Displaying Doodly assets with shadows added. Shadow effects pop Doodly assets off the canvas.

Shadow Effects

Demonstrates the need for these types of subtle effects to bring your doodles to life. This very much underrated option adds that realism effect to the viewer. This article explains things to remember when creating these effects for character, prop and text assets.

Requirements

A photo editing program with blurring capability.

Prerequisites

What is a shadow effect?

Due to the Scalable Vector Graphics limited color spectrum, Doodly assets do not often come with good shading or they appear with limited shadows so they look like the old 2D cartoons. A shadow effect will allow us to provide a little more realism by using shadows in a lighted area or behind text. This effect is designed to not be noticed or stand out on its own but to be more of a subtle change that nobody really notices but they are happy it is there.

Notes: Doodly has issues properly fading in imported image assets with opacity and blurring so if possible it may be better to use the same background instead of transparency when using blurring effects. Shadow effects are not necessary on the chalkboard and will work best on the whiteboard.

Types of Shadows

There are several types of shadows but after working with the basics, the rest of the shadows will come along so in this article we will discuss text shadows, character and prop shadows, and perspective.

Text Shadows

These can be completed using several methods.

  • Using fonts that contain shadows. These are not easy to find and they typically don’t look good.
  • Creating a shadow for the font and fading it in behind the text using Doodly.
  • Creating the shadow effect in the photo editor, importing it into Doodly and then creating reveal paths. This will be the most convincing of all methods but we then lose the ability to just type so these are better if just appearing, fading in or using animation effects to bring them up.

Character and Prop Shadows

There is a nearly unlimited amount of shadow effects for characters and props all of which require a photo editor. We will talk about 3 of them These effects can turn an ordinary doodle into a masterpiece for the viewer. All shadow names are my own and not industry standard. The first 3 steps in all of these instructions is:
A. Export the Asset
B. Open in your Photo Editor
C. Remove the Background

Standing Shadows

1. Duplicate the Layer
2. Adjust the copied layer to lay down opposite of the light source.
3. Fill in the copied layer with a medium to dark gray color.
4. Use Gaussian Blur

At this point, we can either delete the initial layer and just use the asset shadow in Doodly or we can export both the asset and shadow together and recreate the layers.

Floating Shadows

1. Copy the most bottom portion of the layer.
2. Paste that in a new layer.
3. Fill in the copied layer with a medium to dark gray color.
4. Use Gaussian Blur

Lifting Shadows

These are shadows behind or directly below an asset that provide the appearance as if the asset is being popped off a wall or from a floor.
1. Duplicate the Layer
2. Adjust the copied layer to in the direction opposite of the light source.
3. Fill in the copied layer with a medium to dark gray color.
4. Use Gaussian Blur
5. Blurring the edge of the image where the shadow meets the image will provide a more convincing appearance.

Perspective

Ensure all shadows are consistently in the same direction in a single scene. Shadows that are closer or from a brighter light will tend to be darker and contour to the shape of the object which is causing the shadow. Shadows which are further away or in dimmer light will become lighter and start to lose their shape.