Have you ever considered adding motion to your illustrations? Animation is a growing trend in digital art, bringing a hand-drawn, lively feel to your work. Whether it’s a subtle bounce, a charming squiggle, or dynamic movement, adding animation can transform your artwork, making it more engaging and encouraging viewers to stay and explore.
The best part? Procreate, the powerful iPad illustration app, offers an easy-to-use animation feature. It’s perfect for creating small, quick animations that add personality and movement to your designs. Even for beginners, Procreate’s intuitive interface makes the animation process feel like second nature. In no time, you can breathe life into a bouncing ball, create looping effects, or add playful touches to your illustrations.
we’ll walk you through the Procreate animation process step-by-step, helping you create stunning, animated artwork in just five minutes. Whether designing for social media, storytelling, or experimenting with a new technique, animation can make your creative work.
Let’s dive in and bring your ideas to life!
What Is Procreate Animation?
For those who draw, sketch, paint, or create other forms of visual art, Procreate has become a revolutionary tool. This award-winning, iPad-exclusive app offers a blend of traditional art techniques and digital convenience, empowering artists to recreate the look and feel of pen, pencil, and paint on paper all while taking full advantage of digital tools.
Many Procreate users praise the Apple Pencil for providing an experience that is remarkably similar to drawing on paper. The app’s advanced features, such as its customizable brushes and intuitive interface, make it a favorite among professionals and fine artists alike.
Procreate’s animation tools add another layer of versatility, allowing creators to bring their work to life. With a library of dynamic brushes, layering options, and precision controls, Procreate ensures that every detail of your artwork is polished. It’s not just for professional hobbyists, and beginners will find the app approachable and fun to use, making it accessible to all skill levels. From intricate illustrations to playful animations, Procreate continues to redefine what’s possible in digital art.
Advantages of Using Procreate for Digital Art
Why Procreate is the Go-To Tool for Professional Artists:
Commercial and professional artists alike favor Procreate for its powerful and user-friendly features. The app’s intuitive design and type of tools make it an essential part of any artist’s digital toolbox. With its combination of advanced capabilities and simplicity, Procreate helps artists bring their visions to life in a way that feels natural and effortless. Whether you’re creating detailed illustrations, quick sketches, or animations, Procreate’s precision makes it the go-to tool for artists of all skill levels.
- Easy file transfer: Artists can quickly load files from various devices, making it easy to access and work on their creations from anywhere.
- Zooming with ease: Procreate allows artists to zoom in on their paintings using intuitive hand gestures, offering detailed precision at every stage.
- Gallery-style organization: Artists can arrange their works in a gallery-like format, keeping their projects organized and easily accessible.
- Quick edits: Changes can be made and undone with ease, allowing for a flexible and stress-free creative process.
- Creative freedom: Artists can generate imagined images without the need for traditional tools, giving them limitless possibilities.
- Customizable features: Procreate offers a range of editable add-ons, such as pencils and brushes, enhancing functionality for a personalized experience.
- Seamless integration: With a simple platform and smooth app integration, Procreate works well with other tools and software.
- Professional compositing: Artists can manipulate layers for advanced compositing, allowing them to create high-caliber designs and professional artwork.
5 Easy Steps to Animate on Procreate
Procreate users can explore the world of animation by bringing their designs to life, with the added benefit of being able to instantly share their work. Artists can quickly create animations on Procreate using tools like Animation Assist, 4K resolution, and 30-second time-lapse video, offering a variety of options for animation creation. This makes Procreate not only a drawing app but also a powerful tool for animators looking for flexibility and convenience. Whether you’re working on a quick project or a detailed animation, Procreate provides the tools needed to create professional-quality animations without the need for additional software. It’s a game-changer for both beginners and experienced artists who want to create on-the-go.
The Procreate Animation Assist tool is ideal for drawing animatics and creating looping GIFs. With just a few simple clicks, this powerful tool brings your artwork to life, while the color-coded Onion Skin feature makes it easy to see which frames are ahead or behind, streamlining the animation process. Another useful feature is the “hold that frame” function, which prevents the need to pause the animation every time a frame is repeated, making the workflow smoother.
Having explored the key benefits of Procreate, you may now be wondering, “How do I make an animation on Procreate?”
1. Setting Up an Animation Project:
Open a Procreate canvas of your desired size to prepare it for animation. Once your canvas is ready, tap the wrench icon to open the ‘Actions’ menu. This step is crucial as it ensures your workspace is set up for smooth animation creation.
Scroll down to find the ‘Animation Assist’ option and enable it. This will activate an animation bar at the bottom of your canvas with essential Procreate animation tools. The animation bar will provide easy access to frame management and other editing options. As you begin animating, the frames you create will be displayed in this bar. Each frame will automatically generate a distinct layer in your Procreate project. This organization helps keep your animation project neat and easy to navigate.
2. Begin Animation:
Now that your canvas is set up, you can start animating! The Procreate animation process is simple: open the animation bar, and begin adding frames to bring your ideas to life. The interface is intuitive, making it easy for even beginners.
To add frames to your animation, use the animation bar. You can adjust your animation’s fps (frames per second), onion skin settings, and looping preferences through the animation Settings menu. (By default, your animation will loop.) This flexibility helps you control the pace and fluidity of your animation.
If you’re new to animating, the Onion Skin feature will be useful. It allows you to view multiple frames at once, helping you maintain consistency across frames. This feature makes your animation smoother. Onion Skin frames are usually shown in bright red or blue to distinguish them from your current frame, making it easy to visualize changes between frames.
In the image below, you’ll see that the Onion Skin displays the sketch from the previous frame in red. You can customize the frame count and opacity of your Onion Skin in the ‘Settings’ menu. This customization lets you fine-tune how much of the previous frame is visible, aiding in a more precise transition.
3. Create Procreate Animation Layers:
If you’re starting each frame by frame from scratch, your lines might look shaky in the final animation. To prevent this, consider duplicating frames when parts of your sequence are static. This way, you save time and maintain consistency in the non-moving elements of your animation.
Additionally, layer groups allow you to delete or re-draw moving elements, simplifying the animation process. By grouping layers, you can keep your animation organized and easily editable. This is a great method to refine each frame’s detail without affecting the entire animation. Each new frame will appear in the Layers panel. To add multiple layers to a single frame, use layer groups. This approach helps you manage the complexity of your animation without your workspace.
To create a new layer, open the Layers panel and tap the + icon. To create a group, drag a new layer onto an existing one. Layer grouping is an effective way to keep your animation’s structure intact while working on various elements. You can then edit these layers within the group this technique saves time and ensures that static elements stay consistent, without the need to re-draw them. It also offers more flexibility for editing specific parts of the animation without disrupting the overall flow.
4. Play Animation to Adjust Settings:
After adding all your frames, tap the play button to preview your animation. It will likely play quickly, but you can adjust the settings to suit your preferences. This step is essential for reviewing the pacing and fluidity of your animation. By adjusting the settings, you can slow down or speed up your animation, change the looping settings, or tweak the frames per second. Fine-tuning these elements will help you get your animation just right before finalizing it.
5. Export:
Once you’re happy with your animation, open the wrench icon (Actions menu) and select ‘Share’ to export your project. You can choose the appropriate format based on where or how you want to use the animation.
You will be given options to export your animation as an Animated GIF, Animated PNG, MP4, or Animated HEVC file. These options ensure that your animation can be easily shared or uploaded to various platforms. After choosing the format, you’ll have additional options, such as selecting how many frames you want in the final export. Customizing the frame count helps you balance quality and file size.
Don’t forget to hit ‘Save Video’ once the export process is complete. This ensures that your animation is saved in the format you selected, ready for sharing or further use.
Pros and Cons of Animating in Procreate
So, now that we’ve had the chance to test out animating in Procreate, what’s the verdict? Procreate offers a variety of pros and cons, each of which could be the deciding factor in determining whether this feature is right for you. Here are the key points we believe you should consider:
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PROS:
- Animate anywhere, anytime.
- A very simple interface for creating basic frame-by-frame animations.
- Use all of your favorite brushes from Procreate in your animation.
- The onion-skin feature makes it easy to see your keyframes.
CONS:
- Coloring your animation can be tricky without a simple layers function.
- Slightly difficult to create a longer animation.
- The inability to add sound directly into the animation timeline.
- Can’t easily add reference footage or images to the project.
If you’re new to animation, we highly recommend checking out the ‘Introduction to Animation’ course. This course will teach you the animation basics with fun, hands-on examples, like the hopping backpack animation shown below. It’s perfect for beginners and anyone looking to sharpen their animation skills.
Final Thoughts
The Animation Assist feature in Procreate is excellent for creating simple and short animations. Once you understand how to animate on Procreate, you’ll see that it’s intuitive and fun to use. However, it’s important to note that while its features work well and are easy to navigate, Procreate isn’t the most complete animation tool available.
Animations in Procreate can be created quickly, which is a great bonus. However, it’s unlikely to overtake industry standards like Adobe Illustrator anytime soon, as Procreate has the advanced functionality required for producing polished, professional animations. That said, animating in Procreate offers a unique experience, especially for those familiar with its interface. The app opens up a new avenue for digital art, allowing you to experiment with texture and brushes in ways that other animation tools don’t.
For those looking to improve their creative process with professional-grade features, Procreate is a great starting point. It’s ideal for artists exploring animation without getting bogged down by overly complicated software. For larger, more complex animation projects, you can always reach out to Animotions Studio.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
How do I set up an animation in Procreate?
To set up an animation in Procreate, open a canvas of your desired size, tap the wrench icon to open the ‘Actions’ menu, and enable the ‘Animation Assist’ option. This will activate the animation bar at the bottom of your canvas, providing access to frame management and animation settings, making the process quick and easy.
What is Onion Skinning, and how does it help in animation?
Onion skiing is a feature that allows you to see previous and upcoming frames while you work on the current one. It helps maintain consistency across frames and ensures smoother transitions, and you can adjust the opacity and frame count in the settings to suit your needs.
Can I use my favorite brushes in Procreate animations?
Yes! Procreate allows you to use all your favorite brushes from the app’s library in your animations, giving you full creative control over your artwork, whether you’re using textured brushes, pencils, or custom-made options.
How can I adjust the speed of my animation?
You can adjust the speed of your animation by changing the frames per second (fps) and using the Animation Settings menu. The default setting is a loop, but you can also customize the pacing to fit your needs, allowing you to fine-tune the flow of your animation.
Can I add sound to my animation in Procreate?
No, Procreate does not currently support adding sound directly to the animation timeline. If you need sound, you would need to use external video editing software after exporting your animation to sync audio with your visual work.
What file formats can I export my Procreate animation in?
Procreate allows you to export animations in several formats, including Animated GIF, Animated PNG, MP4, and Animated HEVC files. You can choose the format depending on how you plan to use or share your animation, ensuring compatibility with various platforms.
Can I create long animations in Procreate?
Procreate is best suited for creating shorter animations. While it is possible to create longer animations, the process can become more challenging due to advanced features like timeline editing. For longer projects, professional animation software may be more suitable, offering more flexibility.
