Flipbooks (a series of pictures in a book that seem to move when the pages are flipped quickly) are a lot of fun! Flipbooks are like your own personal movie or slideshow. Flipbooks are also a great way to have fun and learn how animation works! Flipbooks can be fun, thoughtful, as well as awesome. There are several ways to create your own flipbook, and many different things you can do with it. If you want to make your own flipbook from scratch, go to step 1. If you want to make one using a computer, go to the computer method.
Step
Step 1. Take a stack of paper
You can use a scrapbook, folded paper, loose leaf, printed paper, or even the edge of a book! Thin paper is usually better, as it is easier to flip. Thick paper can also be used with tongs, but it may be difficult or slow to turn the sheet over.
- How much paper do you need? The more frames (pages) per second used, the more realistic the movement of the object will be.
- Motion pictures generally have between 24 and 30 frames per second – which would take a lot of pictures, even for just a three-second flip! For flipbooks, the number of frames between 5 to 15 frames per second is sufficient.
Step 2. Choose your character
Start with the design or character you want to animate. You don't have to be a great artist, and your flipbook can feature anything you like. Your main character can be a stick figure, a person, an animal, or whatever you want to move like a car, a plane, a boat, and so on.
- Objects in the form of inanimate objects can also be used in flipbooks; simple objects like a bouncing ball can make great work.
- Flipbooks don't have to be animated; You can also use photos. Use your imagination!
Step 3. Fold the folded paper or scrapbook together
If you separate them, the flipbook will not work or it may fall apart.
Step 4. Find the bottom sheet of the paper stack used
Draw the first shape or object here. Use a pencil so you can erase drawing mistakes. You can make outlines from pencil to pen if you want to make them more visible later.
- You can also start from the top sheet of paper, but it will make it more difficult to get a smooth animation because you won't be able to refer to or see traces of the previous image (when drawing).
- You can also add a background image, if desired. The background image can be a static scene, like a house or something that doesn't move from one frame to the next, or it can be something moving, like clouds or airplanes.
Step 5. Turn to the next frame (next sheet from the bottom)
You should be able to see your original image seep through the paper. If not, the paper may be too thick or your pencil lines are not very clear, so try again as it is important that you can still see through the paper to know where to draw the object.
- If your character is going to move, draw it in a slightly different location.
- If it doesn't move, draw it in the same place.
- Larger changes to the figure will appear as faster movement when you flip. Smaller changes will appear as slower motion.
Step 6. Repeat this process
Keep drawing a character or object over and over until you run out of sheets of paper. For each image, make slight adjustments so that the character or object begins to change position or move. It's up to you how much you want the moves to be, but you should plan each move according to the number of pages you have so you can accommodate the moves.
Step 7. Try it
Test the final result to see if you get the character or object animation you want. If the animation doesn't seem to have changed much, go back and make some changes to help improve the motion of the animation.
Once you're happy with the animation, you can use a pen to outline the shape for easier viewing
Step 8. Be creative
There are many things you can do with a flipbook. Start with something simple, maybe with a bouncing ball, or an annoyed face that turns into a smiling face. You can even expand the image you started, and turn it into a different image.
For example, if you started with an image of a bouncing ball, you could start over, and add hands, feet and faces that "pop" every time the ball bounces
Method 1 of 1: Using a Computer
Step 1. Open a graphics program
Programs such as Photoshop, Elements, GIMP, or other graphics application programs that have an image layer (layer).
Step 2. Create a new document
To make it the size of folded paper, create a document that is 800 pixels long and wide (image size), and 300 dpi (approximately 118 dpcm) to make the image look good.
Step 3. Set the background image layer to white
If you wish, you can also draw a static background on this image layer which will appear at every frame.
Step 4. Create a new image layer
This image layer will be the first "page" of the flipbook. We will use a simple face image as an example, and change it from a serious face to a happy face.
Step 5. Make a duplicate of the first image layer
When you're done drawing on image layer 1, make a duplicate of it, then set the opacity of image layer 1 to 20 percent. That image layer will appear thinned out, which makes it easy to see your image on the next image layer.
Step 6. Click on the new image layer
Erase the parts from the first image layer that you don't want to use, and draw new positions for the image elements. In this example, we erased the eyebrows, pupils, and mouth, and made minor changes to each of them.
Step 7. Make a duplicate of the new image layer
Repeat the process of removing moving elements, and drawing the next stage of movement until you reach the last frame.
When you're done creating the image shapes from the previous image, make sure to change the opacity of each image layer back to 100 percent
Step 8. Turn it into a flipbook
There are several ways on how you can turn an image into a flipbook. The first is to make only one image layer at a time (plus the background image) visible, print it, then switch to the next image layer. When you have printed all the images, cut off the excess paper, hold the pages together with the stapler, and do the flip.
Cutting the paper is an important step, best done using a paper cutter, not scissors. You'll prefer that each page is neatly organized on the flipped side of the page, for your flip to be successful
Step 9. Make a movie
Instead of using paper to make a flipbook, you can also make a short mini-film. If your drawing program has the option of creating animations, consult the user guide on the best way to do that, but the basic process is like this: creating a frame for each stage of the animation, and showing only the specific image layers you want to display for that frame.
- In this example, we display a background image layer for each frame, and set each frame to another image layer: image layer 1, a copy of image layer 1, a 2nd copy of image layer 1, and so on.
- Set the number of loops you want – one, ten times, continuously – for how long you want to enjoy your animation.
Step 10. Copy and move (export) the flipbook
When you're done, use the export function and save your flipbook as a video file that you can put on YouTube for the world to see!
Tips
- Think about your design before starting.
- Keep in mind that by starting at the bottom of the sheet of paper, you'll get a better idea of where the next image will be.
- The more images used per second, the more realistic your film will look.
- Draw a flipbook using a pencil first. You can always outline the shape with a pen later. But, keep in mind that you are hard to erase pen lines. There are pens with erasable lines, but these are not ideal as you are likely to be using thin paper and the friction required to erase the ink will wrinkle the paper and destroy your work.
- One way to take care of a flipbook (and get yourself into a lot of trouble) is to have photos of each page in a state of motion-stopping.
- You can use the phonebook to create a longer flipbook. But, make sure to draw at the end of the page, or use black ink at the top of the page.
- You can start drawing from the top sheet if you wish, but it may be more difficult.
Warning
- Never draw for your film using separate folded paper.
- Never draw with a pen first.
- Be sure to use paper that doesn't break easily.
- Your flipbook can wear out with use and the pictures start to "skip".
