DIGITAL-DRAWN ANIMATION WITH PHOTOSHOP

It is possible to use Photoshop to create “digital drawn” animation.  To do so, you would make a Photoshop document, save it as a source or master document, and then you would save all subsequent images and drawings by using "Save As."  As a result, you would “save copies” of the main document and, in a sense, cast off continuing parts of an image sequence.

Once you have made a series of image files, you could then use After Effects, Premiere, iStopmotion, or QuickTime Pro and import them as an image sequence.  You would then use the software export the sequence as a movie file.

To go over the above process in detail, you should take the following steps to make a digitally drawn animation sequence.

First, you should use your operating system (Windows or Macintosh) to establish a folder to save the image sequence that you will make with Photoshop.

Open Photoshop and make a new document (Main Menu > File > New) and apply the following image size settings to make a master digital file for the drawn-animation process:

  • Name: Give the image a short name, such as <image_xxx>
  • Preset Size: NTSC D1 Square Pix, 720 x 540 (with guides)
  • Width: 720 (pixels)
  • Height: 540 (pixels)
  • Resolution: 72 (pixels/inch)
  • Mode: RGB Colour (8 bit)
  • Background Contents: White, Background Colour, or Transparent -- any one of these will work.  If you choose White, it would be as though you are drawing on white paper; if you choose Transparent, it would be as though you are drawing on digital transparencies or "cels."
  • Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square

A SIMPLE WAY OF MAKING DIGITAL ANIMATION DRAWINGS

Once you have set up a source file, you can begin drawing.  For example, you could use the brush tool, which you can use with different widths, opacities, shapes and qualities.

When you are ready to save the image and begin to draw the next one, go to the main menu and choose File > Save As.  From the Save As dialogue box, you should enter the following settings:

  • Save As:  When you give the file a name, you must enter a sequential number.  For example, by using the original file name your could change the name from <image_xxx> to <image_001>.
  • Format: You could use a wide variety of file formats.  For example, you could save images as Photoshop documents or PSD files (which you can then import in Premiere or After Effects).
  • Save: It is very important that you select “As a Copy,” otherwise you won't be able to “cast off” drawings or create phases of an image sequence.
  • Press Save
  • Note: For the sake of size alone, you might want to choose JPG.  However, you must save each subsequent image that you make in the same image format. If you choose JPG, Photoshop will open a JPEG Options dialogue box.  Under Image Options, you could choose a quality value that ranges from Medium to Maximum.

From now on, you will repeat the above steps for each progressive stage of movement:

  • Make a change to your drawing.
  • Go to the Main Menu and choose File > Save As.
  • Name the file as the next number in the sequence: image_001.psd > image_002.psd > image_003.psd > image_004.psd; image_005.psd > etc.
  • Choose “As a Copy" as a save option.
  • Press Save and select the compression options, if necessary.
  • Etc.

A COMPLEX WAY OF MAKING DIGITAL ANIMATION DRAWINGS

The abovementioned practice of making an animation is similar to straight-ahead animation, when you would draw directly on single sheets of paper without referring to the last drawing or recent images that you made.  However, there is a way in which you could, in a sense, stack images and view phases of a movement in sequence.  To do so, you would add layers to the main Photoshop document.  This process can be problematic though, because the PSD source document will grow in size, which might slow down your computer.  Nonetheless, you could break the sequence into several parts by making several separate source documents.

Similar to the process outlined in the section above (A Simple Way Of Making Digital Animation Drawings), once you’ve established a Photoshop document you should refer to the Photoshop Layers palette and use the pull-down menu to make a New Layer, or several layers.

From now on, instead of drawing on the Background Layer, you should draw on the other, transparent layers.  You can also animate changes from layer to layer without making intermittent saves; that is, you can wait to save each phase later, after you plan and develop the sequence in Photoshop.

When you are ready to save phases of the image sequence, you should turn off the visibility of the layers that you do not want to print.  To do this, “click off” the “eye-icons” on layers that you don’t want to show, and “click on” the eye-icons that you want to show, for each phase of sequence that you choose to “save as.”  This way, you could cast off an animated image but you could also include a background component with it; for example, you could animate a figure walking against a detailed background.