I have decided that the three characters that I will take forward and develop into GIFs are Geoff the Gentleman, Man Boob Man and Giraffe on a Bike.
Geoff the Gentleman
Developing my character, 'Geoff the Gentleman' by testing out different facial features including eyes, eyebrows noses and mouths to become more accustom to his posh nature and the laughing action I want to achieve in the GIF.
I tried out a simplified storyboard of his actions in order to decide how many frames I will need to use, and to work out the laughing motion.
For my first GIF I just used this really simple storyboard of Geoff the Gent to get the hang of the process.
- File-Preset-Web
- 500x500 pixels, RES 72, RGB
- Motion-Window-Timeline
- Create Frame Animation
- Add frames by using the bottom square, 'add frames'
- ADD EACH DRAWING ONTO A NEW LAYER!
- Loop 'Forever'
- File- Save as PSD
- File- Save for Web
Also make sure that the compression options are under 500k or the GIF will not load or work properly.
Problem Solving
I couldn't get the hang of having a picture on each frame, the recent picture I would add would appear on the previous frames.
With some help, I found out that you have to go through each layer and frame simultaneously and select with the eye tool the frame that you want to appear visible.
The first GIF:
Hooray!
Problem Analysis
As this is the first GIF I have ever made, its bound to look a bit terrible. These were only made with very rough sketches, so to develop my study I will use a lightbox to improve the position of Geoff in order to make the movement more fluid and realistic.
Man Boob Man
Emphasising his extreme obesity and his terribly enormous moobs, and vacant facial expressions.
Problem Analysis
The action of Man Boob Man skipping with his moobs is very complex I did a few rough sketches and have made a tester GIF using these, but I may find that the best solution is to simplify each movement in a series of simple GIFs, building up to complex movements.
Having 0.1 seconds delay made it easier to view the movements, as at this stage the frames are very static.
Problem Solving
Surprisingly the frames link together better than I thought they would, but I definitely need to simplify the movements to allow them to appear more fluid.
Giraffe on a Bike
This is the character that I've probably paid the least attention to, so he will require a little more development.
I am thinking of adding a moving background in this GIF in the development process to make it appear to look more realistic, and as if the giraffe is actually cycling to a destination rather than on the spot.
Problem Solving
I need to add more than two frames to make the movement look like it is ongoing horizontally rather than vertically. I also need to practice moving scenery!
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