Welcome,
Many people feel they want to learn animation and want to do those animated effects. Most people think animation is very hard, but the fact is it isn’t at all. I thought that if I created a tutorial it would help people ion this situation to understand these basics of animation and how easy it really is once you spend some time with the piece of software you use whether it’s Macromedia MX Flash or something else, I use ImageReady, part of Adobe Photoshop and is very useful for animating. I wrote this tutorial for beginners wanting to learn the basics of Animation. It will hopefully help you with the wide variety of key features when using ImageReady for animating. Below are 2 basic key things in which are essential for you to know for Animating. They should tell you what each term means and what can be achieved using them.

Frames - Frames are the main things you need when animating, they represent each step of an animation and can be used to create various effects. One Animation contains many frames, allowing it to change from image to another. Each frame consists of a picture and can be combined with another frame to animate a switching between 2 pictures.

Motion Tweening - Motion Tweening is a valuable technique also when it comes to animating. It allows to automatically move, transform or add another effect on an image. When 2 frames are motion tweened it uses the amount of frames you input to create a moving picture, this then creates the effect you want. The more frames you have in an animation determines how precise the animation it, whereas if you have less frames it will be pretty basic and simple. Finding the motion tween in ImageReady button is easy to find, it looks like 3 circles and appears next to the new frame in the animation toolbar. If for some reason the animation toolbar isn't there, then going to window>Animation should bring it back up.

When creating animations, effects can be created by using the motion tween. Say if you wish to fade an image out, then it is a useful effect. This can be done by creating a new frame then selecting the new frame. Then setting the layer with your image you want to fade out to 0 opacity. Then by clicking the motion tween button you can set the amount of frames you want (remember the more frames the more precise it will be). Once you have done this you can click ok, and then press play to view your animation. Other effects like moving an image and transformation can be done as well with just abit of experimenting and using the motion tween.

The best way to learn animation is to experiment with your own methods and eventually with abit of practice, you can get better. I hope this tutorial helped you in all ways possible to allow for you to understand some of the basics when animating.
Have Fun and thank you for reading,
Jake (aka Burgin).

thanks for your information it's useful

Thank you that's helpful !

where we can get this animation course coaching ??? how much it will cost??
The Very Basics Of Animation

Where we can get this animation course coaching ??? how much it will cost??

How will be the future in this course?? what is the duration of the course??

avinashvadapalli at gmail

-avinash

how to get free education in the basic of animation
The Very Basics Of Animation

Dear,

I am interested to know about the animation ,I want to know about from where I can get the basic knowledge of animation free of cost



-reply by sudeep jain

wow thnxs a lot. Actually helped and cleared my head!

Your tutorial does explain the basics of animation, however you did mention expensive programs like Macromedia MX Flash and Adobe software. I was wondering if there was a free alternative to these types of software (Linux compatible would be best, however I can use Windows).

This would be really helpful in explaining what animation is and the different parts of it.

I began playing with animation with an old SNES game Mario Paint. Unlike sitting and redrawing over and over again like when I was young, it taught me how to do slight image changes. Ok, so that was something non PC I used to do.

When I first used PC animation, I used Gif Animator... it was a Ulead product. I think they still use it, but I don't know if it is freeware or not. The nice thing about freeware and shareware, is that there will usually be a program out there... it just might be hard to find, or maybe it just might not come with a lot of options. But it never hurts to check around.

Now I use Macromedia Flash and Adobe Imageready... I was lucky enough to have copies of each, but I also worked in the industry, and when I went back to school, I had educational versions... Sometimes, it takes a little experimenting.

And if you are really bored, then go ahead and Walt Disney a few pages with a pencil!

I like this topic alot.

Thanks for taking the time to share with us.
I use another program called "Photoscape" for my animations.

I read a number of posts here requesting for free animation resources.
Well, you guys will be happy to learn that "Photoscape" can be downloaded free of charge and used immediately
You can download it here:

http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/download.php (approx. 10.3MB)

Now there are a whole lot of things you can do on Photoscape, & make animated pictures is one of them.

How?

Step1:

Open/ Launch Photoscape.

Step 2:

Click on the Batch Editor tab.

Step 3:

You need to select all the pictures that you want to include in the animation.
You do this by clicking on the "ADD" button.
Alternatively (recommended!!), you can click on the location of the picture from the top left hand side of the screen & select your picture.

Step 4:

If you used the alternative method (recommended), you will see in the center of the page that it says drop picture here..so follow the instruction & the picture will be in the center & its name will appear on the top, white panel.

If you use the other otpion (not recommended), then below are the instructions.
A new stand-alone window pops up. Now select all the pictures you want from their respective locations & click "OK" when done.
NB: Read instructions at bottom of that stand-alone window on how to select multiple pictures

At this point, all the pictures you selected should appear in the batch editor space.

Step 5:

Select a picture you want to edit on the top..
Upon clicking on that picture, it should appear in the main space in the center of the page.
To edit the picture, use the tools on the Right hand side of the page.

Step 6:

Use the slide show effects as well.. define the transition effects. These will determine how the pictures transition.
Also define the time period you want each picture to appear for. But you can always edit the times for the individual or multiple pictures at any time you so wish to do.

Step 7:

If you are happy with your work and want to view the work before saving (by clicking on the player). you may then click on "Config. Save" to save you animated image..

The image will save as a gif file.

Now open the image on any viewer & see what happens

I hope you love it

The key is in exploring in all the features..
I came across it by accident & used it to make some "videos" immediately & plan to use it more often when I get time & more pics & projects to work on..


My next tutorial will also feature around Photoscape..
I am currently completing the CPA qualifications now & am very pressed for time..
SO please do remind me to do a tutorial on making banners suing this nice resource.