Just a couple of old birds

For my video I have filmed some footage in and around my house with the intention of animating a parrot to fly around. There is also a shot on which I will add motion tracked text.

But for this post I will show you the progression for making the parrots that will appear in the video. Using Adobe Photoshop CC I created all the layers of the bird from scratch. I used the pen tool, among other shapes, to create everything I needed. Once all the shapes had been created I added the desired colours to ensure the parrots were colourful and fun. You can see the progression from just the body to the finished bird below.

With this layer I created the body. I used the brush tool to add a soft edge around the outer edge of the body, which adds a little texture and depth. Another detail added was the ruffle on the front, which ensured that the body wasn't just a plain front. The next step was to add the head. 

Initially the eyes had white circles around the outside, however after some comparison I decided that the smaller black dots worked better within the cartoon context of the animation. The beak is split into two separate layers to ensure that at the animation phase I can move both parts individually. After this I added the wings. 

The wings have been layered and duplicated to add some symmetry to the bird, and to ensure the wings are the same size. The colours used are generally primary colours, or close to, continuing the theme of cartoon stylisation. At this point I felt there was something missing from the bird... a tail! 

I used the same shape generated for the feathers in the tail, but rearranged them and altered the colours. The spread of tail feathers suggests movement, which will enhance the visual appeal of the bird whilst flying in the animation. Yet again my limited knowledge of parrot anatomy failed me, the bird is missing feet. 

After a quick Google I realised what sort of feet I needed to draw, and then generated the feet accordingly. The feet are important at this stage as they will sit on top of a branch, so making sure that the layers are organised sensibly will save time later on in the creative process. I also used this bird as a template for another bird, which in the animation will meet the first bird. 

These birds will be the star of the show. 

Above you can see the organisation of layers within Photoshop. These layer folders will transfer to Adobe After Effects, meaning I can locate and animate the bird with much less hassle. 

The next step is to bring these files into After Effects CC and animate the bird. I will also need to colour correct my footage to make it look nicer, and more suited to having a cartoon bird flying around.