look for EFFECT -> BORDER EFFECT and activate it.

Once activated, you can modify the border color and thickness:

And apply this border to your three letters.

Scream Emote

For this emote with a vibration effect, only the base emote is needed.

We are going to apply a blur effect, so if you prefer, copy the layer to be able to revert to the original if you don't like the changes.

 

 

• BLUR

Go to FILTER -> BLUR -> MOTION BLUR

And the following window will appear:

• Distance: this is the amount of drag effect. I recommend a maximum of 3. I used 1.8.

• Angle: this is the direction of the drag. In my opinion, it doesn't matter in this case.

• Direction: whether the drag applies to both directions, or only a movement in one direction. For this emote, I recommend using both directions.

• How to blur: it has two distinct effects: box or smooth; the difference is more noticeable with greater distance. It's a matter of preference, and it doesn't matter much which you choose. I chose box.

 

 

• ANIMATION

For this emote, it will be better to use "Linear" interpolation, as for stronger movements, it needs more abruptness in the transition, which "Smooth" eliminates.

You can move the image randomly.

 

Create keyframes on each frame if possible, this way the vibration will appear faster.

How to export?

As I mentioned at the beginning, we cannot export a GIF with a transparent background in Clip Studio, as it automatically converts it to a white background.

In this case, the alternative is to export as an Image sequence.

FILE -> EXPORT ANIMATION -> IMAGE SEQUENCE

This window will appear:

Ensure your export destination is correct.

You can change the name of your timeline in this window, and this will be the prefix for the exported image names.

 

In advanced settings, the file type should be PNG (NOTE: Make sure the dark background color you added is no longer part of your animation!)

 

You can modify the size if your file is too large, or adapt it according to the specifications of the site where you need to upload your animated emote.

 

In Export frame, the first row should match the number of frames you determined when creating your timeline.

And finally, for FPS, leave it at 24.

 

Once configured, click OK, and in your designated folder, each of the frames you created (in our case, 24 images) should appear.

How do I use the frames to create an animated GIF?

You can use them in the software of your choice that allows you to create GIFs with transparent backgrounds. You just need to input the frames in order for processing.

 

If you don't have one to use or don't know which, I recommend using GIMP as it is free.

 

You can find a short tip on my profile on how to create these GIFs.

Results

And that's how it would look!

 

There are many options where you can apply these kinds of animations, so let your imagination fly! Good luck

 

 

 

Thank you for visiting this tip! If you have any comments or feedback, feel free to share them ❤