How to make a cartoon on the computer. Animation software

Cartoons on the computer are created using special software. This can be both difficult to master expensive editors, and more simple applications designed for the average user. If you want to create your own animation, you can use even the standard tools of the Windows operating system. About how to make a cartoon on a computer using a particular program, we'll talk in this article.

What Windows tools can I use to create an animation?

To create a cartoon you will need two standard Windows programs - Paint and Movie Maker. The first is a simple graphical editor, in which you can draw any pictures. Movie Maker is a program for creating video.

To open Paint, you need to click "Start" and select "All Programs" - "Standard". Here, in most cases, there is also Movie Maker. However, in some versions of Windows (for example, in the seventh home base) this video editor does not exist. In this case, you will have to download it or use some other similar program previously downloaded.

Drawing frames in Paint

So, how to make a cartoon on the computer at home? Technically, this procedure is not too complicated. The quality of the final result will depend on how well you can draw. As you know, any animated film consists of individual pictures - frames. Therefore, the first task that will face you is the need to create them. This is what the Paint editor will help you with. In order to understand the principle of creating animations, let's try to make the simplest cartoon. Let's say a little man waving his hand.

As you already understood, initially the question of how to make a cartoon on a computer is reduced to creating its individual frames. Open the Paint program. Take the brush (on top of the toolbar in the "Brushes" section). Draw - as we can - a little man (pens, legs, cucumber). We save our image in a separate folder (it should be created in advance), calling it "Frame 1". Now one of the hands of the little man is drawing one more, a little higher. And the bottom is erased. As a result, the little man will again have two hands. We save the picture called "Frame 2". Again, draw a hand higher, erase unnecessary and save the image called "Frame 3". This is the most convenient sequence of actions. Drawing the "next" hand, you can focus on the "previous". Thus we perform several frames. The more of them, the more smoothly the hand of the little man will move in the future.

We make a cartoon

So, the frames we created. Now let's see how to make a cartoon on the computer, using them. In the next step, you will need to merge all the drawn frames into one clip. To do this, we need Movie Maker. We open it. In the taskbar on the right, click on "Import Images" and select our images. They will be displayed in the appeared panel "Collection". In succession, one by one, we transfer the frames to the track below. Then click on the line "Display the timeline." If you leave the time shown in the program initially, raise the hand of the little man will be very slow and sharp. You can fix this in the scale that appears. To do this, click on the frames and move the appeared strip to the left. As a result, they will already become, respectively, reduce the time of their display.

Save the cartoon

As you can see, making a cartoon on a computer using Movie Maker is very easy. Having achieved an acceptable result, save the file to the same folder where our frames are located. In order to be able to view it with the help of popular players, you should perform the following procedure:

1. Click on the main menu item "File".
2. Click on the line "Save movie file ...".
3. Click on the line "Show additional options".
4. Select "Other options".
5. Next you will need to choose the format of the future video file. It is best to save our clip in any popular format (avi, pal, etc.). In this case, view on most players or, for example, download cartoons to "Youtube" will then be easier.

How to add sound to a cartoon in Movie Maker

If desired, it's also easy to add sound to your own animation. This can also be done using Movie Maker. In this case, you can add comments to the movie through a microphone or put background music. Agree that the silent modern cartoons - this is nonsense. In order to add a comment, you need to go to the "Tools" tab and click on the "Commentary Time Scale" line. Next, click on the "Start" button and voice your little man. After you click on the "Stop" button, the program will prompt you to save your comment. It is added to the project, and then to the audio track in the bottom panel.

Macromedia Flash

Using more advanced programs, you can create animation much faster. So, in the program Macromedia Flash you just need to draw the first and final frames. All the intermediate editor will perform himself.

Rules for creating cartoons

Animated film is created in several stages:

1. A script is being developed.
2. The characters are drawn.
3. The storyboard is executed with the setting of the time necessary for each action of the character and the calculation of the required number of frames.
4. Background music is being taken and various kinds of sound effects are being prepared.

As you can see, modern programs provide an opportunity to realize any creative dreams. And who are the best dreamers and dreamers? Of course, children! Do not know what to do with your child? Tell him how to make a cartoon on the computer. Games dedicated to this topic will help the child demonstrate the talent of the artist-animator. And when he plays, try to create a real cartoon together and present it to the audience, I mean to arrange a joint viewing. Good luck!