In this lesson, you will create a simple pendulum animation using Wick Editor. You will build on your new animation skills by exploring how to create smooth, swinging motion using arcs and timing. You’ll draw a hanging pendulum and animate it swinging back and forth, just like in a real clock!

Think about how a pendulum moves in a grandfather clock, it swings smoothly from side to side in a curved path, slowing at the ends and speeding through the middle. You'll learn to use frames, onion skinning, and previews to make your animation feel natural and rhythmic. Let's get started and bring that pendulum to life!

To begin, open Wick Editor in your web browser. If you haven't already, visit the Wick Editor website at https://www.wickeditor.com/ and click on 'Launch Web Editor' to launch it.

Once inside, create a new animation project. This will give you a fresh canvas to work on your pendulum swing animation. Remember, you can adjust the project settings like frame rate if needed, but for now, the defaults are fine.

Wick: Create a new project

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To create a new animation project and open up the editor in Wick go to this website: https://www.wickeditor.com/editor

Let's start by drawing the pendulum for your animation. This will be the starting position where the pendulum is hanging straight down.

1. Make sure you're on the first frame in the timeline.
2. Select the Line tool from the toolbar. In the inspector panel, you can change the colour and width of your line to however you would like it.
3. Draw a straight vertical line from the top centre of the canvas down to about three-quarters of the way.
4. Switch to the Ellipse tool. Set the fill colour to a colour of your choosing.
5. Draw a circle at the bottom of the line. Hold Shift for a perfect circle. Use the Select tool to move your circle to where you want it, if needed.

To make your animation smooth, turn on onion skinning.

1. Find the onion skinning icon in the canvas tools at the bottom right – it looks like layered frames.
2. Click it to activate. You’ll see faint outlines of previous and next frames, helping you position the pendulum accurately.

Use this as a guide to keep the swinging smooth and consistent.

Wick: Turn on onion skinning

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Onion skinning is a technique used in animation that allows you to see several frames at once. This makes it easier to understand how your animation is progressing over time.

To use onion skinning in Wick Editor, find the canvas tools at the bottom right. Click on the onion skinning tool to see previous and following frames. This will help you to create smoother, more natural animations.