Cut out animation (puppet)

WEEK 5

Creating a cut out puppet

http://mojo.csd.anglia.ac.uk/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=749

• This was similar to the walk cycle tutorial but with a lot more depth. Each part of the character has its own layer, and they over lap like a cut out puppet. This is a much quicker way of animating rather than drawing each frame, it is more simple, but that doesn't mean it can't look good.
• I didn't put joints in my tortoise, because I was just going for the simple look, more joints are needed for more realistic movement.
• For each part/layer of the body you need to place the pivot point in a logical position.
• Make sure all the parts overlap, you don't want any gaps.
• Make sure to draw complete shapes on the top of the drawing, you can choose the order of the layers to you likeing anyway at any time.
• You need to attach layers that you want to follow other layers, simply click and drage the forearm onto the upper arm for example in the timeline view.
• Hold down the [Alt] key and press the [Down Arrow] key to nudge the drawing
  forward. Doing so moves the drawing very slightly forward. If you press on the
  key several times the drawing will move forward even more. You can also use the
  [Up Arrow] key to send the drawing backward.
• A good element to add to your puppet is a Master Peg. This is a trajectory on which you
  attach your puppet to make it travel through your scene, It is also used when you want to
  scale the entire character up or down without doing it on each individual piece. For
  example, you could animate your puppet walking on the spot then use the Master Peg to
  get it to move from left to right.
• To do this just click add peg and then attach (by click and drag) which layers you want to it.

• Too choose the frame rate of the movie you export go to movie preferences in the File menu.