Surely you have already asked yourself how to draw attention with an interesting animated post on social networks ? Or maybe you want to make an explainer video that presents your company, one of your services or a product in a nice way? Maybe Doodly is the right solution for you.

You’ve probably already seen animations where a hand draws pictures or writes text on the screen, and you have a voice-over or music in the background. Such animations have become popular in the last few years because they are attractive, precise and pleasant to watch. Somewhat older generations may remember the cartoon ” La Linea “. What can also be very important for this program is that it is quick and easy to learn.

How to use Doodly?

After installation, when you start Doodly , as with most graphic programs, you are offered options to start creating a new video ” Create new video ” or continue working on one of the previous projects by clicking on the shortcut in the upper part of the screen or by clicking on the Open icon in the Projects tab. In the following, by choosing one of the other icons, you can rename ( Rename ), duplicate ( Duplicate ) or delete ( Delete ) the selected video.

In addition to the Projects tab, there is also a Templates tab where you can select some of the already existing videos and, with certain modifications, adapt the video to your needs.

So after you decide to start creating a new video ( Create new video ), a new popup window will open where you have the following options:

• Choose one of the backgrounds. It should be noted that this can be changed during the scene creation process itself.

1. Whiteboard – White board.
2. Chalkboard – School board (on which chalk is written). Here you also have the option to choose black or green.
3. Glassboard – Glass board. The hand that writes comes from the other side, creating an effect as if the content is written on the window.
4. Custom – You can upload any image you want the content to be drawn on.

• Name the file
• Choose the desired resolution or dimension

(1920 x 1080 is the standard screen size)

After you have set everything, click on the Create button and you can start.

When we start, the desktop should be seen as 4 windows, i.e. 4 basic units:

1. Left – Categories . Components that we will insert into the view (scenes, characters, images, text, sound)
2. Middle – Show preview . A window in which images from Categories are inserted and scenes are created
3. Right – Actions, Scenes, Tools and Layers . Settings for each scene
4. Bottom part – Timeline . A window where you can add and delete scenes, adjust them time duration and synchronize them with sound or zoom in on certain parts of the scene.

Categories

In this window, that is, as a whole, there are all the components that you can insert into the video. In the upper black part, all components are sorted by Scenes , Characters , Props , Text , Sounds and Marketplace where you can buy additional components.

What is additionally interesting is that by clicking on the blue circle with a white + sign in the lower right corner, you can upload additional images that are not offered. It is important to know that it is possible to upload only png format images whose dimensions do not exceed 1920 x 1080 px.

Just below the black part is the search bar. You should know that here you can only search the whole or “directory” you are in. Below that, there is also a Doodly Rainbow option with which you can add color to the offered components, but it is charged additionally.

When you have found a category that suits you with a simple drag and drop, drag it to Show Preview.

Show Preview

When you have inserted the category or Asset that suits you or by clicking on another one, you will notice that it is framed by a broken line and above it there are icons with the help of which you can further manipulate your object.

Within the Settings option, you can adjust the position and size of the object, rotation at a certain angle, color, intensity, duration of drawing or erasing if necessary and the sound that will accompany it.

Flip is a horizontal rotation of the image as in a mirror.

Bring forward or Send backward are options for plans, i.e. placing objects through layers so that it is determined which will go forward or stay behind. And of course the Delete option

To delete the selected asset.

If you have uploaded an additional image, basically you have not used one of the existing ones, you will also have an edit option with the help of which it is possible to adjust how the image will be drawn and from how many strokes.

Actions, Scenes, Tools and Layers

Within this window, all important functions related to a specific scene but also to the entire video are adjusted. For example, within Actions you can record ( Save ), view ( Preview ) or export ( Export ) your complete project or video.

Tools are used for enlarging or reducing the frame so that you can work more precisely on the details, and in the Layers section you can adjust the arrangement of objects and the length of drawing ( Duration ) or the length of the pause ( Delay ) between drawing objects and Assets .

Clicking on Scene Settings opens a new window in which you can adjust everything related to the scene that is currently open to you. From the background to the hand that will print the content to the transition between scenes. In the Extra time at the end option, it is possible to set how long the scene will stand after the end of rendering.

Timeline

This window serves us to set up the entire video, more precisely, to unify all components into one unit and synchronize them with each other.

There are 4 “lines” that need to be synchronized with each other:

1. Panning and Zooming – Zooming and moving within the scene
2. Scenes – Add and remove scenes
3. Music – Adding music
4. Voice over – Adding a voice or Voice over

Let’s conclude. Doodly is easy to learn, first of all, because it has a logical flow, more precisely, learning one function is logically connected to another, so you can discover a lot yourself and upgrade later.

Of course, the main problem with such simple programs is that there are not many automated actions, so most things must be set manually, which requires a lot more time in the work process itself.

The tool is quite useful and we definitely recommend it to you, especially because its price is affordable.

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