Animation Introduction: Creating the World

1. Class introduction: I remember when I first saw my character this afternoon, I thought it was pretty cool. It's just like a brand new world for me is so exciting and I want to learn more if you have the same goal as I did, this class can be open door for you. Hi, my name's Popil. I'm based in Boston. I'm an artists, illustrator and animator. I love animations, especially slow motion animation. Today, I will be teaching you how to create your own animation world. I consider my style to be attractive. As a female artist over the past seven years, I have created more than a 1000 drawings and character with different global brand and published seven books in Asia, I love to mix median and play with different material in my animation, this class is a basic need for everybody who's interested in making animation, but doesn't yet have an animation skill. Or maybe you are pretty good at digital animation and want to improve your handmade animations skill. Join me as I show you step-by-step, from start to finish. In this project, you will be designed your own character, a little monster and it's world. Also, we will explore the different material and unlock your handmade cutout animation skill and filming skill. I will be providing files for you in the cost detail below is good to have your own sound that effect your character. Inspire you to create a better animations world based on your own ability and your own story. I believe by end of this class, you'll be able to create your own cut out animation. I'm so excited to do this class with you and share all the skill with you can't wait to see what monsters you guys come up with and don't forget to share your work in a project gathering. Thanks for joining class, let's get started. 2. Project introduction: (MUSIC) What we are going to make, together we'll make a cut out animation. You will go into designing, your own character, a little monster, and it's well. C an now animation is tie off. Motion animation, using 2D character. Allow you to using different material, and simple animation, Tyvek to creating. It's the most fun, and great way to begin to learn animation. This project experiment with a lot brainstorming. There are no rules, to limit your design, but at least you need to have a basic illustration skill, and digital design skill, to compete the whole class. You can use any, illustration software, you are comfortable with, or if you would like to have a more texture. If you are new, you can hand write in the paper, or use our material. This class, will encourage you, to begin to understand animation, and help you to develop stronger character design skill before we start, I want to emphasize you, that it's not about, to making a huge project or teaching you how to using Photoshop, or any other app, isn't letting yourself having fun, and find your comfort zone, and take this opportunity, to have a creative society side, your own animation. I will comment, at least to give yourself a couple of days, or a week, or a month to complete your project, is good to take time, to inspire yourself, and we help you, to come up with a better concept. This project consists of four step, you will be uploading, the following, to the project Galloway. First step, design a character. You will sketch, and design your character, according to your personal style. Second step, create a world. You can see, and decide, that in measuring wall, to fit with your little monster. third step, handmade animation. Turn your Character into a paper doll, and make a scene, with different material. I know [inaudible] sometimes can be challenge, but it will be fun, forth step filming. This will be the most fun part, and the final step for this project. I'll be showing you, how easy, it is to use a camera, on your form, for this project. You'll be filming, and completing your own, canal animation, giving yourself the opportunity to apply what we learned. Okay. Let's go. 3. Step 1: Design a character: Let's begin. Step one, decide a character. But how? Before we start, I would like to share some useful tips with you. Decide character can be overwhelming. This is why you need to have a character checklist. This way, you can be more confident with your design. Also, that will be the key to unlock your animation role. The characters checklist should be clearly and simple in the concept. Is the good too in your future development. You can add more concepts as you want, but don't get lost by overthinking. I have already uploaded character checklist form. You can find the download link in the cost details below. Let's talk about character checklist. Theme and direction. Choose a character theme and direction following the project, we already have a theme. You are going to create a color animation with your own character, a little monster and east wall. Personality. You need to find your character personality. Is it easy? You are the one making all the decisions. Your character can be bad guy or a good one. For example, your character could be acute monster, pursue half a strings personality and not to goof around or maybe you just don't want to think too much truth in the character competition. I suggest at least to choose three to five personality that will enrich your character personality. Silhouette. The Silhouette character need to be easy to describe. Who doesn't want their own character that they will be showing. Having a strong silhouette will definitely hell your character to be easy to weaponize. It doesn't mean you need to be half a complicated shape. Features are more important. Let's take a look at some classic animation character. Once you understand the pattern, you realize it's turned out the silhouette will affect our impression of character. For simple, in Hero Animations. Good guy, always come with a wonder super web. Bad guy always have a compass and sharpen our lie. Well, of course, always have a middle guys. Those character, you should have a complicated story in the very high. This why you need to be query your character, personality. Sometimes you will even have to come by with the story and the bad guy as well. That all hell. But in this stage, let's just focus on our character design. Style. You may like to create a compelling style, but I recommend to choose the one you are most comfortable with, how you easily to begin,. Balance and Visual. After beginning more and more query about your characters design, is time to take one step further. Magnify the character's personality, or change the body sculpture, or play with the color application. That will all help you to develop a unique character. Special accessories or function. Based off your character design, a course or accessory design, or even special belongings can highlight and improve the character. After this brainstorming, I think you already have an idea and the basic concepts about how to decide character. Let's keep this passion and jump into the project. In this assignment, you will sketch and design your own character, a little monster. You'll be uploading the following to the project gallery. You'll be making two sets of character drains. The sketch, posits drying, and can be designed drawings. You can choose any sound as you want. Each character drying should be bigger than five-by-five each, but not bigger than seven by seven inch. I believe that there's a monster always in our heart. It could be like a best friend from your childhood. Like a teddy bear, or like a favorite character from our movie or book. Or, it could become from a line near, a fret from your dream. Some phase with a huge shadow with a long tail and shot t. It could be Jamal from the Capulet at anytime when your still. Or something from the future. Something that live in space full of mystery of the universe. A body covering metal. It can also be a cute cutting image like mash man and cream. So tiny and kill enough to home. Or if you just want an easy SAT, you can rejoin one of your favorite saw or payers, magnify the personality of body structure. One of my example, I got inspiration from a museum for one of my piece of artwork. My eyes was a trapped by the strings figure. So I, we dry this character to be a little monster. Remember, the shape of monster match is personality. I really like you to take a moment to think what character you like, but don't care about to create other people may like. This is your own character. You are the one making all the decisions. You are the creator. Well, if you sat on your crazy idea, but don't know how to compete. Don't forget, you can always ask your custom made on me. Sometimes brainstorming is the best way to pass your challenge. I can't wait to see what monster you guys come up with. In the next step, we are going to decide the monsters well, I can't wait to share more two and tapes with you guys. Well, see you then. 4. Step 2: Create a world: Following the project, I believe you have already come up with good ideas of your own character, the little monster. Continue with the theme. Today we are going to talk about Step 2, create a world. No, it's not this one, It's your own character's world. Waiting for the second world's brainstorming? Yeah. I think you are ready. What is the character's world, is the key theme for your character. Deliver your worldview. Supplements your character's story and enrich your character's personality. Also its narrow background. The place where your characters belong. It just sounds complicated slide, yeah. But I promise you by following the project, once you understand the work regularity everything will be more festival. You can enjoy and be more confident to create your own animation's world. Before you start, you also need another smart create tool. Character's world checklist. You can find the downloading in the course detail below. Key Scenes and Theme. Key scene is a power of freedom for the action of a play. The place where we are is an incident in the real life of fiction occurs. It supplements your character's story and narrative background for your character as well. The key scene usually helps with theme. When the detail you need to use on the scene support that the main is significant. Create a layer scene provides meaning and depth to the overall prime. Continue with the project, we already have a theme. Create your own theme and character of a little monster and it's world. Let's find a wise thing for your little monster. Feel free to choose it in the scene combination. We will discuss more in our assignment. Setting the tone. In the last class, we talked about different shapes of silhouette that will affect your character's personality. The semitone should be sanitary consistent with your character. For example, if your character is a queue monster and have a one body structure, then the character wall should be select with the Q and one image. Special detail and feature. It is always great to add some special detail and feature to your scene. Which should be related to your character design. Basic condition and easy to describe. I won't recommend spending so much time designing somethings that nobody can recognize. Sometime even adding small but good detail can enrich your character's personality. Don't be afraid to explore the and apply color and play with the color wheel. Once you find a good combination, it will definitely help highlight your character. Lets take a a look at some great example. All those animations seen all match with a bright color. Style. This should be the same as your character. For example, if you already choose watercolor as a style for your character, you may continue to use it. Of course feel free to play with the mixed media. You may come up with some surprising effect. See creating the world is not that difficult. I hope you have fun and enjoyed this brainstorming and practice into the project. So you can improve your skill in your future development. Let us jump into assessments. In this assignment, you will sketch and design your own characters world. A key scene for your little monster. You will be uploading the following to the poachers gathering. You would be making one set of drawings 9 by 12 inch split into two layers, foreground and background. In the last lesson, you already designed your own monster. You can consider this as your canvas layer and do not forget other layers should match each other. If I ask you where you are from, you already know the answer. In this stage, I would like you to ask yourself where your monster is from, because you are the creator. Together we will go through the awesome basic scene and we will help you to inspire the concept which is easy to create your own character's role. Own Place. It's always easy to start with your own place. We will draw your room, your house, your street or somewhere you already know. Then as some special elements related with the character personality. If your a monster is one of the line that comes from your Cabinet inside your room. Then that cabinet should be different from other furniture. You can change the size or add some special pattern or even apply color. Wonderland. My personal favorite is wonderland world because create a world in your imagination and there is no rule. You can create anything as you want. Outer space. The universe is full of mystery. If your monster is just like an Indian that you can consider as spaceship based on somewhere he belong. It could be a little bit challenge. Electronic world. If we are addicted to electronic world and you're monster has a metal shell. Underwater world. Things from the deep seems related to the underwater world. If a mermaid is your little monster, well you may consider to build a big shelter for her like building a sea bed shelter. Drama Scene. Everybody has a framework drama scene could be from the book or movie. You may love to transform into your monster wall. Example, in on of my examples I magnify the personality of the body sculpture with my favorite pairs. I have designed a two characters wall to show where he belongs. One am choosing one praise to create an outdoor nature world. By paying attention to special details creates special Helm's house, relate to the character's personality and occupation. Two, I jumped off the safety wing and choose our unknown future allergenic wall. I build a spaceship that belong to it and complements his personality. Turned the real wall into a scene for future technology. My tip for you is to take a little time to think and choose one of the praise of very familiar with. Come up with your character personality one by one at more special details and features into you feeling enough to send your characters world. Your goal is to create a scene to make the earth and I believe that your character belongs. I can't wait to see what a monster you guys come up with and do not forget to share your work in the policy scatter. In the next step we're going to have so much fun because we will be going to Hammock and also cutout your animation skill. See you then. 5. Step 3: Handmade Cutout animation: Cutout animation. Today we are going to make your own cutout animations. Cutout animation, all you need is a theme, a character and its role, tools, and your two hands. By following the lesson, all of you already done an amazing job to create all of them. Let's put this on. Cutout animation is a form of stop motion animation. Using 2D character allow you to use different materials and simple animations technique to create. It is most fun and a great way to begin to learn animation. In this lesson, you may need to prepare some real tools to help your project. But most tools should be easy to find, I already uploaded the supplies list in the course detail below. The basic cutout animation is composed of paper puppets and scene. First, I would like to talk about how to turn your own character, a little monster, to a paper puppet. Based on your character, you need to choose a pose of your character. You can choose a front pose, side pose, or half body. Usually the front pose is easy to create simple motion. The side pose would be good with the walk cycle. The half body is good for when the camera need to be close-up for detail. Hand-make your character into a paper puppet. Two easy ways to turn your own character to a paper puppet: You can use a light box tracer ultra or scan your character. Open in Photoshop, then follow this frame body structure and rejoin the limbs. If you choose that your character use [inaudible] style, I highly recommend that you choose watercolor paper to bring out your character, that will help with the texture. For example, this blank body is your character, and you choose the front pose, then you separate the limbs from the body, then cut according to the line, and make a puncher in those red dots. Each red dot, actually is your character body's joint. After you make a small coil from the wire, bring it through from the back. Then use masking tape to stick the wire on the back of the limb. Now your paper puppet is alive. After hand making your puppets, I think now you have a more idea and understand what is going on. I hope you enjoy and have fun to play with different median. Continuing our lesson, we're going to enrich your characters will handmake scene. In the last lesson, we have created characters from foreground and background. So now we need to find a white texture to your scene. I recommend you choose one of the materials from these texture list. They all can help for the texture. But you also can continue with your own style. After hand making your paper puppets and scene, I believe now everything looks so much different. Three-dimensionals and four architecture, let's put together in one combination. In this assignment, you are going to handmake your paper puppet and scene, and combine together. You'll be uploading the following to the project gallery. My tips for you is don't be afraid to exploit different materials or play with a pattern. You may come up with a surprise by effect of your cutout animation. In the next step, we are going to have fun and filming your cutout animation. So don't forget to bring your camera or your phone. See you then. 6. Step 4: Filming: Hey guys, is it your phone or your cameras ready? Seriously, today we are going to finish our last step. Step 4, filming, can be your own cut out animations. Let's take a quick look on our chat list. These you need to have an iPhone, iPad or DSLR camera. Enjoy cell phone are welcome. Where some of the app may not work. If you choose to use a phone or iPad, this will be a good deal. If you're using a DSLR camera, I recommend this one will be cheaper way to go. At least need to have two LED Lights. White light will be balanced the light. Of course, you need a big table to save your project together, make sure that the tripod is sitting on top. Two Sides of lights, place the LED lights 2 sides, but if your tripod has some refractive material, you may be need to work on the ankle. Working in the dark, recommended to work at the nighttime or not near the windows, sunlight will affect the light source. Shadow, small LED lights can be extra helpful for creating an atmosphere for the detail. Software, most stop motion apps and software are the same, they all have the same basic setting. I recommend the Stop Motion Studio app, you can use on an iPhone or iPad. Those allow your to use your phones as a DSLR camera. It's really convenient, for the DSLR camera you can upgrade the Stop Motion Studio to Pro. You can have more option and also get better quality for the photos. But today, we are not going to spend too much time to talk about [inaudible] that software because most things you can learn it from the app. I would like to focus on filming technique. One thing you really need to know is how to use an onion skinning as your starting tool. This is the key to making stop motion animation work. Onion skinning, it's a technique used in creating animation and editing movies to see stereo film at once. This way, you can make decisions on how to create or change an image based on their periods image in the sequence. For simple, if you own a pet emotion from here to here, you can take the first photos as the key post then choose here, hold it and move it to the middle. Now you can see really clearly, the translucence shadow between those two layer, so you can continue to create motion for the puppet. Once you have done to filming, if you want your animation looks smoother, you can select here for 24 frames of one second. Now take a look, it's like magic? In our final assignment, it's complete your whole project. You'll be uploading the following to the project gallery. You will be combining your puppet and scenes to make a cutout animation short film, at least five seconds. You can create a motion or reaction to your puppet. I suggest to take a little time to do more test, get used to all the software and understand how to control the puppet until you feel confident then create your film. I'm sure that together finished the last step and I'm appreciating all the amazing work you have shared with me. See you in the final. 7. Final: Congratulations on creating a cut-out animation. You have taken the first step, unlock your animation more. The next things I would like to encourage you to do is to share your creative world to the publisher more. Social media is a great way to continue with the following and inspire your future development. When you complete your whole project, I do love to see it, so please don't forget to share your cut-out animation in our project gallery. I would definitely read your comments. Also, if you have any question, you're always allowed to ask me. I hope you had fun and enjoyed this whole process because I had fun with you to explore your creative work. Thanks joining class. See you in next time. Best of luck.