ne of the coolest post-production techniques to date is animating still photos. For 2D/3D designers even photographers who know little to nothing about animation, learning how to animate a still image will really set you apart from the crowd.
Cinematography, has been growing in popularity over the years due it’s simplicity, yet eye catching motions. The thing with cinematography however, is that you essentially work backwards. What I mean is, you start from a video, and freeze parts of it, with the next step is to export it as either an animated gif, or back to a video.
Plotograph is different as you don’t need to start with a video, but just a regular static image.
The idea behind these graphics is to create dynamic movement while the rest of the photo is still static. This gives that “hey wait did I just see…..” impression, and thus causes people to do a double take on what they are seeing.
Depending on how effective and interesting the animation is, the more likely the viewer will be enticed by it and whatever message you have to go with it. This technique is very useful in the world of marketing, but it is also extremely fun (and addictive) once you get the hang of it.
The process is pretty quick, and the interface is pretty simple. It kind of reminds me of Photoshop CC. Here is my workflow:
First, import your image, click the Brush Tool, and Mask All
Select the Eraser Brush and begin to erase around the areas you want to be animated. For my image, I selected the clouds, and the water both around the weapon and the lake that my mermaid is in.
Now for the fun part. Click the Animation Points tab. You’re going to want to add animation points to the areas you used your eraser tool on. All you have to do is click and drag the points in the direction you want them to go. Have fun with this step. At the bottom of the screen there is a Play button you can click to see how your animation will look.
If an animation point is not exactly where you want it, just click Command/Control Z on your keyboard. You can also delete points by going back to the Animation Points tab and using the “Delete Points’ function. That way you can select points on the graphic individually to remove them.
You can change the speed of how your image animates as well as how it animates by clicking the Animation Properties tab. Give it a try!
Finally, you can also adjust the feather properties, in order to smooth out your edges. Once you are finished, simply pick through a few of the export options.
Once you are finished, simply pick through a few of the export options. I exported my animation as a MP4, which I then manually uploaded to Youtube. Hopefully in the future, they will find a way to make this process seamless.
And that’s the basics!
At the time of this writing, Plotograph has made some really welcomed improvements and enhancements to their software. You can now add audio, video, and still elements both from their library and even yours. I found this feature pretty helpful as when I used this software in the days of it’s beta, I had to port the exported video file to Photoshop or After Effects to add additional functions. Thankfully that step is no longer needed.
Plotograph has both desktop and mobile apps. I haven’t tried out the mobile versions, but I imagine it to be more or less the same as the desktop versions. The software works for both Mac/PC, Android/iOS.
The one thing I don’t like too much about Plotograph is it’s pricing modal. It seems like everyone is on the “Subscription Modal” for their products instead of allowing users to buy said products out right. Thus, it can get pretty expensive…especially if you don’t plan on using it a whole lot. To my knowledge, Plotograph is technically free with restrictions. They do subtract some tools like the audio, video, and still overlays.
The annually billed monthly contract version is $9.99 per month and the month to month contract is $19.99. There is also a yearly contract that is $99.99 (which is not too bad considering 2 years ago it was marked at $300 yearly for God knows why.) So only get this if you are convinced this software is for you. If not, I suggest going with the free version. You can always add audio and such in Photoshop or After Effects if you need to. There are also tons of tutorials and plugins for Photoshop so you can get these similar effects, so be on the lookout for those as well.
Anyway, below is another example I created with Plotograph. I used Photoshop to add a sparkle overlay and sound as this was created before Plotagraphs update.
For more information on the software, go here: https://plotaverseapps.com
Note, my opinion on this product is my own. This post is not sponsored nor am I being paid for this. I did this review simply because I find this product to be pretty cool and felt like saying something about it in case others are interested.
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