Animating by hiding and showing layers

In the Layers palette, any visible layer appears with an eye icon () beside it.

Perhaps the simplest way to create a two-step animation is by toggling the visibility of two layers. For example, you can make an animated character alternate between different expressions or make an object move back and forth in a simple pattern.

To define an animation, you use the Layers palette in conjunction with the Animation palette. On the Animation palette, you add new frames, update existing frames, change the order of frames, and preview the animation.

Creating a simple animation

In this part of the lesson, you’ll animate the shaking of a cartoon juice blender. The blender image is built in several layers. You’ll create animation frames that alternate between hiding and showing two of those layers, representing different positions of the blender pitcher.

1.	Choose File > Open, and open the file Blender.psd from the Lessons/Lesson16 folder on your hard drive. In the Animation palette, a single default frame appears, showing the current state of the image. The frame is selected (outlined with a border), indicating that you can change its content by editing the image. In the Layers palette, an eye icon () appears next to Layer 1, indicating that this is the only visible layer in the image.
2.	In the Animation palette, click the Duplicate Current Frame button () to create frame 2.
3.	In the Layers palette, click the box for the Layer 2 eye icon to display this layer in the image. (Because Layer 2 sits above Layer 1 in the stacking order, it completely blocks the view of Layer 1.)
4.	In the Animation palette, make sure that Forever is selected in the Looping pop-up menu in the lower left corner of the palette.

Navigating animation frames and previewing the animation

You can use a number of techniques to preview and scroll through your animation frames. Understanding the controls available on the Animation and Layers palettes is essential to mastery of the animation process.

A. Looping pop-up menu B. First Frame button C. Backward button D. Play button E. Forward button F. Tween button G. Duplicate Current Frame button H. Trash I. Selected frame

1.	In the Animation palette, click the first thumbnail to select that frame. In the image window and the Layers palette, only Layer 1 is visible.
2.	Click the second thumbnail. Now Layer 2 is also visible.
3.	In the Animation palette, click the Backward button () to move to the other frame. (Try clicking the button repeatedly in quick succession, and watch the manual playback of the animation in the image window.)
4.	In the Layers palette, click the Backward or Forward button in the lower left corner of the palette, and notice results similar to the previous step. A. Layers palette Backward button B. Layers palette Forward button
5.	Click the Play button () in the Animation palette to preview the animation. The Play button becomes the Stop button (), which you can click to stop the playback. Now you’ll preview the animation in a Web browser.
6.	Choose File > Preview In > and choose a browser application on the Preview In submenu. You can also do this step by pressing Ctrl+Alt+P (Windows) or Command+Option+P (Mac OS) to launch a browser preview quickly, or clicking the browser button on the toolbox. Note To use the Preview In command, you must have a browser application installed on your system. For more information, see “Previewing an image in a browser” in Photoshop 7.0 online Help (in ImageReady, choose Help > ImageReady Help).
7.	When you have finished previewing the animation, quit the browser window, and return to Adobe ImageReady.
8.	Choose File > Save Optimized As, name the image Blender.gif, and click Save.

Preparing layer copies for an animation

Now you’ll begin to animate a different element in the blender image, adding to the existing animation. In this procedure, you’ll use the same basic technique—hiding and showing layers in different frames—to create your animation, but this time, you’ll also create the different layers by copying and transforming a single layer.

Before adding layers to an image that already contains an animation, it’s a good idea to create a new frame. This step helps protect your existing frames from unwanted changes.

1.	In the Animation palette, select frame 2 and click the Duplicate Current Frame button () to create a new frame (frame 3) that is identical to frame 2. Leave frame 3 selected.
2.	In the Layers palette, make the Drop layer visible. In the image window and in the frame 3 thumbnail, notice the juice drop that appears at the top left edge of the blender.
3.	In the Animation palette menu, click the New Layers Visible in All States/Frames command to deselect it (remove the checkmark), if necessary.
4.	In the Layers palette, select the Drop layer and drag it to the New Layer button () to duplicate the layer. Repeat this step so that you now have three drop layers: Drop, Drop copy, and Drop copy 2. (The order of these three layers in the Layers palette is unimportant.)

Moving and transforming layers for an animation

Now that you’ve prepared the layer duplicates in the Blender.psd file, you’ll transform the two copies so that the drop appears to fall in a smooth trajectory as it escapes the blender.

1.	In the Layers palette, select the Drop copy layer, and then select the move tool () in the toolbox.
2.	Drag the Drop copy layer to the left and down a short distance, as if it were falling in a smooth trajectory from the first position.
3.	Choose Edit > Free Transform. In the image window, the transformation bounding box appears around the Drop copy layer.
4.	Position the pointer outside the bounding box so that the pointer becomes a curved double arrow (), and then drag counterclockwise to rotate the drop about 30° (this does not have to be exact).
5.	Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS) to apply the transformation.
6.	In the Layers palette, select the Drop copy 2 layer and repeat the rest of steps 2–5, but rotating the drop a little more and moving it more to the lower left, as shown in the following illustration.
7.	Choose File > Save to save the image with the layers you’ve just created.

In ImageReady, the Save command saves the layered .psd file, including all of the animation and optimization information.

Creating the simultaneous animations

Now you’ll define the falling-drop animation by successively hiding and showing the layers of the Blender.psd file. You’ll also build in the shaking-blender animation as the drop falls. All of this is done by coordinating settings in the Layers and Animation palettes.

1.	In the Animation palette, make sure that frame 3 is selected, or select it now.
2.	In the Layers palette, select Layer 1, and click the eye icon () boxes as needed to make only the Layer 1 and Drop layers visible; hide the other three layers. Note When you hide or show a layer in a frame, the visibility of the layer changes for that frame only.
3.	In the Animation palette, click the Duplicate Current Frame button () to create frame 4.
4.	With frame 4 selected in the Animation palette, click eye icon boxes in the Layers palette as needed so that only Drop copy, Layer 2, and Layer 1 are visible. Hide the Drop layer and Drop copy 2 layer.
5.	Click the Duplicate Current Frame two more times, and then use the Layers palette eye icons to change the layer visibility as follows: For frame 5, make only Drop copy 2 and Layer 1 visible. For frame 6, make only Layer 2 and Layer 1 visible.

You can now use one of the navigation techniques you learned earlier to step through your animation. As the animation moves from frame to frame, the blender moves back and forth with each step. In each full cycle, the drop flies from the blender and falls in a three-step sequence.

If your results are different than described here, review the visibility settings on the Layers palette for each successive frame and make any necessary corrections.

Setting and previewing the timing sequence

Now you’ll set a delay for playing each frame in the animation, and then play it.

1.	From the Animation palette menu, choose Select All Frames.
2.	Click the time (0 seconds, which is the default) beneath one of the frames to open the Frame Delay pop-up menu, and choose 0.1 seconds. The new value appears below each frame thumbnail, indicating that the time delay applies to all the frames in the palette. (You can also vary the time delay for individual frames.)
3.	Click the Play button () in the Animation palette to view your animation, and then click the Stop button () when you’re ready to stop the animation.
4.	Choose File > Preview In, and choose a browser application from the submenu to play the animation with accurate timing. When you finish previewing, return to ImageReady.
5.	Choose File > Save Optimized As. Make sure that the image is named Blender.gif, click Save, and then click Replace to replace the existing file. The Save Optimized As command saves a file in the GIF, JPEG, or PNG format, for use in you Web pages. GIF is the only format that supports animations.
6.	Choose File > Close to close your original image without saving changes.

You’ve finished your work on the blender animation.