Plan a two-second loop

Plan a two-second loop — guided practice

Map one clear motion onto a short timeline.

Original scene: a dot drops, squashes on the ground and rises. Use free desktop Pencil2D and a mouse or trackpad. Frame 1: center (160, 70). Frame 5: (160, 85). Frame 9: (160, 130). Frame 13: (160, 178), a wide squash. Frame 17: (160, 130). Frame 21: (160, 85). Coordinates are approximate pixels from the camera top-left; ordinary poses are roughly 24 pixels across. The ground is y=190. At 12 frames per second, frames 1–24 last two seconds.

1. 1. Create the project

   Choose File > New, then immediately File > Save As and name it dot-loop-01.pclx. Double-click the Camera layer and set width 320 and height 240.

   You should see: The saved project has a small 320×240 camera field.

   A named native file protects work before many drawings accumulate.

2. 2. Set the time base

   Find the FPS field beside the timeline playback controls and enter 12. Set the playback range start to 1 and end to 24. If range controls are hidden, use the export range later and stop the preview after frame 24.

   You should see: The intended duration is 24/12=2 seconds.

   Duration depends on both frame count and frame rate.

3. 3. Sketch six thumbnails

   In a text note or on scrap paper, draw six tiny boxes labeled 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21. Mark the ball higher, lower, near ground, squashed, rising, high. Use the supplied positions as a guide.

   You should see: The plan has six distinct poses and one contact moment.

   A small plan keeps the action understandable before cleanup.

4. 4. Record the limits

   Copy the pose list into timing-notes.txt. Add: silent loop; fixed camera; one moving dot; no flashes; original drawings. Save the project.

   You should see: The scene has a written timing and framing specification.

   A modest scope leaves time to revise actual motion.