Week 6: Creating Images in Photoshop for Animation

I have started to create my images in Photoshop for my 2D animation. I have started to create and visualise my animation in Photoshop and add the effects. These effects include creating the vintage, distressed look to the images. Photoshop has allowed me to be more creative in creating the animation. I have recreated the 'countdown' screen which is included within my animation. By creating these images in Photoshop I can then import them into Adobe Flash and create my animation. I imported one of these files in Flash to test and the Photoshop file imported the layers into the library. This therefore allows me to edit the layers within the Photoshop file in Flash. Throughout half term I have also tested some of the effects I will be using within my animation in Flash. This allowed me to understand the effects I want to include so I can begin to create my final animation in Adobe Flash.

Reflection of work completed throughout half term
Throughout half term I believe I have completed what I planned. I planned to create my animation images with effects in Photoshop and I have done this. By completing this I will now be able to start to create my animation in Flash. This is because I have learnt the techniques I will be applying within my animation. These skills are shown through my skills audit which I have also been continuing with. I have also completed my research and analysing existing animations. This is along with my detailed storyboard, I have now completed the written work and I will be able start creating my animation.

Week 6: Sketches for Final Animation and Research into Final Product

I have changed my final idea slightly, I have looked into the techniques which I was going to use, one of these was the film countdown effect. Although, from the skills I have learnt I found that this cannot be achieved easily within Adobe Flash. Therefore I created a new idea of a film strip moving along as though it is playing the film. I have kept with the old fashioned ‘jumpy’ screen effect but incorporated the film strip. My final idea reflects the theme of the music chart countdown which is an interest of the audience. With the old fashioned radio broadcast narration it will create the effect of the music countdown, but showing the history of animation.

Research into Final Product

I have completed my research into the existing 2D animations. I have analysed three existing animations which use different techniques to appeal to the target audience. The aspects which I analysed include: characters, colours, typography, narrative, techniques (e.g. cel animation) and pace of the animation. One of the animations I analysed was the 'Child Road Safety- King of the Road'. This animation is aimed at children aged 5-11 years, because of the message within the animation and the characters included. This included the characters of hedgehogs talking about the importance of road safety. Some techniques used within this animation include: catchy song, characters, bold text and a clear narrative.

Child Road Safety Advert

By analysing these animations I understand what elements are used within 2D animations which make it appeal to the audience. Within this document I have also explained what techniques I will be using within my animation. I have explained how the existing animations relate to my animation in terms of techniques, colours and effects used. I did find a problem that I could not find an animation which was similar to my final idea, but I have highlighted all of the techniques from these different animations which I will be applying within my own animation.

In terms of the final product I have also researched the different aspects surrounding the production. These include: Target audience profile, resources and budget, legal and ethical (content included) and techniques used within 2D animation. These are the aspects I would need to consider if I was making this animation professionally. Therefore I needed to carry out this research to show I have consider these points.  

Sketches and Storyboard completed

I have completed nearly completed my detailed storyboard presenting my final idea. I have included the movement, technique applied and sound. The one aspect which I need to add to my storyboard is the duration (frames per second) for each shot on the storyboard. I have researched into frame rates and fps, but I need to apply this knowledge to my storyboard in order to start creating my animation. I have also created some sketches of the layout of the different screens within my animation. The reason why I created these sketches is to show visually how I want to animation to look. This included the layout of the countdown screen and the layout of the screens with the animation device history. These sketches support my detailed storyboard and help me to visualise my final animation.

Countdown Image

Throughout today's lessons I have completed the tasks which I intended to complete. These are the research and storyboard. Although, I did document that I would begin to create my animation in Adobe Flash, but I did not start this today. Therefore I will begin this in my own time throughout the half term for me to be on schedule. I also need to create the background image and other images within the animation within Photoshop, as I need to add different effects to these images.

Week 5: Feedback and Detailed Pre-production Started

I have started my detailed pre-production documentation. I have created a Production Schedule with the tasks which I am undertaking in this assignment with completion dates. I have noted the different tasks which I need to complete including: detailed storyboard, analysing 3 existing 2D Animations, creating 2D animation and responding to audience feedback. Within the production schedule I have also stated that I am on holiday from the 7^th November- 18^th November. I have put this into the production schedule so I am aware of the time which I have to complete the production stage. This did concern be a bit as I am away when I am in the production process (creating the animation). I have scheduled the production stage to begin next week (20^th October); therefore I will complete the detailed pre-production and research into the final product by this time. I believe I will be able to meet the deadline of 5^th December by following production schedule closely. Although, as slight concern of mine is that I am away for 2 weeks and this could affect the production process.  



Production Schedule




 I have also had feedback on my 2D Animation History report. Some of the improvements included: referencing within text, formatting of the report & be more critical of myself and resources. I will respond to this feedback by the deadline of 5^th December. This will improve my grade for the report; the improvements which I had to make were elements which I was unsure about. The referencing within the text was one of these elements. I was unsure of how to reference within the text; therefore I have now been reassured of how to do this correctly.

I have also started my research into final product and 2D animation. I am analysing 3 different 2D animations which have been created to inform 14-16 year olds. I will look at the techniques used to appeal to the audience; this will help me to understand techniques I could use. These techniques include: pace, colour, images, characters, sound, narration and typography. I have found it quite difficult to find an animation which is similar to my final idea. This is because I am intending to create a vintage, old fashioned style animation documenting the history of animation. Therefore I have found existing animations which would appeal to my target audience of 14-16 year olds. I have also found the different elements which would be included within my animation, including the vintage inspired animation element within other videos on YouTube. I will continue with this research to analyse the techniques used within these animations for the target audience.

Week 4: Adobe Flash Tutorial

Techniques and Skills Gained- Adobe Flash

Throughout today’s Adobe Flash workshop I have gained a lot of new skills some of these include:

Motion Guide- pen tool to create paths for ball to follow. Last week I was introduced to the motion guide tool, today I put this into action. I used inserted the motion guide tool which created a layer, I then used the pen tool to create the paths. This is a tool which I found slightly difficult to use, I did manage to create the paths, but this is a tool which I need to concentrate on improving my skills to use this tool in the future. I did create the path and added the circle to this; I had a bit of trouble in attaching the centre point of the ball. With some help I managed to attach the ball to the path and create the animation.

I added the easing effect to this motion; I selected this within the bottom properties. Selecting -100 and adding a keyframe to this point in the timeline, when the animation played the easing was clearly shown at the selected point. I found this an easy technique to use and I was able to apply this to my animation.

Organising Folders: organising folders is key within Adobe Flash when creating animations. I will be creating different animations which cannot be added on the same layer. So by organising the different layers of animation into folders will help me in creating the different parts of the animation. This is an aspect which I will definitely be using when creating my own animation as it will make the creating of the animation easier.

I also imported some images into Adobe Flash; I imported images from my saved pictures on my desktop. I imported these images into the library panel within my Flash setup. I added timeline effects to this image and selected Transform. This allowed me to add different effects, these included: number of frames, blur, final colour and rotate. When the effects were added it created a folder within the library panel, which I then dropped onto the scene where the animation is created. This was shown as a layer in the timeline; I then also added another image (on a separate layer) and merged these together within the timeline. I believe I used this tool well and I will be able to use this creatively when creating my own animation.

Adding Text and Masking
Throughout the second half of this workshop I learnt how to add text and mask within Flash. The text tool is similar to Photoshop to create the text. I selected the text tool and selected the size, style and colour of my font. I was then introduced to masking; this would create text appearing across the screen. To create the masking effect I added the oval tool by inserting a new symbol and dropped this onto the stage along with the text (two separate layers on timeline) I then selected keyframe 35 and positioned both the text and oval in first and last position by using the keyframes. The text and shape will be opposite each other in their first and last positions. The shape symbol would not be seen as it is an ‘invisible’ layer, therefore the text would only be seen when I motion tweened the sequence. I right clicked on the mask layer and selected mask, this would hide the shape and the text would be seen in motion across the screen. Through creating the masking I have learnt a new skill which will help me in my own animation, although I believe this is a tool which will take me a bit of time to get used to. I did create the masking; I believe that after repeating this process a couple more times I will feel more confident in the process of creating the masking.

Importing Video and Sound
I also imported video and sound into Flash; I created a new document and created 2 layers: Audio and Video. From the archives on the college system I added in the video (.mov) file by ‘Import- Import Video’. I then selected the video and I went through a process of settings for the video, once this was completed the video was added to the library panel. This was then added to the scene (stage) and I then selected the end keyframe, the number of keyframe determines the speed of the video. I imported sound into the document; I selected ‘Import- Import to library’. I selected the file (wav file) and this was imported into the library panel.  I selected keyframe 40 on the audio layer timeline and dragged the sound clip onto the scene. As the sound is not visible the sound line would be shown within the layer timeline to represent the sound file. I could also change the properties of the sound, by fading in and out. By being taught how to import sound and video I feel confident with this. I believe I will be able to use this tool, especially sound as this is an aspect I need to include within my animation.

Overall, through the workshop today I have learnt a lot of new skills which will help me within creating my animation. I have learnt how to: created motion guide, easing, importing images, organising folders, masking, text and importing video & audio. I feel confident in terms of many of these different tools, but I believe one of the main tools which I need to concentrate on is the pen tool. I found this tool a little difficult to use, but I will concentrate of creating a smooth path using the pen tool to ensure I can use this tool correctly. I will be updating my Skills Audi document with the new skills I have learnt throughout the workshop.