#curve tutorial

PART 1: DRAWING A CURVE

Trying this out as a screen recording for the first time since it's easier to show 🤡

PART 2: TEMPLATE

This part is optional and only applies if you want your curve to flow throughout all the gifs in your gifset. Of course, you can do your curves individually per gif, but it's generally better to have a template for how the entire curve will flow first so that the joining lines between each gif flow smoothly.

Create a new document for your template. For the height, calculate the height of the entire gifset, including the buffer areas between each gif (4px). E.g. for a gifset of 4 gifs, each of which are 540px in height, the total height would be 540px x4 gifs + 4px x3 buffers = 2172px

In your new document, go to View > Guide > New Guide Layout and change the number of rows to the number of gifs. Make sure Gutter is 4px.

In my case, for this gifset, I skipped step 2 and manually created the template for each gif instead, since every other gif has a different height.

Put in a single frame of each scene in your template (see image below).

5. Club the layers according to which gif they will be in, apply the corresponding layer masks for each gif, and draw your curve that will flow through all 5 gifs (see image below). The reason for doing this (having the previews of the scenes in at this stage) is so that as you're drawing your curve, you have a better idea of where it will flow.

6. Duplicate the curve such that each group (i.e. gif of your gifset) has one such curve layer.

7. When you're ready to edit your actual gif, import your scene into Photoshop and duplicate the layers for that particular gif to your imported document. You may need to shift your duplicated layers or crop your file to the right size.

PART 3: COLOURING

The colouring for this gifset is pretty straightforward since everything is in black and white.

1. Import all your scenes and position them accordingly. Add a mask on your curve layer so that you can mask out the parts of the curve you want to be "hidden under" your scene - so that your curve looks like it's interacting with your scenes.

2. These are the usual adjustment layers I use for black and white colouring, but it's up to you to use what you prefer or are familiar with. Play around with the numbers for each adjustment layer to see what works best for the particular scene.

3. Slap on a crumpled paper texture for an added grunge effect.

4. Colour the remaining scenes and done!

PART 4: OTHER GIFS THAT ALSO WORK THIS WAY

Progression 1: curves flowing to organic shapes

set: [x]

Using the same Curvature Pen Tool, but this time with the fill on, to create shapes first. Then, link up the shapes with lines.

Progression 2: flickering curves and organic shapes

set: [x]

On top of Progression 1, draw 2-3 variations of your curves and shapes and lay them out chronologically on timeline so that you get this flickering effect.

PART 1: THE BASICS 1: DRAWING A CURVE

see part 1 in older guide

PART 2: THE BASICS 2: DRAWING ORGANIC SHAPES

again, i’ve rendered this as a video since it’s easier to show that way

PART 3: TEMPLATE

see part 2 steps 1-6 in older guide

adding on to that, if you want to hide certain shapes or lines behind parts of the still image, you’ll also need to mask the parts you want to be hidden:

this is what my template for that particular set looked like:

PART 4: CREATING THE FLICKERING EFFECT

now, this is where things get a little bit more tedious

*note: the header gif of this post uses a duration of 5 frames instead, since the text is flickering as well and a 3 frame duration is too hard on the eyes. it’s really up to you how long you want each flicker to last

and this is what the flickering effect on the template will look like, without any gifs added/ typography on it yet

i say this is tedious because while this demo looks easy since it’s only 1 shape and 1 curve, the reality is on a full actual template you’re working with multiple shapes and curves on each gif (at least 3-4 gifs for this effect to really look nice), so it’s really important that you label your layers properly. for instance, this is what my template for the middle gif alone looked like:

PART 5: CLIPPING GIFS TO THE SHAPES

first, refer to part 2 step 7 in the older guide to transfer your template to your individual gif files

then, read on (we're almost done!)

the final effect (ofc without colouring and typography in since this is just a demo):