Why Procreate Dreams has rekindled my love of 2D animation

Procreate Dreams; a white rabbit ghost hiding behind a tree
(Image credit: Future)

I've been using the Procreate Dreams beta, and it's renewed my love of 2D animation. The last time I tried to animate anything in earnest was using The Animation Studio on my Amiga as a kid. Really, it's been a long time. That Disney software for Amiga emulated the cel animation technique I've always loved, but trying to draw like Don Bluth using a mouse on a CRT television really wasn't going to work out the way my imagination wanted. 

Which is why Procreate Dreams really hits the mark for me. Procreate's new animation app for iPad (I'm lucky enough to be using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil 2) brings back the classic 2D cel animation, or onion skinning, approach and it feels so fresh. This 'old' way of animating uses transparent layers to slowly build up an animated character or scene, and in a world of 3D apps like 3ds Max and Blender, for someone who's new to animation, it really feels natural.

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Editor, Digital Arts & 3D

Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.

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