Go to Totally Hip

Making a Graphic Spin

  Making an animation of a spinning graphic is quite simple, although unlike many other effects, you have to create this one yourself without a transition or wizard. This tutorial steps you through the process of creating a spinning graphic using the Totally Hip logo

In this lesson you will learn:

   
  • how to duplicate cels
    how to rotate a graphic using the Rotate By Degrees command
    This tutorial uses the file SPIN.WPM in the Tutorials folder. This file consists of a one-cel graphic of the Totally Hip logo. You’ll duplicate the first cel and then rotate the graphic in each other cel slightly so that the end effect is of a spinning logo. The more cels you create, and the smaller the rotation each time, the smoother your rotation will be.
 
  1. Open the file SPIN.WPM. 
  2. Select the logo using the Marquee tool and copy it to the clipboard by using the Copy command in the Edit menu.

  3. Click on the Add Blank Cel button to add a new cel to the animation. 
  4. Paste the image in the clipboard onto the canvas using the Paste command in the Edit menu. You now see a selection on the canvas.
  5. On the Selection menu, click Rotate By Degrees. 
  6. Type 40. 
  7. Click OK. 
  8. Repeat Steps 4 to 7 for each remaining cel in the animation. Each time rotate the logo in the cel another 40 degrees. Use the following table to help you with the rotation.

  9. Cel Number Rotate Degrees  Cel Number Rotate Degrees
    2 40 6 200
    3 80 7 240
    4 120 8 280
    5 160 9 320

    The cels in your document should appear as follows:.


    Cel 1

    Cel 2

    Cel 3

    Cel 4

    Cel 5

    Cel 6

    Cel 7

    Cel 8

    Cel 9

    Another thing to remember is that the text is treated as a graphic when it’s rotated, and therefore becomes a bit blurry. The less complicated your original image is the better it will appear on screen. Try to choose a simple icon or logo to rotate.

  10. In the main window, click the Play button to view the finished animation. 
  Shortcuts
Although it might seem faster and easier to rotate one cel, duplicate it and rotate it again to create the next cel, you get a much cleaner and clearer final animation if you always rotate the original image. See the difference for yourself in the following examples.
   
  •  
    Cel 3:
    The original graphic rotated 80 degrees
    Cel 3:
    The original graphic rotated 40 degrees, and the resulting graphic rotated another 40 degrees

Contents   Previous Next