#0 - Introduction

An animation is a picture that moves - usually like a cartoon.  This isn't a movie or a video clip, but something much simpler.  

These can be saved in GIF format (Graphics Interchange Format).  But you need a special animation program to create or edit them.  Paint-Shop-Pro will not produce animations, but it includes an Animation Shop that can open and edit GIF animations.

An animation consists of a sequence of frames.  Each frame is slightly different than the previous frame.  If the frames change quickly from one to the next, it looks like things are moving.  Real movies are just very long animations, showing 24 frames per second (fps).  Your eye actually sees 24 different pictures each second, but your brain "blends" them together to create an illusion of motion.  Slow motion cameras record something like 150 fps, then display only 24 fps, thus slowing down the motion by a factor of 6.

First you should take an existing GIF animation and add a moving object to it, so you learn the basic skills of working in Animation Shop.  Then you will create your own animation "from scratch".  That doesn't mean you need to draw everying in the animation, but you should start with a blank screen.

(1)  Start by downloading a GIF Animation from www.gifanimations.com or some other web-site.  Make sure to use animatio where something moves across the screen (like the hand car) - not just something sitting still and wiggling

   Like this....                                                       NOT like this:

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(2)  Run Animation Shop in [Start / Paint Shop Pro 5 / Animation Shop]
Open you sample animation.

(3)  You'll see one frame of the animation.  Scroll left and right to see the other frames.  If you click on a frame, it will be highlighted (blue). Now you can change it - draw in it, or paste something in, or add text.

(4)  Draw something small, like a ball, in the first frame.  In the second frame draw the same ball, but moved a little bit.  In the third flame draw the same ball in another position .... ending up with an "improved" animation, like this:

If you prefer, you can put in lines - like lightning bolts - or something else.
But choose a very simple shape that is easy to draw over and over again.

#2 - Second Project - Adding Text

The bulldozer above pulls some text onto the screen.  You needn't do something quite so fancy, but you should take an existing animation and add some text.  A simple idea is to make a word (or words) appear one letter at a time, like this:

 You need to write a letter or two in the first frame - perhaps repeat it in a couple more frames.  Then write more letters in the next few frames, then even more letters.  You might need to make the animation longer to fit in the letters slowly - then copy ALL the frames of the animation and insert a whole new set.  In the dolphinls (above) , there are 3 copies of the animation.

#3 - Third Project - Make Your Own

Now try to make your own animation, from scratch.  You probably want to draw/create your frames in Paint Shop Pro, then copy each individual frame into Animation Shop.  You will find it very convenient to use layers, because you can make a background in one layer, then put an object in the next layer and it is very easy to move the object around.  Move the object a little, then paste a new frame into the animation, move the object a bit more, paste a new frame, etc.

Your animation should be more sensible than "nosey" above. Think of a short sequence of actions that either "mean" something or "look like" something understandable. The hands attached to nosey's ears are amusing, but not very sensible. But if something fragrant (like a rose) travelled by, and then his nose was wiggling, that might make some sense.