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Sorry for the double post. I'm also new at newgrounds.

At 7/18/14 02:24 AM, PineappleLovin wrote: Hello Newgrounds!

I just signed up and I'm looking to get into some animating. I wouldn't know the first thing about animation though. I really want to see if this will be something I will like. I'm running 64-bit Windows Vista (I know, I know) and I was wondering what animation software would suit me. I'm a beginner and looking for something extremely easy to use and learn the ropes on.

THANKS!

-The Pineapple

Here's what I started using before I went to ToonBoom Animate and Animate Pro (and I still have a lot to learn about TB, even now!):

Plastic Animation Paper to do the initial sketches, timing, and audio:
http://animationpaper.com/old-pap-free-download/

and GIMP to do the colors, shading, composition, and backdrops on the sketches exported from PAP:
http://download.gimp.org/pub/gimp/v2.8/windows/gimp-2.8.10-setup.exe

GIMP also has an animation plugin called GAP (GIMP Animation Package) that I used to do the final composition of the frames and audio into an avi video:
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Using_GAP/

and how to install GAP:
http://andrewbonnington.blogspot.com/2012/07/installing-gap-for-gimp-28-on-windows.html

If you are interested, here is the very first animation I made when I myself first started animating. I'm still working on the same "Read and Flumbergast" episode of the PBS Kids show "Arthur" in ToonBoom right now to do away with the show's now crappy animation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO05EzXka1s

It's a little off compared to the older episodes' animation and look/feel (which is what I want to replicate), but it's my first ever animation. Please let me know what you think!

Hope this helps!

At 7/18/14 02:24 AM, PineappleLovin wrote: Hello Newgrounds!

I just signed up and I'm looking to get into some animating. I wouldn't know the first thing about animation though. I really want to see if this will be something I will like. I'm running 64-bit Windows Vista (I know, I know) and I was wondering what animation software would suit me. I'm a beginner and looking for something extremely easy to use and learn the ropes on.

THANKS!

-The Pineapple

Here's what I started using before I went to ToonBoom Animate and Animate Pro (and I still have a lot to learn about it, even now!):

Plastic Animation Paper to do the initial sketches, timing, and audio:
http://animationpaper.com/old-pap-free-download/

and GIMP to do the colors, shading, composition, and backdrops on the sketches exported from PAP:
http://download.gimp.org/pub/gimp/v2.8/windows/gimp-2.8.10-setup.exe

GIMP also has an animation plugin called GAP (GIMP Animation Package) that I used to do the final composition of the frames and audio into an avi video:
http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Using_GAP/

and how to install GAP:
http://andrewbonnington.blogspot.com/2012/07/installing-gap-for-gimp-28-on-windows.html

If you are interested, here is the very first animation I made when I myself first started animating. I'm still working on the same "Read and Flumbergast" episode of the PBS Kids show "Arthur" in ToonBoom right now to do away with the show's now crappy animation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO05EzXka1s

It's a little off compared to the older episodes' animation and look/feel (which is what I want to replicate), but it's my first ever animation. Please let me know what you think!

Hope this helps!

Agreed, but I can't stand the season 16 to present episodes.

Hello Newgrounds, as you see by the title, I am beginning in animation and the little I have dabbled in it I have loved to do it on my free time (as long as I know what I want to animate, of course :)). I am well-versed with GIMP as my photo and graphics editor (I did the year book for my high school class after all...), have used Plastic Animation Paper (http://animationpaper.com/old-pap-free-download/) for my first animation software, and am a computer geek. While PAP is great, it does not deal with color graphics, and is merely a sketch program that helped with the timing of the animated line work (albeit a very good one, and free!). Because of that, I have been working on getting the hang of ToonBoom Animate or Animate Pro for the drawing tools and the whole smorgasbord of features it has (Again, I'll be doing frame by frame for the most part). TB Animate/Pro kicks a**!

Right now, I am in the process of re-working and improving the animation on the good season 16 to present episodes of the PBS Kids cartoon "Arthur" such as "Read and Flumbergast" or "Last Tough Customer" frame by frame using ToonBoom Animate or Animate PRO to look like the season ten or eleven episodes' animation because 9 Story just outright RUINED/BUTCHERED/FUBARED/(INSERT EXPLETIVE HERE) the animation in those new episodes, with producers thinking they can just tween their way through it using flash software as lazily and half-a** as they did, and it is a shame to see it go the way it's going now with them being more concerned with deadlines, dollar signs, bottom lines, and quotas over the artwork, writing, and overall quality of the show (and them just using the show as a cash cow to milk for every dime to boot and waste the public's money). They now seem to treat the show like something slapped together on a production line and rushed out the door rather than art! What's sad is they have no incentive to listen to fans of the show such as myself. I DON'T condone anyone becoming belligerent, irate, or hateful towards producers (and I don't blame producers for not listening to those people), but at the same time, I DON'T blame viewers ONE IOTA for feeling the way they do about it, especially when the public donates good money to them, and to see it go this way is beyond disgusting and an absolute f***ing WASTE of that money! I'm using ToonBoom's trial software for now until I master it, and then when I get the money I'll get the full version at a steep discount (I'm not going to pirate it, sorry).

I figure I'd be the first person to use these episodes to practice animation as a labor of love to the show, to pass on good animation artwork to any kids I may have in the future, and maybe learn a little something along the way and have fun while I'm at it. The main problem is that one is a very lonely number in this effort, and it would be of utmost help to have input on any of the submissions I present or even better someone like-minded and artistically talented to collaborate with.

I already have a test video uploaded on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO05EzXka1s

I realize the colors may be a bit off, but this is the very first animation I made. I have since found a new technique that transfers textures from screenshots off the older episodes using GIMP's clone tool where I paint with the textures directly instead of solid colors. I have all of the 15-down episodes to use as a reference (except that "Arthur's Missing Pal" CGI trash eyesore); 40 gigs of goodness dominating my hard drive ;).

(and if you would like to see more stuff I have done, more files, or how I did what I did, please send me a message, as I also have the original .xcf files. EVERYTHING I have is available on request, including how I did my art, if anyone wants to use them)

I am currently working on the backdrops, objects, and the character models in ToonBoom and coloring them with GIMP. If there are any fans of this show here who agree with me and would want to offer any advice, character models, textures, backdrops, or anything else, or would want to collaborate with me, please BY ALL MEANS chime in. I look forward to hearing from you folks!

Oh, and here are some sample backdrop PNGs from filedropper to download (I couldn't get imgur to upload these due to their size, fooey, but they should look much better/more professional than the ones in the YT video):

http://www.filedropper.com/1_92

http://www.filedropper.com/2_51

http://www.filedropper.com/3_26

http://www.filedropper.com/4_20

http://www.filedropper.com/5_12

http://www.filedropper.com/backyardpanorama2

http://www.filedropper.com/backyardpanoramanowagons_1

http://www.filedropper.com/overhead1

http://www.filedropper.com/overhead2_1

http://www.filedropper.com/panorama3

http://www.filedropper.com/readhousefront

OR IF YOU WANT ALL OF THE IMAGES I HAVE MADE THUS FAR, YOU CAN DOWNLOAD A ZIP ARCHIVE CONTAINING THEM HERE (IF YOU HAVE A FAST CONNECTION; IT'S ALMOST 800 MEGS- thought I'd warn ya!):

http://www.filedropper.com/backdrops