Animation

Some months ago, I purchased Procreate Dreams 2. Like many creative purchases, I had every intention of diving straight into it, learning the software and creating all sorts of animations. The reality, however, was slightly different. Life, photography, videography and a seemingly endless list of other projects got in the way, and the app sat largely untouched on my iPad.

This week, though, I finally decided to stop putting it off and spend some time experimenting.

I wouldn't call what I've created groundbreaking by any means, but it's been a useful introduction to the software and has already proved valuable for my YouTube content. Rather than trying to produce complex animations from day one, I started with something practical that could help explain concepts that are often difficult to visualise.

As many of my videos revolve around fishing, understanding how water behaves around obstacles is important. Using Procreate Dreams 2, I created a series of simple animations showing how a fishing line interacts with slack water in front of protruding rocks, as well as how water behaves where slower currents meet faster flows.

These are concepts that anglers often learn through experience, but they can be difficult to explain using words alone. A simple animation can sometimes communicate an idea far more effectively than several minutes of footage or commentary.

The process itself was surprisingly enjoyable. There was plenty of trial and error involved, along with a fair amount of faffing around trying to work out where certain tools were hidden, but that's all part of learning a new piece of software. Once I started getting the hang of keyframes, movement and timing, the possibilities became much clearer.

Having successfully created a few basic water-flow animations, I'm now turning my attention to another challenge: slime.

That probably sounds a little strange out of context, but I'm interested in seeing whether I can create realistic slime-like movement and deformation effects. Water is one thing; slime introduces a whole new set of challenges involving stretching, squashing and fluid motion. Whether I can pull it off remains to be seen, but that's half the fun of experimenting.

One thing I've learned over the years is that the best way to learn creative software isn't by watching endless tutorials—it's by opening the program and making something, even if it's rough around the edges. Every project teaches you something new.

So while I'm still very much at the beginner stage with Procreate Dreams 2, it's nice to finally be using it for something productive rather than simply letting it gather digital dust. Hopefully these animations will continue to improve as I learn more, and who knows, they may even become a regular feature in future videos.

For now, though, it's back to experimenting with slime.

— David