Mastering 2D Fire Animation: A Universal Process
Welcome, fellow animators! Have you ever found yourself endlessly tweaking flames, only for them to look stiff, unnatural, or just… wrong? You’re not alone. Fire is one of the most challenging elements to animate in 2D, but it doesn't have to be a guessing game.
In my latest video, I break down a universal process for animating hand-drawn fire, applicable in any 2D software. It’s less about copying my strokes and more about understanding the fundamental logic of flame movement. If you're ready to stop struggling and start animating with confidence, this is for you.
Beyond the Outline: Thinking Like an Animator
Most tutorials focus on drawing the shape of fire, but that's only half the story. The true magic happens when you understand the principles behind its movement. It's like building a mental model. It's about looking past the obvious and finding associations with familiar objects.
For fire, I don't just see a flame; I see things like "flowing silk," this then reminds me of fake candles that have a plastic tip that rocks back and forth.
Association Benefits
These associations help you disconnect from the idea of the object helping you see the movement as it is. They also help you tap into objects and actions that you are more familiar with. And this makes it much easier to understand and replicate the action into an animation.
The Universal Process: Unlocking Any Flame and beyond
Whether it's a candle, a campfire, a burner, or something entirely unique, the process remains the same:
- Immerse Yourself in Inspiration: Go broad, look for patterns, and let ideas spark.
- Understand the Essence: Learn a little bit about what you're animating – its physics, its behaviour. It makes it feel real.
- Break it Down: Start simple, build complexity. Master the basics before tackling the inferno.
- Observe & Experiment: Fire is fluid; your animation should be too. Don't be afraid to try new things.
This universal process allows you to animate any type of fire, from a gentle flicker to an aggressive inferno, without relying on mere memorisation of movement. But it isn't just for fire; it can be applied to anything you want to animate.
For all those incredible references, motion graphics, sound effects, and more, you know where I go: Envato Elements. It's been an indispensable tool for my animation and video projects, and I highly recommend checking it out. You can use my affiliate link helps support my channel so I can keep making these tutorials!
Put to the Test: Three Types of Fire
In the video, you can see how we applied this universal process and created the below animation fires frame by frame.
The Candle: The Foundation Flame
The humble candle flame is deceptively complex and there are a lot of different movements and overlapping action already happening with this flame. It can flicker a lot, sway back and forth or be very still.
The Campfire: Build-on Flame
Building on the candle flame, what appears to be chaos is simply overlapping fires dancing along side each other.
The Gas Burner: Different kind of fire
A gas burner flame is sharp, fast, the tip goes up and often has a distinct blue core. Luckily hand-drawn animation naturally creates that flickering look due to natural hand movement and inability to recreate a stroke 100% the same in each frame. This makes the subtle flickering of the burner flame very easy to replicate.
Want to take your practice further?
I am currently playing with the idea of releasing my rough animations as practice files and offering my 2D animations for licensing. The practice files would allow you to pull my frames directly into your software to study the timing, spacing, and project settings logic up close; and the polished animations you could use in a project. Would that be of interest to you?
If this is something that would help your animation journey, stay tuned. I will be announcing any updates regarding these files and licensing opportunities through my "In the Making" page and on my YouTube channel, so keep an eye on the page or simply subscribe to not miss it.
I hope this tutorial has sparked a fire in you! Enjoy animating 🔥
