Production

I animated the majority of my film in SAI, which is a drawing software. I initially set out to animate the whole thing on Photoshop but I hit a bit of a snag and had no idea how to rectify it. I resorted back to using frame by frame through SAI - meaning drawing each individual frame, saving as a .jpeg and stitching together in QuickTime. Probably a really inefficient way to animate but at this point I was lumbered with a 5 min animation and a software I didn't really know how to use so I just stuck to what I knew to get the thing done. 

SAI as a drawing software is really easy to use. It comes with 2 different types of layers - linear and colour. I use the linear layer to do all of my line-work using the 'curve' tool, which is just like a vector. The reason I like this software so much is that it is so easy to create crisp and clear lines, which I have a nightmare attempting to do in Photoshop. Another good thing is that you can export as a PSD so you can work cross software if you want. To make sure I'd get a fluid animation when saving frames, I basically added a new layer on top of the previous frame, turn that frames opacity down and draw over it but slightly moved. I save the frame as a jpeg and repeat this until I have enough frames for a clip. I will admit it is a bit of a guessing game and probably really inefficient but I guess it's part of the fun and it hasn't failed me so far (?). But yes, nothing but praise for SAI. Except probably that it's a little outdated and has never been made for Mac, therefore I am emulating it and do not have all of the features which lets it down a little.

I also did some animation in Photoshop for more fluidity. 

Once all the frames for that clip have been completed, I place them all into a folder each numbered in order. I then open the folder as an image sequence in QuickTime. 

I export the image sequence at 12 frames per second. 

Once the images have been stitched together, I am presented with a preview video of the animated clip I have just made. 

I then import the clip into iMovie, the editing software I am using. 

Then I can insert the clip into my existing project and edit it in with my other clips to make sure it flows as a complete animation. 

I realise that I do not use many techniques in my animation style and I do wish I'd have taken the time to learn different softwares, but I am happy with my method of animation. This is what I have done to create the whole animation and I have no worries of anything corrupting as they're all just images really. I'm happy with my results and I like my way of animating. But this project has made me realise how much of a technophobe I am when it comes to creative softwares unfortunately. I definitely learned a lot from my COP project for the timings and shots for my animation.