Exploring and comparing a few different ways to do animation digitally.
Animation is something that I have always been very interested in and dappled in very slightly. So when one of our workshops was to use Wacon tablets and animate with Photoshop, which are two things I've never tried, I was very excited. After the workshop I wanted to explore a bit more so I tried out some other methods to compare how it feels to work with them and which I would want to learn to use more to potentially continue to use into the future.
I tried three programs:
- photoshop using a wacon tablet (Jons workshop)
- procreate using an apple pencil
- pixilart app
Photoshop and Wacon tablet
Before the workshop:
Going into the workshop I already had some preconceived opinions about using Photoshop and a tablet. Living (and growing up) on the art side of the internet I've heard vast opinions about both animation/drawing in Photoshop and drawing tablets. However, without trying at all I had come to the opinion that I wouldn't like either. I thought Photoshop would be hard to use and clunky even though I am really familiar with using it to edit photos (I stand by not liking the interface) I thought drawing it'd be too complicated. As for drawing tablets, I was more in the middle, I am very used to drawing on an iPad with an apple pencil which replicates drawing on paper so having to coordinate eye and hand seemed like a difficult task.
After the workshop:
After doing Jon's workshop I realised I was wrong (apart from not liking Photoshop's interface). To start Whilst Photoshop does look daunting and complicated with a little direction it was quite simple and actually all those features were useful and made animating more interesting. The tablet might taken a little bit to get used to but I loved how it felt to draw with, they were smooth and oddly freeing whilst having a lot of control. It's definitely a situation of taking the time to adjust things to your liking but the effort will be worth it. I will in the future be using the wacon tablets for drawing and animating. Unfortunately, I saved my drawing wrong and can't open it so I have no results to show from the workshop only a change of opinion.
Procreate
When thinking about testing other programs I immediately went to Procreate as it's a software I use very often and have animated in before. I created a little worm crawling through a holey block of cheese using a watercolour-like brush. One of the reasons I like Procreate is its ability to make things look similar to hand-drawn/painted art and I think leaning into that is an advantage, which is why I created an animation that is very imperfect but has a lot of character. I think the main attraction of Procreate is its ease of use, its very simple and accessible interface. Its ease of use means you can make things quickly and effectively. I think when appropriate it's an amazing tool, and for things which only need to be short and simple, I'll reach for procreate.
Pixilart
For a long time, I've wanted to try pixel art and animation, it looked appealingly simple and complicated at the same time. By limiting your canvas size each pixel has to be very intentional to get the look you want but at the same time, the options for what you can do are minimised which seemed oddly comforting. I picked the first program that I saw when I googled pixel art but I'm more looking at the experience and outcome of animating with pixels and not the specific program as I know there are many out there. It took more trial and error to get the pixels to look like a block of cheese as even one pixel can throw the whole drawing off, but I enjoyed the whole process as it was quite relaxing. As for animating, I found it really simple and similar to how you animate in Procreate, so the process went like a breeze. I put on a show and got to work. I like having to be intentional and specific with the pixels to make the animation look how I imagined, there was definitely an element of problem-solving as well as adjusting your expectations as not everything translates perfectly to pixels. Overall I'm pleased with the outcome and when using pixels is relevant to a project I will definately be reaching for them.
Final thoughts
I thought by doing this I'd come out with one program/ way of animating that was superior, which I would be mostly exclusively using. However, I've learnt that I like them all and for certain situations, some are simply better than others. I have proven my previous self wrong on using Photoshop and wacon tablets to animate and therefore shown myself I should be more open to testing new technology because it might just increase my tool kit making my life a little easier and maybe more interesting.
