Some creations are so good that they only need a single static image to reach their full potential, but sooner or later every artist wants to experiment with movement, perspective changes, and the occasional 3D effect. That's where Live2D Cubism comes in, an advanced platform for creating 2D animations from one or more illustrations, without the need to process multiple frames or rely on 3D models.
Do you want to animate something? Perfect. You need about two million frames and a lot of patience. Have you forgotten the original animation process for Star Wars? Adjust, photo, adjust, photo, and repeat the loop until you get the desired dynamics. It's tedious but effective, and many YouTubers dedicate themselves entirely to that animation, with excellent online examples. However, there is an alternative to frame-by-frame and 3D models. It's Live2D, a technique created by Japanese programmer Tetsuya Nakajo, and its official software is Live2D Cubism.
Live2D Cubism: Creating 2D animations with a single illustration
The key points of Live2D Cubism are two. The first is that we can animate an illustration using its layers, and each moving element behaves as a sub-illustration ready to manipulate. Live2D Cubism has scripts to simplify importing from PSD format to Cubism, making the original layer structure compatible with the editor.
The second is a package of deformation tools. We can create dynamic deformations for elements like hair and mouth movements, plane deformations ideal for clothing, fabrics, and depth effects, and rotation deformations, designed for hands, neck, elbows, and more.
Added to this is a plugin compatible with Adobe After Effects to speed up correction processes (because there will definitely be flaws), and a whole SDK aimed at game and application developers who want to use content from Cubism. From Azur Lane to Nekopara, through Fire Emblem Fates and even Disney itself (with its game Twisted-Wonderland) are some of the names that have used Live2D to a greater or lesser extent.
In short, there is no doubt that Live2D Cubism is a solid resource for creating 2D animations. However, we must recognize that it is not especially oriented to beginners. Any artist who wants to inject movement into their characters will need a broad knowledge of Photoshop, and excellent control of their layers. Going through its instruction videos is basically mandatory, and although the free edition is a good starting point, professionals will find a more powerful tool under the subscription model.
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