Animating diagrams with "Mask: Simple Shape"

I uploaded a tutorial on how to use Shotcut (and Paint.NET) to animate diagrams, charts etc. I used this method in one video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNsEjE6SJfM) and since I did not see any tutorial for this type of animation, I created this tutorial.
It is my first tutorial, so please excuse any unclarities :sweat_smile:.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PK6OT1BssDo
Feel free to ask questions, I will try my best to answer them :slightly_smiling_face:.

Edit: I expanded my tutorial to include instructions for GIMP users, but without a voice-over: Animating diagrams with "Mask: Simple Shape"

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Hi @samth - a really nice tutorial - thanks!! Just watched it twice and gave it a โ€œlikeโ€!! :+1::+1: I picked up a few tips there. The grid maker plug-in in Paint.net looks really useful. Thanks for creating this, it will be a valuable resource. And great use of the JR transition by the way :smiley::smiley:

Thank you :smile:! A compliment from you means a lot, since you produced so many helpful tutorials.
I wanted to use it for quite some time and thought, why not give a nod to you :wink:.

Simple and useful!

@samth

Nice tut and like your use of the stripes transition.
To make it truly cross-platform, you should do a similar tutorial using Gimp instead.

Gimp has a built-in grid marker filter:

I didnโ€™t know that - thanks @Paul2!

Youโ€™re welcome.
I have found the latest Gimp (2.10.xx) very buggy under Windows.
The best versions are still the 2.8.xx .

@Austin Thanks! I strived for a simple solution, so that many can follow it.

@Paul2 You are right, using Paint.NET limits to Windows.

I expand my tutorial to include some additional instructions for people using GIMP, which is available on more platforms than Paint.NET.
@Paul2 Thanks for your suggestion!

Separating the background:
The steps are very similar, so this GIF should be enough:

Creating the grid:


Make sure you create the grid on a distinct layer to be able to modify (resizing, moving etc.) the grid separately.
You can either use the colour picker to determine the grid colour before you open the grid dialogue or you use the colour picker in the dialogue; in that case you will have to change to the layer containing the original diagram.

Separating the forground:


Hide every layer that you do not want to export by pressing the eye symbol.
You have to export as .png to preserve the transparency.

I hope that will help beginners who are not able to use Paint.NET.

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Excellent, thank you!!

1 Like