Extended Practice: Beginning to Animate

The time had finally arrived for me to begin animating. It had been so long since I animated something of this nature, that I was actually quite scared. But determined and enthusiastic nonetheless.

Rather than animating all my line work in one big Photoshop file (which would be ridiculous), I 

decided to animate each scene individually. I defined each 'scene' by how long the reference video lasted, and made a separate folder and Photoshop file for each scene in order to keep organised; labeling each file/folder with the time-stamp/duration that was outlined in the Live Action Video. 

Example of File Structure

 

I opted to start with a fairly straightforward scene to ease into the swing of animating again. Despite being a scene with minimal movement, I still tried to bare in mind what I had learnt during CoP, and focus on the little elements that can help give character life and enhance performance. For instance, I made sure to have the pigtails sway as Maressa's character tilted her head, and the subtle shoulder raise of my character as she sighs, to help drive that she is fed-up. 

Scene 047-049

Though it's only a couple of seconds long, I'm pleased that I've made a start with production. It's now just a case of continuing to work.