How to Make Cartoon Movies

Still pictures in motion. That's the magic of making cartoon movies. It's really an optical illusion based on the human brain "filling in" the gaps between images that are slightly repositioned one after another. Let's find out how to make still images seem like they're coming alive by following the steps below.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Notebook
• Pencil

1. Get a small notebook. The smaller the better. If the pages are too big, it's harder to flip through them smoothly.

2. 
   Character 2

   Draw a cartoon character or object. The drawing doesn't have to be fancy or in too much detail for your movie to work. A simple outline will be fine.

3. Plan a motion. Figure out what you want the character or object to do. A character could be walking or jumping. An object such as a car could be moving from left to right, for example.

4. 
   Character 3

   Draw the starting position. On the first page is your first position. The trick to creating a smooth animation is to draw the next position on the next page only slightly different than the previous page. The more drawings you have, the smoother the movement will appear. Keep drawing until you get to the final position. The character or object will be in the motion you have created.

5. Hold the notebook on one hand and use the other to flip the pages from front to back using your thumb. The images you have drawn will come to life, moving fluidly from the first to last positions. Now you can dazzle your friends with your very own cartoon movie.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to draw the images as close to the same area of the page as possible. This will make the flow even smoother.

Resources

• Draw Characters

[masterwizard]

on 3/9/2009 Sorry I didn't mean to click I did this button sorry i don't know how to undo it.