Very simple paper animation test

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One of my goals in life is to animate productions on paper-and-cel. I have some resources for it now, but not enough to use cels (I don’t have coloring supplies). So I just pulled out some 10f acme animation paper, and whipped up 3 simple movements (nothing fancy, though).

My first capture of this turned out so bad that I had to do it again- next time I’ll fix the problems I had this time (this here is my 2nd capture), like the strange decolorization. Please tell me what you think, and ask questions, if you have any.

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Okay, Here’s the result as a GIF:

Paper Animation 1C

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The animation reminds me of early rubber hose animations. Come think of it, that might be an animation style that fits you most, especially considering that it is getting a revival right now with the Cuphead game and nostalgia for early animations.

I think you need a proper rig and setup to get better output.

There seems to be a lot of shaking which means the camera isn’t steady or you are trying to align the drawing manually in post. I think you can make a simple rig for your camera from a cardboard box and use a remote control (you can buy one or attach your camera to a computer) to make things easier for you.

Lighting is also very irregular. Camera automatic adjustments might be a cause (set your camera manually so the settings doesn’t change with each photo). You might also have poor lighting setup. You can set up a cardboard box and lamps to create a lighting studio.

This video might provide you some idea:

Of course, adapt to your needs.

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Thank you @Ralmon for the tips! Personally, I’m going to say that the slight jittering of the camera adds a lot to the style I’m going for all-around (including my digital animation). Eventually, though, I’m going to get a more professional camera (mine is just a teeny point-and-shoot) with a greater image buffer (and a better memory card) and an external capture button so I can minimise the shaking. For now, I’m going to enjoy it’s real old-fashioned look.

However, the lighting issues were a pain! I captured this in the dark with the camera flash, with all of the settings manually input- but the lighting issues persisted. I suspect I was unaware that keeping my flashlight on while shooting made these inconsistencies- and next time I’m going to turn off my flashlight (or at least do a better job dousing it) and see what happens.

The last thing I’ll say is an excuse - It was 1 in the morning and I was very tired. Maybe I should blame my problems on that (not seriously, though. But I want to). And my setup is horrible. I’ll watch that video you sent.

Thanks again!

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I fixed the lighting and made a second one:

Paper Animation 2

Anything?

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The animation is okay overall. The overall lighting is definitely better.

The animation is kinda stiff and hard to read. I think it needs some exaggeration and a more proper staging.

Still, overall, the animation is well done. Movements are smooth and the character maintains proper form throughout. Well done! :+1:

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How do you even do this because this is fire for low budget production

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I work with what I have and what I know.

( Also, I prefer doing/watching paper animation WAAAAAY more than digital animation- although I don’t have a lot of experience, budget, help, or supplies, I still like it better though. )

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I was asking like, how does one create an animation such as this? Like what’s the process?

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Oh! I believe it’s very important to understand the old way of doing these things. So over a lot of time I have put all the pieces together on cel animtion and now know exactly how to do it if I had the supplies/funds (I have never seen a video that explains everything about it).

The process is kind of complicated when you are learning about it, but I start by using a light-pad/light-box and my acme-prepunched animation paper to draw, and an acme* pegbar to keep them in alignment. I went by using my light box to make the keyframes in pencil, and labelled them as you see here:

frame

I then went and did all of the in-betweens in pencil as well, labelling them as ‘SD 1-1’, ‘SD 1-2’, ‘SD 2-1’, etc. After all the frames were done and after making the necessary fixes I drew the final drawings over it with my trusty PILOT G-2 gel pen on the paper. Then, I let the ink dry first before erasing the draft pencil drawings under the pen.

After this, I mounted my pegbar (in the first one I mounted it to a wall late at night, the second was on the shelf in a closet at evening). I made sure it was pitch-black in the room, and set up my camera stand (Canon PowerShot SX710 HS, not the best camera, but functional) and made sure it was secure and level. I checked the position and zoom with a guide I made myself for the drawing and printed on a sheet of animation paper.

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Then to actually shoot, I carefully put the frame on the pegbar and captured the picture with the flash on (in the pitch-black dark), with the camera set to manual (in shutter speed, aperture, white balance, and focus). After I took the picture (once or multiple times if needed in the animation), I turned on the light, exchanged the frame with the next one, then turned off the light and captured. I repeat this until I’m done shooting all the frames, I then put the photos straight into Pencil2D and exported it. And you see the result. These are the frames:

Paper SDA-2 frames
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This is hard to explain without visuals, I might make a video about this if I ever use cels for an animation.

Some things I did to make this easier: I used 640x480 in image size. I made SURE NEVER TO BUMP THE CAMERA DURING CAPTURE!!! I ensured I had consistent camera settings by setting them all manually.

Things I could to better: The actual animation on paper. It takes some getting used to. I’m better at drawing on paper than drawing on something I’m not even looking at (drawing tablet). Also, I need to fix the layout guide to be the same aspect ratio as my camera (4:3)!

ANY QUESTIONS? I can PM you some videos/links that taught me a lot of what I know, if you want.

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The final result with sound

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*‘acme’ is a hole-punch configuration used in professional animation

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100% send me links to videos that taught you how to do it. I personally draw way better physically too. Itd be a cool art form to mess around with when I’m not on my computer

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@JoeyH that is a good beginning and you don’t have to throw away your drawings. You work hard not smart. You could easily digitize your drawings in pencil2d and the outcome would be better. A drawing tablet would be needed.

FraFra