Does anyone animate their characters?

Animation is so darn hard and time-consuming, but the results can bring a character in your head to life. I wondered if anyone here has ever attempted animation of their characters? If so, please share!

I have a habit of getting the extreme urge to animate around exam periods to distract myself from the important study I need to do. :"^) BUT! Despite how they are, in the moment, a grueling distraction,I love having the animated products in the end to go back to every now and again. Especially when I haven't had the chance to write my characters due to my uni workload, watching them still live on gives a little endorphin bonus.

i've only managed two animations of my characters (one is in the works and it's a secret so shhshshh) but I can show you the other one I have of Yuki! it's only about seven frames, and it's simple, but you're so correct on how it brings them to life!

@AloeVera WHoaaa!! That's incredible!! The movement is so lifelike. ;O; I love the head tilt going into a smile. <3

@Nom_De_Plume Oooh!! ;o; would love to see!

here's a favorite one of mine

My sister studies animation so I've always taken tips from her. Used to use Macromedia Flash to animate as that's what she mains, but I've discovered pairing FireAlpaca with MovieMaker or VSDC Video Editor is SO much easier for a hobbyist beginner.

So if anyone is looking for where to start with animation (r just how to make things easier, maybe?), I'm highly recommending FireAlpaca. It's intended for GIF animation (really user-friendly process!!), but if you want to do music videos or animating audio, the program has an option to export all layers as frames for easy editing in another program.

ALSO THE FIREALPACA LINE STABILISER IS NEXT LEVEL!! my hands are so shaky and it saves my life. The animation above was done with firealpaca.

If anyone else has recommendations or other programs, please share bc I'm so open to learning more ouo 👉👈

Oo! What animation software would you recommend for Ipad? 👏 I’ve tried downloading FireAlpaca onto it after my laptop broke but sadly it’s not compatible.
I’m currently using Procreate to draw little gifs but I want to try to make full blown animatics! (Procreate doesn’t let you add audio to your animations either 💀)

These are amazing! I would love to try my hand at animation, but I honestly wouldn't even know where to start.

@4lagoon4 I don't have an iPad myself, but my sister uses procreate to animate on iPad. I'm not sure how she gets sounds and stuff on it… but this one was one she did on procreate: https://www.instagram.com/p/CC1t_4BlW9k/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
She may have used another program to edit it together though, I'm not too sure.
IbisPaint also offers animation, though I don't know how complex. And then there's Framecast, which is a social app purely for animating/animators. Used to be quite popular but I haven't checked on it sooo long! I made a few long animatics on it in the past (when i had an ipad to use haha)

These are amazing! I would love to try my hand at animation, but I honestly wouldn't even know where to start.

Awesome!! There are so many options, depending on what kind of tools you have. I use a laptop and drawing tablet with FireAlpaca, but phones and iPads are also options with apps like those I put up there or similar ones. And paper, of course!!
Highly recommend giving it a shot. Even just seeing your own OC wink at you is rewarding. C:
Start small!

@AloofFloof I think she might’ve because I’ve never seen software like that in procreate before! 😂 I’ve heard there are a few programs you can use to add audio, but the one I was recommended kinda left a desync in the animation and music haha. ^^; I’m still open to options though, and I want to try to test a few of these out before I make a final decision.
_{Also is she who I think she is??? Σ(⊙.☉}

( @Becfromthedead and same lol 😂)

Ooh, I'll try out FireAlpaca! I also use a laptop and a drawing tablet.

^ Highly recommend it! It’s great for practicing and really easy to use haha ♡
(Procreate’s great for the tablet too, but the layers might get confusing at times lol💀)

@4lagoon4 Hmmmm…. I'll ask my sister what she uses and will get back to you on that one.

who do you think she is o-o

and oml I DREAM of using procreate. I've seen so much amazing artwork made with it. I know it's the artist not the program, but still I drool hhhh

@Becfromthedead Yess!! I literally gave up using more complex programs after using FireAlpaca, it's just so easy and the stabilizers save my life constantly haha
For animating it has "onion skin" mode and you can export it in the app as a GIF, or export as frames to edit elsewhere. love ittt <3

@4lagoon4 Okay sis says procreate does support animation, but not audio. There is FlipaClip app for animation, but it has a watermark. Alternatively you can draw on a bunch of layers in any drawing app and put them together in a video app.

@AloofFloof Oh! I was just thinking about downloading FlipaClip too. (OoF there are a lot more options than I realized-) I think my best bet is to just practice a little more on procreate before I try taking on big projects like storyboards and animatics. “Better safe than sorry” as they always say XD

_{I-Is she the same animator from YouTube?? The one who does the animation memes? I’m a really big fan🙈}

Also Procreate is a ton of fun! My friend and I got it earlier last year and we’ve been having a blast with it so far haha. I definitely recommend it for anyone who’s looking for a drawing app for Ipad! There can be some hurdles however, like figuring out the tools (specifically layers >_> ), the inability to add audio to your animations as mentioned before, and/or exporting your speedpaint video in the wrong orientation. (which is something I did recently. 😂) But all and all it’s a real treat to use! It’s $9.99 on the app store for anyone interested~

@AloofFloof Oh! I was just thinking about downloading FlipaClip too. (OoF there are a lot more options than I realized-) I think my best bet is to just practice a little more on procreate before I try taking on big projects like storyboards and animatics. “Better safe than sorry” as they always say XD

_{I-Is she the same animator from YouTube?? The one who does the animation memes? I’m a really big fan🙈}

That sounds good!! Practice is good!! Also learning new programs is a paaaainn hahahah

_{Yes, that's probably her haha! She mostly is on Instagram now because she doesn't have the time for Youtube projects with uni :P She's Inkspec on Youtube and Inkspecco on Instagram ^^}

yes i do and I am on also on deviantart as (Kitzitheangelcat) if you wanna check it out)

oh, cool!

@AloofFloof Exactly! This was literally me the whole time I was trying to figure out the controls for Procreate 🤣

The amount of clipping masks and alpha locks I had opened on each layer (not knowing what they did at the time) was tragic. That, and sheer amount of confusion felt as I’d desperately tap the undo button to correct an error only for half my sketch to be taken in the process only added to the chaos. But that’s what I get for thinking Procreate was just like FireAlpaca XD

_{(AND WHAT??! NO WAY!😳 I used to watch her and all the other animators back in those animation meme compilations all the time! She’s one of the reasons I’m animating now!）}

(Also sorry for the late reply 😅)

@4lagoon4 I FEEL YOU!! Every new program is just… an experience. I've tried using photoshop but I keep just going back to FireAlpaca because it makes sense :'D

_{aww that's so sweet!!! q-q She really loves what she does so I love that that passion can be infectious. She graduates this year from studying animation and is top of her class, leading their thesis film, and I'm so proud of her Q-Q (meanwhile I have 3 years left of my course and we're twins hhh)}

But on the subject of her, LOOK AT HER CALLING ME OUT LIKE THIS

SHE'S TOO RIGHT 😭😭

@AloofFloof Right! I think the best thing to do in these situations is to just take it one new program at a time lol
_{Oh wow, I bet she’s so excited! I know staying on top of everything can be a pain at times but I’m glad to know that it all worked out for her in the end! Now it’s your turn! 💪 Show everyone what you’re made of and blow them out of the water, I’m rooting for you 💕🎉}

(Sisters really do be like that sometimes too smh 😂)

@AloofFloof Right! I think the best thing to do in these situations is to just take it one new program at a time lol
_{Oh wow, I bet she’s so excited! I know staying on top of everything can be a pain at times but I’m glad to know that it all worked out for her in the end! Now it’s your turn! 💪 Show everyone what you’re made of and blow them out of the water, I’m rooting for you 💕🎉}

@4lagoon4 Multiple would be a bit much 😂

_{Thanks! Doing my best! ;u; <sub}