How To Access Psd In Adobe Animate

In this tutorial, learn how to animate static photos with Cartoon Animator, Adobe Photoshop and After Furnishings. We'll utilize the strengths of each plan to brand editing and animating photographs much easier.

What You Will Learn in This Animation Tutorial

In this lesson nosotros build on the skills y'all learned in our terminal tutorials: Nosotros'll take the techniques from our lessons on how to rig and animate a character, how to make a talking avatar, and how to create smooth caput turns, and utilise the same skills to animate a photo.

Here's what you'll larn in this tutorial:

How to create a PSD template using your photograph in Adobe Photoshop
How to create layers out of your photograph
How to import your PSD template into Cartoon Animator
How to rig a character in your photograph in with bones in Cartoon Animator
How to bring your rigged animation into After Effects for refinement

What You'll Demand

To follow along with this tutorial you will need your ain versions of Adobe Photoshop, After Effects and Cartoon Animator. Yous can download a free trial version for Cartoon Animator on the Reallusion website.

To follow along you'll also need a photo with someone in it, preferably of them doing something. Landscapes and other images without people in them will piece of work, but because it demonstrates things well in this example we'll use a photograph of someone playing the saxophone. You tin download the photograph from Envato Elements.

We picked a photograph with strong unsaid motion. The imagination already creates a sense of action and wants to complete that action—we'll just help this feeling along. The performer'due south posture, the facial expression, the setting, and composition all lend to the feeling that the photo is in movement.

Hither are a couple more pictures to give yous an idea of the kinds of photos that might work well.

The photo to a higher place uses similar unsaid action and content. The photo below also has a sweet implied motility:

i. Find the Activity

Cartoon Animator has a second character creation pipeline with a helpful script to bring your animation betwixt Photoshop and After Effects.That'due south what we'll do in this tutorial. Commencement, though, you'll demand to collect your materials and make a program.

Take a expect at your photograph. Where is the action? Before y'all think too much nigh it, quickly jot downwardly some words to draw that action.

In our example, the performer is holding the sax every bit if in mid-note, with a feature puffing of the cheeks and placement of fingers on the valves of the instrument. We tin can imagine the spine rounding and arching slightly as they play, or the chest full and so relaxed: we could choice words like concentrating, relaxed, expressive, funky, smoothen, mellow. Keep these impressions in your mind as you become.

2. Prepare the Photograph in Photoshop

Begin by opening upwards the photograph that you lot want to animate in Adobe Photoshop. Let's have a closer look at the photograph and make a more substantial programme for how we want to utilise it.

This includes thinking virtually what elements of the photograph we want to move, so in this case nosotros want to motion the saxophone histrion. This means nosotros'll need to separate the figure from the balance of the photograph; nosotros will motion the figure independently from the background.

Now that nosotros have planned out what elements of the photograph we would like to separate (and therefore animate), let'south go ahead and utilize a combination of the post-obit tools to outline our saxophone actor.

Lasso Tool
Polygonal Lasso Tool
Magnetic Lasso Tool

Once you are happy with the outline of your subject, copy the choice by pressingCommand + Con the keyboard and then open up a new document in Adobe Photoshop.

Paste the saxophone player into this new certificate and remove the groundwork layer. Salvage both Photoshop documents and then that they are fix to be used in Cartoon Animator. You can name the documents the following:

Saxophone_Player.psd
Background.psd

3. Ready the Background

Open the Background Photoshop file, which should comprise the original photograph. At present that we have isolated our saxophone thespian we desire to blur out or remove the edges as much as possible. This is because we don't desire a duplicate image of our grapheme to appear behind him when he starts to move and breathing.

Mistiness the Edges

Use a combination of theClone Postage stamp Tooland theSmudge Tool to effort and move the outer edges of the saxophone thespian towards the centre. This should allow enough motility without any duplicate imagery actualization behind.

Once you take successfully pushed the edges of the saxophone player towards the middle, your groundwork should be gear up. If we decide information technology needs further editing we can revisit the photograph again at a later stage.

Now y'all are ready to move on to Drawing Animator!

4. Set the PSD Editor for Cartoon Animator

When showtime launching Cartoon Animator you'll detect that there is a paintbrush icon on the summit right paw corner of the toolbar. Clicking on this push button will let you to import your PSD files into the program.

Click on theOpen Editorbutton as shown in the prototype below.

Now browse your figurer to observe the location of Adobe Photoshop and and so click on theOpenbutton.

This volition change the paintbrush icon, into the Adobe Photoshop icon to bespeak that the editor works with Adobe Photoshop.

5. Import your PSD Grapheme into Cartoon Animator

Now that the PSD editor is ready upwardly, get alee and click on the button once more. This will get-go the editor and synchronize the object in Adobe Photoshop and Cartoon Animator.

Clicking onNew Objectwill open up a new file in Photoshop, but clicking on Open Filevolition permit us to open an existing PSD file. ChooseOpen up Fileto open up theSaxophone_Player.psdin Adobe Photoshop.

Add a Bone Actor

Check that you are happy with the Photoshop file and and soSalve the file. This will immediately sync the ii programs together and Cartoon Animator will prompt you to select one of the iii options below. ChooseFree Bone Actorso that we can breathing our saxophone player.

The saxophone actor should now appear within Drawing Animator. Hither yous tin use the mouse to move the image or hover over the edges/corners to resize.

6. Synchronize With Photoshop

Go toWindows > Scene Manageror pressF5on your keyboard to view what is in your scene.

Next to the object you should see theSynched Iconunderneath the PSD Sync cavalcade. This indicates that the project is yet synced to your open file in Adobe Photoshop.

This ways that yous can update the image in Adobe Photoshop at any time. One time you save any changes, they will be reflected when you lot return to Cartoon Animator. Any changes you make in Photoshop must be merged into a single layer for this to piece of work properly.

7. Rig and Animate Character Using Bones

To animate the saxophone thespian, offset click on the Composer Buttonto go intoComposer Manner.This will break the link between Cartoon Animator and Adobe Photoshop then make sure that yous are happy with the way your character looks before you decide to motility on.

Add Bones

In one case insideComposer Mode,click on theOs Editorpush to outset adding bones to the character.

This will open theBone Editor Console.Click on theAdd Bonebutton and then simply click on the figure to create bones.

Bones will exist created between mouse clicks and each bone will assistance create movement for our character animation. When creating the bones, try and think about where to place the pivot points for your character such every bit the cervix, shoulder, hips and elbow.

Preview

One time you lot accept placed all your bones on the saxophone thespian, you can click on thePreviewpush button. This volition then permit you to move the bones and see how information technology effects your character'due south movement.

Go Back Stage

One time you are happy with the placement of your bones and the move of the saxophone player, click on theBack Stagebutton to render to the original screen.

8. Import the Background

Now that our character has been animated and ready successfully, permit's go ahead and click on the PSD Editor button again.

ChooseOpen Fileto open up theBackground.psd in Adobe Photoshop.

Cheque that y'all are happy with the background Photoshop file and brand any adjustments that you want to make before you lot Save the file. This volition immediately sync the two programs together and Drawing Animator will prompt you to select 1 of the three options below.

ChooseScene then that we can add together the background to our scene with the saxophone player.

The background image should now appear inside Drawing Animator. Hither you lot can use the mouse to motility the paradigm or hover over the edges/corners to resize.

Zoom

You may notice that the groundwork epitome is covering the saxophone player. You lot can adapt this by clicking and dragging theZoombutton at the bottom of the background object to move the object backwards and forwards along the z axis.

ix. Animate your Photo With Keyframes

To reveal theTimelinefor the projection past going to Window > Timeline, or printing theF3 button on your keyboard.

Selecting the objects in theScene Managervolition reveal the corresponding objects in the Timeline.

Let'south open up up the different categories that nosotros tin animate for our subject. Select the following:

Transform
Flip
Visible
Opacity
Motility

With these open you'll exist able to see the keyframes that you create for your animation.

2D Motion Fundamental Editor

At present to kickoff animating you need to select the2D Motility Primal Editor (K) which tin be found on the taskbar near the bottom left side of the screen.

With the2D Motility Fundamental Editoropen, merely motion to around twenty frames forward in the timeline and brand some elementary changes to the saxophone actor by moving the basic.

Keep the movements subtle to give it a more realistic experience. Once yous've finished moving the character, you lot'll run across the keyframes appear in the timeline corresponding to the type of motion you lot created.

Echo

Move forward some other twenty frames and then keep to repeat the steps every twenty frames for animative the saxophone player. You can exercise this as many times as you lot want for as long as y'all want the animation to last for.

In this example we'll echo the steps every 20 frames until we reach the 80th frame. Once yous've decided to finish your animation click on theResetbutton in the2nd Motion Key Editor to return the saxophone player to his original position. This will enable you lot to loop the animation.

Loop the Animatin

To activate loop mode, click on theLoop Buttonon the play bar menu.

Play

And and then finally click on thePlaybutton to view yous animation.

x. Bring the Animation Into Later on Effects

At present yous're ready to bring your graphic symbol into After Effects for more post-production, with the Cartoon Animator script for After Effects to bring your piece of work over. This script keeps the layer relationships and animation keys of the objects organized for seamless postal service-production.

Install Script

But click on the After Effects button located on the pinnacle toolbar or get toRender > Export to Afterward Effects.

From here you will need to click on theDownload Scriptbutton to download the script which you will and so install in Adobe Afterwards Furnishings.

To install the file into Adobe After Furnishings, unzip the Zip file and and so paste the fileDrawing Animator - AE Script (Beta).jsxto theScriptUI Panelsfolder. By default, it is located in the following path:

Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Later on Effects <version>\Back up Files\Scripts\ScriptUI Panels

Mac: Applications/Adobe After Effects CC <version>/Scripts/ScriptUI Panels

If this binder does not exist, then create a folder with the nameScriptUI Panels.

Export From Cartoon Animator

Back in Cartoon Animator make certain that you look at the following:

Your grapheme is selected underSelect Object(south).This is the character that you accept created and blithe in Cartoon Animator.
Beneath that you tin can go through theConsign Settingswhere you can cull the resolution and frame size.
And finally you can choose the export range to determine how much of your timeline you want to export into Adobe Afterward Effects.

Once you've checked through all the options click on theExportbutton and choose a desired destination for your new Adobe Afterward Effects file.

Import to After Effects

To import your animation into Adobe After Furnishings you demand to go toWindows > Cartoon Animator - AE Script (Beta).jsxwhich will open up a new panel.

Click on theImport Project (JSON)button and locate the project location. Select the JSON file which you exported from Drawing Animator.

This will open upwards the animation in Adobe Later on Furnishings! At present nosotros can treat this animation equally if it were any other Later Effects project.

Awesome! Yous're Finished!

Congratulations! And that'south how to breathing a photo with Drawing Animator and Adobe Photoshop.

At present that you are familiar with the techniques, why not use your own photos or images? You lot can animate multiple characters and add more keyframes to create a longer animation.

I hope y'all found this tutorial helpful and that you lot've learned some new tips and tricks that y'all can utilize for your own projects. See you next time!