Last year I created this animated reading game using google slides. It is a platform-style game featuring a cute yellow cat (el gato explorador). My kids absolutely loved it! In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to animate your “characters” so you can create a game like mine 🙂
Step 1: Choose a character! Make sure the background of the character is transparent. If you are unsure how to delete backgrounds, click on this tutorial.
This is Freddie! He came all the way from freepik.com.
STEP 2: Create copies
We are going to start with something simple. We are going to make Freddie move from left to right. In order to do this, you need to: create a copy of the character and place them at the start and at the end of his journey
STEP 3:
Create more copies and put them in between. The number of copies will depend on how far you are making it “walk”. (see picture 2 below)
STEP 4:
Make them appear and disappear by:
-Selecting the first copy, then clicking on “ANIMATE” (bar on the top, next to format options) and then “Add animation”.
-Select Appear –> After previous
-Then select disappear –> after previous
You can later play around with the speed parameters to control how fast it moves
STEP 5:
-Do the same with the rest of the copies, in the order in which they appear.
NOTE: There is ONE exception. Starting from the second copy onwards, after you select “appear”, click on “WITH previous” (see below).
This is what it looks like:
Once you have mastered these basic steps, you can try to make your character “jump” or “attack”. It all comes down to making the character “appear” and “disappear” at the right time + having enough copies to make the effect believable. Here are a couple examples:
Freddie Jumping!
In this example, I animated other objects that interact with the main character. You have to choose the right effects for each individual case and also the right speed! It definitely takes time to get it right!
I can’t wait to see your creations! If you find my guide helpful or have any questions, let me know down below 🙂 Thank you!
