Line Boil Effect

[FoundPebble]

I know Moho can do this noise effect on vector objects where the lines jiggle, but is there any way to do this on images too like psd files or pngs? If not, is there an editing program or any program that I can use to do this in post? I know there is stuff like after effect, but I cannot afford anythng like that so hopefully something either free or a smaller one time payment?

[FoundPebble]

If not, maybe I'll skip the psd and just do vectors or keep the psd and skip the line boils. I'm still trying to figure out the best technique on animating my projects, but it's a bit of a struggle.

[Greenlaw]

Yeah, the easiest way is to use a compositing program like After Effects or Fusion. If you only want to apply the effect to the lines, you'll need to render the outlines in a separate pass. Instead of applying it to only the lines, I would just apply it to the entire character layer...it's easier and should look fine.

I haven't tried doing this entirely inside Moho but here are some ideas:

First, if you want to apply this only the outlines, make the outline a separate layer in your character art. From there, there are two ways you can apply the effect:

1. Make the outline a cycling image sequence with the jiggle animation applied. You really only need maybe 2-3 frames in the sequence but that's up to you.

To make the jiggle effect, you can either freehand re-draw the lines (in your paint program) for each new frame or you can apply some kind of turbulent or fractal displacement to the image for each frame. The former is more work to do but it will look more convincing. Since this is a cycling effect, you only need to do this for a few frames.

2. Or, if you don't want to use an image sequence for the jiggle, you can use a mesh warp with a cycling animation to 'jiggle' the outlines. This is a little tricky because you'll need to apply the mesh to every outline layer. This probably won't run efficiently since it may require many mesh warps, and the higher the image resolution, the slower it will go. To make the jiggle effect for the mesh, use Script > Animation > Noisy Point Animation... (Update: No, avoid that; use the Noise tool instead. See the next post for more info.)

3. If you're looking for something easy and fast that applies to your entire character, I suggest pre-rendering the character as a separate pass (using Layer Comps and Moho Exporter,) and then apply the mesh warp to that layer. To animate the jiggle, use the script described above. (Update: forget the script, use the method described in the next post.)

You'll have to apply the mesh warp to the the entire display area of the layer if the character is moving across the screen. This is essentially doing what I describe a the top of this post but inside Moho.

I suggest trying #3 first since it seems like the easiest. Try it with something simple first so you get an idea of what the effect looks like. If you feel more ambitious, try #1. You'll probably want to avoid #2, it sounds like a headache to me.

Hope this helps.

[Greenlaw]

Update: I just took a look at what the Noisy script actually does and it might not be the right kind of noise. IMO, you're better off using the Noise tool to create the displacement effect. It worked much better in the quick test I just did.

If I have time tonight after work, I might be able to whip up a example file.

[FoundPebble]

Thank you for your suggestions. I like method three, but unfortunately, I don't think the version I have has the noise tool or mesh warps.