Turning on Animation Assist in Procreate is a straightforward process that unlocks powerful frame-by-frame animation capabilities directly within your canvas, transforming your digital artwork into dynamic sequences. This feature provides an intuitive interface for creating everything from simple GIFs to complex animated shorts, making animation accessible to all Procreate users.
Activating Animation Assist in Procreate
To enable the Animation Assist feature and begin animating your artwork in Procreate, follow these simple steps:
- Open the Actions Menu: In the top-left corner of your Procreate interface, tap the Modify icon. This icon looks like a wrench and opens the Actions menu, which houses various tools and settings.
- Navigate to Canvas Settings: Within the Actions menu, tap on the Canvas tab. This section contains options related to your document's canvas.
- Enable Animation Assist: Locate and tap the toggle switch next to Animation Assist.
Once activated, the dedicated Animation Assist interface will appear at the bottom of your screen, signaling that you are ready to start creating your animation frames.
Quick Reference Table: Enabling Animation Assist
For a quick overview of the activation steps:
| Step | UI Element | Action | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Modify (Wrench icon) | Tap | Opens Actions menu |
| 2 | Canvas tab | Tap | Navigates to Canvas settings |
| 3 | Animation Assist toggle | Tap | Activates Animation Assist interface |
Understanding the Animation Assist Interface
Once enabled, the Animation Assist interface provides a dedicated set of tools designed for seamless animation. This user-friendly panel typically appears at the bottom of your screen and includes:
- Timeline: A visual sequence of all your animation frames (layers) that you can easily reorder, add, or delete.
- Onion Skinning: A crucial feature that displays faded versions of previous and next frames, helping you to create smooth transitions between movements. You can adjust the opacity and number of onion skins visible.
- Playback Controls: Buttons to play, pause, and loop your animation, along with a slider to adjust the Frames Per Second (FPS) for controlling animation speed.
- Add Frame / Delete Frame: Simple controls to manage your animation layers, where each layer acts as an individual frame.
Why Utilize Procreate's Animation Assist?
Animation Assist is a game-changer for digital artists looking to venture into animation due to its:
- Intuitive Workflow: Designed with Procreate's signature ease of use, it simplifies complex animation tasks.
- Frame-by-Frame Control: Offers precise control over every individual frame, essential for traditional animation principles.
- Versatile Output Options: Easily export your finished animations as GIFs, MP4 videos, or animated PNGs for various uses.
- Creative Freedom: Empowers artists to create everything from dynamic character animations and expressive motion graphics to intricate stop-motion sequences directly on their iPad.
Tips for Getting Started with Animation Assist
To make the most of Procreate's Animation Assist, consider these practical tips:
- Layers are Frames: Remember that each individual layer in your Procreate artwork functions as a single frame in your animation sequence.
- Master Onion Skinning: Experiment with the onion skin opacity and frame count settings to find the optimal visibility that aids your workflow in creating smooth motion.
- Adjust FPS Gradually: Start with a lower Frames Per Second (e.g., 8-12 FPS) to get a feel for timing, then increase it for smoother, faster animations as needed.
- Explore and Experiment: Don't hesitate to play around with different animation styles, timing, and the various features within the Animation Assist panel to discover what works best for your projects.
For more in-depth guidance on leveraging all the capabilities of Animation Assist, you can refer to the official Procreate Handbook on Animation Assist.
