Intro

We are animating this :)

Have you ever wondered that you’ve made an illustration so good, and you want to make move to that illustration, but you don’t have any strong animation skills? Then here you will learn to animate easily your illustrations without drawing any in-between drawings. Wait what? Yes, there is a way to do that so follow these steps to animate your illustration so easily.

 

Using animated illustration you can post your illustration on social media to capture attention because your illustration can move now and is attractive :)

Step 1: Prepare Your Illustration

Start by making sure your illustration is ready for animation. Separate different parts of your image into layers, such as arms, legs, head, and background. This will give you more control over each element when animating. In this illustration we I will animate light and eyes.

a.   Select pen selection tool.

b.   Now select all the parts one by one you want to animate and cut and paste them

c.   Place all your animated parts in different folders.

Make sure to fill the blanks with base colors in a new layer you have cut and paste the parts

Always name your folders and layers

Step 2: Timeline- Enable timeline by clicking Windows> timeline(x) and you’ll get your timeline. Now click on new timeline and set your frame rate (FPS) to 8FPS.Im going to animate for 3s so playback time will be 24

 

Tip for calculating Time. Example -Fps: 12 FPS. 4Sec = 48 Frames

If it would be 24 frames: 24 FPS. 4Sec = 96 Frames

 

 

I’m doing 3s animation in 8fps so here playback time(frames) will be 24

Now click on the new timeline icon and set your FPS and playback time. If you want you name your timeline as you want.

How to Rasterize Vector Image?

Many beginners when try to animate their illustration they say that their lasso tool or selection is not working, that’s because your image is in vector form

To rasterize image, right click on the image> a window will pop up > click on rasterize option and your image will be rasterized now

Step 2: Use Keyframes and Tweens

Now our timeline is ready so we can began to animate now. Follow these steps carefully now.

 

Key Frame: To create an action in a digital animation sequence, you first need to define the start and end points for that action. These markers are called keyframes, and they're used as anchor points for actions in all different types of animation programs like CSP have.

 

In simple words: Instead of drawing in-between frames, you can use keyframes to set the start and end points of your animation. The software will automatically generate the in-between frames, creating smooth transitions. Tweens are essential for making this process seamless.

 

 

Basic Functions Of Timeline

These are some important options of timeline.

Beginners confuse in these options, so I want to clear all confusions here so you can easily animate.

Animation Folder: When you select this option, an animation folder will be created. This folder is essential for animating, so make sure to create one before you start. Without it, you won’t be able to proceed with your animation.

 

Animation Cell Or New Layer: Clicking on this option allows you to create a new animation cell or layer. Think of this as your digital canvas, where you can draw or color your artwork. Each cell or layer can hold different parts of your animation, giving you the flexibility to manage your drawing elements separately.

 

Keyframe: After enabling keyframes, you can add a keyframe at any specific frame number by selecting the "Add Keyframe" option. Keyframes mark the start and end points of any movement or transition in your animation. To create movement, you add a second keyframe, then adjust the elements within it. Although this concept might seem a bit complex, it will become clearer as we dive into the actual animation process.

Animating Eye

Select the eyes layer by left-clicking on it. Next, move to the start point of the timeline and click on Enable Keyframe. Once enabled, click on Add Keyframe. When the keyframe is successfully added, you'll see a diamond-shaped icon appear, indicating that your keyframe has been set.

1st key

2nd key

Now we will set keyframe for closing eyes.

Note-: Make sure to place that plus icon between eyes as seen above. Any ratio you will change will be change according to the position of that plus sign

Now add 2nd keyframe on 3 as here I have added and make sure you have selected operation tool. Copy these values or you can use this as guide to make her blink. You can adjust timing of keyframe later by dragging it far or close to 1st keyframe till you’re not satisfied so don’t worry.

Draw a little closing eye

Copy and paste 3 keys to create loop

Crop this frame to fit with second key frame time interval so its only appear when second keyframe of closing eye appear

Copy and Paste 1st Key

After adding 2nd keyframe copy and paste the 1st keyframe you had added in the beginning by selecting 1st keyframe and holding alt and with the left click dragging to the right or where you want to paste this copied 1st key.

[Quick Summery what I did]

Tip- To create loop copy and paste all three keys by dragging and selecting the key and copy and paste to create loop

Animating Light

1. Create a new folder and using air brush softly paint on lamp and in her face.

2.Then enable first keyframe and add second keyframe by adjusting the opacity of light.

3. Now copy and paste the first keyframe. Copy all keyframe by dragging and selecting, then right click> copy> paste

First key - Opacity 100%

Second key - Opacity 33%

Third key is copied key of first key

I add a little light with exact same method in dolls gems.

Export

Now to export our animated illustration Click on File> Export animation(Y)> Animated GIF

Now go and practice these methods with your own illustrations and see them move :)

Now your animation is ready—simple, yet cute and impressive! :)

Thank You for Reading My Tutorial

 

I wanted to extend my sincere thanks for taking the time to read through my tutorial. Your feedback and insights are valuable to me, and I truly appreciate your feedbacks.

If you have any further thoughts or suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thank you once again for your time and consideration.