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Animation Basics: Warping |
Needs PhotoAnim
free trial installed on your computer |
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Warping is
selected automatically if the 4 corners of your image are not fully
transparent. This is the case for all JPEG images.
- Use "File" "Import Image"
to load a JPEG image.
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Select "Mode" "Animation"
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Warping initial image |
Now drag one or several green
dots on the Current Frame and hit
to play your first animation!
You may change the canvas
color using these switches:
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Running a first animation |
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Drawing
a custom trajectory
On the Current Frame, drag one
of the small red dots and draw a curve to the corresponding green dot.
You created a dot
trajectory.
Trajectories are initially linear, you may define independent trajectories
for all dots.
By clicking again the small red dot, you revert to linear trajectory (watch
the cursor shape).
You may now reset the
animation by right clicking on the image screen and selecting "Reset
Object Animation". |
Defining a dot trajectory |
Place various dots by clicking on the Start Image or on
the Current Frame.
Then drag the green dots to warp the image (make sure the preview cursor
is on the last frame, you may use
for that) |
Warping the image by placing and
moving several dots |
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Right click on the image screen and select "Time curve..." "Alternate".
Check
and hit
You now see your image going smoothly back and forth from the start
image to the last frame.
PhotoAnim has several built-in time curves and you may create and save
your own curves. |
Selecting a time curve |
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Animation Basics:
Skeletal Animation |
Needs PhotoAnim free trial installed on your
computer |
To get started with skeletal
animation, you need an image where the subject is cleanly extracted from
the background.
You may do this with your favourite photo editor and save as PNG format,
or you can do it directly with PhotoAnim under "Mode" "Image Edit".
We are convinced that PhotoAnim will soon become your favourite photo
editor...Only
portions of the image not covering others can be animated correctly.
This is the case for our rabbit, where ears, arms and legs are not above
any other part of the image.
Skeletal animation is
selected automatically, because image corners are fully transparent.
Note the little dots around the image: These are floating contour dots
and they will follow the bones and joints that we are going to create
now. |
Skeletal animation: initial
image |
Place one dot on the current
frame and move it. All contour dots follow and the full image moves.
This defines the first animation rule:
"One user dot makes the whole region move" |
One user dot: Full region move |
Now let's reset the animation
(right click on current frame) and add another dot (make sure
is selected).Note the yellow line with an arrow between your two dots: It's a bone.
If you drag the arrow side,
the rabbit will rotate around the other side.
If you drag the other side
from the arrow, the rabbit will both rotate and shift.
This defines the second
animation rule:
"One solid bone makes the whole region rotate and translate" |
One solid bone: Full region
rotate and translate |
Select
 and place the
cursor over the bone. The bone color changes to red. Right click and
select "Elastic Bone". The bone will change to a dotted line.
Now if you select
or
and drag one of your dots, the whole rabbit will zoom in or out.
This defines the third and last animation rule:
"One elastic bone makes the whole region rotate, translate and scale"
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One elastic bone: full region
rotate, translate and scale |
Reset the animation and
restore a solid bone
(, cursor over bone, right click, uncheck elastic)
Place a few dots as shown in
the image (it's very intuitive). Bones will be added automatically and
between two bones you see a yellow circle: This is a joint.
Now you are ready to really
animate the rabbit, by moving the green dots...
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Where do we go from here?
Please have look at the Tutorials |
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allows
following types of animation:
allows animation of library objects.
offers: