Falling Objects Tutorial

Step 1

Open up Adobe Photoshop, and create two canvases with transparent backgrounds, with 200 pixel by 200 pixel dimensions.

Step 2

Now, on your two blank canvases, create two different images, making sure you stay in between the edges. In this example I've just used stars, of different colours and positions on each canvas.

Step 3

For each of your canvases go to "Edit > Define Pattern" in photoshop and define each canvas as a pattern. After that you can now close your two canvases so photoshop will have nothing open.

Step 4

Open up two new canvas in photoshop with transparent backgrounds. One with the dimensions 200 pixel by 400 pixels, and the other with 200 pixel by 600 pixel dimensions.

Step 5

In each canvas, click "edit > fill" in photoshop and fill your newly defined patterns into your new transparent canvases

Step 6

Now open another canvas with the dimensions 200 pixel by 200 pixels with the background colour black.

Step 7

Now you'll have 3 canvases open, you want to drag each of the star canvases onto your new background one. Then aligning each of the star layer bottom with the bottom of the actual canvas. You do this by pressing CTRL+A on the keyboard, selecting the star layer, then pressing "align bottom edges"

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Step 8

Click "Window > Animation" in Photoshop to bring up the animation toolbar, and on the animation toolbar press "new frame". You'll now have two identical frames on the animation timeline. Now that this is done, you can close those transparent star canvases from the previous steps, leaving only your new 200 x 200 pixel canvas open

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Step 9

Click on the second frame in the animation timeline, now drag each of the star layers down until they line up again with the original frame. This is the hardest part to understand but its also the key step into getting the animation correct. I've done my best to explain in the image below.

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Step 10

On the animation timeline, select both frames (CTRL + clicking both) then press the tween button, using the settings in the image below.

Step 11

You'll now have a lot of frames in the animation timeline. Scroll to the very last frame and select it by clicking on it. Press the "delete frame" button on the animation window.

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Step 12

Now click "File > Save For Web" and using the settings in the image below save your image.

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The finished product

Your animation is now saved and should look like this!