# A running rat **URL:** \ **Category:** Animations\ **Tags:** animals\ **Created:** [March 11, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/a-running-rat/117985 "2025-03-11T21:33:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![npc](https://krita-artists.org/user_avatar/krita-artists.org/npc/32/132224_2.png) [@npc](https://krita-artists.org/u/npc)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/a-running-rat/117985/1 "2025-03-11T21:33:52Z")
I enjoy experimenting with animation every now and then. I’ve never done a running cycle before, and been meaning to work on more rat pictures anyway. It’s only 4 frames, but they are surprisingly effective! ---
**Author:** ![anon13050920](https://krita-artists.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@anon13050920](https://krita-artists.org/u/anon13050920)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/a-running-rat/117985/2 "2025-03-11T21:50:57Z")
Looks pretty clean already, although a few frames more would probably make a big difference 😃 I also love to experiment with animation and every time I realise how elaborately it is given there are fully handdrawn feature films like the Ghibli ones ---
**Author:** ![sooz](https://krita-artists.org/user_avatar/krita-artists.org/sooz/32/93244_2.png) [@sooz](https://krita-artists.org/u/sooz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/a-running-rat/117985/3 "2025-03-12T01:38:09Z")
Nice! ---
**Author:** ![npc](https://krita-artists.org/user_avatar/krita-artists.org/npc/32/132224_2.png) [@npc](https://krita-artists.org/u/npc)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 2:54am UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/a-running-rat/117985/4 "2025-03-12T02:54:52Z")
Thank you! Yeah you’re right, when I work on smoother animations I get very tired drawing the same thing 50 times over. I have so much respect for traditionally animated 2D movies and shows. They have so much charm and life in them! 👏 ---
**Author:** ![anon13050920](https://krita-artists.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@anon13050920](https://krita-artists.org/u/anon13050920)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 12:17pm UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/a-running-rat/117985/5 "2025-03-12T12:17:21Z")
Yeah also the effort is multiplied if you’re also coloring everything like you did. As I am mainly creating video nowadays I have found an amazing way to spice your animation up! You can create simple animations in Krita with transparent backgrounds and change colors, position or add effects in other software. For example I created this short lyrics video with some handdrawn animations: [https://youtu.be/wabRo-KS7lY?si=1znP5AF\_vK\_xixyK](https://youtu.be/wabRo-KS7lY?si=1znP5AF_vK_xixyK) It was a lot more engaging when you know you can use it more than once, or create for example hundred rats running by copy pasting. ---
**Author:** ![npc](https://krita-artists.org/user_avatar/krita-artists.org/npc/32/132224_2.png) [@npc](https://krita-artists.org/u/npc)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/a-running-rat/117985/6 "2025-03-13T00:14:58Z")
Good job on the video, very lovely! That’s actually very smart, I havent seen anything like effects in the animation section of Krita. I’ve done animations where the background moves in a static direction and having to pull it a little every frame instead of just adding a moving effect was definitely some work. But on the bright side, animation is very easy and understandable in Krita, even if lacking in some features. ---
**Author:** ![anon13050920](https://krita-artists.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@anon13050920](https://krita-artists.org/u/anon13050920)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 7:13pm UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/a-running-rat/117985/7 "2025-03-13T19:13:41Z")
Hey! If I understand you correctly, I think that you may not know an animation feature Krita has then: **Tutorial** 1 On the background layer you can add a transformation mask. 2 Then set a keyframe at the beginning. You can do this by going to the “Animation Curves” window. (I have it set right next to Animation Timeline, you may need to add it to your layout though) Then you click the first symbol with a + at the desired keyframe and move your background into the starting position via the transform tool. ![image](https://krita-artists.org/uploads/default/original/3X/9/8/984d105acb5d951921223f671760fc23b89f9087.png) 3 After that you just need to set a new position at the last frame you want your background to move in and then your background will automatically move along your animation. Note: Depending on how many layers and transformation masks you are using this _can_ heavily affect pre-render load times and kritas performance. Also it should be added that when painting you should always have the transformation mask invisible. If you want to see a tutorial for better explanation: [https://youtu.be/vru5pSWHVGk?si=fZvcVtJORgOj-K6Z&t=269](https://youtu.be/vru5pSWHVGk?si=fZvcVtJORgOj-K6Z&t=269) ---
**Author:** ![npc](https://krita-artists.org/user_avatar/krita-artists.org/npc/32/132224_2.png) [@npc](https://krita-artists.org/u/npc)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/a-running-rat/117985/8 "2025-03-14T01:06:03Z")
Oh dear, I really need to look more into Krita animation. Thank you so much for this! It seems to be exactly what I would’ve needed at that time, what a life saver, definitely gonna try this in the future! ☺