2011_09_20_DCIM_101MSDCF

@CharlGoesRawr

i get asked this quite a bit and i’ve answered it a few times on various platforms but i don’t think i’ve answered it on this blog so i thought i’d give a kind of step by step thing here for anyone who’s interested in making animation of their own.

so first off, the program i use is called MSPaint and actually comes free with all windows computers. (start menu > all programs > accessories > MSPaint ) the version i use is the windows 7 edition…but you can use anything from XP upwards really.

STEP ONE: DRAW A CHARACTER.

you can draw with which ever tool you feel comfortable. here i’ve used the brush…but why not try using the spray can?

STEP TWO: SELECT THE CHARACTER

use the marquee tool to select a box round your character. if you character is way to complicated fit in a box, you can use the free form marquee tool – it has the same effect.

STEP THREE: ANIMATE SELECTION

go to the select menu that can be accessed via the tool box bit, then simply choose the option to animate selection.
once you do that you should see you character start to move similar to this:

and that’s pretty much how you do it. easy
you should try experimenting with the process to see the results. for example try only selecting a small portion of the character and a large amount of empty space:

and how about animated background? if you right click your selected character and choose selected inverse from the drop down menu, then animate selection from the selection menu (exactly as before), you can get some fantastic results:

STEP FOUR: SAVING

saving can be tricky. the export is all down to naming the file. it doesn’t actually matter what you decide to call it but you MUST REMEMBER TO SAVE IT WITH THE FILE EXTENSION .animatedvideo
and then your video should end up looking something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG8zHqx3pHg

i hope that’s answered that question once and for all.
have fun animating guys

distortraits

i really like drawing portraits from photographs…but i never manage to get them right. i either squash the face up too much or stretch it out and make them look diseased or malnourished.
i’m thinking of maybe collecting these pictures together and doing a book called portraits of people that don’t quite look like the people.

facing the world

so it was almost a year ago i discovered this meme and gave it ago:
http://watchingtraffic.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/mememememe
and inevitably i ended up missing out SO many influences.

so i wanted to do it again.
this time i was looking back and trying to think of some the people who, i guess in a way, i’ve wanted to be (or at least partially be) throughout my life. and, because this was the focus, i ended up not so much making an influence map as an influence face..

as with before…points awarded to anyone who can correctly guess any of these influences (include a grid reference with your answers please. use an HB pencil only). anyone who can name them ALL correctly will win the title of SUPER KING/QUEEN forever!

future

i’ve been properly thinking about the future recently…i think it’s going to be okay.

today.

FIRE AT WILL (don’t really)

so my friend Will (who does videos – youtube.com/WillsOdyssey ) released an EP called

“TREMORS IN THE BANISTER. ”

and, as part of the artwork for it, he asked people to do a picture for each of the tracks. i was lucky enough to be one of those people he asked, and when he asked me to do something for “APORIA“, i got all excited and did this…

…then i listened to the track again and realised this image didn’t capture the song at all and so i did something a bit more fitting…

E P I L O G U E 

go look at what the other people drew for the other songs! http://willdixon.bandcamp.com/

PS. i’ve just finished drawing a comic book which i can hopefully make available sometime this week i will make available in a couple of weeks time - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xswt4mOr5to 
i’m also working on another thing
i also need a job probably….