Make your character even cuter with animated cat ears!

Introduction

Today, I'll show you how to create animated cat ears using Clip Studio Paint's animation features. Do you find animation difficult? Actually, you can easily create this cute animated cat ear animation with just three drawings!

“I want to animate my own character”

“Clip Studio Paint's animation features seem complicated and I don't understand them”

“I want to try a simple animation that I can do quickly”

 

This tip will answer those requests!

 

This tip explains the basic operations of Clip Studio Paint's animation features.

In the latter half, we will demonstrate how to add cat ears to a prepared character illustration and create an animated cat ear animation.

 

It's easy enough for beginners with zero animation knowledge, so please read to the end and let's create animated cat ears together.

Recommended for:

Again, this tip is recommended for those who:

 

・Are interested in animated illustrations

・Want to make their character illustrations more appealing

・Want to know the basic operations of Clip Studio Paint's animation features

 

Now, let's get started!

Basic Operations of Clip Studio Paint Animation Features

Many people regularly use Clip Studio Paint for illustrations but have never touched its animation features.

 

First, I'd like to explain the basic animation features of Clip Studio Paint.

 

Let's start with how to create an animation file.

 

Select 'Animation' from 'New file creation'.

First, let's decide on the standard size.

 

The standard size will be the size of the video you create.

 

Commonly used sizes are 720P and 1080p. You can select them from presets. This time, I set it to 720p.

 

If you have a specific size you want to create, customizing it is also fine.

Margin is the area outside the frame and will not be visible in the final output video. It can be used for notes, etc.

 

For beginners, it is recommended to set the margin to 0. This allows for more intuitive screen operation.

Regarding frame rate, animation frame rates are typically 24 or 30. This time, we will set it to 24.

 

Frame rate indicates the number of still images displayed per second.

 

A frame rate of 24 means that 24 still images are displayed continuously in one second.

 

It might be easy to understand if you imagine one frame as one page of a flipbook.

 

 

Next, set the playback time unit to "Timecode".

 

By doing so, minutes and seconds will be displayed on the timeline, allowing you to more accurately understand the time displayed for each frame.

Regarding playback time, there is one important point.

 

For CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO, the animation you can create is limited to a maximum of 24 frames.

 

This means if you select a frame rate of 24, the maximum playback time you can set is only one second. Those who want to create more sophisticated animations will need to upgrade to EX.

 

However, this time we are creating a GIF animation for beginners, so we will use the Pro version; please don't worry.

 

First, try creating a simple animation, and if you want to challenge yourself with more advanced animations later, you might consider upgrading.

The canvas for animation has been created.

 

The timeline is below the canvas. Also, one animation folder and one animation cel have been created.

An animation folder is a folder that manages animation cels.

 

Layers and layer folders stored within an animation folder are treated as "cels" that add movement to the animation.

 

Here, a new term "cel" has appeared, but an animation cel is almost the same as a layer used when drawing illustrations. However, a layer folder within an animation folder is also treated as a single cel.

Next, let's look at the timeline.

This distance corresponds to 1 second of video.

 

Click on the timeline; this red section is 1 frame of the animation.

 

 

As the final preparation, I'll introduce the "Specify Cel" function.

 

To display created layers on the timeline, you need to specify cels.

 

With a frame selected, right-click and choose the layer you want to display.

Alternatively, you can perform the same operation by clicking the Specify Cel mark.

 

You can specify not only a single layer but also a layer folder as one cel.

That concludes the explanation of the basic operations of the animation features. Great job!

 

From here, we will move on to a demonstration of how to create animated cat ears.

 

 

Demonstration of How to Create Animated Cat Ears

Draw your character illustration as usual.

 

This character illustration layer does not need to be placed in an animation folder.

 

By the way, layers in an animation folder are not visible on the canvas unless a cel is specified. They also cannot be edited.

 

 

Create three layers in the animation folder.

 

Specify the cels for layers in the order 1, 2, 3.

 

 

Draw cat ears on layer 2.

 

Using these cat ears as a reference, draw cat ears that move up and down.

 

 

On Layer 1, draw cat ears pointing downwards.

 

When drawing, enable Onion Skin.

 

This allows you to check the preceding and succeeding cels.

Draw based on the cat ears drawn on Layer 2. The base of the ears hardly moves.

*Onion Skin is a feature that displays cels specified before and after the currently edited cel on the timeline, on the canvas. Display Onion Skin to check the cel drawing.

In the same manner, draw upward-pointing cat ears on folder 3.

Only these three cels are needed!

 

Next, adjust the cat ear movement by specifying cels.

 

Specify cels in the order 1-2-3-2-1.

 

We want to create a sense of rhythm where the cat ears move slightly faster when going up and slightly slower when going down. So, for the first 1-2-3, each cel is specified for one frame. For the latter 3-2-1, each cel is specified with a two-frame interval.

 

 

Finally, set up loop playback and export the animation.

 

Drag the blue end mark on the timeline to around 15 to enable loop playback.

 

 

Export the created animation.

 

Select File > Export animation > Animated GIF, set the loop count to infinite, and the frame count to the frame rate you initially set.

 

It's complete!

 

 

How was it?

 

Today, I showed you how to create animated cat ears using Clip Studio Paint's animation features.

 

If this was helpful in any way, please like, bookmark, and follow us.

 

See you in the next tip!