Question: I always enjoy your animations and was wondering what software you use to create them. I’d like to do something similar to Sky Lights, but more focused on aeronautics. Also, if you have any tips for beginners in animation I’d greatly appreciate them. Thanks! — WR, Kitty Hawk, NC
Answer: Thanks WR, I’d be happy to help you out. I’m sure other readers will also be curious about how it’s done. Creating animations is like directing a movie … you tell “actors” where to move and when, and what pose to take when they get there. It’s an fun creative experience. There are several programs I use:
- Corel Photo-Paint: creates bitmap graphic objects (“objects” are the “actors” in animations)
- CorelDRAW: creates vector graphic objects
- Adobe After Effects: animates the objects to move as you tell them to
- Adobe Premier: adds titles and captions, inserts audio, trims and splices animations
- HandBrake: compresses AVI animations into mp4 format suitable for online use
Not to say there aren’t alternatives to these programs, but they’re what I’ve been using since I started back in the 90s. They all have learning curves, so I’ve stuck with what I know and upgraded as necessary. There are open-source alternatives, and I tried them, but then the learning curve has to start over again. If you’re just starting out, and don’t want to purchase expensive software, open-source is worth looking into.
You asked about tips for beginners. Actually there’s just one primary tip that I’ll focus on. You won’t get anywhere in animation unless you understand how to read and write on the timeline. The timeline is a record of where the objects will be at specific times. After Effects displays the full length of the animation and marks subdivisions for easy navigation. Here’s a screenshot of the timeline for the above video (which was recycled from my Hypermiling post back in March 2022). Click to enlarge:
This shows probably the simplest use of the timeline — turning objects “on” and “off.” In this case it’s the yellow indicator on a traffic light. By changing the opacity (an object property) between 100% and 0% you can make the object appear or disappear at specific times. The two icons circled in red are called key frames, in which you set the object properties to specific values at that point in time. Here the opacity remains at 100% til 13 seconds into the animation. At that time the opacity drop to 0% and the black disc behind the yellow disc appears. I could also set the key frames to interpolate between each other, in which case the yellow light would gradually fade from “on” to “off” over the 13 second interval. But that’s not how traffic signals work.
If I want the object to move, I’d use the position property and enter the X and Y values for where it starts and where it ends. After Effects can then interpolate the 390 frames (13 seconds × 30 fps) between the two key frames and the object will move smoothly between the two positions. Compared to the animation techniques of the 20th century, where each frame had to be drawn by hand, this makes animation easy. You can see that other properties, like scale and rotation can also be key-framed.
This method produces linear animation, where the speed of the object is constant. If you want acceleration, with increasing or decreasing speed, you have to know a little math and use After Effect’s expression function instead of key frames. An expression is a mathematical formula that describes a property at each point in time. Here’s the expression (red rectangle) that I used for the green car in the video (click to enlarge):
I think at this point you can see the possibilities in digital animation. The technology is really to the point where, if you can visualize it, you can animate it. That’s where the creativity comes into play. It took me maybe 100 hours of learning curve to get to this point. Your mileage may vary, but once you get there it’s a blast.
I’ve been talking about 2D animations thus far. 2D suffices for most animations, but when I need to go into 3D, as I did in:
https://sky-lights.org/2024/12/02/qa-how-generators-work/
https://sky-lights.org/2013/10/28/venus-at-greatest-elongation-2/
I use the program LightWave 3D. You get the same timeline and key frame functionality as in 2D, but now you also have the ability to move the camera and view the objects from different directions and zooms. The objects themselves are now 3D creations (also done in LightWave) using 3D sculpting tools similar to those in 2D graphics programs.
Here’s an example. This is a 3D model I created for the coffee table we had planned for our home theater. We already had the marble top, custom made to our design, in India. What we needed now was a way to support it. This is what I came up with:
We had that base built up from layers of pine into a solid cylinder. Then a wood expert used a lathe to shave it down to our tapered design. It’s been a centerpiece of our home theater for years. Here’s the real deal:
Animation skills pay off in many ways. I bid you best wishes as you enter into the niche world of digital animation. And most important of all …have fun!
Next Week in Sky Lights ⇒ Mass vs. Weight on the Moon