Clip Studio - How to Animate Like a PRO - 2D Animation in CSP (Beginners Tutorial Guide)

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Animation Post Production like a PRO (Beginner Friendly):
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In this video I will show you how to animate in Clip Studio Paint. From the best industry practices to the secrets of the animation folders and the interpolation tool. I hope you can tell all the love that went into making this video. Can’t wait to see what you will create with it!
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Software used: Clip Studio Paint EX
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Clip Studio TIPS: tips.clip-studio.com/
00:00 Introduction
00:34 Overview of the Animation Preset
03:45 Animation Timeline
04:34 Animation Folder Basics
06:03 What we are Animating
06:44 Vector vs Raster/Bitmap Layers
07:52 Keep it Ordered
09:31 Naming Layers Workflow
11:51 Onion Skin Tool
12:28 Animating
14:53 Rough Animation to CleanUp
15:25 Using Animation Folders like a PRO
21:09 Playback Settings
22:06 Inbetweening
23:12 Coloring
25:30 Post-Production
27:28 Interpolation in Clip Studio
30:07 Exporting Options
33:46 Outro
#ClipStudioTips2022
Remember: "Every line you draw, you are one line closer to your dream!"
Thanks for watching!

[@ManuMercurial]

Animation Post Production like a PRO (Beginner Friendly): kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKeXkquqpdONptU If you'd like to support my content consider checking out my Patreon and its perks: www.patreon.com/ManuMercurial Thanks for being here!

[@skullshadow9550]

Ok, after more tests, I find it ! Thanks again. :)

[@Smarthalayla]

Isn't it better to learn to do animation in Blender and having way more flexibility?

[@yum_iri7735]

I ask for help any time i copy a layer and paste it after when i modifie the copy it affects on original what did i do WRONGGG HELP

[@greenpuppy54]

I've tried to watch several CSP animation tutorials in the past but always found them either unclear or otherwise not streamlined enough to stay focused on. This one though....Is amazing! For the first time it makes sense to me. Thank you!

[@ManuMercurial]

I KNOW!! I ran into this issue myself when I was learning CSP (quite a while back, for example, there were no blending modes in clip studio owww), that's why I tried making this tutorial. Then I realized it is pretty hard to make a tutorial that covers all that CSP offers for animation without being unfocused haha but I did my best! So reading your comment really means a lot! In the future I'll also create tutorials covering specific parts of the pipeline or tools so I can dive deeper into them. Thanks for watching!!

[@oamioxmocliox8082]

;)

[@nerothejackal9662]

Same here especially drawing digitally and learning everything about digital art

[@XxItachi100xX]

I agree!!! Its finally clicking snd these dreams i had dont seem so scary as they used to be ^^

[@Clayway.]

Man they REALLY need to get you featured on the official CSP Animation tutorial playlist! Maybe then your useful tips will be more widely-known to people

[@ManuMercurial]

Thank you She-wolf! Fortunately, the CSP team has been really supporting of my work. They retweet my posts from time to time, and I did a couple of webinars with Graphixly and Wacom, that they uploaded to the main CSP youtube channel. They have been great!

[@avicennaferdian438]

a good artist is one thing, and a good teacher is another. and you my friend, you are bloody great at being both. this is really damn easy to follow, compared to the 4 previous csp animation tutorials ive seen.

[@ManuMercurial]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@ManuMercurial]

Hi guys! One detail I forgot to explain is how to combine 2 layers in the timeline. For example if you want to reuse part of a drawing, like copying face you already drew, pasting it to a new body in another layer. The way you would do this is using the normal folders trick that I explained. You just place both layers into a normal folder, and make that folder appear in the timeline (by right clicking in the timeline and selecting the folder's name). Then you right click on the folder and merge it down into a single layer. It works for 2 or more layers. Thanks for watching!

[@oamioxmocliox8082]

;)

[@donniejohnson4371]

I notice at the end of the animation, you render your entire sequence. What animation hot key you press to preview render entire seqyence such as toonbom and other software packages

[@ManuMercurial]

@@donniejohnson4371 By default there is no shortcut set to preview the animation on the program. You could manually click the 'play' button on the timeline, or go to File > Shortcut Settings > Select the 'Menu Commands' category > under 'Animation' there is 'Play/Stop' > there you can set a shortcut, i use the '-' key. Hope this helps!

[@yeseolee2625]

Could u do a tutorial for iPad?

[@Eric-yd9dm]

The fact that you did this tutorial on an actual animation instead of a classic exercise highlights the humongous amount of work and dedication that came into this video! Never thought of separating all colors on different folders. Gonna try it!

[@T33nno]

I know this video is 2 years old, but DANG! I came just to learn the layout, but the ability to lock a layer to a color is such a time saver for my art style. So many great tips, appreciate it

[@jessejayjones]

Awesome style! Really looking forward to seeing more of your stuff :)

[@ManuMercurial]

Thanks a ton Jesse! I'm a big fan of your videos, used them to learn good ol' Flash back in the day haha. Happy to see you here!

[@oamioxmocliox8082]

;)

[@yottea9727]

In 5 minutes you solved 3 of my Clip Studio Animation problems; 2 of which I’d given up on finding tutorials for. You’re a life saver!

[@kurorisa]

I remembered joining your webinar from CSP back then and always wanted to try animating in CSP but I get so lost everytime I opened the timeline and the folders. Found this earlier and thought "hey it's the same person as the one who held webinar back then!" You've explained everything so well for beginners and I'd love to try animating with CSP sometimes in the future. Thank you so much!

[@ManuMercurial]

Thank you so much Kurorisa! Hope you can try it out!!

[@tridek1949]

This is a great tutorial! Clear, enthusiastic, and easy to understand. Also, that new intro looks pretty slick!

[@ManuMercurial]

Thank you Tridek!! More content on the way!

[@charlie_artz8899]

My tablet graphics ain't clear 💀

[@venomm4563]

Easy to understand??? you gota be joking. i was already lost after 5 minutes dude....

[@ManuMercurial]

Hi guys! If you found this video helpful I would really appreciate if you can check out the written version of this tutorial! tips.clip-studio.com/en-us/articles/6164 It is participating in this month’s CSP Tips contest and it is a competition based on how many likes and views it gets (our favorite type of contest, I know…. haha) EDIT: WE WON! Thank you so much for all your help guys!! Right now thankfully I have my living expenses covered, so All earnings will be used to start building a team to make this channel grow, that way I can hopefully bring more content to you faster! Thanks for watching!

[@Narratorthewannabe]

I’m completely new to clip studio animating, and holy shit was this the most detailed, clarified and concise rate tutorial I’ve seen, and I’m not shitting when I say I’ve watched sooooo many tutorials over the past week. I genuinely hope more people recognise your talent of explaining/creating things, because it’s literally amazing. Good job mate 👍🏼👍🏼

[@ManuMercurial]

Truly appreciate your kind words! Wishing you the best of luck in your animation journey!

[@Narratorthewannabe]

@@ManuMercurial tysmmm, I hope you continue enjoying animation as well :)

[@heckdeck]

I’ve watched SO many CSP animation tutorials and this is BY FAR the most helpful, clear, and succinct. Manu explains what to do, how to do it, and why to do it. Seriously, thank you for making this it will be a touchstone video for me!

[@ManuMercurial]

Really appreciate the message HexStuff! Thanks for taking the time to write it

[@EncryptedOS]

I’ve been working with CSP’s animation tools for over a year now, but I still learn new things every time I watch a professional provide a run-down of the software. Your advice was very helpful. Thank you!

[@davidci]

I saw your aniamted short film and I'm so blown away with how good it is! Been wanting to replicate those camera movements as well, and your video has helped me on how it can be pulled off! Also, one thing that has helped me way too much for animating are vector layers. It's helped me so much with the lineart and coloring, since area scaling sometimes bleed past the linework.

[@enemystanduser]

This is Truly the best tutorial For CSP I have Ever seen and look foward to more! It is so incredibly complicated the way you do it but it just makes the Whole process Easier and More Cleaner in the END especially for beginners, THANK YOU!

[@SwaggarinaArt]

I have never seen a more helpful tutorial than this one! Thank you so much for your hard work! You explain so many things that I never understood from other videos!! Now on to animating! :D

[@ZarynScribbles]

Thank you for this video, seriously, it's one of the most comprehensive animation in CSP tutorials I've watched and is helping me a lot!

[@angelosusa4258]

Been getting into animation for few months but this tutorial has been helpful still watching it. One of the best! Really clear and to the point! Love how you explain how it works makes me understand it a bit more

[@voidopall548]

This was so helpful! :O Usually I find clip studio tutorials hard to understand but this was so simple! I think I’ll finally be able to make the move from flip a clip to clip studio! 🙏

[@madameberry]

I've been wanting to learn CSP animation to make some animated Twitch emotes, and it was so confusing but this video helped TONS! I'll definitely be re-watching as I go through the process myself.

[@DatOtterZombie1978]

Have to say, you are the only one so far, thank you for taking the time to shiw where the tools you are talking about are located!!!! Most tutorials I find assume you already know all the shortcuts and what they are called. Great tutorial and a million thanks!!!!❤❤❤

[@paolaanimator]

Thanks for making this video! I know Clip Studio EX has amazing tools for 2D animation especially in Anime production, but I felt like I could never understand until I saw your video. Thanks for making this a very clear step by step video!

[@lunemarille]

the way that you're perfectly explaining everything in a way that is easily understandable >>>>

[@mawcha]

this has to be one of the most concrete csp animation tutorials on this site! instant sub, i’ll definitely be back for more :D

[@ManuMercurial]

Thank you yuzu, this message really means a lot! I'll work hard so my upcoming content can live up to this!!

[@JavierFoxArt]

Bro... I was expecting a tutorial like this for years! Most of the stuff you teach I did already find them out there (like the multilayer folder frames used in anime, for example) but I know this is going to be super useful to a large group of people. Thanx so much for charing this magic.

[@hashimdiriye6332]

This is probably the most insightful video on csp I’ve seen! I currently have CSP ex version on the iPad Pro and it looks doable to make some stuff on it. Can’t wait to share my projects God willing!

[@tinydragon5447]

I've watched a bunch of tutorials and you're the only one who showed how to duplicate frames!!!! Thank you!!! You've saved me so much pain!!!

[@LaylaMiki]

Best and clearer video to explain how to animate with Clip Paint Studio ! You've done an AMAZING job ! Thank you !

[@dreaminsepsis2542]

I personally still have no idea what’s going on. I feel really bad that I fail to understand the most well received, detailed csp tutorial out there because of how many people found it to be a life saver. I rewatched it a bunch of times to try and get something to stick, but I failed to grasp most of it. It’s not a bad tutorial, not at all, but I still have a hard time understanding anything about using this program. I really want to use this program, but it seems extremely alien to me no matter how much I try to learn about it.

[@goomba478]

The layer color trick is genius. It's by far the most useful thing I learned in this video (and there were a lot of great tips too). Thank you!

[@shidonnisan]

I am so glad you explained the folders well because I never knew how to get my layers to actually show up! Thank you!

[@StrangerWithAHat]

LIFE SAVER. I was soooooo lost on where to start. This video makes the process understandable in a way that makes me want to start animating. It feels like the only thing in the way now is the actual art. Thanks a million my guy, instant sub.

[@ManuMercurial]

I appreciate that StrangerWithAHat. Welcome aboard! Through the years I've found you can learn a lot about animation without having to focus on the drawing. Don't be afraid to start doing simple exercises which will inspire you to draw more!! Best of luck!

[@lenengquist592]

Now this is something I've been looking for. Lots of other tutorials ive seen from a long time ago didn't cover much. But this does.

[@sina3lla151]

helped so much. especially the "with every line you draw, you're one line closer to your dream" part in the end after so much new information thank you!! ^^

[@zowtoe]

Wow!!! This video is so helpful. I already knew the basics by just playing with the program but you gave me really good advice on keeping my layers organized and using keyframes. I'll be waiting for the post-production tutorial eagerly. ¡Muchas gracias!

[@phoebe0123]

Your tutorial is amazing, super useful and easily understandable! I really appreciate that you spent you time on this ❤

[@manuelk1853]

Wow you really did an amazing job! It really looks cute and so fluid

[@tristenkrause]

Man this is probably the BEST tutorial I’ve seen on CSP!

[@RinTheYordle]

I am so freaking glad this tutorial was shared to me. Absolutely THE BEST most comprehensive one out there for new tips I didn't know about, decent and quick break downs of each section from start to finish. Thank you so much!

[@ManuMercurial]

Thank YOU for checking it out Rin! Best of luck animating your lovely characters!! 💪

[@clay211]

this vid got me actively hype to use clip studio to animate (i’ve never used csp to animate before, just other software) and i can’t wait for your next videos you mentioned!

[@Archeia]

Thank you for this video! This is really great.

[@cbubs_art]

I was struggling learning CSP animation and your video was so helpful. I can hear your passion and joy using this program. Thank you so much for clearly explaining your process. You're very talented. Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to learning more from you.

[@EggsDeinony]

this video is not only helpful to animators, its helpful to artists as well! being able to scroll through the render types with the mouse wheel is a feature i ALWAYS wanted and never knew it was in the program already, damn!! thank you so much for this, everything is clear, concise, easy to follow, and your animations are beautiful!

[@riesigtee1139]

Woot! Thank goodness, I needed this back on my computer! Thank you!! :D

[@worldsofpivotify]

Wow Im so grateful you made this channel, such good content. Looking forward to the post production/compositing video as there are so few of those videos online. Subscribed, keep up the great work!

[@XxLocodragonxX]

This is really awesome! I just got csp pro edition for game development related 2d character animations and your workflow looks great for it

[@hedderfedderboxofcheddar]

THANK YOU! I played with animation about 10 years ago and am trying to pick it back up again. This has by far been the best video for explaining the animation tools in CSP. Thank you for the great content! You have a new subscriber. 😉

[@ManuMercurial]

Thank you for your message Heather! I wish you the best of luck getting back into it, hope you have a lot of fun! And welcome!

[@BuBs1970G]

Thank you for this, the other clipstudio animation tutorials were so difficult to understand and three times longer than this video. This was concise and actually worded this in a way that was easy to understand.

[@didyouwashyourlegstoday3601]

Thank you for the video! Can't wait for your video on post-production!

[@marrrukisa]

Awesome tutorial! You taught me a lot about CSP animations in such clear manner. You earned yourself a sub :D

[@walterzenga6989]

A real step-by-step beginner tutorial. Thank you so much! Even though I am quite lost in the folder part, I am going to watch it again, because the info is there. I can't wait to watch the post-production video and how to manage all the PNGs.

[@ManuMercurial]

Hi Walter, thank you for watching the video! I'll copy an answer I gave before that hopefully helps to explain the folders bit: What I did is: instead of setting my animation folder to show an animation cel (which is a single layer), I set it to show a normal folder (which can contain several layers inside). That way you can have several layers On at the same time, inside a single animation folder, and even turn them on and off whenever you want. The other thing I did was to use the 'Change layer color' button to force the layers to only draw in a single color of my choosing. That way I don't need to change the color i'm drawing with (I will always draw with black) but the layers will show a different color when I draw on them. I hope this helps!

[@LynzArts]

thank you so much for this tutorial and thank you for making it so simple and in depth. you explained perfectly the areas with animating in csp that I've have difficulty with. so once again thank you:D

[@ys6196]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! I'm new to animation and Clip Studio so this video helps a lot! Looking forward to your video about post production!

[@alexmccaleb2152]

Manu Mercurial! Excellent tutorial, man. I'll be sure to recommend this to other people learning csp.

[@yasminmagalhaes4309]

Thank you so much everything is so clear! 🙏🏾 Love your videos :)

[@SleepyySoL]

THANK YOU SO MUCH. IM ABOUT TO USE THESE METHOD RIGHT NOW. I was struggling with clip studio sm but because of you I can do it now!

[@noxlotl_]

When I was getting into animating in CSP few years ago , no tutorials ive watched ever mentioned using the normal folders as frames. I ended up discovering it cos i watched a very blurry timelapse a japanese animator made and happened to glance at his layers. I'm very glad it got mentioned here cos it is a LIFE SAVER.

[@ManuMercurial]

I feel you Noxlotl! I was taught this on my first day at work, literally nowhere else have I seen it yet every single japanese studio uses this technique. CSP's best kept secret!! That being said I want to add that this is NOT the only way to do it. Just using single layers as frames is fine too. Depending on what you need, this folder structure might be better for you or not. Just putting it out there for everyone else!

[@jeffreypostma6832]

This is an amazing video! Thank you so much for all the work you put in, it is super useful. I will certainly check out your other tutorials too.

[@darkeclipticheart]

Finally another How To video for CSP animation. Well done!! This taught me a lot of new tricks!

[@ManuMercurial]

Glad I could help!

[@mitchellsink2584]

This was a God send. Thank you so much for the tutorial.

[@easterntiger7108]

Finally I can start animating in Clip Studio, everything is I ever asked for that is no other video is just in this, Im'ma keep watching this multiple times so I can understand how to animate more. Thank you soo much Manu!

[@ManuMercurial]

Great to hear! Best of luck!!

[@gavatrozzei9162]

Man, you saved my life Loved your video; perfectly explained and detailed covering all of the essentials of the app, just what everyone needed to start animating in CSP

[@ManuMercurial]

Glad it helped! Can't wait to see the animations you'll create!

[@birdywren5277]

One of the easiest to understand CSP animation tutorials I've seen! Thank you so much for making this!!

[@ManuMercurial]

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching it!

[@glitchyscribbles]

WOAH your work is so inspiring! tysm for helping me understand clip studio a whole lot better, this was so much more in depth than any other guide :D

[@ManuMercurial]

Thank you, it really means a lot!

[@violetsanddragons]

Dude you're seriously my hero! I couldnt find a good animation tutorial for clip studio.

[@whitefoxstudio6832]

Thank you!!, this was actually pretty useful to me! Well deserved like ^^

[@grimality]

animating in clip studio paint has always been daunting to me but this video really helped to break it down so that even I understood. Fucking amazing video dude, hope more people will recognize your talent and help. that ending quote about how every line is one step closer to my dream was an increeedible motivator, it's something i really needed to hear, appreciate it so much

[@ManuMercurial]

Thanks for taking the time to write this Gamern't, this comment is also an incredible motivator for me. Really appreciate it! And of course, thanks for watching!

[@pikaxuls]

This is the first time I can understand a CSP animation tutorial! I also watched your short film and you're so good! Thank you for all the tips and tricks!

[@ManuMercurial]

You're very welcome! Thank You for watching!

[@1Chitus]

Awesome style!

[@alittleofsomething]

I finally got CSP and everything looks pretty clear. Thank you for making this video!

[@avesadmortem]

Amazing video! just what i was looking for to help me get the hang of csp! Definitely gonna watch the post production right now!

[@user-bc2wg9bg4h]

I'm digging this, thank you man. Lot's of video out there but this is just the perfect set of knowledge being shared catefully.

[@wajdoibrahim5948]

thank you so much for this detailed tutorial, it really helped my understand a lot of things

[@amy_princessjulius]

This has been super helpful, thank you so much for this in-depth tutorial!

[@sbstrikergaming1420]

You are a legend in teaching thank you very much I learn whole software in just half hour . You are cool

[@gmckart]

Excellent tutorial! The structure is clear and you covered every technical and workflow question I had. Tutorials like this significantly reduces the barrier to entry. Just saw your post, so glad your working with ClipStudio!

[@ManuMercurial]

So glad it was helpful! Thank you!!

[@VictoriaRoseIsNotDeadYet]

Dude this is the most comprehensive yet fun video I’ve ever seen on cs animation. Thanks a million!!!

[@ManuMercurial]

Thank you Vic Rose! Can't wait to see what you'll animate with it!

[@wwhs_Alix]

TYSMMMM, YOUR VIDEOS ARE THE BEST!!

[@nekonacha2607]

this will definitely help me a lot in my future projects! thank you so much!

[@DerpyDooReviews]

I love her. Funny I was looking for tutorials on this as I tried using it but got frustrated and went back to toon boom, but this made it a lot easier to understand, I'll be sure to take another crack at it!

[@funl]

i find it funny how on other tutorials people are in the comments asking lost of questions, but in this video everybody loves you. thats probably a sign of a good tutorial, leaving few confused. great video!

[@ManuMercurial]

This comment really really means a lot to me! Thank you!!

[@CondePablo]

THIS IS GOLD!

[@PauloVictor-uz7cj]

i loved it and im excited for the next tutorials as well

[@napeekapunpimtongnara9111]

wow so cool i can not do i have never seen before. thank you so much

[@Sonoyunoji]

This is the best tutorial thanks so much!

[@julienestrella]

I've been looking for tutorial like this for so long! Thank you for making this

[@ManuMercurial]

Glad it was helpful!

[@user-dr1nv6fs1y]

This is amazing tutorial🥺 thankyou!!!

[@2-tone989]

Man, this is the CSP video I been waiting for forever! Thank you seriously. You got a new subscriber

[@ManuMercurial]

Welcome! And so very glad it helped!

[@devilpeter6786]

man this tutorial is the best . so clearly explained . thank you so much.

[@ManuMercurial]

Happy to hear that Devil Peter! Best of luck with your animations!!

[@juantoledo5248]

¡El mejor profe, como siempre!

[@clamoris29]

¡OH LORD! todo esto vale más que el oro, muchas gracias Manu. sos un referente para la camada de animadores que está asomándose en LATAM, ahora expandiéndose a otros lares. muy orgulloso de usted. -un abrazo muy muy fuerte desde Paraguay! 🇵🇾❤️🤠

[@ManuMercurial]

Muchas gracias! Me alegra mucho este mensaje. Vamos con fuerza!!

[@d_akanneriukku130]

Thanks for the tutorial :D

[@venzarez-ili680]

Yes SIr! This is the best by far!

[@hixixomori]

thank you SO much for this video. i cant find any csp animation tutorials that i liked/understand that i just gave up months ago and just stick with illustrations. then, i just got recommended this video out of nowhere and decided to give it a try. i'm glad i did even though i hesitated thinking it was a waste of time. again, thank you for your hard work!

[@ManuMercurial]

Thanks so much Mori! Hope to see your illustrations come to life in animation soon!!

[@LuigiStar31]

Awesome stuff mate 🏅

[@YoannDessin]

Very useful tips, thanks !

[@Pratord]

Very Big Thank you for this tutorial! It's really help me ...

[@NealFox]

Really great tutorial. Thanks, Manu.