Guides to 2D animation

These guides are for anyone making 2D cartoons on their own, from a first bouncing ball to a series. Each one teaches the idea in plain words, with diagrams and short clips. Then it shows how to do it in Animperia, a 2D animation studio in your browser. The ideas work in any animation program.

Start here

• Animation software for beginners: how to choose your first program, frame by frame or rigs, free or paid, and what each kind suits.
• The 12 principles of animation: squash and stretch, timing, arcs and the rest, with examples you can try.
• How to animate without drawing every frame: rigs, tweens, reusable clips and holds, even with a mouse.

Movement and timing

• Animating on twos: ones, twos and threes, 12 against 24 frames per second, and when to use each.
• What is tweening? Keyframes, in-betweens, easing, and motion against shape tweens.
• How to animate a walk cycle: the contact, down, passing and up poses, with a pose reference sheet.

Characters and voices

• How to rig a 2D character: where the joints go, overlapping ends, naming parts and testing the rig.
• Lip sync animation: mouth shapes and timing, with a free mouth chart to download and print.
• How to make an object show: talking objects with arms and legs, from the first sketch to an episode.

Making episodes and sharing them

• How to make an animated series by yourself: a solo creator's workflow from script to export.
• Animated YouTube Shorts in 9:16: a tall canvas, safe areas and short-form pacing.
• A cartoon GIF that loops: the settings that keep a GIF small and smooth.
• Animation with a transparent background: see-through video for editors, OBS and web pages.

Want to try what you learn? Sign up for the free beta and animate in your browser.