#How to make an animation light box series#

Keep in mind that if youвЂ™re a top pegs person who flips to check your animation, the clip can get in the way of that. To get the placement right, put a piece of punched paper onto your pegbar (the one pictured here is from Lightfoot Ltd btw) and use it as a guide, making sure the whole page has space to fit into the clipboardвЂ™s metal clip. Next, I glue my pegbar directly to the lightboard with super glue, on the empty side of the lightboard, not quite centered, but actually shifted to the right a bit.

Make sure you mount the clipboard flush to one side of the lightboard to leave some space on the opposite side for the pegbar.

A cheap clear clipboard from the interwebs or any office supply store (~$7)ДЇirst, I tape my clipboard to the lightboard lengthwise, with two long strips of clear packing tape.A plastic or metal pegbar (round or ACME pattern - Lightfoot, Blick, LOONENG, MyLifeUnit, etc.) (~$8).These are sold under various brand names (Huion, AGPtek, etc.), and are sometimes labeled as вЂњtracing boardsвЂќ or вЂњtattoo led boardsвЂќ but in my experience theyвЂ™re basically all the same!

(~$20 - when I made my graphic they were $25, but recently prices have come down a bit!).

One of those ubiquitous A3-size LED lightboards, found easily on eBay, Amazon, etc.

But theyвЂ™re a lot more affordable than art store options, and I love the mobility they give you vs. IвЂ™m currently about a year in to my second lightboard. The first lightboard I bought lasted about 2 years before it failed. The x-factor is the build quality of the lightboard. ItвЂ™s much cheaper than buying an Artograph-type light box (tough to find new for under $100!), and way more portable, since you wonвЂ™t need a power outlet for it to work.ДЄ quick note on longevity: IвЂ™ve made this setup twice. Several animators I know use variations on it. We will also see how anticipation adds more energy to the performance.I first learned about this setup from friends in a drink-and-draw group at RudyardвЂ™s in Houston. Lightbox exercise 6: the take: this is a great introduction to character animation.

#How to make an animation light box series#

Lightbox exercise 5: we will complete the walk by adding a body, feet, head and arms, using a series of procedures. Please take care when making your guide drawing because you will be relying on it. This is based on an exercise from вЂњthe AnimatorвЂ™s Survival KitвЂќ, by Richard Williams. Lightbox exercise 4: we are now ready to try a more ambitious walk. This exercise will introduce you to the idea of вЂњworking off the pegsвЂќ. We will also add an arm, which swings in opposition to the leg. Lightbox exercise 3: we will develop the V4 walk now: we will give the legs some thickness, so that we can show which is which. You will also be introduced to guide drawings, and I will demonstrate another quick and easy way to film your line test. You will also be introduced to timing charts, where you work out how many drawings you will need, and the order in which to draw them Lightbox Exercise 2: this is probably the simplest walk that you can make with lightbox animation. Lightbox Exercise 1: we will use key frames to bend a leg. We suggest that these videos should be watched in sequenceвЂ¦ it is hard to make drawn animation without a light box, so this video will help you set up your studio.