A stick figure is a very simple type of drawing, generally of the human form, although stick figures of other types of animals are possible (for example, a stick figure dog). In a stick figure, the head is represented by a circle, sometimes embellished with details such as eyes or crudely-scratched-out hair. The neck, arms, legs and torso are all represented by single straight lines (thus the name). The neck and torso are different segments of one straight line. Generally, stick figures are drawn by hand with a pen or pencil and have hard, defined edges. Though not displaying very much detail, what is drawn is generally required. For instance, if one was to draw a person, the person's eyebrows would generally only be drawn to provide a sort of facial expression, be it of anger or shame. Stick figures have proven effective as a source of advertising, entertainment and as a form of storyboarding and practice for filmwork. This is especially crucial for creating "animatics", as a film special effects team is then able to visually display the outcome of a scene by using stick figures, but saving in money, time and effort of providing a completed shot, but only having to have the necessary information provided. Stick Figures are sometimes associated with violence
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Animation
Flash
Stick figures are often used in Adobe Flash animations. Stick figures are easy to draw and can be traditionally animated a lot quicker than full drawings. Well known stick figure Flash animations include Xiao Xiao, Joe Zombie, Killing Spree, and Castle. They are also used on Google and other websites.
PowerPoint
- Further information: PowerPoint animation
Microsoft PowerPoint has also been used to make stick figure movies. By creating a slide with a stick figure in it, copying and pasting a new slide and changing the new slide users can create a movie, although it is a much more laborious process.
Cutout Pro Stickman
Cutout Pro Stickman[1] is specifically designed for stick figure animation. Each figure is controlled with control points and key frames and saves drawing inbetweens. When an arm is moved, the whole body gets affected using skeleton simulation.
Pivot Stick Figure Animator
Pivot Stick Figure Animator is also designed for stick figure animation. Just like Cutout Pro Stickman you control with key points/joints and it also allows the user to load images (sprites) and animate them.
This Is Stick Figure Animation Software (TISFAT)
TISFAT is tween-based stick figure animation software, allowing the user to create any kinds of figures and objects, that are animated in layers by keyframes, between which the program does the animation for the user. You can easily share your stick figures too, export your movies in AVI, SWF, SIF and even executable in the older versions, that will play in the standalone TISFAT movie player.
See also
References
External links
- Stick Figure Deaths at the Open Directory Project
- Stickheads, Stickman comics and other stickmen art.
- Stick Page, a variety of stick-figure cartoons and movies
- Stick Death directory of stick death animations
- Stick Fans, Stickman Art and Stickman Movies.
