How to animate on procreate 2022.
For iPad artists, the Procreate art software is one of the most powerful apps available. There are thousands of brushes to choose from, endless color combinations, and a wide array of tools they can use.
One feature of Procreate that sets it apart from many other art applications is its animation capabilities. You can easily create short animations in Procreate and export them to various formats. This can be useful for animating large projects in sections, storyboards, YouTube intros, or just making a simple animated GIF.
Procreate has made this feature user-friendly so you don’t have to worry if you’re new. Let’s learn how to make your first Procreate animation.
How to Animate on Procreate
After opening Procreate, you first need to create a new canvas. Follow the instructions below to start your animation project.
Click on the plus icon in the upper right corner.
Select the desired canvas size. Keep in mind that if you choose to export your animation, it will remain the same size.
Your new blank canvas will open.
If you’ve used Procreate before, you’re probably familiar with the tools here. If not, check out our article on the basics of using Procreate. Now we can start animation.
Click on the wrench icon in the top left corner to open the Actions menu.
Click on the canvas.
Enable assist animation.
Animation Helper Interface
Once you turn on the Animation Assist feature, you will see a new panel at the bottom of the screen. This is what you should focus on the most during animation. There are several different parts of this panel that you need to understand.
Settings: The Settings button allows you to change various animation and frame settings, such as animation looping or playing in one frame, frames per second, and onion skin.
If you’re unfamiliar with animation terminology, onion peel lets you see all the other frames you’ve already drawn. Useful to keep your animation smooth. Here you can change the number of onion peel frames and the transparency of the onion peel.
Add Frame: This button on the animation panel adds the next frame to the timeline just below. Timeline. The timeline shows all your frames and what you have drawn on them. You can click on a frame to view it, or click and hold to move it to a different location on the timeline. If you tap on a frame you’re viewing, you can change how long the frame is held, duplicate it, or delete it. Play. The Play button will play your animation.
Drawing Your Animation in Procreate
Now the most interesting. To start the animation, you just need to draw! In this tutorial, we’ll make a simple animation to show you how animation works in Procreate.
First select the Procreate brushes and then paint the object in its original position on the first frame.
When you’re done, click “Add Frame” to begin drawing the movement of your object. By default, the onion peel will be enabled, so you will also see the last frame drawn.
When you draw the object at the next position, click Add Frame again to continue the animation. Repeat this until you finish the animation.
You can click “Play” at any time to play the animation. It will be automatically saved as you draw, so you can exit the project at any time.
How to Export Your Animation
Now that you’ve finished your animation, you can export it to multiple formats. The format you want to export depends on where you will be using the animation. Follow the steps below to export a project.
Click on the wrench in the upper left.
Click “Share”.
Under Shared Layers, you’ll see options to export as an animated file, such as animated PNG or HEVC. If you want to upload your animation to social networks or other websites, Animated MP4 is the best option here as this format is supported almost everywhere.
Choose to export at full resolution or Web Ready. Web Ready will make the file smaller, making it easier to download. However, the maximum resolution will retain more detail.
You can also change the frames per second using the slider.
When you’re ready, click Export. You can then choose where to send or save the video. You can also click “Save Video” to save it directly to your camera roll.
Now you can share your animation anywhere. As you can see, Procreate is a powerful tool for both art and animation.
Tips for Animating With Procreate
The steps above cover the basics, but you’ll need to learn more about using Procreate’s features to create really good animations. Below are a few tips to keep in mind when creating animation.
Duplicate frames
You will notice that your lines will look wobbly in the final animation if you start each frame from scratch. If you have some parts of your sequence that will be static, frame duplication will cut a lot of work and prevent jitter. And if you need to erase and redraw moving animation objects, you can use layer groups, which brings us to our next tip.
Use Layer Groups
When you add a new frame in Procreate, it will appear in the Layers panel. If you need multiple layers in one frame, you can use layer groups.
First, open the Layers panel and click the plus icon to add a new layer. Then drag it over the existing frame to create a layer group.
You can then work on the layers in that group as you normally would in Procreate. This is great for animation because you don’t have to worry about erasing the parts of the animation that will stay static when you draw moving parts.
Choose the right FPS
Choosing a good speed for your frames is critical to getting smoother animations. This will depend on the number of frames and the level of detail of your animation. Experiment with several speeds until you find one that looks smooth.
Ideally, you want each frame to smoothly flow into the next, but you also don’t want it to go too fast for your viewer to understand what’s going on.
Know the layer cap
Procreate is powerful, but there is a limit on the number of frames in one animation. This limitation is related to how much your device can handle and the canvas size you are using.
As a rule, frames end at around 100-120. If you want to create longer animations, you can create several animation projects in the program and export them to a video editor to put them together.
Create Your Next Animation With Procreate
With the Procreate app, you can also create beautiful digital images and animate them. Thanks to the program’s intuitive design, animation becomes easy. So, whether you’re new to Procreate or a seasoned pro, you can create amazing animated objects quickly and easily.
How to animate on procreate 2022
How to animate on procreate 2022