21: Frame-by-Frame 2D Animation for Beginners

 In this tutorial, we’ll elevate our bouncing ball by giving it emotions and character, transforming it from a simple, lifeless object into a lively, animated entity.

Our goal is to create the illusion of a smart, animated life form, rather than just a ball that bounces aimlessly. We want to develop a lifelike entity, similar to the red ball animation example above.

What is a Character?

First things first, let’s define what a character is. In animation, a character is an entity that possesses traits and skills, allowing it to move and behave like a real-life intelligent being.

Characters can range from simple to complex in appearance, but don’t be fooled by their looks; a character can have traits and skills that make it smart, wise, and sometimes even powerful within a story.

For insights into designing a character’s traits and skills, check out "Mastering the Art of Traits and Skills in Character Design: for Your Story, Novels, Comics, Animation, Movies, and Games." This book focuses on creating engaging and unique traits and skills, rather than just how to draw and illustrate.

Great characters need a great story, and you can find valuable tips in "Shock Your Readers: Tips & Tricks to Beat Writer's Block for Novels, Comics, Movies, and Games." The techniques in this eBook are sharp enough to slice through writer's block like butter.

You can also explore a short story based on Dayak folklore at this link.

 

Creating a Lifelike Red Ball Animation

Now, let’s get back to creating a lifelike red ball animation. We will learn how to add motion and movement to our character, giving it emotions and a sense of will.

Motion Initiation

Motion initiation refers to the preparation or anticipation of an action in animation. While anticipation is a related term, it’s not exactly synonymous with action preparation.

Figure 0

In Figure 0, taken from "FRAME-BY-FRAME 2D ANIMATION PRINCIPLES," you can see an example of motion initiation, also known in cartoon animation as anticipation.

For practice, start by drawing a simple ball like in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1

Next, you can animate it as shown in Figure 1A.

Figure 1A

Animating the Ball

To create the illusion of the ball as a character entity, you need to make it move on its own. Instead of just falling and stopping (as seen in Figure 2), the ball should exhibit a will to move back up again. Can you spot the difference between basic animation and giving a character lifelike qualities, as illustrated in Figure 1B?

Figure 1B

You can check out the sound effects version of Figure 1B at this link.

Another example of a simple red ball character can be found in the first animation of this article, where the ball moves from a static position to a specific direction, creating the illusion that it has its own will and strength in a cartoon motion style.

Drawing Sequence

To create your animation sequence, you can either draw as shown in Figure 1 or save each image from Figures 1 to 19.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

The ball will deform to take action preparation, gathering strength by squashing (as seen in Figures 3 to 8).

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

The ball jumps (Figure 9) after the action preparation motion from Figures 3 to 8.

 

Figure 10

In Figure 10, the ball deforms to stretch in a cartoon motion style, then returns to its original form in Figure 11.

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 12 shows the ball stretching again due to the pull of gravity and increased velocity.

Figure 13

In Figures 13 and 14, the ball touches the ground and deforms into a bean shape.

Figure 14

Figure 15

Figure 16

By Figure 16, the ball is back to a nearly original shape again.

 

Figure 17

Due to the previous force (Figure 17), the shape stretches slightly (Figure 18) before eventually returning to its original form in Figure 19.

Figure 18

Figure 19

Animation Sequence

To animate all these Cartoon Ball BW line art images into a sequence that can include sound, cast shadow effects, and be exported as a movie, refer to the "05: Frame-by-Frame 2D Animation for Beginners" tutorial for a step-by-step guide.

The animation results will look like what’s shown in Figure 20 below. You can also download the ball character in the BW sequence layer "21 Ball BW outline.PSD" to see a master example of this simple ball character animation and try exporting it into a movie yourself!

Figure 20

For our next tutorial, we will practice and create a simple Damped Harmonic Oscillator animation motion in physics, but in an easy-to-understand visual way. See you soon!

Thanks!

From hand-drawn illustrations to frame-by-frame 2D animation

As I promised from previous tutorial. On this article collection series, I will cover on how to Export the animation into a video or movie. How to apply cel shading to an image sequence, especially from hand-drawn images created by traditional animators, similar to the red ball sample animation in the cartoon motion style above.

Yes, not every animator has computer skills, so the best approach for some studios is to hire traditional animators who create animation image sequences frame-by-frame or draw images on paper using a lightbox to reference previous frames.

Lightbox

Lightbox

If you don’t want to buy a lightbox, you can use a flat, transparent window in your house. Just remember to draw mostly during the day or at night with a well-lit garden lamp. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to clean up lines from scanned images or images taken with a digital camera or smartphone.

Sample Image

For example, here’s a hand-drawn image by an animator taken with a digital camera, similar to Figure 1 below. Most animators sketch with colored pencils in blue, red, green, or purple as needed. To clean up the image, they use a black marker to create the “fixed line” that can be scanned or photographed for later editing on a computer.

Figure 1

To edit and clean up the red, blue, green, or other colors in Adobe Photoshop or other compatible Graphic Editing software, start by copying or saving the image from Figure 1 above, or download "01 Character Sample Photo Scan" from the bottom area of this article.

Open the file in Photoshop by pressing Ctrl + O, locating the file, and clicking it twice or selecting the open button, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Change Image Mode to Grayscale

To clean the black outlines from any colors, change the image mode from RGB to Grayscale. Click on Image > Mode > Grayscale, as shown in Figure 4 below. The result will look like Figure 5.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Once in Grayscale, press Ctrl + M or click Image > Adjustments > Curves, as shown in Figure 6.

 

Figure 6

This will bring up the Curves window. Make sure to check the preview option so you can see the results in real time on your screen (Figure 7).

Figure 7

Drag the nodal point slider to the right to ensure that only the black outlines remain in the image, then hit Enter or click the OK button, as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8

The final result is roughly as shown in Figure 9 below.

Figure 9

Removing the Background for Transparency

To apply cel shading and add other backgrounds in your video editing composition, you first need to remove the background. This can be challenging, as it often involves removing the background from each image in the sequence.

Why is this important? Because not all traditional paper animators have computer skills. Even if they do, not all of them know how to use Photoshop or prefer drawing on a tablet; many still love using paper!

But don’t worry! You can always invest in equipment and upgrade your traditional animators' skills. If you want, you can reach out to me at ms.gumelar@gmail.com for a short course to elevate your production speed!

Background Removal Steps

To remove the background from any image, start by copying the image layer in case you make a mistake. Focus on the Layers window, as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10

Press Ctrl + J to duplicate the image layer, or click Layer > Duplicate Layer (Figure 11). This will open the Duplicate Layer window. Press Enter or click OK to confirm (Figure 12).

Figure 11

Figure 12

The result will look like Figure 13 below.

Figure 13

With the duplicate layer selected, right-click the layer visibility icon to turn off the background layer visibility, as shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14

Next, use the Magic Eraser Tool to remove the background. Press E or Shift + E multiple times until you select the Magic Eraser Tool or click and hold the Eraser Tool until the option appears.

 Figure 15

Now click on the area shown in Figure 16 below.

 Figure 16

As you can see, the area we clicked with the Magic Eraser Tool becomes transparent, indicated by the checkerboard pattern in Adobe Photoshop. Repeat this process for the next target area, as shown in Figure 17.

Figure 17

If you find that some areas you clicked on also became transparent, it could be due to a leak in the image (Figure 18). To fix this, undo it by pressing Ctrl + Z or Ctrl + Shift + Z for multiple undos.After hitting Ctrl + Z, the image will revert to its previous state (Figure 19).

After hitting Ctrl + Z, the image will revert to its previous state (Figure 19).

Figure 19

Press Ctrl + + to zoom in and check for any shapes where the line art is not connected. You might find an unconnected area, like the neck in Figure 20.

Figure 20

To fix this, use a pencil to connect the lines. Press B or Shift + B until you select the Brush Tool. Make sure the foreground color is black, and the brush size matches the original outline. Locate the “leak” shape on the neck, as shown in Figure 21.

Figure 21

Click and draw to connect those line art sections. Look for any other leaks and do the same, as shown in Figure 22.

Figure 22

After connecting all the leaks into closed shapes, use the Magic Eraser Tool again to click on the area where you want to remove the background, as shown in Figure 23.

Figure 23

The result should look like Figure 24 below.

Figure 24

Cel Shading Color

In animation, cel shading typically consists of at least two-color grades for any object: the main color (like red) and a lighter shade (like light red). However, some studios add a third color for shading, as shown in Figures 25 and 26.

Figure 25

Figure 26

Before we continue to the next step, you can download "02 Character Sample Photo Scan BW Transparent" in PSD format that we’ve been working on. We’ll need this for coloring in cel shading style.

The basic coloring technique is similar to what you learned in the previous tutorial "06: Frame-by-Frame 2D Animation for Beginners." In the next tutorial, you will learn how to add light and shade colors.

For quick coloring, you don’t have to wait for my next tutorial. You can simply download 'Making Comics: Comics Making' to learn everything from basic to advanced coloring techniques for any image, whether hand-drawn or digital.

See you soon on the next tutorial!

Thanks!