Joe Fellows Answers Your 2.5D Photo-Making Questions

So you got that awesome DSLR camera for Christmas, but your Photoshop skills are a little rusty. Rather than let those holiday pics depreciate into your average Instagram upload, absorb the DIY special effects wisdom from photographer Joe Fellows. In our new documentary (above) on the Adobe Suite sage, Fellows answers all your questions about how to create 2.5D animation, an effect that morphs still photographs into something between a .GIF and video. Now that mistletoe candid snapshot can be embellished and made into memorabilia treasure.

Fellows previously brought us through key tactics he uses to achieve a 2.5D animation (also called parallax) in our first video profile of the artist. Our readers had some questions about how to employ this stylization without looking like a rookie, and Fellows was down to make a follow-up with more detailed instructions, including his personal favorite parallax images from across the web.

If you want to beef up your post-production skills--or need motivation to use that new camera--then watch our doc above. We included your specific questions below that get answered in the doc, as well as Fellows' favorite parallax videos from around the web. Unfortunately, he doesn't offer tricks on how to return your less awesome holiday gifts.

Just one of the many archival images Fellows transformed in our previous tutorial.

All of these questions (and more) get answered in the doc above:

Can you elaborate on the use of the “pin” technique to anchor joints--what tools are used and within what program? ~ via Edwin Kosobucki on YouTube

How was the shadow effect accomplished with the paddle and balls across the white t-shirt? Were puppet warp points used in the shadow of your finger? ~ via stegokitty on YouTube

What’s a good setting to render and export as a video from AfterEffects? ~ via RottenEggsForYou on YouTube

How are the balls animated so they look like they’re spinning? ~ via eternaltool on YouTube

Does Photoshop have 3D capabilities that let you put images on different planes in 3D space just like you showed in AfterEffects? ~ via Kingbot on Instructablaes

Where can I watch the first pics-video you showed at the beginning? via Bauss on YouTube and zootam on Reddit 

The following are a few of Fellows' favorite parallax projects from around the web. May they serve as inspiration, or just let them blow your mind for a minute.

En tus brazos from Stefano Armanini.

Manta Rays at Risk from Martin Ureta.

For part one of our Joe Fellows tutorial, watch the film below:

[Video] How To Turn Your Photos Into Animated Clips