Making a simple animated cartoon

[julian]

TL;DR Summary

What would be the easiest way of making a really simple animated cartoon.

In fig a there are 28 polos (mint sweets) on a table. In fig b two of the polos have moved from the table to the person's mouth. In fig c the two polos have been swallowed and are now in the person's stomach. My question is there an easy way of turning this into a simple animated cartoon with online software?

 

[jedishrfu]

A simple Google search provides many examples to explore. Some examples are shown below:

https://www.animaker.com/cartoon-maker

https://www.renderforest.com/cartoon-maker

https://pixteller.com/animation-maker

 

[jedishrfu]

As an aside, VOX did this video on the history of early animation:

 

[julian]

Thanks @jedishrfu. I was wondering in particular if there is software where I can start with my drawing and then take an individual polo and simply drag it along a path from one position to another, creating a sequence of frames, and then for the software to then render it as a smooth motion. I shall explore! But if somebody already knows of software that can do what I want that would be good.

 

[robphy]

If you can use PowerPoint, this might help
https://www.google.com/search?q=motion+paths+powerpoint

It would be nice to somehow compute the desired paths [i.e. do it programmatically],
rather than to do it manually.

 

[Algr]

If you want to minimize the number of frames you want to draw, you can draw a comet tail or fitt lines behind the moving polo. With that you ought to need maybe six frames to get the polo into the mouth. The tails will need to accurately show the unseen path from one frame to the next, and look ethereal enough to not be mistaken for something real in the scene. But it is doable.

But the best advice is to keep trying different things and decide for yourself what works. Don't get discouraged if your first four attempts come out confusing. And be sure to check if other people understand what you are trying to convey with you animation.

 

[Janus]

Blender 2.91 has a 2 D animation tool that can be used for this. It just took me a little bit of time to do a quick example.

Drew a rough table and figure
Created new grease pencil object to draw the simple "polo' on the table.( you need a new one so you can select it as a separate object in the next step)
Go from "draw" to "object" mode.
Select the polo. press "i", and choose location in the drop down menu ( this assigns the polo to this position for the first frame.
Go down to the timeline bar, move the slider to the frame number in which you want the polo to reach the mouth. (24 frames/sec) With the polo still selected, press "g". You can now move the polo around with your mouse.
Position it in the mouth, and press "i" and choose location again.
If you move the time bar back to the beginning and hit play, you will see the polo move from table to mouth.
I repeated this for the polo, advancing a few frames, putting it into the back for the throat, and then from there to the stomach.
This can then be rendered directly as an animation or as a series on images that can be assembled into an animation.
The good thing is, for as powerful as it is, Blender is totally free.

 

[256bits]

I thought he might have to do a gif animation or use gdi graphics.

 

[julian]

Blender 2.91 has a 2 D animation tool that can be used for this. It just took me a little bit of time to do a quick example.
View attachment 275701
Drew a rough table and figure
Created new grease pencil object to draw the simple "polo' on the table.( you need a new one so you can select it as a separate object in the next step)
Go from "draw" to "object" mode.
Select the polo. press "i", and choose location in the drop down menu ( this assigns the polo to this position for the first frame.
Go down to the timeline bar, move the slider to the frame number in which you want the polo to reach the mouth. (24 frames/sec) With the polo still selected, press "g". You can now move the polo around with your mouse.
Position it in the mouth, and press "i" and choose location again.
If you move the time bar back to the beginning and hit play, you will see the polo move from table to mouth.
I repeated this for the polo, advancing a few frames, putting it into the back for the throat, and then from there to the stomach.
This can then be rendered directly as an animation or as a series on images that can be assembled into an animation.
The good thing is, for as powerful as it is, Blender is totally free.

This is just what I need! Thanks so much!