How I Animate Without Taking A Year (Or Ten) | Jittery Paper Animation
MORE ANIMATION DETAILS BELOW!
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GEAR I USE:
CAMERAS:
https://amzn.to/2YbUz5v
MICROPHONE:
https://www.adorama.com/RDVIDMICPP.html
LIGHTS:
https://amzn.to/2MnPMew
TRIPODS:
https://amzn.to/3iFlro7
NOTE:
There are other programs and methods out there. (Adobe Character Animator, for example.)
This workflow is not necessarily the most intuitive.
But this is the approach I LIKE and that I USE.
SOFTWARE I USE:
Inkscape, Edius, After Effects
You can use your preferred software.
Download Inkscape here:
https://inkscape.org/
PROCESS I USE:
- Draw a character on paper.
- Get it into the computer. (Scan, digital photo, etc.)
- Load image into InkScape and convert it into a vector ("ink lines").
- Design mouth shapes (and eyes, etc.) in InkScape.
- Export the character and mouth shapes as images (32-bit PNG).
- In Edius (or any video editor), place mouth shapes on a video track above the character, in sync with the audio.
- Export animation into After Effects for processing using these filters:
***** ROUGHEN EDGES - Applied to the "ink" layer.
(I mainly adjust Border, Edge Sharpness, and Scale.)
***** TURBULENT DISPLACE - On an overall Adjustment Layer:
(I mainly adjust Amount and Size.)
***** WIGGLE - For the moving paper, I just bring in a paper texture image and apply a WIGGLE expression.
(Example: "WIGGLE(12,1000)") To the paper layer, I apply a MOTION TILE effect and check "Mirror Edges".
- POSTERIZE TIME: Set to 12 FPS. Applied to the final composition before rendering. (I usually put it all in a separate composition.)
For an exaggerated stop-motion look, try 8 FPS.
- There are MANY things you can do to change this. Experiment with overlaying the ink layer onto the paper using "Linear Burn" or other overlay modes. Same thing for the color layer, if you have one - experiment with "Multiply" or "Color" overlay modes, to have it blend into the paper.
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