Creating an Animated Helicopter

Description: Create and animate a helicopter taking off and flying away using this tutorial.

Creating an Animated Helicopter

Start by opening an image where ground and sky can be seen together.

Insert a cutout of a helicopter.

Hide the helicopter layer. Create a rounded rectangle using rounded rectangle shape tool. Press Ctrl+T. Right click the layer and select perspective. Adjust nodes to get the shape as shown.

Duplicate the layer and rotate it.

Create a circle using elliptical shape tool.

Double click the layer to open layer style window. Apply layer style with the settings shown.

Select and merge all the wings and circle layer.

Duplicate layer. From filter menu select blur>>radial blur.

Duplicate layer press Ctrl+F to reapply the filter.

Duplicate layer press Ctrl+F to reapply the filter.

Select the wing layers. Form layer palette select new group from layers. Select the group layer. Press Ctrl+T and squeeze vertically.

Insert a cloud layer. Move this layer behind the helicopter layers.

Select eraser tool and remove the bottom hard edge using a soft brush settings.

Open animation window. For the first frame hide all the blurred ring layers from the group. Move the clouds layer upwards.

Duplicate frame. Unhide the next blurred wing layer. Follow along the shots below to hide or unhide wing layers with each duplicate frames.

Duplicate frames. For the 8th, 9th and 10th frame move the helicopter with wings upwards.

Duplicate frame. Select clouds and ground layer. Move a few pixel downwards.

Again duplicate frame. Move both layers a few pixels downwards.

Repeat the steps till 14th frame.

Duplicate frame. Move helicopter and wings layer towards left. Let it disappear from the left edge.

Click tween button from the animation window. Apply settings as shown.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S to save an optimized animated GIF.