How to get started animating using the GIMP Animation Plugin (GAP)

How to get started animating using the GIMP Animation Plugin (GAP)

A simple tutorial written by Alexander Henning Drachmann

Part 1

Introduction

The GIMP Animation Plugin is quite easy to use, especially if you are already used to using the popular open source image manipulation tool GIMP. It has to be mentioned that art and animation, are similar and very different to each other. It also has to be mentioned that there is no real standard when it comes to animate, programs and methods can be similar, but slight nuances can cost hours of grief. So, it will be to your advantage to properly study the mechanisms and processes involved in animating. If you, at this point, despite my warnings have made up your mind and are ready to walk this path, then read on.

The GIMP GAP module,the bar shows the tools used in relation to animation and video editing.

The picture is taken from my own machine running Linux Mint 8

How to get started

Preparation is very important when animating, I can not understate this fact. It is so incredibly important, that what ever you do, no matter how basic it is, is wholly dependant on your planning. This is especially pertinent concerning animation.

It does not really matter how you plan your animation project, only that your planning is thorough. I can at this point state that a written story, an explanatory text, story boards, cartoons, diagrams etc.. are common methods of planning a project.

Time

It all starts with an idea, all projects starts this way and some can be called a collection of great ideas. You can also look at your animation, as a story. All stories have a start and an end, and the experience due to the nature of time is chronological in nature. Which brings us to time. Time has to be planned, into your animation. Any event or sequence of animation should have in your plan a start and an end. An example could be a ball that transforms into a square. In that case you could plan a sequence which starts as a ball and ends as a square. If the sequence is complicated or long, then you could plan partial goals in between.

How

Maybe it is due for me to explain that a knowledge of how is also quite important. Having thought out how to do something and a knowledge of methods and techniques of doing it, will be to your advantage. Leaving it to later, even if there is the chance of you finding better methods while engaging in the process of animating, is quite reckless. A complete knowledge of how can only be gained through trying, failing and trying again in a great educational loop, but be reassured that having once failed, your chances of excelling at something is greatly increased.

Format and resolution

The resolution of the animation in question is of great importance. I personally believe in making the animation in as great a resolution as possible, but in some circumstances this is a waste of effort. Size and movement are factors to be taken into account when rendering your video, as it can be a time consuming task.

A good guideline would be to choose the resolution in accordance to the animations purpose, and the aspect resolution of the medium onto which it will be shown. Adding a little more to the size, so as to make your effort future proof, or not to loose too much in video quality in the editing of your video, is often a good thing. I often keep a copy in 1080 HD or above.

Background and foreground

A great place to start and something which needs, as much care when animating, as the events in the foreground is the background. Often the background has to be taken account of from the very start and is something on which many of the foreground elements are wholly dependant. A question to ask, is should it be animated, have movement or should it be static....zoom, pan and rotation are also animating! The background can easily destroy or enhance the plot.

I personally start an animation project by creating scenes, figures, elements and the background. Each done on individual layers...and often modularly groupped in different windows, so when I come to a scene, I don't have anything from previous or future scenes confusing me.

If the character or background is partially animated manually (walking movements etc...). Then it will create several layers, a useful tool in this instance is the “onion skin” tool

Any scene with too much complexity and movement will be confusing to the viewer, try to keep it at a minimum.

There are many factors to take into account when starting an animation project, far more than I have space to write about, but I can infer that caution is a good thing, create lots of backups and be bold.

Now all I can do is to wish you good luck with your project.

Creation of duplicate images

This is where having planned the amount of frames and length (time) of your animation plays a role. Do the following equation:

Length of animation x frame rate = amount of frames to create

I personally prefer a frame rate of 60 frames per minute, instead of the often cited 24,,,due to my own personal experience of being able to see slight glitches at a lower rate.

Create and save a new xcf file in a new folder,,,this is where all the magic will be happening. The file will have to end with the following _000000.

An example will be: I love gimp_000000.xcf

Now you can use the duplicate script to create the amount of xcf files needed to create your project.

I usually start from 1 and up to the final amount needed, but you can also do it modular ie. Create 1-1000 and do 1001-2000 etc... in another folder, this has its advantages too. If you look in the folder after using the duplicate tool, you will be able to confirm that the files have been created.