2D animation in photoshop

This post by JustGoscha got me excited to dive into hand drawn.

He sited Alex Grigg's tutorial  (I'm curious to check out this podcast with him)


Photoshop Animation Techniques (Redux, Creative Cloud) from Alex Grigg on Vimeo.

which I had been afraid to watch before because it was so long, but now I feel ready to tackle it

1920*1080 72dpi

timeline create video timeline
timeline properties (on right)
   set frame rate
   panel options, no thumb (no img every frame)
   enable shortcut keys (up down left right)
       (won't work if start a new layer on 0)
   enable onion skins (can hotkey it)
    onion skin settings for more frames


File>Export>RenderVideo
   (export as png sequence and wrap up elsewhere)
   (or as a quicktime for quickness)

CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+S save for web
  downsize, looping true =  make a gif

hotkeys     recommended to make
    ctrl+ y onion skins
       for video layer animating
        ctrl+b insert blank frame
        ctrl+alt+b  insert duplicate key
        ctrl+shift+b del frame
        ctrl+alt+shift+b new video layer

set up actions
   make a new frame for layer animation
      v+3          make old layer light
      dup layer   
      ctrl+A       select all
      del          erase it
      ctrl+D       deselect
      v+0          make solid
     then can put this on an f2 button

    expand fill
      make selection, then start recording
      select>modify>expand  (2 pixels)
      alt+[               step down layer
      alt+backspace       fill w/ fore color
      alt+]               step back up layer
      ctrl +D             deselect

    new color layer
      dup layer (action
      alt+[
      ctrl+a
      del
      ctrl+D
      atl+]

    copy all (for condensing linelayer onto 1 video layer)
       ctrl+a
       ctrl+shift+C  copy all (hide bg)
       ctrl+shift+v
       next frame (w/ next frame button)
       (can copy paste this a bunch for batches)




typically blocks with layer animation, then cleans up with a video layer

layer menu lock transparent pixels, makes it easy to color your lines

can put all of your animations and all of your lines and colors into a group, and then you can use the group as a clipping mask (constrain a fuzzy texture to the anims)

LAYER ANIMATION
animating with layers
with layer selected v & # = opacity
can drag each layer bar in timeline to change length frame shows
V - selection, if turn on autoselect then when over a frame and click on active pixel you select that layer

VIDEO LAYERS
layer>video layer> new blank video layer
  (already a bunch of frames in 1 bar)
  won't be able to see where your drawings are, good for straight ahead, fx, and cleanup/color
layer>video layer> insert a blank frame
  (tricky to work in video layers because the frames are hidden)

VIDEO GROUPS
basically like layer but little more organized
when making a new layer it'll be too long, drag a layer onto the new layer button to duplicate length then select all delete deselect
drag layer in timeline down onto other layer, makes a Video Group (group) in layer menu and timeline
now can just put a new layer in for inserting inbetween (have to duplicate if want to be short in time)


30mins intro over, now some production tips to improve workflow & flow
if done with a layered animation can consolidate it down into a video layer group