Installation

Animation-ish is installed and operates on your local hard drive. However, an internet connection is required to access the Lessons component of the program.

Minimum System Requirements

PC Users

• Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP or Vista (XP requires Service Pack 2)
• 800 MHz Intel® Pentium® III
• 256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended)
• 100 MB of available hard disk space
• 24-bit color display capable of 1024x768 resolution
• Video card supporting Direct 3D or OpenGL
• Apple QuickTime® Player version 5, or later (available as a free download from www.apple.com/quicktime/)

Macintosh Users

• Mac OS X 10.4.x or later
• PowerPC G5 (minimum) or Intel® Core™ processors (recommended)
• 256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended)
• 120 MB of available hard disk space

Optional Enhancements

Drawing Tablet
While a drawing tablet is not required, and you can have plenty of fun using the mouse with Animation-ish, having a drawing tablet will help you increase your enjoyment. Drawing tablets have become very affordable recently, so you may want to investigate purchasing one. FableVision recommends Wacom® drawing tablets, which offer entry level products at affordable prices, as well as high-end professional models.

Program Settings

Once you’ve started using Animation-ish, you may want to change some of the settings within the program to suit your needs. Under Edit. . . Preferences (PC) or Animation-ish. Preferences (Mac) you can do just that:

General
Check out all the fun background textures available to personalize your program! Here you can also choose your tracing options for use with the Trace command (see page 22).

Shortcuts
Once you become comfortable with the program, you may want to set up key commands that will efficiently allow you to carry out basic operations such as playing your animation, or switching to the Eraser tool, then back to your Brush. . . all with a simple keystroke! You will also find basic keystroke commands under the various menus at the top of the program window.

Display
If you are experiencing poor performance running Animation-ish, here you will find settings that may help the program run more smoothly. For instance, if your animation plays slowly or roughly, try unchecking “OpenGL Full Scene Anti-Aliasing,” or try a different rendering mode.

Quick Start

Get ready to make your mark! Getting started is easy – just follow these steps. While you can use any level in the program right from the start, you might want to warm up with Wiggledoodle-ish. This is the easiest level and a fun place to play.

From your desktop, double-click the Animation-ish icon. When the Animation-ish title screen appears, we suggest clicking on the Wiggledoodle-ish dot.

Use the Tools in the left-hand box to create and manipulate your art.The Brush is your main drawing tool. Use the Paint tool to change the color of your mark or fill in the area inside of it. Use the Eraser tool to rub out your mark. Use the Select tool to select part or all of your drawing. With this tool, you can grow, shrink, or rotate your marks. Change your paint color by clicking on the colors Paintbox. Use the Brush Size scale to increase the size of your mark.

Prepare to watch your masterpiece move... It's simple as 1-2-3.

Draw
Draw something. . . anything. . . something simple, something you like to draw. It could be a ball, or an apple, or a heart, or even your name! Just click on the brush and then use your mouse to draw. Don’t worry if you don’t like your fi rst line. You can use the Undo button, our “gobbler” creature on the top row. He’ll gobble it away! If you want to erase just a little bit, the Eraser is in the toolbox on the left. But DON’T WORRY! Whatever it looks like, it will be fun! Once you create a picture you like, click the forward Next button. This will give you a new, blank frame so you can trace your fi rst picture.

Trace
You’ll see a very helpful outline of the fi rst drawing that you did. Just trace it. DON’T WORRY about tracing it exactly! That is part of the fun! Use tools and color to trace your art. If you don’t see an outline of your art, click the Trace button at the top of the page. Draw a new image, using the lighter image as a guide. Again, click the forward Next arrow. Use your tools and colors to retrace your image, as closely or “ishfully” as you want!

Play
It’s time to make your mark move! Click the Play button on the bottom right hand-side to watch your Wiggledoodle-ish come alive!

Walkthrough Guide - Overview - Three levels of animation

Welcome to the Animation-Ish Walkthrough Guide! Grab a cup of creativi-tea and join us on a stroll through
Animation-ish. This guide describes how to use all of the tools within the program.

• Wiggledoodle-ish: This level is always a good place to begin, especially if you’re new to drawing and animation. Wiggledoodleish lets you create a basic, three-frame animation (also known as a cycling animation) in just a few clicks. Here you can Import an image to your Stage to trace over. For additional instructions on Wiggledoodle-ish see the Quick Start guide.
• Flipbook-ish: Flipbook-ish is just like Wiggledoodle-ish, but it lets you add frames to create more complex animations.
  Here, you can:
  • Add as many frames as you like
  • Rearrange frame sequence
  • Cut, Copy and Paste
  • Change the speed of your animation
  With these added tools, you can get a little more elaborate. You can go beyond just making an object wiggle and shimmer, and create a whole motion sequence.
• Advanced-ish: Advanced-ish lets you have TWO levels of animation, so you can create an animated character (Foreground) and an animated landscape (Background).
  With this level, you get new features:
  • Timeline
  • Timeline Marker
  • Duplicate button
  • Exposure button
  • Transform tool
  • Add/Subtract Keyframe buttons
  • Grabber tool
    In addition, you’ll enjoy:
    • More colors in the Paintbox (bigger color wheel)
    • Art Library

Home page

This is where you can decide which level you want to use: Wiggledoodle-ish, Flipbook-ish or Advanced-ish. You can always get back to the main menu by clicking on the Home button anywhere in the program.

The project vault

The Project Vault button will open up all the fi les saved in the program. This is where you will fi nd your saved work. You will also fi nd some examples that Peter H. Reynolds drew for you to help you get started! You can also get to the Project Vault when you are in the program by clicking on the Open button at the top of screen.You’ll notice that when you open the Project Vault there are separate places to fi nd work depending upon the level you were in when you saved the work. For example, if you click on a file in the fi rst box, the Wiggledoodle-ish box, the drawing will open up in that level. When you fi rst open the program, you will see samples already there in each level. You’ll fi nd fun drawings like the bird and the bird house, as well as simple shapes like balls and triangles. Spend a few minutes looking around this treasure
chest! Find the trees, stars and fish!

Ish-Starters

Did you notice as you were exploring the vault, that some were called Ish-Starters, such as Ishstarter_car or Ishstarter_moving_cloud? What’s an “ish-starter”? Open one up and see! Each one has an image AND some helpful hints from Peter H. Reynolds about what to do with the image to create some fun. Look at Ishstarter_car below and see. Just erase Peter’s notes to you and you are on your way!

The Art Library Organizer

The Art Library provides a place for you to access art or animations created in Wiggledoodle-ish or Flipbook-ish. This tool becomes available to you in Advanced-ish. When you click the Organize button in Advanced-ish, it will open the Art Library Organizer. You can also get to the Art Library Organizer from the Project Vault.

Projects currently in My Library will appear in the Art Library in Advanced-ish. When you select a project in the My Projects column, you can click the top green arrow to transfer a project into My Library. Click on the bottom green arrow to remove a fi le from My Library. You can also click Browse to select a folder of artwork (Animation-ish Samples, Backgrounds or Ish-starters, for example) to bring it into My Library. Any projects or artwork you add to My Library can be retrieved from the Art Library window in Advanced-ish. You can pull those projects or images right into the animation you are working on!

Using Flipbook-ish

When you click on the FlipBook-ish button on the Home Page, you will open the program in level 2, FlipBook-ish. You can always tell which level you are working in as the big dot on the top left will tell you.One of the fi rst big changes you’ll see in Flipbook-ish is the bottom area of screen, which has a yellow square and a Plus button. This is a visual representation of your “frames.” Each frame represents one drawing. The yellow border indicates which frame you are currently on. You can have as many frames as you want!As you draw, everything you see in the stage can also be seen in the frame thumbnail. You can see the progression of your animation across the bottom of the screen in the Timeline.To add a new frame, you can either click the Plus button, or the Next button, just as you would in Wiggledoodle-ish. The new frame will not show up in the Timeline until you make your fi rst mark. Remember, at any time you can jump to another frame and change it by clicking on its thumbnail in the Timeline.You can always take your drawingto Advanced-ish by clicking Next Level!

If you want to get rid of one of your frames, use the little Delete Frame button (minus sign) on the left hand side of the sequence, and voila, it will disappear.

If you want to insert a blank frame in front of the current active frame, click the little Insert Frame button (plus sign) on the left hand side of the sequence, and you will have a new frame to draw in!

You can play your animation at any time by hitting the Play button, just as in Wiggledoodle-ish. The Loop button will play your animation over and over and over again, starting at the current active frame.

If you want your animation to play slower or faster, use the Speed Bar.

Remember, you can use the Copy, Cut and Paste tools to save a lot of time. You can either Copy and Paste marks to the same frame, or copy them to a new frame without having to Trace the previous frame. This way you can quickly make an exact copy of your drawing.

To copy a frame, select a frame in the Timeline, click Copy, create a new frame using the Plus or Next buttons, then click Paste. A new frame will be created, with the same drawing as the original. You can also use the Duplicate button to copy an entire frame. Duplicate will only copy a single frame, but you can still use Copy and Paste to copy multiple frames. To copy and paste lines, select them with the Select tool, and hit Copy, then Paste.

Using Advanced - Ish

The Timeline:
In Advanced-ish your frames are now represented in the Timeline by symbols rather than thumbnails. The Timeline gives you a way of seeing the animation sequence you’re building, frame by frame. You no longer need to add frames by clicking a button – all your frames are immediately available to you in the Timeline. If you’re looking at the Timeline and you see a yellow square, there’s a drawing there. If the square is white, then it’s an empty frame. Easy, right? Next, there’s the all-important Frame Marker – the vertical pink line – which can be dragged up and down the Timeline (using your cursor) so you can see which frame you are currently drawing on. You can slide the marker to the far right-hand side and the Timeline will reveal more frames for you to continue your animation in.

The Exposure Button:
Another new tool in Advanced-ish is the Exposure button. Let’s imagine that you’ve created twelve separate drawings of a fl ower growing and you now want to “stop and smell the roses”— that is, to pause a frame as time passes. With every click on the Exposure button, you’re holding or pausing that last image for one or more frames. To continue pausing, just keep clicking the Exposure button.When you use the Exposure button you will see the yellow Timeline frames aren’t using full lines to separate the frames anymore. Instead, the Timeline is showing little “quarter-tick” lines to tell you when a single drawing is being held for multiple frames. It’s almost as if you now have a continuous piece of tape stretching your image and holding it up for all to see.

The Transform Tool:
Okie dokie. You’ve created a frame. You can pause it. You can duplicate it and modify it. Now you want to make your drawing move, for instance from the left side of the frame to the right. One handy way is using the Transform tool (the little moving truck), which lets the computer “move” your drawing from one part of the screen to the other. After drawing your image, use the Duplicate or Exposure button to extend your image for several frames on the timeline. Now select the first frame and click the Add Keyframe button, which will “box up” your drawing. Then select the last frame in your sequence and hit the Add Keyframe button again. Think of Keyframes as little moving boxes, to move your animations from one place to another. The Transform tool is your moving van. . . let it take your animation where it needs to go!

The gray box in your drawing area is your Stage. When you Share (export) your animation, only the marks inside the Stage will be included. Keep this in mind as you draw!

After you have your fi rst and last Keyframes, click on the Transform tool, click on a part of your image, and BINGO, you’ve got a four-arrow Move cursor, with your image surrounded by a box. You also have two nifty Circles:

• The BLUE CIRCLE is your Anchor Point for the image (like putting a push pin through a piece of paper and being able to spin the image around the pin).
• The RED CIRCLE is just an easier way to highlight where you are on the Movement Track. The Movement Track is like a road for your Transform truck, and resembles train tracks that connect your starting and ending points.

You can now move your fi rst and last drawings to different locations, and when you play your movie, you will see the image move! The handle bars around your image can be used to enlarge or shrink your image, so that it will appear to change size as it moves. Feel free to experiment with these tools. If you move one of the middle frames in your sequence, you’ll see it change to a Keyframe in the Timeline, and it will let you make a curved path for your drawing.

Maintain the proportions of your drawing by holding the “shift” key while using the Select tool. The “shift” key will also allow you to move your drawing along a straight path when using the Transform tool. Can’t find the color you need in the Paintbox? Double-click on any color in it to display a rainbow of shades.

For a real challenge, you can draw a three-frame looping animation, and have it move while it’s looping. Here’s how: First, make a three-frame animation, then Copy and Paste those three frames over and over on the Timeline. Then convert the fi rst and last frame of the entire sequence into a Keyframe, and use the Transform tool to move them to different locations on the Stage. You will see all the in-between frames fi ll in the path between them. This is a great way to make a bird fl ap its wings as it fl ies across the screen. You can also use the Delete Keyframe button to delete a Keyframe if you don’t need it anymore. Now hit Play. Presto! Your bird soars!.

If you run into problems, don’t worry! In the Lessons section of the program, there are Video Tutorials that will help explain how to use the Transform tool.

Basic Tools

Use the Brush tool to draw your mark. You can adjust Brush Size in the right-hand box, by clicking and dragging the orange pointer. Choose your favorite colors from the right-hand Paintbox. Use the Paint tool to change the color of your mark or fill in the area inside of it. Choose a color from the right-hand Paintbox. Click once in a part of your drawing to color it. Use the Eraser tool to rub out your marks. You can adjust the Eraser size by using the Brush Size slider. Use the Select tool to select part or all of yourdrawing. With this tool, you can grow, shrink, or rotate your marks. Change your mark by clicking and dragging the box that appears. The “handle” on the right will allow you to rotate your mark.

Advanced Tools

The Transform tool helps move your drawing using Keyframes, like boxing up your animation to move from its old home to a new home on the Stage. The Grabber tool allows you to “pick up and grab” the frame so you can see what is hiding outside of the Stage. Remember, what’s outside the gray frame will not be visible when Shared!

Click Home to return to the Home Screen. Click New to create a new Animation-ish project. Click Open to open a saved Animation-ish project.Click Share to export your animation as a viewable file that can be sent to a friend or posted online. File formats include Flash, QuickTime, AVI, Image Sequence and more! Click Undo to undo your last action. Click Delete to erase a selected mark. Click Pressure to change the pressure sensitivity of your brush stroke when using a pen input device, such as the Wacom® tablet. Click Behind to draw behind the marks you have already drawn. Click Trace to see an outline of the previous frame’s drawing. Click Import to insert an image from a different application, File formats supported include Photoshop, JPEG, TGA, GIF, PNG and BMP. Click Save to save your project to your computer to work on it later.The Zoom tools allow you to zoom in or out.Use the Cut, Copy and Paste buttons to duplicate or remove parts of your drawing.

Lessons, Tips and Techniques

In the Lessons section of the program (accessed through the Home Page), you will discover help not only on how to use the program, but also hints on animation. An internet connection is required to access this part of the program. New lessons are added periodically. The fi rst time you click on Lessons, you will be asked to register an account. You will need to choose a user name and password. By sharing your email address with us, we will send you notifi cation that new lessons have been posted. If there are more than one of you in your family using the program, you can each have an account to view the Lessons. Click Save to save your project to your computer to work on it later. The Zoom tools allow you to zoom in or out. Use the Cut, Copy and Paste buttons to duplicate or remove parts of your drawing.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I need a Wacom® tablet to run the program? What is a Wacom tablet?
  A Wacom tablet is the common name for a digital input device you can use instead of a mouse, in which you draw with a special pen (stylus) onto a small tablet, and the lines appear on the computer. It allows for a much freer drawing experience, however you don’t need one to use the program – you can just draw with your computer mouse. While Wacom is the leading manufacturer of digital tablets, there are other comparable products to choose from on the market.
• How do I add another picture to my animation?
  In Wiggledoodle-ish, click the right arrow button to add a frame (you are limited to three frames in that level). In Flipbook-ish, the small squares at the bottom of the screen show you a small version of your drawings. The one with the large green Plus sign is the next blank frame, ready to draw on – just click on that frame, or click on the black arrow at the far right, to start a new frame. In Advanced-ish, simply click on any blank white square in the timeline to start a new frame. This level also has options to extend your current frame or duplicate your current frame.
• Can I change the colors in my Paintbox?
  If you double-click on any color in your Paintbox, you will get a color picker, which allows you to choose a new color for that spot.
• How do I change the color of a line?
  You can change the color of a line by using the Paint tool. You can also select several lines with the Select tool, and click a new color in the palette, and all the lines will change to that color.
• Can I add sound or music to my animation?
  You can add sound or music to your Animation-ish project by exporting your animation as a Quicktime® fi le, and then adding your audio in a third party program. On an Apple® computer we highly recommend the iLife® software suite.
• What is “Inspire Me”?
  The Inspire Me button shows you short video clips of author/ illustrator Peter H. Reynolds, co-creator of Animation-ish, who will give you some “ishful” advice on animation and creativity.
• Can I add a new drawing between two other drawings?
  Yes, you can do this in the second and third levels of the program. In Flipbook-ish, select any frame and then click the Insert Frame button on the left with a tiny plus sign inside a circle (the button with the minus sign will delete a frame). In Advanced-ish, you can select the spot on the Timline where you wish to insert a new frame and hit Duplicate, then delete the new frame’s contents. OR, you can always rearrange frames by shift+clicking the first and last frames in the sequence you wish to move and dragging them further down the Timeline, thus making room for new blank frames.
• The Pressure button does not seem to affect my line - why?
  The Pressure button only works if you have a drawing tablet, which attaches to your computer and is sold separately. With a tablet, you can draw lines that become thicker as you apply more pressure.
• Can I zoom in to my drawing for a closer look?
  You can zoom in to your drawing in Advanced-ish by using the Zoom tools.
• Advanced-ish: What is that gray box on the screen?
  The gray box is the Stage – it shows you the actual boundary of your animation. When you export your movie to Share, it will only show the part within the gray border.
• Advanced-ish: what’s the difference between Duplicate Frame and Add Exposure?
  Duplicating a frame makes an exact copy of an existing frame, so that it can be changed slightly in the next frame. The Exposurebutton “freezes” a frame so that it remains unchanged while time
  passes. Everytime the Exposure button is pressed, your drawing remains “frozen” for one more frame.
• Advanced-ish: I tried to “cut” one drawing, and it deleted ALL my drawings - why?
  The Cut, Copy and Paste commands work with lines you have drawn and also with entire frames. If you select part of your drawing, that is what gets copied or cut. If you happen to select one or more frames in your timeline, all those frames will be copied or cut. So make sure you have the right item selected.
• Advanced-ish: What is a “Keyframe” used for? Can’t I just choose an empty frame and draw in it?
  A Keyframe is a way of “boxing up” your drawing so that it can be moved from one area of the Stage to another over a series of frames. This is how movement is created along a path. The Transform tool is like your “moving van,” it helps you move the Keyframes from one “home” to another.
• Advanced-ish: Can I group my lines together to move them around?
  Sorry, you cannot “group” lines in Animation-ish. However, you can use the Select tool to shift+click to select multiple marks and move them together this way, or use the Select tool to click and drag over an area of the Stage.
• Advanced-ish: Can I add my own drawings to the library?
  The drawings you create in Animation-ish are, by default, placed into the My Projects folder when you save your project. Once you have saved, you can then use the two green arrows in the Art Library Organizer to decide which projects will be included in My Library, for use with level 3: Advanced-ish. If you want to include your own scanned artwork or a digital art file, you can do this in Wiggledoodle-ish by using the Import tool, however you can only Trace your artwork in this level. You can also do this in Advanced-ish by using the same Import tool. However in this level, you can actually make your image part of your animation! You can then Save your project, and load its art into the Library using the Organizer.
• Advanced-ish: I cannot select my drawing with the Select tool - why?
  In Advanced-ish, there are two layers to draw in: Foreground and Background. You can only select or draw in a frame if you have that layer selected. This makes it easier to work on one layer without disturbing the other.
• My Background is covering up my Foreground - why?
  When you select the Background layer, that layer is brought to the front temporarily while you work on it. In order to put it back, simply select the Foreground layer.I tried using the Transform tool to move an object across the screen but it didn’t work.When using the Transform tool, your Timeline must be several frames long to create a moving sequence. In the first frame of the sequence, click on your drawing with the Transform tool and position it where you would like your object to start. That should place a Keyframe box in the active frame. Now move your Timeline Marker to the last frame of the sequence, and use your Transform tool to position your object where you would like it to end moving. There should be another Keyframe box in the last frame, and a line connecting the two positions.