When I was in college years ago, I had the opportunity to take some classes in Animation. Now I say "opportunity," because I had hoped to take a different course of classes but had to settle that year for some other "related" classes. What I didn't realize at the time was how valuable and enjoyable understanding the fundamentals of Animation would be.
Recently, we had the opportunity to animate some promotional images for the
Olympia Film Festival and create a couple of promotional videos. Check out the video, and then look below for some tips on things to consider when looking to create an animated video from 2D images.
Tips for 2D Aminated Videos -
1. Think of your materials in layers. Is there a background image, foreground image, and character image(s) that can be animated?
2. Sound sells the motion. Make sure to use music and sound effects to add reality to the motion.
3. Animation works on a scientific principal called
persistence of vision. You are tricking the eye and the brain by moving objects just a small bit per frame, and letting your brain fill in the gaps. So like Ellie's dad says in Contact "Small moves".
4. HD video is created at 72dpi (
dpi is a graphics term) and varies from 1280x720 to 1920x1080 frame size. You will need rather large images to move things around on an HD animated screen.
5. Don't feel like you are married to the constraints of the originally marketing piece. As long as you honor the style and theme of the print materials you should be able to create a creative video that your clients and viewers will enjoy.
If you would like some help producing your next animated video, call
Pardiman Productions at 360-259-6672 or email us at
info@pardimanproductions.com to set up a free consultation.
