Learn to Animate

Keep Each Body Segment on Its Own Layer

The more you separate out the different parts of the body, the more sophisticated the potential motion could be. At the same time, more moving parts are sometimes more challenging to control.

At minimum, you should include separate drawings for: the head, torso, upper left arm, lower left arm, left hand, upper right arm, lower right arm, right hand, upper left leg, lower left leg, left foot, upper right leg, lower right leg and the right foot. Make sure you plan for some overlapping.

Plan Deliberate Overlap at the Joints

When working with cut-out animation, it is important to plan out how the different body segments will overlap. If the segments overlap poorly, the cut-out approach becomes too obvious and then draws unwanted attention.

• Using smart raster or vector levels allows for hiding improperly overlapping line segments later on
• Give each level a descriptive name (ie. Fred_Left_Foot)
• Draw each segment a little past the edge of the connected body segment
• Round off the edges where two segments overlap
• Use the fill bucket (shortcut F) to fill in areas of color (otherwise hiding overlapping line segments will not work)
• You can clone cells to create an unlinked copy (Select the cell in the Timeline, then go to Cells → Clone) if there are drawings you want to duplicate

Drawing Order

Drawings do need to be in a specific order due to how the rig overlaps. In the Timeline view, from left to right, place your drawings in the following order:

1. Upper Arm (behind)
2. Hand (behind)
3. Lower Arm (behind)
4. Foot (behind)
5. Upper Leg (behind)
6. Lower Leg (behind)
7. Foot (front)
8. Upper Leg (in front)
9. Lower Leg (in front)
10. Head
11. Torso
12. Upper Arm (in front)
13. Hand (in front)
14. Lower Arm (in front)

If you need to reposition the order of your columns, use the top (or left) of the column header to drag and reposition.

The center of each drawing needs to be placed at the location where each pivot point would be - where the joints should be.

1. Select the Animate Tool
2. Set the property to "center"
   
3. For each column/layer:
   1. Select the column in the Timeline
   2. Click and drag to move the drawing center (the pink circle) to the desired pivot point location
      

Before we can animate a cut-out animation, we need to create a rig/skeleton by connecting the parts of the body together. While there are a couple ways to do so, the easiest way is to parent the drawings in the Stage Schematic panel. This is found in the FX room. The Stage Schematic can be used to connect drawings together to create the correct parent/child relationship:

1. The Schematic has 2 modes, the Stage view(which shows the Table and Camera nodes) and the default FX view (which shows the Scene and Output nodes). If the FX schematic is active, toggle the button on the very bottom right of the window:
   
2. If the Schematic panel is too small, press the accent key` to temporarily expand it to fill the program window
3. You can use the menu on the bottom left of the Schematic panel to optimize your view. From left to right, you can:
   
   1. Selection mode
   2. Zoom mode
   3. Hand mode
   4. Fit to window
   5. Focus on current
   6. Reorder nodes
   7. Reset size
   8. Expand/minimize nodes
4. For each pair of nodes you want to connect, click and drag from red socket to blue socket (or from blue to red)
5. The torso (or upper torso) should act as the "parent", with all of the other layers/nodes connected to it
   1. Hand → Lower Arm → Upper Arm → Torso
   2. Foot → Lower Leg → Upper Leg → Torso
   3. Head → Neck → Torso
   

If any drawings move out of position after being parented, use the Select Tool (S) to fix the position.

The Skeleton Tool has a couple modes you can use to animate your character/object, however at this time it is best to just use "Animate mode". It allows you to position a rigged character/object with more control.

1. Select a body segment, move the cursor away from the body until you see the double arrows, then LMB-click and drag to rotate
   1. Selecting the thigh or upper arm will let you rotate the whole arm or leg
   
2. If using a vetor level and the focus does not switch correctly when clicking on a drawing, change focus by clicking on the drawing in the Timeline

Moving the body in "Animate mode" automatically adds keyframes to the limbs that move. For transitions inbetween, that is perfect. However at the start/end of a pose it is often better for every drawing to have a keyframe:

1. Right-click on the frame number (in the top row of the Timeline):
   
2. Select "Insert Multiple Keys"

It can be helpful to temporarily lock the background layers when animating using the skeleton tool since clicking on a different drawing changes the focus. To do so, click on the lock icon to the left of the layer in the Timeline.

Using the provided scene, rig the character and create a short animation where the character changes from at least 1 pose to another. Make sure to reorder the layers, change the drawing centers to the correct pivot points, and parent the layers together using the Schematic before you start animating.

Keep in mind you will need to manually set the end playback marker and set the end frame in the output settings for the playback and render ranges to display properly.

1. Create a level:
   1. Use any level type
   2. Make sure to use a descriptive name
   3. At least 1 frame
      • Multiple frames can be used for more complex animations where each frame is a different viewpoint (optional)
2. Draw the object, character, or body segment to be modified
   • Avoid areas of overlapping in the drawing
   • Also avoid drawing parts of a body/object too close together - the mesh may fuse together
   • If just part of an object/body will be modified, it is often easiest to draw that part on its own layer:
     • ie. for shifting hair, the hair should be on a separate level from the face/body
     • ie. for a swishing skirt, the skirt should be on a separate level from the rest of the body
   • For the best effect, fill line drawings with colors - even if it's just white
3. For Vector Levels only, compress the level into a Sub-scene
   1. Select the entire level by clicking on the layer header
   2. In the Command Bar, click on the collapse button

Warning: once a plastic mesh has been created for a level, that level can no longer be edited directly in the Scene (changes can be made in Level Editing mode but will only be visible within the mesh area).

1. Select the Plastic tool
   • The Plastic tool is in the bottom quarter of the toolbar, if it not visible by default, click on the arrow at the very bottom of the toolbar to display additional tools
2. In the tool Option Bar, the mode should be set to "Build Skeleton"
3. In the Timeline select all of the frames you would like to distort for the level:
   1. Left-click on the drag bar (top edge of the level) to select the entire level
   2. Or left-click + drag across the desired cells
4. In the tool Option Bar, select "Create Mesh"
   1. Change the "Edge Length" value to add detail:
      1. Higher values = smaller file size but less detail/control
      2. Lower values = more detail/control but higher file size
   2. For Raster Levels, the DPI can be changed, though that is usually not necessary
   3. "Mesh Margin" controls how far the mesh overhangs the drawing - lower the value for less overhang
   4. Select "Apply"
5. A mesh level (purple) should now be visible next to the original level
   • In the Stage Schematic, the mesh level is now the "parent" of the original level

Use the plastic tool to create a quick animation where a character/object changes from one pose to another.

Keep in mind you will need to manually set the end playback marker and set the end frame in the output settings for the playback and render ranges to display properly.

At it's most basic, a walk should alternate between the contact and inverse contact poses. This won't look the most realistic, but it's the first step in getting a more accurate walk.

This tutorial is setting a 32 frame walk cycle, but could be adjusted to a different length, as long as the poses are in the same order.

1. In the first frame, pose or draw your character in the starting position (called the contact pose). Arms and legs are traditionally bent at an angle and extended diagonally in opposite directions:
   
   • If using the Skeleton Tool, make sure to use the "Add Multiple Keys" command in the Timeline so that every layer has a keyframe
   • If using the Plastic Tools, make sure to "Set a Global Key" from the Viewer's context menu
2. In the last frame (frame 32), the pose should be identical (this will give you an ending contact position that is identical to the starting position - really helpful for looping later!)
   • If using the Skeleton, make sure to use the "Add Multiple Keys" command in the Timeline so that every layer has a keyframe
   • If using the Plastic Tools, make sure to "Set a Global Key" from the Viewer's context menu
   • If drawing frame by frame, use the "Duplicate Drawing" command from the Timeline's context menu for cell 1 and then reposition the drawing onto frame 32
3. In the middle frame (frame 16), switch the direction of the arms and legs into the opposite positions (this is the inverse contact pose)
   
   • For the Skeleton Tool's Animate mode, select the upper arms and legs to move the entire arm/leg
   • For the Plastic tool's Animate mode, move the knee/elbow nodes and adjust the SO values as needed to correctly overlap
   • For all digital techniuqes, add a fixed onionskin marker at the top of the Timeline on frame 1 so that you can see the original drawing while you draw/trace/pose the inverse pose. Switch where that fixed onion skin is located as needed going forward. ("Extend Onion Skin to Scene" from the viewer's context menu to see all onionskin of all drawings in a frame)

Play the animation in the viewer to preview your motion and make adjustments to the pose as necessary. More poses can be added for better believability.

1. Add 2 Passing poses midway between the inverse contact pose and each contact pose (frames 8 and 24 in a 32 frame cycle)
   1. Adjust the angle of the legs as necessary
   2. Refine the angle of the feet

   

2. Add 2 Descent poses midway between the first contact and passing pose and then midway between the inverse contact pose and the inverse passing pose (frames 4 and 20)
   1. Very slightly lower the entire body
      • Skeleton tool - selecting the torso should let you do so
      • Plastic tool - if the root is off to the side but connected directly to the lower torso area, you should be able to shift the body slightly down
   2. Adjust the angle of the legs as necessary
   3. Refine the angle of the feet (make sure the foot on the ground is still at the same height as it was previously)

   

3. Add 2 High-point poses (midway between the first passing pose and the inverse contact pose and then midway between the inverse passing pose and the ending contact pose (frames 12 and 28)
   1. Very slightly raise the entire body
      • Skeleton tool - selecting the torso should let you do so
      • Plastic tool - if the root is off to the side but connected directly to the lower torso area, you should be able to shift the body slightly down
   2. Adjust the angle of the legs as necessary
   3. Refine the angle of the feet (make sure the foot on the ground is still at the same height as it was previously)

   

4. Play the animation and make adjustments to the poses as necessary
   
5. Save All (CMD-S)

1. Open (or create) a background scene
2. Add your character as a sub-scene to your animation:
   1. In the Timeline, select the first cell in the layer you would like to add your character
   2. Right-click and select Load Level
   3. Select your character scene
3. Set the walk cycle to loop a few times with one of the following methods:
   1. Using the Command Bar:
      1. Select all of the frames for the sub-scene (left-click on the top edge of the layer)
      2. Click on the "Repeat" button
      3. Specify the number of times you want the cycle to repeat and click on repeat (likely at least 4 or 5 times)
         
   2. Using the Timeline:
      1. In the Timeline, type "1" directly after the last frame (or copy and paste the first frame to just after the last frame with Cmd-C and Cmd+V | Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V)
      2. Select all of the frames for the sub-scene (Left-click on the left edge of the column or the top edge of the layer) and drag down on the bottom handle for as many frames as you want the walk cycle to repeat
4. In the 2D Room, use the Animate tool to set the horizontal starting position
   1. In the Timeline, select the first frame of your sub-scene
   2. In the Viewer, move your character to the desired starting position (a keyframe should be created automatically)
      
5. Use the Animate tool to set the horizontal ending position
   1. In the Timeline, select the last frame of your sub-scene
   2. In the Viewer, move your character to the desired ending position (a keyframe should be created automatically)
      
6. Play your animation and make adjustments as desired
   
   • If the walk is too slow, try adding more repeats of the cycle or move the character across a smaller distance
   • If the walk is too fast, remove some frames or move the character a larger distance
7. Save all (Cmd-S | Ctrl-S)

1. Animate the original character walking in place using all of the walk cycle poses:
   • A contact pose
   • An inverse contact pose
   • Descent poses
   • Passing poses
   • High point poses
2. In a new scene, make a background with a location for the character
3. Load the walking character's scene as a sub-scene
4. Add a position tween on the sub-scene to make the character look like they are walking across the location
5. Have the character complete at least one additional action