Is there life beyond poker at the Mincey home? Yes. Back in the day, pre-digital life, I was a sketch artist.
The reason I’m a computing geek these days is because I wasn’t much of an artist in those days.
Today I’m taking a page from Grandma Moses‘ book of life and starting a new career. Alright, career isn’t the right word. Let’s call it a hobby based upon a lifelong dream. Sketches that become animation.
My digital life being what it is I don’t have much money to toss into a hobby, so I chose Animation Desk for Mac. For only a few dollars you get a Mac version of the popular iPad and iPhone app that creates animation from sketches.
Simply put, Animation Desk is a Mac version of a sketch artists tools for drawing.
If you’ve ever had the sketching but and would like to see it transferred to Mac or iPad, give this list of basic functions a once over.
First, the interface is intuitive and it makes sketches fun. It uses Layers so laying one graphic element on top of another is easy.
There’s an option for both dynamic and static backgrounds which also make it easier to trace… uh, sketch over. The built-in frame manager lets you edit, copy, move, and delete frames.
The real value for artists is in the painting tools– fill tool, pencil, crayon, and multiple brushes and eraser. Opacity and sizes are adjustable.
Finally, your animations can be shared using YouTube, Facebook, or as emailed animations. Animations can be transferred between Mac and iPad and iPhone. Of the versions, my favorite is the iPad which more faithfully resembles a sketch pad.
For Mac users, make sure you have a recent and fast Mac, as Animation Desk requires plenty of CPU horsepower.