How do I make an animation involving text, still photos, and music?

August 12, 2010 7:42 AM

How do I make an animation involving text, still photos, and music?

I'd like to make a trailer for a project I've been working on and I'd like to learn some new skills in the process.

I love the presentation of information in videos such as The Crisis of Credit, and while I understand that anything like that would be overly ambitious, I'd love to have some of that sort of text animation.

Additionally, the animation will involve up to 150 still photos, many of which I would like to show quickly in rapid succession (like the Many Faces of Paris Hilton (warning, autoplaying sound)).

The final home for the animation would be vimeo or youtube.

What software should I use (I'm using Windows) and where can I find some basic tutorials on this sort of animation? I've got a budget to work with, so it's okay if the best solution is not free.

posted by msbrauer to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Any mainstream animation software should do what you want. Adobe Flash is the most common for non-professionals (and some professionals) and Toon Boom Studio is another option that imitates traditional animation a little more closely.

They both have demos, so I'd suggest downloading them, going through their tutorials, and seeing if one or both work for you.

Before you look at tutorials for animation in general, check out the getting started tutorials for each of those pieces of software, and pick which one you're going to use. Any tutorials are going to be pretty software-specific (unless you're doing character animation like cartoons, which it doesn't sound like you're doing), so you'll want to have your software picked out first.

If in doubt, I'd recommend Flash. I've used both, and while each is better for some things, Flash is the more widely used, so it's going to have more resources available to you online.
posted by lore at 7:50 AM on August 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

I remember Neil Cicierega saying that he used Flash for his Animutations--e.g., Hyakugojyuuichi!! Probably not what you're trying to create, but it shows that a kid with really no training can use Flash to create interesting/seizure inducing videos that are viewed literally millions of times.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 8:21 AM on August 12, 2010

I know you want to make it yourself, but have a look at Animoto to see good use of photo transitions.
posted by Gomez_in_the_South at 8:55 AM on August 12, 2010

Before you get TOO carried away, why not take a look at what you can do with an app you probably have on your Windows PC already - Microsoft PowerPoint? I'm really NOT kidding. I've created simple animations using PowerPoint as a way to prototype ideas, and i know a lot of other people have as well (I can't find the link, but at one time, David Byrne was making these...). Just a thought...
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 1:11 PM on August 12, 2010