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By István Szép, designer and illustrator

2D character animation with Inkscape and DragonBones

Language: English
All Levels

Course description

In this course you will learn how to combine two amazing free programs to create smooth and flexible 2D game character animations! Inkscape is a free and open-source Vector Illustration software. With it you can create versatile, ready-to-use character designs in no time! Draw anything, export in any size - Perfect for 2D game design! There are several great courses published about Inkscape, but in this one you can learn how to create a character and make it ready to animate! DragonBones is a free 2D Skeletal Animation program. Import your character parts, create the bone system and animate! It is really this easy! The standalone version just came out at the end of 2016, so this is the first full and comprehensive English course about DragonBones! There are only a very few DragonBones tutorial online, if you want to learn the software, this is a good place to start! During this game animation course you will - design a simple knight character in Inkscape (feel free to design your very own character using the same method!) - export the character properly to be used with DragonBones - assemble the character and build up the skeletal structure - create and use meshes to animate soft bodies, like cape and hair - create four basic animations for the same character: idle, walk, attack, die (more will be added later!) - easily modify your character to a totally new version, while keeping all the animations! The course is mostly about DragonBones, so you will need some basic Inkscape knowledge to follow the design part at the start! Follow the course and ask me anything as you develop your animations!

Course overview - 22

  • Welcome to the course!

  • Before you start!

  • Design the knight character in Inkscape - Part 1

  • Design the knight character in Inkscape - Part 2

  • Drawing the knight -3

  • Exporting from Inkscape for animation

  • Welcome to DragonBones!

  • Import and assemble your character to DragonBones

  • Create the bone system of your character

  • Use video references!

  • Our very first animation :)

  • Idle animation

  • Creating a mesh!

  • Animating more soft parts with mesh editing

  • Character walk cycle in DragonBones - Part 1: the first steps!

  • Character walk cycle in DragonBones - Part 2: move your arms!

  • Character walk cycle in DragonBones - Part 3: animating meshes!

  • Character walk cycle in DragonBones - Part 4: final touches

  • Creating an attack move - Part 1

  • Creating an attack move - Part 2

  • Dying animation sequence

  • Export your animated sprites from DragonBones

Learners who have already enrolled in this course

Meet your instructor

István Szép
István Szépdesigner and illustrator
I'm István Szép, a graphic designer, illustrator and design teacher for more than 10 years. My goal is to create clever logos and cute illustrations, to inspire, to share my knowledge and to make people think and laugh! My courses are mostly about vector illustration and 2d game art (characters, backgrounds etc.). I am thinking to do consultancy here as well, I am looking for a platform where I can teach design principles the same effective way I do in person at the college I teach, Also, I have almost ten years of expertise in freelancing, and I did one on one coaching sessions for fellow freelancers. That is also a possible topic for me to teach on the platform.