Learn why people trust wikiHow

How to Make Your Own Animation

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff
Last Updated: July 1, 2020

This wikiHow teaches you how to create an animated movie or presentation. The
quickest way to make a digital animation is by using an online animator; however, keep
in mind that most online animators require a paid subscription to unlock all of their
features, meaning that your video's length, sound, and appearance will most likely be
restricted unless you pay for an upgrade. If you're interested in traditional animation, you
can put together a basic one by using anything from pen-and-paper animation
techniques to GIFs.

Part
1 Creating an Animation with Moovly

Open Moovly. Go to https://www.moovly.com/ in your computer's web

1 browser.
Keep in mind that Moovly is only free for 30 days, during which time you
cannot download a video. If you want to be able to download your
animation, try using Animatron.

Scroll down and click Start making your movie now . It's a red button
2 near the middle of the page. The animator interface will open and a pop-
up window will appear.

Enter your name and email address. Type your first name into the "First
 name" text box, then type your email address into the "Email" text box.
3
If you'd rather sign up with a social media account, tap the Facebook,
Google, or LinkedIn option and follow the on-screen prompts.

Check the "I accept" box. It's below the "Email" text box.
4
If you want to view the privacy statement or the terms and conditions,
click the Privacy Statement or the Terms & Conditions link respectively
to open the related document in a pop-up window.

Click Submit . This is at the bottom of the pop-up window.

5
Navigate through the tutorial. Click through each of the prompts until
6 the tutorial closes. At this point, you can begin animating.

Select a group of templates. Click the Moovly Libraries heading in the

7 upper-left corner of the page, then click the title of the template you want
to use.

Drag an item onto the canvas. Click and drag the item you want to
8 animate onto the white canvas in the middle of the page, then drop it
there.

Resize and reposition the item. You can click and drag one of the item's
9 corners to resize it, and you can move the item around by clicking and
dragging it on the canvas.

Click Add animation . It's a box at the bottom of the page. A pop-up
10 menu will appear.

Select an animation category. In the pop-up menu, place your cursor

11 over the type of animation you want to apply to the selected item. This
will prompt a pop-out menu to appear next to the current menu.
For example, to move the character, you might select the Move &
Transform category.

Select an animation. Click the animation that you want to apply to your
12 selected item.
 If you selected the Move & Transform option, for example, you might
click Move left to move the character to the left.

Change the animation's speed. You can click and drag the end of the
13 animation's white bar in the timeline to the left to speed up the
animation, or you can drag it right to slow down the animation.

Add other objects. Click and drag other objects that you want to
14 animate onto the canvas, then animate them as you please by using
the Add animation menu.

Add a clip. Once you've added enough objects to one clip, you can
15 create a blank clip by clicking Add clip on the lower-left side of the
page. You can then add more objects and animations to this clip in order to
continue your story.

Confirm your email address. Now that you've created your animation,
16 you'll need to confirm your email address in a new tab in order to save
it:
Open in a new tab the inbox for the email address you used to create your
Moovly account.
Open the "Activate your Moovly account" email.
Click the activation link in the email.
Create a password, then click Continue.

Publish your animation. While you can't download animations from

17 Moovly without paying for the premium version of Moovly, you can
publish animations to Moovly's servers:
Open your Moovly dashboard if it isn't already open.
Click Publish.
Click Moovly Gallery.
Click OK, I agree.
Enter a title and description, then click Publish.
Copy the link at the bottom of the "Publishing your project" window if you
want to share the animation with other people.
Part
2 Creating an Animation with Animatron

Open Animatron. Go to https://www.animatron.com/studio in your

1 computer's web browser.
Animatron's free version will allow you to create and download up to 10
seconds of animated video in standard definition.

Click Sign Up . It's on the upper-right side of the page. A pop-up

2 window will appear.

Enter an email address. Type a working email address into the "EMAIL
3 ADDRESS" text field.
You can also select Facebook, Twitter, or Google to sign up with your
Facebook, Twitter, or Google login information.

Click CREATE ACCOUNT . It's below the text field.

4
Verify your account. Do the following:
5
Open your email inbox.
Open the "Please confirm your account at Animatron.com!" email.
Click the blue ACTIVATE YOUR ACCOUNT button.

Enter your account details. Type your preferred name and password
6 into the appropriate text fields, then click the "What do you do?" text box
and select an answer based on your occupation (e.g., Business). Depending
on your answer, you may also need to answer a follow-up form. Once you've
filled out the whole form, click CREATE MY FREE ACCOUNT at the bottom of
the page.

Click START CREATING . It's a red button on the upper-right side of the
7 page.

Skip the introduction section. To do so:

8
Click CONTINUE twice.
 Click LITE at the top of the page.
Click Cancel in the top-right corner of the tutorial window.

Select an animated set. Click one of the animated set options in the left-
9 hand column.

Select a background. Click the background you want to use at the top
10 of the left-hand column.
Depending on your selected set, there may be only one background to
use.

Move the playhead to the point where you want to insert a

11 character. Click and drag the vertical bar on the timeline to the point at
which you want to add your first animated character.

Add a character. Click one of the animated characters in the left-hand

12 column.

Position the character. Click and drag the character to the point where
13 you want to place them.
You can also resize your character by clicking and dragging in or out one
of the corners of the selection box that's around the character.

Open the "Appear" menu. Click the white box with overlapping circles
14 to the left of the timeline to do so.
This will only appear when a character is selected.

Select an appearance animation. Click one of the appearance

15 animation options (e.g., POP IN) in the menu at the bottom of the page.
You can also click the MOVE tab on the left side of the timeline to see
movement animations.

Click APPLY . It's below the selected appearance option.

16
Add more characters and appearance animations. You can add
17 more characters and movements to your animation by moving the
playhead to the section where you want to place a character, selecting a
 character, and adding animations to that character via the "Appear" menu.

Save your animation. You can save your animation as a 10-second

18 standard definition video by doing the following:
Click DOWNLOAD on the upper-right side of the page.
Click Video... in the drop-down menu.
Click CONTINUE, then click CONTINUE WITH RESTRICTIONS.
Click RENDER.
Click the Download link when it appears.

Part
3 Learning Traditional Animation Basics

Learn about different animation concepts. There are too many

1 different micro-components of animation to address in this article, but
several common (and important) concepts can be found in online forums,
courses, and guides, as well as in any animation or art resources found at
your local library. Common concepts to study include the following:
Color — Knowing which colors pair well and which combinations to avoid
will help you create a more pleasant animation (or, if you're going for
dissonant imagery, create a distressing animation).
Composition — This refers to knowing how to fill the screen with your
animation in an efficient, aesthetically pleasing manner.
Perspective — Knowing how to demonstrate the dimensions of an image
will deepen your animation.
Anatomy — Proper understanding of anatomy can help you create
structurally accurate animations. It can also help you figure out which
anatomical rules you can break while maintaining a believable animation.

Script your animation. First, write down everything that you want to
2 happen. This doesn't just mean dialogue; you should include actions and
facial expressions as well. You need to have a clear idea of exactly what's
going to happen before you start.