Animation FAQ

Q1- What does an animation lenticular look like?

A- It is a picture that you can hold in your hand and move back and forth and there is an action that occurs on the card.

Q2- How many frames of action can be put into the picture?

A- Up to 14 frames of action are possible but less frames is often more suitable. If you want to do more than 4 frames of animation see our “Special Services” section.

Q3- Why is that? Isn’t more frames always going to be better than less frames?

A- Not necessarily. There is a trade off of more frames adding some blur as well as a smoother action. Some of the most effective animations are flips which have only 2 frames where the action is precise.

Q4- do I know what the animation will look like before I get the finished card?

A- By following our instructions (See Animation Tutorial) you will be able to see a representation of your animation as a gif file on your computer screen. This will give you an idea of what you are going to get.

Q5- How does an animation lenticular picture differ from a 3D lenticular picture?

A- A 3D picture is held still with the lenses of the lenticular running vertically.The picture then appears in 3D. An animation is tilted back and forth with the lenses running horizontally. The picture then moves as you see each frame in order.

Q6- Do I need any special equipment or cameras to make an animation?

A- Not really. You need a digital camera. It is easier if you have a digital camera with burst mode and a tripod, but you can take effective animations with almost any digital camera and holding it steady. (See “Taking Animation Pictures” Tutorial). If you use a film camera you must convert the film frames into digital before the animation can be prepared.

Q7- Can I get 3D and animation at the same time?

A- Yes…See Special Services.

Q8- What if I don’t know anything about imaging or how to preview my animation or use your template.

A- That’s OK. If you are able to use the imaging prep programs, you can save some money in preparing and viewing your animation but if not then we can prepare it all for you ($25 prep fee) and send you the finished animation along with the negatives so that you can get cheap reprints in the future.

Q9- Can I use video for my animation?

A- Yes…with some qualifications. The still frames from video are at low resolution and video tends to blur moving objects because of the slow shutter speed and the video camera tends to be zooming or panning during shooting. Our animations work best with non-blurry frames of better resolution than video provides. Having said that however, some video animations can look very good and we can make prints from video.

Q10- Can I have more than 14 frames in my animation?

A- Yes… under certain circumstances, more than 14 frames can work. See our “Special Services” page.

Q11- How do I send the finished file to you for printing?

A- See our “Send us finished files” Tutorial.

Q12- How do I get my personal animation onto business cards?

A- You can have up to 6 animation frames on a business card. See “Make your own business card“ tutorial.

Q13- I notice that you get 2 animations for the price of one when you get a vertical mode picture. Why is that?

A- Because the animations are turned sideways in the template boxes, you can get 2 up on all of our print material widths. A landscape mode picture fills the entire template box so you only get one picture.

Q14- Why do you not have larger pictures than 5 X 7 available for animations?

A- Animations tend to ghost as each frame does not fully extinguish as the viewing angle changes. This ghosting is increased as the motion increases. On larger sizes than 5 x 7 we feel that the ghosting is excessive because the motion is more than our fine lenticular lens can accommodate.