Animation is a fascinating art form that has changed tremendously throughout time. From Walt Disney’s hand-drawn classics to Pixar’s cutting-edge 3D cartoons, the possibilities in animation appear limitless. “Tweening” is a vital technique for bringing animated characters and objects to life.

In this article, we will explore what tweening is and how it can be effectively used in animation to create smooth and realistic motion.

What Is Tweening in Animation?

While the finished product looks and feels familiar, the procedure is quite different. Tweening is one of those processes. Let’s start with a simple definition of tweening, followed by several instances and the method itself.

Tweening is the technique of making the visuals that appear between keyframes. The result is a smooth transition between two keyframes that illustrate separate points in an activity.

Tweening is required to create the illusion of movement with motionless images. In-between frames are often seen as less important than keyframes. Keyframes are often drawn by lead artists, with in-betweens completed by lesser artists or helpers.

Tweening in Modern Animation

Tweening is no exception to how modern technology has transformed how animated projects are created nowadays. Traditional tweening is still used in many recent animated productions.

However, with the development of digital animation software, some productions have been able to automate the tweening process.

Using sophisticated animation and editing applications, computers can perform tweening automatically. If you’ve ever used a Creative Cloud software product like Premiere, After Effects, or Animate to set keyframes for an editing project, you’ve probably used automated tweening without even realizing it.

A number of in-betweens are required to achieve a seamless transition between any two keyframes. Tweening can be automated on modern computers with editing and animation tools, removing a large amount of labor from your plate. Though automation is not always flawless, artificial intelligence can be utilized to develop in-betweens.

Some animators and animation fans argue that automated tweening is inefficient or that it isn’t “real animation.” This is an argument that will continue to rage as long as conventional in-betweens are drawn and automated tweens are generated.

How to Create Tweening Using Adobe Animate?

The methods to produce a smooth, flawless tweening animation are actually pretty straightforward if we utilize Adobe Animate (which any aspiring animator should be familiar with).

But wait a minute! You only need to understand a few things, such as nomenclature and what various functions accomplish.

Step 1: Create

After you’ve created two independent frames (without a keyframe), the next step is to build the keyframe. In Adobe Animate, simply choose the asset or graphic, right-click, and then choose Create Motion Tween.

Step 2: Edit

Once you’ve decided where and what keyframes to place, you’ll need to perform some animation timeline surgery.

Check the ‘stage,’ making sure that the intended time of animation, as well as the object or graphic you’re inserting, are right.

Step 3: Double-check and Finalize

After you’ve finished editing and deliberating, check to see if the tweening animation came out as planned. This is possible because of the ‘onion skin’ function, which allows you to see multiple frames at once. This is ideal for checking that your main animation and keyframes are in perfect sync.

Adobe Animate is only one of the alternatives available to you. There are other amazing animation programs that include comparable modes for producing tweening animations such as Toonz, Blender, Pencil2D,  Krita Cinema 4D, and Synfig.

Types of Tweening

Classic Tweens

Classic Tweens color the frames purple. Individual keyframes can be added along a Classic Tween, allowing you to use single frames in the frame selector.

To see the “path” of the motion, you must extend the range of the onion peel.

Easing options can be found under the Frame tab in the Properties panel.

Motion Tweens

You can add new points of motion along your Motion Tween, but you can’t use the frame picker to choose between single frames. Symbols with looping animations can be used.

The course of motion is represented on the stage by a dotted orange line created by Motion Tweens. The selection tool can be used to curve the line or move the individual points.

Double-clicking the Motion Tweened frame brings up the Easing menu. This will open a graph menu that displays the symbol’s X and Y movement over time.

Also, Check: What is Digital illustration? A Comprehensive Guide!

Do you have a youngster who is ready to advance their education? Check out our animation coaching, which consists of an online private class focusing on Adobe Animate and converting your student’s drawings and ideas into fluid animations.