@random-group-of-crows @imjustalittlecreature [post] loooooookkkkk i know people who have animated in powerpoint before so i'm sure my process isn't the worst or weirdest anyone's ever done it
all of this is about Sometimes, since that's the only other thing i've ever animated
sketchbook has a layer limit of 60 per file (and it gets laggy as hell when you're approaching the limit) so this was spread across...several. files. because making wiggle frames (<- an effect actually called "line boil" or "boiling" but my term is more descriptive To Me) adds up to a lot of layers, so i did some of the text and boiling/wiggles for Siffrin & the party across a few separate files, and the surprise and the head tilt in different files.
(from left to right): 44 layers for "surprise" animation; 53 layers for head tilt animation; 58 layers for full color party wiggle frames (flattened Mira & Isa, all layers for Odile & Bonnie); 43 layers for full color Mira & Isa wiggle frames (all layers preserved to make changes easier); 38 layers for "this time onwards" faceless party wiggle frames (original full color to preserve the work in case i didn't like the erased effect); 38 layers for "this time onwards" faceless party wiggle frames (partially erased version that i did end up liking)
(some of those layers are pose/expression/color references, or layer dividers like the colors, or just the fact that making a folder in this program adds another "base" layer that you can't delete, so more folders = more layers whether you want them or not)
so for the animation files i just kept a flat version of the background for composition/context, used color layers to make a strong visual distinction between what i was actively drawing and the previous version & background, and made & labeled folders to keep track of the order and adjust transparency on the whole group
it worked decently well for this, if a little cumbersome, since i already had to save so many elements separately in order to introduce them at different times & adjust things in the video edit. i looked into animation + video editing software at the beginning, but a lot of the programs i tried were either wildly confusing, and/or didn't allow you to upload audio to time things to. which was never EVER going to work for me for a music-based project, i have no idea how to conceptualize timing in the abstract like that, based on "frames per second" rather than adjusting to a beat that i can hear. or they were computer-only and required you to draw in-program, and i draw on my ipad with a stylus.
^ there are 60 files in that folder since it also includes all the "ooo" sections with all the scenes between Siffrin & the party
also here's my stupid trick for slow-motion animation testing, aka "hit the visibility buttons on two folders at the same time for all the folders in succession to see how it goes, and hope you don't accidentally turn them both on or off and mess up the flow" (fucked up and non fucked up versions both included)
was any of this the best, easiest, most efficient way to accomplish what i wanted? almost certainly not. but it got the job done and i had fun and learned a lot 👍
however since the thing i'm trying to do with Loop has a lot more moving pieces and is much longer overall, using a dedicated program with inbuilt onion skins and test runs is going to make the ambitious version of my vision wayyyyyyyyy more doable. then i can take the lineart and redo & color & render in the program with the actual drawing tools that i prefer :)
