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Manual TV Paint 8 Pro
Manual TV Paint 8 Pro
5 User Guide
TVPaint Animation Pro 1991-2007 TVPaint Developpement. All rights reserved. This edition of the TVPaint Animation Pro User D&veloppement. All rights reserved. !ide is prote"ted #$ "op$right 200%-2007 TVPaint
This !ser g!ide ma$ not' either (holl$ or partl$' #e "opied' reprod!"ed' translated' transferred to a magneti"' ele"troni" or opti"al s!pport or disposed off to third parties (itho!t prior (ritten approval of its a!thor and TVPaint D&veloppement. All forms of d!pli"ation of the TVPaint Animation Pro soft(are' either ph$si"al or ele"troni"' is stri"tl$ for#idden. TVPaint Animation Pro is a registered trademar) of TVPaint D&veloppement. All other prod!"ts or #rands mentioned in this !ser g!ide are registered trademar)s of their respe"tive o(ners.
Credits
The TVPaint Developpement team *erv& ADA+' ,ri" +AT,-./' 0&#astien +/ 1/2' 3i"olas 4/-*A4D' Patri"e 5,43A0021A' +i"hael 0-*4,/3,4 Documentation 6a#ri"e D,5A4 ,
+an$ than)s $o! to all those (ho have helped !s from "lose and far to "omplete this tas).
Lesson 00 Introduction
Getting to know TVPaint Animation Pro
TVPaint Animation Pro is a program "ompiled for graphi" design and 2D animation. This program is intended for dra(ing and animation enth!siasts. >ith its #itmap approa"h' its o#@e"tive is to "over the main needs of the artist. /t offers a "omplete range of high-performan"e tools' the parameters of (hi"h ma$ #e set' (hether for the la$man or the professional artist and $et still offers the "reative feeling provided #$ pen and paper. TVPaint Animation Pro is the animatorAs home st!dio. 5ased on TVPaint te"hnolog$' (hi"h is reno(ned (orld(ide sin"e its s!""ess on the Amiga in 1991 and "onstantl$ !pgraded for ever #etter performan"e' TVPaint adapts to all prod!"tion diagrams' (hether traditional' f!ll$ digital or h$#rid. Designed to (or) (ith all resol!tions' it (ill delight all dra(ing enth!siasts than)s to its tools (hi"h offer limitless possi#ilities. ?o!r "reations are onl$ restri"ted #$ the #o!ndaries of $o!r imagination B
T pographic conventions
/n order to simplif$ !nderstanding of the te"hniC!es des"ri#ed' this !ser g!ide !ses the follo(ing t$pographi" "onventions D - Italics D the names of men!s' #!ttons' ta#s' (indo(s' "ommands' tools 7all elements referring to one of the o#@e"ts present in the program9 are (ritten in itali"s. - E)e$F D designates a )e$#oard short"!ts. - E)e$1G )e$2F D designates a )e$ "om#ination. .eep the first )e$ pressed and then press the se"ond )e$. - left "li") H right "li") 71+5' 4+59 D these short"!ts refer to a "li") on the left or right mo!se #!tton. As $o! are advan"ing in the g!ide#oo)' $o! (ill en"o!nter the follo(ing s$m#olsD
T/P
A s$m#ol representing a light #!l# indi"ates tips and hints for !sing the program.
4emar)
A s$m#ol representing a (arning sign emphasises information that reC!ires parti"!lar attention and indi"ates an important "omment.
4eminder
The reminder s$m#ol "hara"terises an$ information the eIpli"ation of (hi"h (as alread$ given in the g!ide #oo).
Table of Contents
Lesson 00 : Introduction and typographic conventions Lesson 01 : First approach of TVPaint Ani ation Pro
The various progra panels The toolbar Main panel Color picker Toolbox Current project window The layers window Main menu &o e useful tips Move a window Close, minimize or maximize a window Sliders and mini-sliders Alphanumeric ields !ro"ress bar )or*ing +ith pro,ects Create a new project #iew data relative to your project $ame a project %orkin" with several projects %orkin" in ullscreen mode Close a project The ain enu Help &n'ine support The About((( window To /uit the progra Save the con i"uration Mana"in" the con i"urations The Preferences panel The )eneral tab The *isplay tab The &nter ace tab The Memory + Cache tab &o e details %orkin" without the notion o *!& The notion o pixel aspect ratio #ideo ields 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! 1! " # $ $ $ % % % ' ' ' ' ' ( ( ( . . . . 10 10 10 11 1" 1" 1# 1$ 1% 1' 1' 1' 1(
.edo and undo $otion o layers and colored back"round /oom and #iew options $otion o pixel opacity .,),0 and 1,S,' color systems The dra+ing odes The drawin" modes Color and 0ehind Mechanical pencil and !encil tools The 2rase drawin" mode The Shade and 'i"ht drawin" mode Color A and color 0 'a rotation du plan de travail Mana"ement o palettes and mixers 1istory o colors *rawin" splines, se"ments and circles Adjust the Shape settin"s The !anto drawin" mode Settin" the tools *raw lood illed shapes Settin" o the brush pro ile The coordinates The .e-apply option 3se the )rid 3se the "uides The Sa e Area *isplay settin"s
"! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "! "!
Further details
Layers and ti eline The 4ilbrush tool .ename a layer Create a $ew layer The current layer The advanta"e o workin" with several layers -lip layers 2rase the contents o a layer 3se o a !aper So ten the contours o a sur ace Apply a color "radient Modi y the "lobal opacity o a layer )radients and 4pacity mappin" *isplay and hide a layer Mer"e layers Further details *elete, duplicate a layer 'ock a layer .educe a layer
Assi"n a color to a layer The color "radients Color "radients and drawin" tools The di erent types o "radients Another use o papers Create and mana"e your own papers The !apers and the 4ilbrush tool 3sin" the mask *isplay masks and papers 4pacity mappin" Some remarks or usin" the 4pacity unction
#! #! #! #! #! #! #! #! #! #! #!
2ore details Show, hide the icons Similarities with &ma"e layers The Auto -it option in the timeline Start rame, ne"ative ima"es 3sin" the 0ookmarks The !review settin"s The Cut0rush tool options 2dit brush options -lood ill usin" a brush The notion o Animated brushes
%! %! %! %!
. 1" 1$
The Ani ator Panel The classical tools ot the ani ator
.otate workspace 3sin" the li"ht table
'! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '! '!
1$ 1$ 1$ 1% 1% 1' 1' 1( 111. 1. "1 "1 "" "$ "$ "( "( ""-
A concrete example Mana"e the content o a 8Sheet layer Select several ima"es in a 8Sheet layer The icons o the 8Sheet tab Select a de ault source About the projects The steps to create a Lip!&ync The iles used in this chapter Calibrate the options relative to the audio track !ositionin" syllabe and phonemes Create source columns Create 8Sheet 'ayers
-! -! -! -! -! -! -! -! -! -! -! -!
The Median blur in *ark halo mode The Median blur in 'i"ht mark mode The Median blur in *ark mark mode The Median blur in *ouble ed"e mode The Median blur &mpressionist mode The Transition group effects The Transition 9 1ide e ect The Transition 9 0lock e ect The Transition 9 Classic e ect The Transition 9 -ade e ect The Transition 9 Slide e ect The Transition 9 .otary e ect The Transition 9 !a"e Turn e ect Increasing the transition possibilities by using the F6!stac*5
10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 !
The Stylize 9 $oise e ect The Stylize 9 !rint e ect The Stylize 9 $e"ative e ect The Stylize 9 Solarize e ect The Stylize 9 Color ran"e e ect The Stylize 9 1al Tone e ect The Stylize 9 'umix e ect Some remarks re"ardin" the Source &ma"e notion The Colors 9 &ma"e Source e ect The Stylize 9 Convolve e ect
1" ! 1" ! 1" ! 1" ! 1" ! 1" ! 1" ! 1" ! 1" ! 1" !
. . 10 10 10 11 11 1" 1# 1'
The !lanes tab Create an animation with the multi plane camera e ect, part < The !osition, !ivot and Size parameters Create an animation with the multi plane camera e ect, part = Create an animation with the multi plane camera e ect, part > Creatin" movement, move the camera Create and mana"e ocusin" blurs Make the kid run The multi plane camera wizard 4ther situations
1% ! 1% ! 1% ! 1% ! 1% ! 1% ! 1% ! 1% ! 1% ! 1% !
3o+ to use the plug!ins The Color -actory plu"-in The Canon plu"-in The *irect Show plu"-in The %ave orm plu"-in 3o+ to use the scripting language > ;eorge ? &ntroduction, what is )eor"e 6 -indin", 2ditin" and 3sin" )eor"e Scripts A ew examples o )eor"e Scripts !ro"rammer en lan"a"e )eor"e &nstructions et commandes An example o pro"ram written in )eor"e 'an"ua"e( Commands *escription A ew use ul options 1ow to use the variables The operators at your disposal The instructions !aram and !arse, the launchin" modes( The character strin"s The arrays -unctions and procedures 1ow to create librairies o unctions and procedures The Startup("r" ile 1ow to create a !lu"-in or T#!aint Animation !ro Addin" ar"uments
1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- ! 1- !
' ' 10 11 1" 1" 1" 1# 1# 1# 1$ 1' 1( 1( 11. "0 "1 "" "# "$ "$ "$
Appendi@ :
The video cards compatible with T#!aint Animation !ro The di"ital camera workin" with the Canon !lu"-in The )eor"e instructions The )eor"e lan"ua"e commands The main characteristics o the export ormats The available keyboard shorcuts and commands The initialization ile The technical support and internet resources A! A! A! A! A! A! A! A! " # # $ % ( 1" 1$
Learn to open and close TVPaint Animation Pro. Discover the various panels and windows. Start a project. Access InLine help. Set your preferences.
After havin! followed the installation instructions in the Start"up !uide# you may now start TVPaint Animation Pro. To do this# proceed as follows: $ Dou%le"clic& on the des&top icon or use the start menu 'for (indows users). $ Dou%le"clic& on the applications folder icon or doc& icon 'for *ac +S , users). The TVPaint Animation Pro pro!ram and most of the associated files are saved in the -pro!ram. directory of your operatin! system. To use TVPaint Animation Pro# you may choose %etween the mouse or stylus. The latter is more appropriate for persons wishin! to have that - freehand . desi!n feelin!.
The various options availa%le on this screen will %e discussed in further detail elsewhere in this lesson. or the moment# simply clic& on OK. +nce the pro!ram has loaded# the followin! ima!e illustrates what your screen will %e li&e for a display resolution of /012 3 /204 pi3els.
/"0
5ere you will find a description of the various panels displayed on the screen. The toolbar
The first icons on this tool%ar concern the traditional functions found in all standard software pac&a!es: New 'start a new project)# Load 'load an e3istin! project)# Save 'save a project)# Close 'close the current project). The followin! icons are used to open or close various TVPaint Animation Pro panels 'display coordinates# li!ht ta%le# timeline# etc.).
To move the tool%ar# clic& and hold the left mouse %utton# then slide the cursor as re7uired. The tool%ar then appears in the form of a panel.
/"6
Main panel
This panel is used to draw se!ments# ellipses# rectan!les# curves#... 8rush selection and cuttin! options are also availa%le here.
Color picker
This panel is used to select the color in which you wish to wor&. Distinction is made %etween the A color 'always referred to as main color) in the left rectan!le and the B color in the ri!ht rectan!le.
Toolbox
The tool%o3 contains a wide choice of %uttons correspondin! to traditional drawin! tools: air%rush# %rush# pencil# wet %rush# etc. Various parameters may %e set: si9e# power# opacity# etc.
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Current project
in!o
The current project window is the one in which you will %e a%le to e3press your artistic talents and create a wide variety of animated se7uences.
The la"ers
in!o
This window is also referred to as the -timeline. %y many users. It is used to mana!e your layers and insert &eys for your effects 'we will discuss this point in su%se7uent lessons).
Main menu
TVPaint Animation Pro has numerous menus located just a%ove the tool%ar in windows 'they are located at the top of the screen on *ac +S",) : File, Edit, Project, Layer, ma!e, E""ects, View, #indows, $el%. :ach of these menus offers specific options all of which will %e descri%ed in detail in this !uide.
irst approach of TVPaint Animation Pro /";
If for some reason you wish to move a window# this is done %y simply clic&in! on the title %ar and then slidin! it to the re7uired location while &eepin! the mouse pressed.
in!o
These three %uttons# on P< : and on *ac : # are present on many of the panels and windows# in the top ri!ht"hand corner for P< and top left"hand corner for *ac. $ The %uttons = close the window '&ey%oard shortcut >Shift?(@). $ The %uttons = place the current window in front of or %ehind other windows. $ The %uttons = are used to minimi9e the window. +nce minimi9ed# this icon chan!es to and may %e used to ma3imi9e the window a!ain 'note that this icon does not chan!e on *ac). The si9e of some windows# the timeline for e3ample# may %e adjusted: it is possi%le to adjust their si9e with precision %y clic&in! on one of the ed!es.
The element a%ove on the left is referred to as a slider. It is located hori9ontally under some windows 'in particular under the current project window) or vertically ne3t to these windows. <lic& on the arrows with the left mouse %utton or slide the rectan!le to view the content of the window with which the slider is associated# either up and down or left and ri!ht. As you have already !uessed: the element on the ri!ht is a mini"slider which may %e used to chan!e the numeric value or percenta!e ne3t to it with a left clic& and slide of the mouse on the dou%le arrow. (hen slidin! the mouse on a mini"slider# press and hold the ri!ht %utton to accelerate movement.
Alphanumeric fiel!s
:ach time you rename a layer# project# effect or other element# you will %e as&ed to enter a te3t in this type of window. <lic& on OK to confirm the name chan!e or clic& on Cancel&
The standard &ey%oard shortcuts: ><trl?,@ 'cut)# ><trl?<@ 'copy)# ><trl?V@ 'paste)# ><trl?A@ 'select all)# ><trl?A@ 'cancel) are valid in all alphanumeric fields 'note that these shortcuts are valid for P< and on *ac computers the user presses the Apple &ey instead of - <trl .). (hen re7uired they are accessi%le with a ri!ht clic& on the concerned field.
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Progress bar
Sometimes application of an effect with TVPaint Animation Pro re7uires a certain amount of processin! time. If your computer is carryin! out such an operation# the pro!ress %ar appears to inform you of the pro!ress of this operation. If re7uired# the >:sc@ &ey on (indows# > operation in pro!ress. @ on *ac +S", or Sto% %utton may %e used to stop the
'orking
ith projects
TVPaint Animation Pro wor&s with Projects which contain the artistCs creations. The notion of project is vast and further details will %e provided durin! the firsts lessons.
Create a ne
project
The first thin! to do when usin! this pro!ram is create a new project. To do this# you may: $ Select the parameters of your new project as soon as the pro!ram is started when the start"up screen appears. $ Dse the File main menu. $ Dse the &ey%oard shortcut >Shift?E@. $ <lic& on the first icon to the left on the tool%ar. A panel then appears 'see opposite). This panel is used to define: $ The name of your project $ Its #idt' and $ei!'t in pi3els $ The As%ect ratio $ The Frame (ate ' ma!es)sec&) $ The Fields display mode
Settin! each parameter to create an animation in the format of your choice may proove lon! and arduous. Therefore# a popup menu has %een added to the panel to allow you to set the various numeric fields accordin! to the most commonly used formats: PAL# ETS<# VFA# DTV# ilm# etc.
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TVPaint Animation Pro uses all standard formats 'even very hi!h definition) %oth for ima!e width=hei!ht ratios 4=6 and /B=H as well as others. +nce all options have %een selected# clic& on New %roject. A project window then appears on the screen 'see %elow). It is in this window that you will wor& and view your creations.
TVPaint Animation Pro allows you to wor& on several projects at the same time. The ma3imum num%er of projects is limited only %y the capa%ilities of your computer.
Vie
(ame a project
The default name for a new project is -Dntitled"22 .# - Dntitled"2/ .# - Dntitled"20 .# etc ... To render these names more understanda%le# it is possi%le to rename them as you wish. To do this# simply use the Project*(ename main menu.
'orking
TVPaint Animation Pro offers the user the possi%ility to wor& with several projects on the screen at the same time. The >Ta%@ &ey on your &ey%oard may %e used to switch from one to the other. It should %e noted that the names of the projects present on the screen may %e viewed in the #indows main menu) The chec&ed name is the current project.
/"1 irst approach of TVPaint Animation Pro
(hen in F+llscreen mode# the &eys of the numeric &eypad may %e used to move your project on the screen. In fullscreen mode# the > /0@ &ey allows to hide all the tool panels. 5ere a!ain# the >Ta%@ &ey is used to switch from one project to another. To return to windows mode# simply press the >V@ &ey or the icon a%ove a!ain 'these options are also accessi%le via the View main menu ).
Close a project
A project may %e closed in four ways: $ Dse the = %uttons at the top of your project window. $ Dse the fourth %utton from the left on the tool%ar. $ Dse the File * Close %roject main menu. $ Dse the &ey%oard shortcut >Shift?(@. In order to avoid any mista&es# a confirmation messa!e will appear 'see opposite).
*nLine support
At any time# a help function referred to as nLine 'el%$ is availa%le in TVPaint Animation Pro. *ove the cursor over the icon for which you wish to o%tain information 'without clic&in! on it) and a %rief description of the icon you are pointin! at will appear to!ether with any associated &ey%oard shortcut.
irst approach of TVPaint Animation Pro /"H
+pposite you will find the description correspondin! to the Flood"ill tool. If you wish to reduce the content of the InLine help or prevent it from appearin! on the screen entirely# the correspondin! options are availa%le in the $el% menu.
The About)))
in!o
This section provides information a%out the pro!ram : $ name of developers# $ %eta"testers# $ date of creation# $ serial and license num%er# $ copyri!hts.
/"/2
(hen restartin! TVPaint Animation Pro# the user may either create# copy or delete a confi!uration 'you can also select their storin! folder). $ To create a new confi!uration# clic& on the dedicated %utton in the window which first appears when the pro!ram is started 'see %elow). $ To duplicate an e3istin! confi!uration# clic& on the Co%y %utton in the same window. A te3t window will appear. Lou may enter the name of the duplicated confi!uration in the te3t field and then validate it %y clic&in! o,. $ (hen a confi!uration is deleted# all effects# %rushes# palettes# shortcutsK used previously will %e lost. +f course# if you saved them in advance# you can reload and re"use them. 8y default# the confi!urations are located in the folder : & C:\Documents and Settings\your_name\Application Data\T paint Animation\ for (indows users ! " Home Directory#$ibrary#t%paint animation pro#default for *ac +S", users The "rom "ile popup menu allows you to start the software %y loadin! one of the ten previously used project.
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The /eneral ta% indicated a%ove comprises four sections for a P< and three for a *A<. $ The first is used to select the 5*I lan!ua!e. At present# the user may choose %etween rench and :n!lish. $ The second section is used to attri%ute &ey%oard shortcuts to almost all icons and menu options. To create your own shortcuts# clic& on the Con"i!+re %utton in the second section. The window opposite then appears.
Lou have pro%a%ly noticed that when the InLine help appears# many tools# options# drawin! modes# etc. already have associated &ey%oard shortcuts. M The left"hand column indicates all &ey%oard &eys and &ey com%inations with the associated functions when attri%uted. M The ri!ht"hand column indicates all TVPaint Animation Pro functions which may %e attri%uted to a &ey%oard shortcut. M The Assi!n %utton is used to assi!n a function to a specific &ey or com%ination of &eys 'in which case you will create a shortcut for this function). The com%ination ><trl@ ? Assi!n is used to add a function to a &ey. The various functions will %e e3ecuted in the order they were added. M The -nassi!n %utton has the opposite effect 'in this case it deletes the shortcut). M The File popup menu is used to save the ,eyma% on your hard drive# load an e3istin! &eymap# clear the current &eymap or reset the default &eymap.
/"/0
$ The third section of the /eneral ta% is used to define a temp directory in which temporary TVPaint Animation Pro files may %e stored. M This directory may %e modified usin! the associated te3t field or usin! the Set %utton 'a file navi!ator window then opens). M The temporary files contain data relative to the current TVPaint Animation Pro session. Data relative to your animations is also stored here 'for e3ample# the various sta!es of your wor& necessary for correct operation of the -ndo and (edo options). M Ine3perienced users are advised not to chan!e the default location. The faster the data stora!e device on which your temporary files are stored# the faster TVPaint Animation Pro will wor&. Always ensure this stora!e device has sufficient availa%le stora!e capacity. $ The fourth section of the /eneral ta% 'specific to P< users) is used to ena%le or disa%le the S+34 Pi5el mode for future drawin!s. This is in direct relation with your hardware and# more precisely# with your !raphic ta%let if you are usin! one 'we stron!ly recommend itN). All the latest models of (acom ta%lets wor& in Su%"Pi3el# i.e. the ta%let precision is !reater than one pi3el on the screen. :na%lin! this function when suita%le hardware is used will allow you to use TVPaint Animation Pro drawin! tools with a precision !reater than one pi3el N In the contrary case# if your hardware does not support this function# ta%let mana!ement may %e ne!atively affected 'drift %etween the true position and the position of the cursor on the screen# for e3ample) and will deliver results considera%ly different to those e3pected# in particular if you wor& with a platform of the Ta%letP< type or in dou%le"screen confi!uration. (e therefore recommend you chec& the compati%ility of your hardware to %enefit fully from this function.
The 0is%lay ta% concerns %rush display 'the latter will %e discussed in detail in lesson 4). The $ide 3r+s' %utton is used to mas& the %rushes when they are used as drawin! tools. +nly the mouse cursor remains visi%le on the screen and a frame indicates the e3act location of the %rush. This option is sometimes practical when wor&in! on a computer with limited resources: the use and display of lar!e %rushes may slow the computer down.
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$ The first section of this ta% may %e used to modify the pro!ram interface colors. The default colors used in TVPaint Animation Pro are li!ht !ray in order not to interfere with the colors used in your projects. 5owever# you are of course free to modify these colors as you wish. M The first popup menu allows you to select the element for which you wish to modify the color '%uttons# te3t selected# sliders# etc.) M Ee3t to this field you will find a s7uare %o3 indicatin! the display color of the interface element selected. Simply clic& on this %3 and then select any color on the screen to %e assi!ned to this element. M The Color sc'eme popup menu is used to 7uic&ly select a set of predefined colors or the default color scheme for this interface. $ The $i!'li!'t mini"slider# the Border and 1irror options allows to have a new !radient loo&.
$ The Save and Load options allows to share the interface settin!s. $ The Oeset %utton is used to return to the colors present when your confi!uration was loaded. $ The A%%ly %utton applies the colors selected to your current interface.
/"/4 irst approach of TVPaint Animation Pro
$ The second section allows you to choose the Style of your cursor. The different possi%ilities are: cross# arrow# point or circle as illustrated opposite.
$ The third section is used to 1a!neti6e t'e vario+s windows o" yo+r inter"ace& This renders mana!ement of their movement more practical. Lou may also choose to display the pro!ram without tool or title %ars 'for windows users)# which increases the project wor&in! 9one. $ The fourth section is used to select which type of file re7uester is to %e used. 8elow you will find e3amples of TVPaint Animation Pro specific as well as standard (indows and *ac +S , file re7uesters.
The TVPaint Animation Pro file re7uester is common to many software pac&a!es developed %y TVPaint DIveloppement and is present in your pro!ram re!ardless of your specific operatin! system. It is the only one capa%le of displayin! previews for files with e3tensions .TVP .*IO .ADO .DIP. The Never con"irm %utton# when tic&ed# cancels the confirmation re7uest which normally appears when a file is deleted or rewritten. $ The last section contains a tic& %o3 used to place the current project windows %ehind the other interface panels.
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This ta% first displays the physical memory availa%le on your computer. $ Pust %elow this field you will find a numeric field and mini"slider ne3t to it. This field is used to attri%ute the amount of memory you re7uire for the -ndo option which allows you to -return. to and undo the previous steps when drawin! on the screen. The hi!her this value# the -further %ac&. you may !o. 5owever# this default value is lar!ely sufficient. $ TVPaint Animation Pro uses the physical memory of your computer and one or several temporary files as discussed in the /eneral ta%. Lou may want to allow TVPaint Animation Pro to mana!e this function automatically or impose a ma3imum cache si9e to %e used 'this may %e useful if you are wor&in! simultaneously with several pro!rams demandin! a lar!e stora!e capacity). (ith re!ard to this point# it should %e noted that TVPaint Animation Pro mana!es operatin! systems usin! over 6 Fi!a%ytes of physical memory. To save your shortcuts# colors or other predefined preferences for later use with TVPaint Animation Pro# do not for!et to save your confi!uration %efore 7uittin! the pro!ram.
#ome !etails
<reation of a new project re7uires some additional e3planations which you will find %elow:
'orking
Lou may already %e used to the notion of DPI 'dots per inch). The DPI is a pi3el density unit often used in ima!in! and printin! software pac&a!es. The hi!her the DPI value of an ima!e# the more pi3els it contains and the sharper the printed ima!e will %e. In the animation field# the measurement used is the pi3el. The notion of pi3els is more practical as it adapts to the specificities of %oth metric and non"metric systems. or e3ample: the :uropean PAL format uses a resolution of G02 pi3els in width and ;GB pi3els in hei!ht# whereas the American ETS< format uses a resolution of G02 pi3els in width and 41B pi3els in hei!ht. The !lo%al si9e of your animation in centimeters# meters or inches depends entirely on the TV or cinema screen used to view them.
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Some details
Left: 'pi3el width) Q 'pi3el hei!ht) 3 0. The ratio is therefore - 0 .. Oi!ht: 'pi3el width) Q 'pi3el hei!ht). The ratio is - / . and the pi3els are s7uare.
The pi3el aspect ratio has a value of /.2BG for the PAL format and a value of 2.H for the ETS< format. Avoid confusion %etween pi3el aspect ratio and width=hei!ht ratio of a video '4=6# /B=H# K). The ratio is the width=hei!ht ratio of the pi3els.
Vi!eo fiel!s
Eormally# a video ima!e is composed of two fields which alternate at a speed which is too fast for the human eye# these fields are referred to as upper fields and lower fields. A field is a vertical half" resolution ima!e which contains every other line of the ima!e. Interlacin! of these fields is lin&ed with the PAL# S:<A* and ETS< standards. In PAL=S:<A*# the upper fields appear first# whereas in ETS< it is the lower field which appears first.
This framin! techni7ue# even if twice as many ima!es are re7uired for the same video ';2 instead of 0; ima!es per second in PAL mode)# has %een adopted in order to improve the 7uality of ima!e movement and precision. Ta&in! advanta!e of the persistance of vision effect# it also allows the user to wor& with lower resolutions. The use of video formats with fields is possi%le in TVPaint Animation Pro. (hen creatin! a project# it is therefore necessary to indicate which of the two fields will %e displayed first usin! the Fields popup menu. The option None in this menu is used to create a project without usin! fields.
/"/G
Learn how to handle the various tools: airbrush, penbrush, wetbrush, pencil, mechanical pencil. Discover the various facets of the color picker. Draw simple geometric forms and floodfill surfaces. Study the notions of opacity and transparence of a pixel. Study the notions of colored background and layers. !se the different drawing modes.
Drawing basics
It is very easy to draw using "#$aint %nimation $ro. In this second lesson we will draw a small house &very simple' using "#$aint %nimation $ro(s tools. In this way we can study the basics which will allow you to express your artistic talents. )ven if it is possible to draw with a trackball or mouse, it is strongly recommended to use a graphic tables e*uipped with a stylus. "his tool re*uires getting used to for beginners but it is much more natural to use for drawing.
/lick on the Penbrush icon on the Tools panel &as soon as the tool is selected, the icon turns yellow to indicate that the tool is chosen, see image opposite'. "hen ad,ust the si0e of the penbrush to 1.2 pixels in diameter.
Select the Rectangle icon on the main panel by clicking on it once. %gain, the color of the icon changes from gray to yellow once the selection is made. "his applies to almost all icons in this application.
Select the Bin tab of the color picker and choose a gray color &if necessary, use the slider to get there'. %fter having clicked on the desired color &or pointed to it if you use a graphic tablet' this color will appear in the main panel and in the color picker as main color or % color.
/lick on the center of the image and, without letting go of the mouse button, slide it towards the bottom right hand corner. 3elease the mouse button. % gray rectangle has now been drawn in the current pro,ect window &see diagrams below'.
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8o the the Picker tab of the color picker panel and choose a color as in the diagram opposite: a gray color with a slight yellow hue. "he choice of this color is important for the continuation, in particular for studying the drawing modes. 6ou will notice that the 389 information is indicated at the bottom of the panel, you can try to get as close as possible to them.
% right click on the same window enables the choice of other ranges, the colors of which vary according to hue, luminosity and saturation or according to the intensity of the colors red, green and blue.
:ow click inside the rectangle in the pro,ect window and you will obtain the result shown opposite.
:evertheless, if you do not like the result you can go back as many times as you want using the $ndo option &keyboard shortcut ;!=' on the main panel. :ote that the Redo option &keyboard shortcut ;ShiftE!=' has the opposite effect.
Let(s add a sun. /hange the tool by selecting the FreeHandDot icon in the main panel and then the Airbrush tool &set the si0e to 142 pixels radius and the power to 1BBC'.
!sing the method described above, recover the yellow color in the Mixer tab of the color picker, then click on the white part of the image to draw your sun. 6ou will obtain the result shown opposite. %t this point, it seems at first sight that the image is mainly composed of white... in fact, that is not the case @ If the layer window is not visible on the screen, click on the Timeline icon on the toolbar to make it appear &keyboard shortcut ;B= on the numeric pad'. :ow change the olor option &bottom left of the timeline' into !one, then into heck and note the changes taking place in the current pro,ect window.
la er la er la er
)verything happens as if our house and sun were drawn on a glass plate, the latter resting on a colored background &see perspective diagrams above...'. 7hat we will refer to as "mage la#er in all future lessons is the e*uivalent of a transparent glass plate placed on a colored background of your choice. 6ou are drawing on this plate and not on the colored background. It is possible to change the color of the backgrounds heck and olor in the same way it is possible to recover a color on the screen thanks to the color fields next to the menu.
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Drawing basics
"o ad,ust the 0oom, you can: F !se the small - % . and - - . icons above as well as the mini5sliders. F !se the keyboard shortcuts ;#= and ;>=. F %d,ust the 0oom numerically by modifying the percentage in the text field intended for this purpose. F !se the &oom button on the main panel: once enabled, this button may be used to increase or decrease the 0oom at an exact point of the current image by simply left or right clicking with the mouse. :ote that there are other options in the pro,ect window which may facilitate your task : F "he button - ' . enables re5initiali0ation of the 0oom to 1BB C. F % left click on the - F . button re5aligns the image in the pro,ect window. F % right click on the - F . button extends the pro,ect window to display the entire image. "hese 0oom options are available to make your task easier when working in detail. ?owever, they do not modify the videos, photos and images themselves. 6our will find them all in the (ie) main menu. 6our pro,ect displays are anti5aliased when 0ooming5out &4B, 42, AA or 2BC of the original pro,ect si0e' "his very useful for people who works in very high resolution. &for exemple the ?D"# format' In lesson 1 we learned that it is possible to work with several pro,ects at the same time. It is also possible to open several pro,ect windows for the same pro,ect. 6ou may use the ;G= key of the keyboard or select !e) pro*ect )indo) in the (ie) main menu to do this. "his is recommended when working with large 0oom values and to keep an eye on the entire pro,ect. :ote that in this case, any modification made in one of the windows results in the same modification being made in all the other windows of the same pro,ect.
"he button of your pro,ect window also offers you several very useful viewing options depending on whether you use it with the left button of your mouse or the right button. F % left click, without releasing the mouse button, followed by sliding the mouse, moves the image in the same way as the sliders located next to it. F % right click without releasing the mouse button may be used to slide the current layer and only this layer to *uickly view the enabled layer &see next lesson for the la#er notion'. %t the moment you release the button, the layer goes back to its initial position. "his is very useful when you are working with a large number of layers and you do not know which one is enabled. "his function is called +haker and is accessible with the keyboard shortcut ;%=. % simple touch on this key will make your current layer shake and reposition it immediately with the aim to rapidly view the current layer.
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6ou will notice that the pixels of the sun let the colors of the check background through with more or less intensity while the pixels of the house are completely opa*ue: it is impossible to see the check background through the house.
If the +liders tab of the color picker is not selected &i.e. on each tab of the color picker except +liders', a line referred to as +tatus bar is visible. "his line is used to display the values in the 389 system of the A color&click on this bar to make the color appear in the ?SL or hexadecimal systems'.
45H
Drawing basics
7e will now draw a blue sky. "o do this: F Select the Freehand line icon &in the main panel'. F Select the )etbrush tool &si0e 1BB pixels, power 1BBC, opacity 1BB C'.
"he red -1:D . indicates that the tool is four times larger than the one visible in the white rectangle to the left.
6ou have already seen the olor mode &keyboard shortcut ;>4=' as you have been using it since the beginning of this lesson... 7hen you use the olor mode, your line and color are applied over the already existing image.
*etbrush in Color mode
7hen you select the Behind mode &keyboard shortcut ;>A=', "#$aint %nimation $ro will take into account the already existing pixels from the line as well as their level of opacity. 7hen the option is chosen, the color is only applied to the transparent surfaces of the image. "he color is therefore not applied over the house or over the sun but is partially visible through the latter. >loodfill in the entire image in blue using this mode.
*etbrush in Behind mode
"he drawing above will serve as a basis to study the other drawing modes.
Drawing basics
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In this example, we used the Airbrush tool with a power of 1BB C and an opacity of 1I C.
If the chosen background is white or black, do not confuse the /rase mode with these two modes : the modes +hade and Light modify the color of the pixels, whereas the /rase mode modifies their opacity.
+irbrush in Shade mode
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.urther details
/olor and ' Color
% very good tip: It is possible to invert the two colors A and B of the color picker using the keyboard shortcut ;:= or the button on the main panel.
The free ad0ustment and its !"# in the form of a traditional drawing wor!space
6ou may also right click on the same button, which will open a menu &see opposite' in which you have the possibility to : Reset the overall angle value &keyboard shortcut ;Insert=', Rotate the 6ie) %'45 &keyboard shortcut ;ShiftE$age!p=', Rotate the 6ie) 3'45 &;ShiftE$ageDown=', manually define an angle value &+et option' or choose a pre5defined angle among 12 values all multiples of 12.
:ote that Rotate %23 '45 will always be rounded off to the priorLnext multiple of 12. >or example, if you work at first with an angle of 42M and then decide to tilt the pro,ect by E12M using ;ShiftE$age!p=, you obtain an angle of ABM and not DBM as AB is the first multiple of 12 after 42.
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It is possible to modify the existing or newly created mixers : a left click on the mixer surface incorporates the A color to the visible mixer which can then be -spread.. If you are not satisfied with the color obtained, you can delete it with the Delete Mixer choice.
In the Bin tab you have some additional choices in the contextual menu: Replace. +)ap. +pread and Delete. "hese choices act directly on the current palette. 6ou may repectively: replace the color in one field by the current color, swap the colors of two fields, spread the colors from one field to another and delete a field.
+nce you have created the mixers and palettes adapted to your needs, do not forget to save the configuration when you *uit "#$aint %nimation $ro. In this way you will have your color parameters at your disposal the next time you start the program. 6ou can import or export palettes and mixers at any time via the File sub5menu. "his enables exchanges between users of the software. It is possible to return to the default mixers and palettes of "#$aint %nimation $ro using the Default palette or Pre3defined palette choices in the contextual menus. "he pre5defined palettes et mixers may be restored by resetting the "#$aint %nimation $ro settings. 6ou should note, however, that the last two operations will delete the palettes and mixers that you have created yourself unless you have exported them previously.
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/olors (istor
7hen you draw with "#$aint %nimation $ro, the history of colors you have used is accessible with a right click on the color s*uare on the main panel or a left click on the button &see opposite'. It is therefore very easy to re5use a color that you have recently used.
It is possible to shade the colors A or B by left clicking on the latter in the main panel or the color picker and then keeping the button ;/trl= pressed when moving the mouse to another color on the screen.
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"his icon offers you access to more complex +plines. 9y default it is possible to trace multi5point splines. "he latter are also referred to as B90ier +plines by mathematicians. 9y modifying the options in the +hape +ettings window, it is also possible to draw three5point splines &see following section'. "o trace a multi5point spline in your pro,ect window: with a few clicks or presses with the stylus on the current pro,ect window, you can construct a broken yellow line interspersed with knots. "his line is not directly integrated in the drawing: "he option Appl# spline or the keyboard shortcut ;)nter= is re*uired to obtain a result &a right click calls up the contextual menu shown opposite'.
"he advantage of this tool is that it allows to work on the knots. F % left click on one of the knots followed by a movement of the stylus allows you to move or edit the spline line of the broken line at this point. In the latter case, the tangental lines of the spline appear &see the red spline in the diagram below'. F >or more precision: the ;/trl= key allows you to work on the line of your choice without influencing the position of the second. F 6ou may also move the spline globally by pressing ;/trl=E left click outside the spline. F >inally, it is also possible to close the spline via the option in the contextual menu. "he form of the circles, rectangles, splines P obtained using the procedure described above, depends on the tool chosen: penbrush, airbrush, pencil, etc. &see above'.
"he Add to bin option allows to keep in memory the current spline. It is often very usefull, especially if you need to re5use it later. &+nce the Add to Bin option is selected, the software asks you to name your spline' 3e5using a stored Spline can be done by choosing its name in the menu. 6ou can also delete a stored spline thanks to the Delete menu.
6our splines will be kept in the bin after restarting the software only if you saved the current configuration. $lease remember that if you delete or reset the configuration, all your Splines will be lost.
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F In the first popup menu you can define two methods of drawing circles. 6ou may choose to: Q draw your circles fixing a centre and then a radius. Q draw your circles defining three points on the screen &geometrically, there is only one circle passing through three non5aligned points in the drawing'. F In the second popup menu you can modify the nature of the splines you will draw using the +pline tool studied previously. 6ou may choose to: Q draw 9R0ier splines &multi3point splines'. Q draw three3point splines. "o draw a three5point spline in your pro,ect window: Q left5click on the first end of the spline, Q keep the button pressed while sliding the mouse, Q release the button when reaching the second end of the spline, Q slide the mouse, Q left click when satisfied with the spline. F "he section named Panto enables ad,usting the vector of the Panto mode studied in the following sub5chapter.
?ere are the steps to use the panto mode correctly : 1' first, use the 3G9 on main panel tools and set the vector S and 6 &set values or click on the (Set( button and draw the vector on your pro,ect'. 4' choose a drawing tool like %irbrush and set drawing mode Panto in the popup menu under the drawing tools icons. A' on your pro,ect you have two cursors. +ne simple for the source and an other with preview for
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the destination. $ixels under the first one are moved under the second one with the settings of the current tools.
F "he variable +i0e defines the tool radius in pixels. F "he variable Po)er defines the color *uantity applied by the tool. F "he variable 1pacit# defines the global tool opacity. "he opacity defines a maximum opacity threshold which the drawing tool cannot exceed. F "he variable Aspect enables flattening of the current tool. F "he variable Angle authorises rotation around the tool U axis. F "he variable +tep, if enabled, manages the waiting time between two applications of the same tool.
In the little window to the left, it is possible to view the effect of the modification of each of the first five variables on the tool. Some examples to help you understand the notions mentioned above: See opposite, a straight line traced with, from top to bottom, the percentages ABBC, 1BBC and BC for the +tep variable.
"#$aint written with the airbrush tool : Angle T NBM and Aspect T 4BC
If re*uired, the 3eset button resets the settings of the displayed tool.
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left to right: profile% three5dimensional view of the tool and its effect on the screen6
"he profile of brushes may be edited in the window shown opposite. 3ight click on the profile of the tool you are using to make it appear.
6ou have the choice : F to create or delete the points of the spline. F to move the latter. F to flip to the spline along the hori0ontal or vertical axis. F to choose the method applied to connect the points with each other: Linear% +pline or Pol#nomial. F to select a pre5defined profile, if re*uired: to do this, use the two arrow buttons to scroll the pre5defined profiles and then click on the profile of your choice to display the corresponding profile on the screen. %s for the palettes and mixers, "#$aint %nimation $ro offers you the possibility to Load% +a6e and Reset the profiles &File popup menu'.
The coordinates
"he oordinates window is accessible via the 7indo)s main menu or via the icon of the tool bar shown opposite. F left you find the coordinates in pixels of the pixel pointed with the mouse as well as its 389 values. F right you find a small 0oom box with a central point. F if you draw a rectangle, the two empty lines will indicate the height and width of the latter in pixels. "here you will also find the length of the two half5axes if you draw an ellipse.
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"his is a situation that is often encountered: you have drawn an ellipse on your screenP 9ut, you have used the wrong tool: you used the 1ilbrush instead of the Penbrush. "he $ndo option allows you to go back &the ellipse drawn with the oilbrush will disappear', but you may have trouble drawing the ellipse again with the same precisionP )ven when having noted the exact coordinates of the ellipse ¢er coordinates and length of the two half axes', it may be tiresome to reproduce exactly the same drawing on the screen. "he Re3appl# option &keyboard shortcut ;)nter=' was developed to counter this type of problem and facilitate your taskP 7hen your ellipse is deleted, change the tool and ad,ust the parameters and colors. "hen select the Re3appl# option in the /dit main menu. % new ellipse is drawn. 6ou may even do more than that as, before using the Re3appl# option, you have the following choices : change the layer, select several layers, change the type of line to work with filled shapesP &see the examples aboveP' It is even possible to define selections or cut animated brushes from the original drawing @
!sing a grid is very useful when : F drawing parallel lines, F placing a brush at regular intervals on the screen, F aligning a text along a vertical line, F etc. %s you have probably guessed, this option is also accessible in the Tool bar and the 7indo)s main menu. +nce enabled, it does not affect your pro,ect itself, but the way you will draw &,ust disable the option to make the red grid disappearP'. F "he ,rid panel which is accessible with a right click on the ,rid icon in the Tool bar or via the 7indo)s main menu is used to set the width and height of the boxes &use the numeric fields of the same name or the mini5sliders'. F "he +tart3: and +tart3; numbers will help you shift the grid on the surface defined by the work area. F If re*uired, you may adapt these four values in such way as to recover the image using the current brush and the Brush si0e button. F "he +et button is used to interactively define the grid parameters by drawing a dummy rectangle in the current pro,ect window. F "he +ho) box displays the grid when it is checked.
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F "he +nap box renders the grid magnetic. "his option imposes that the user may only use the red pixels at the intersections of the hori0ontal and vertical lines. "his works as if the cursor on the screen were magnetically attracted to the grid intersections.
"he following options are available in the guide parameter setting window: F +nce the +et button is selected, any click with the mouse in the current pro,ect window will generate a hori0ontal and a vertical line. It is therefore possible to create - a grid with irregular graduations . and to impose the line intersection points as the only points to be used. F "he Reset button is pressed to go back to a pro,ect window without guides. F "he +ho) box, when checked, displays the guides. F "he +nap box imposes the yellow pixels at the intersections of the hori0ontal and vertical lines as the only pixels to be used. "his works as if the cursor on the screen were magnetically attracted to the guide intersections. "he Files popup menu enables saving and loading of your guide positions.
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Displa settings
"he Displa# +ettings window is accessible via the 7indo)s main menu and is used to choose the color and opacity of the guides, stencils, safe area, animation disk, etc. 6ou may also enable display of the stencil, paper and selections when using the latter. "he safe area has some additional parameters: position of the action and text safe areas may be set in percentages.
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Drawing basics
Use the paper. Create a Color Gradient. Study the notion of the layer with its multiple aspects. Name, move and select layers. Assign a color to a layer. Manage the glo al opacity of a layer.
"e$ll start y drawing a little man in the center of our image. %o do this, use the Oilbrush tool, select FreeHand and the red color &'()**, +(,, -(,..
Now display the Timeline if it is not displayed yet &shortcut /,0.. %he following window will appear :
%his window shows that our little man was drawn on a layer named 1Untitled 23. Indeed, every layer has a name.
Rename a layer
"e will now rename the layer. 4ou have the choice to : Select Rename layer in the Layer main menu.
Call up the popup menu y clic7ing on the layer name in the Timeline &here : 1 Untitled 2 3.. 8nce the popup menu is displayed, select the name of the layer at the top of the menu and release the mouse.
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Independent of which method was used, a te9t window will appear. 4ou may now enter the name &1 Character 3. in the te9t field and then validate it y clic7ing on OK.
Use the 7ey oard shortcut /Ctrl<N0, select e! Layer Image in the Layer main menu or select e! Image Layer in the e! menu of the timeline &see e9ample opposite..
8ur timeline now comprises two layers: the 1!ittle man 3 layer and our newly created layer, referred to y default as 1 Untitled 2 3. 4ou may also rename this layer. "e will call it 1 gray lo 3.
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"hen loo7ing at the thum s in the timeline, we see that the gray lo and the little man are on two different layers. "e have thus superposed two layers on our white ac7ground, as illustrated in the diagram elow.
1 +ray lo 3 layer 1 !ittle man3 layer "hite ac7ground %he gray lo therefore does not delete the little man. If you use the same tool in "rase mode on the same gray lo , you will note that the little man will reappearA
Flip layers
-efore continuing with our wor7, we will flip the two layers. %his is how it is done: left clic7 on the small frame representing the gray lo in the timeline, then slide the cursor on the timeline until it is under the 1 little man3 layer. 'elease the mouse utton.
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before flip after flip no flip (merge)
"e now have the configuration as shown in the diagram a ove. In the current pro#ect window, the little man is positioned on top of the gray lo . "hen trying to flip two layers, a freBuent mista7e made is to move one layer on top of another. %his is the process of merging two layers &which will e descri ed in detail later in this manual.. %he case eing, clic7 on Can#el in the merge options window to return to the original layer disposition.
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%he $ndo option in the main menu may e used for the modifications made to the pro#ect as well as for those applied to the timeline.
It is possi le to erase the contents of a layer without using the "rase mode. %o do this, #ust clic7 on the icon of the main panel opposite or use the shortcut /Shift<E0. %his option has no effect on the layer named 1 little man3 which is not our current layer.
!se of a Paper
"ith %:;aint Animation ;ro it is possi le to accelerate drawing certain repetitive shapes such as a ric7 wall. ;roceed as follows:
= Dloodfill in the current layer &1 gray lo 3. with a dar7 gray color. = 8pen the Pa%er window which is accessi le in the &indo!s main menu or with a right clic7 on the Pa%ers icon on the tool ar. = Select any type of wall in the papers window. = Change A color for a light color, close to white. = Dloodfill in the 1 gray lo 3 layer using this color.
4ou will note that the paper you have chosen is used as a pattern to paint the layer surface &see drawing a ove.. 8ur ric7 wall has een created and the 1 gray lo 3 layer may now e renamed 1 ric7 wall 3.
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= Fraw a rectangle in the center of the image. %he effect of the prior manipulation is immediate: the edges of the rectangle are less sharp. = %o finish, flip the two layers again.
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before flip after flip
8ur little man is now ehind the ric7 wall. "e will add a tinted glass etween the little man and the wall.
= Start y creating a new layer, name it 1 glass 3 and place it as shown in the Timeline a ove.
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= Select the color cyan for A color then a lue color for - color. = In the Filling sha%e panel, change the "rase mode for the Color mode and tic7 the o9 Gradient. %he gradient from A color to - color now ecomes visi le. = Fraw a Filled re#tangle in the layer named 1 glass 3, paying attention that its dimensions correspond to the siHe of the 1 hole 3 in the ric7 wall.
= %he cursor shown opposite invites you to choose the Orientation and "*tent of the gradient. %he gradient will e applied along the segment you will draw, from A color to color. 4ou will thus o tain the result shown opposite in the current pro#ect window. %he perspective diagram and the timeline hereafter confirm the presence of three layers although only two are visi le on the screen.
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C,@
G, @
Modification of the 1 glass 3 layer$s glo al opacity will vary the opacity of all pi9els ma7ing up the layer.
J,@
2,,@
Clic7 on the left 7ey of the opacity ar and modify its opacity using the Al%ha mini6slider to ad#ust the percentage to around ),@. %he 7eys are sym olised y a colored rectangle L&
%he first horiHontal ar changes and its left section ecomes transparent &presence of a chec7 under the cyan color.. Now draw the rectangle that represents our glass and you will note that the cyan section is transparent while the lue section is opaBue. Note that no modification was made regarding the glo al opacity of the layer named 1 glass 3.
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)nd method : 4ou may also use the O%a#ity ma%%ing option in the Filling )ha%e panel. If you draw a single6colored rectangle after having ena led this option, the opaBue and transparent areas are respectively layered on the lac7 and white areas shown in the frame elow &see elow.. Dor those who wish to 7now how to edit your own mapping, this is e9plained on page 2G of this lesson.
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Merge layers
"hen it is no longer useful to wor7 with several layers, you have the possi ility to merge the layers. %he 'erge popup menu in the timeline offers you three options for this purpose. %hese options are also availa le in the Layer main menu. = 'erge sele#ted layers : the non6selected layers are not merged. = 'erge +isible layers : in this case, the hidden layers remain intact. = 'erge all layers : the layer resulting from this operation contains the current image.
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%o select an additional layer &multi6selection.: press the /Ctrl0 7ey on the 7ey oard and left clic7 on its thum . 4ou may also use the /Shift0 7ey to select all layers etween the last selected and the one you are clic7ing on. Another possi ility is to slide one layer on top of another and call up the merge options shown opposite. If you tic7 the )tam% field, the merger is made according to the opacity of the layer moved and the A color. 4ou may choose to cancel or 7eep the original layer as well as apply one layer on another in #olor( erase( behind mode, etc.
F#rther details
Delete' duplicate a layer
= It is possi le to delete a layer, an option which is Buite different from erasing its contentsN %o do this, select ,elete sele#ted layers then clic7 on Con-irm in the conte9tual menu of the timeline &to do this, you may also use the Layer main menu.. = %o duplicate a layer, proceed in the same way using the same menus.
Lock a layer
%o loc7 a layer may e useful under several circumstances. Clic7 on the little padloc7 located in the timeline in front of the layer to e loc7ed.
8nce a layer is loc7ed you may neither draw on it, nor delete it or modify its glo al opacity, nor select it as current layer. Clic7 again on the padloc7 to unloc7 the layer.
Red#ce a layer
It is practical to reduce a layer when there are too many of them to e displayed on the screen. A left clic7 on one of the arrows in the lac7 circle on the diagram opposite increases or decreases the siHe of a layer in the Timeline.
%he layer itself is not changed in any way ut only its name and glo al opacity are visi le in the timeline.
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Another operation that does not affect the layer itself is to assign a color to a layer. %his operation allows you to simply organise and mar7 the layers using pre6defined colors. Clic7 on the ( C icon in the first column of the timeline to modify the color of the chosen layer.
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Drom left to right: the gradients Linear( )%heri#al( /iLinear( Radial and Re#tangular.
Some images are constructed using many papers. %he image opposite, for e9ample, which is availa le on the CF was compiled using 2, papers.
Numerous options are availa le in the papers window. 4ou may: = Modify Hardness( )i0e and Angle of your papers.
hardness 33)
hardness **)
hardness +,,)
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si-e .,,)
si-e +,,)
si-e /,)
angle ,0
angle *,0
angle +.,0
original paper
inverted paper
= Create a symmetry along the horiHontal a9is or vertical a9is efore application &options Fli% 1 and Fli% 2..
original paper
5625
Durther details
As indicated a ove, the Oilbrush drawing tool also interacts with the various types of papers availa le &see opposite..
-ut the Oilbrush tool also offers many other functions... It offers a Light parameter which gives volume to the paint &see opposite..
-y default, the oil paint is not deposited on top of the oil paint already on the layer : it melts into it. Oowever, if you clic7 on the Frying option, the former will e the case.
witho#t Drying with Drying
Note that there are different +rain modes availa le which are shown elow:
silk
soft
medi#m
hard
562C
Durther details
>>
&2.
&).
&5.
Oow to proceed : = Dirst of all, create two layers in the timeline, then draw the little red man shown a ove in one of them. = %hen ena le the 'as3 for this layer : to do this, clic7 on the little gray rectangle in the second column of the timeline on the current layer. %he little gray rectangle must turn yellow. = Oide the layer with the little red man, then move to the empty layer. Any drawing will then e limited to the opaBue areas of the layer containing the little red man. Dor e9ample, drawing a filled rectangle with color gradient and use of a paper on the screen will display image 2, drawing with drawing tools, gradients, papers and specific modes will o tain the results ) and 5. It is possi le to flip the mas7 and only draw on the transparent areas of the layer containing the initial little man &e9amples C and * elow.. %o do this, proceed as descri ed a ove and clic7 on the utton In+ert the mas3 indicated in the following diagram &this must then turn lac7..
Kna le the mas7 3 > In+ert the mas7 3 > &C. %he ) utton on the timeline ena les disa ling of all mas7s or inverting of all mas7s according to your choice in the menu. It is possi le to wor7 with several mas7s divided into different layers: in this case, the mas7s are added up. "hen a pi9el is partially opaBue, it may only e partially modified when using a mas7. Dor e9ample, a pi9el with J,@ opacity can only e painted with ma9imum J,@ opacity when the mas7 mode is used &if the mas7 is inverted, it may only e painted with ma9imum ),@ opacity.. Dinally, you should understand that, when pressing the "rase utton while using a mas7, only the part of the drawing corresponding to the mas7 will e erased. &*.
562*
Durther details
Opacity mapping
%his window is accessi le with a right clic7 on the corresponding field of the Filling )ha%e panel and ena les precise definition of the opacity and transparency areas when applying a filled shape. 4ou may trace the spline of your choice on the P and 4 a9es y placing points at your convenience. %hree types of interpolation are availa le to connect the points with each other: Linear( )%line or Polynomial4 In accordance with your settings, a new opacity mapping will e defined. %he two red splines define the opacity of each point of the card as indicated in the dotted e9ample.
%he File popup menu ena les saving, loading or resetting the opacity mapping. As reBuired, you may swap the two splines corresponding to the P a9is and 4 a9is of the mapping &)!a% utton. or flip each spline vertically or horiHontally &Fli% 1 and Fli% 2 buttons.. %he Co%y utton is used to copy the current spline &the one that has a point selected thus yellow. on the other a9is. 8n the image a ove, the current spline is the 4 spline. At the ottom left of the window, pre6defined opacity mapping are at your disposal. 4ou may also ad#ust the mapping y clic7ing on the image and sliding the mouse. Oere again, you have pre6defined parameters at your disposal. &;ress the and uttons at the ottom left of the panel, then clic7 on the pre6defined mapping of your choice..
562G
Durther details
%he icons at the ottom of the window have a special function. %hey ena le you to choose how the o%a#ity ma%%ing will e applied in the filled shape you will draw. !et$s ta7e for e9ample the opacity mapping &left. in order to floodfill a shape created using the spline tool &see elow..
Fepending on the options chosen at the ottom of the panel, the opacity mapping will e applied: = without modifications &2. = adapting to the shape you will floodfill &). = according to a vector of your choice &5. = in a circular fashion along a vector &C.
&2.
&).
&5.
Dor case &5., you must draw a vector on the screen, as you have done for drawing a gradient.
Dor the fourth option, modify the P spline as shown in the e9ample opposite.
Dor case &C., you must draw a vector on the screen. Note that the option on the 4 a9is is disa led.
&C.
562I
Durther details
"ome remarks for #sing the Opacity f#nction %he Gradients and O%a#ity ma%%ing functions com ined for use in a layer are very useful for creating effects of lighting or transparency independent of the ac7ground color or scenery &as they are not part of it.. %his is the case for windows, tinted windows, lamps, pro#ectors, etc N
A ove, the opacity gradients were used on a layer to create car headlights. %hey must no longer e modified when the ac7ground color changes, which results in considera le time saving.
562J
In lesson 3, we handled the layers using the timeline. However, the notion of time did not come up at all. This lesson deals with the notion of time. In this lesson you will:
Study the concept of the animation layer. Work with rushes and animated rushes. Handle the commands for pro!ect viewing.
"nimation layers
Animation layers
Start y reproducing the image of lesson # in a pro!ect with s$uare pi%els &"spect 'atio e$ual to (), not using fields &see lesson ( for an e%planation concerning fields and ratio). The Image elow has een drawn thanks to the Oilbrush tool. *on+t forget to place the house, sun, sky and grass on four different layers. ,ou should have the following timeline on your screen :
It is possi le to create animation layers using the New menu in the timeline.
01#
"nimation layers
"n animation layer is represented y an icon in the timeline. "n image layer only has a gray icon &see encircled area shown opposite).
<reate an animation layer and name it 7 cloud 9. /lace it in front of all the others. ,ou then have the timeline shown opposite. Some layers may e reduced for future timelines &see lesson 3).
Add images
We have !ust created a single image &empty2). To make our first film, we have to increase the num er of images in our roll. To do this, you can use the key oard shortcut 3Shift4I5 or choose Insert Images before current image in the Layers menu to add frames to the current layer. 6ow you !ust have to enter the num er 7 8 9 in the numeric field. This will give you a total of (: frames.
013
"nimation layers
The white s$uare with two red ars ena les you to identify the image of the animation layer viewed in the window of the current pro!ect. The title ar contains several indications. =rom left to right : > The name of the pro!ect you are working on. > The time code of the first and last image of the pro!ect &TimeCode, or image num er). > The total pro!ect duration. > The name of the current layer. > The time code of the first and last image of the current layer &TimeCode or image num er). > The total duration of the layer. If working with time data provided in time units seems difficult to you, click on the TimeCode utton at the ottom of the timeline. "ll prior values and time codes are then converted to image num ers. To simplify future lessons, we will from now on work in this way &later, you are free to work as you wish with your own animated se$uences).
Create a brush
?o to the first image of the animation layer named 7 cloud 9 and draw a gray cloud using the tools of your choice. Then reduce viewing to the current layer &icon H in the first column of the timeline or shortcut 3@5).
We will create an animation in which the cloud will move from left to right. To do this, we have to make our cloud into a rush. Select the icon shown opposite from the main panel. This option is used to carry out Rectangle CutBrush. Aut, what does this meanB
010
"nimation layers
Cet+s take an e%ample: *raw a Rectangle around the previously drawn cloud. When this is done, you will note that your current rush is not one of the standard tools: the cloud itself has ecome your rushD /ress the stylus on your ta let if you dou t it: the cloud has turned into a paint rush. *on+t forget to erase your tests efore continuingD Several CutBrush tools are at your disposal in the main panel to simplify your task when creating a rush : Rectangle CutBrush, Polygonal, reeHand and !agic "and# See opposite:
,ou will note that the corresponding icons of the timeline display the cloud and when you move inside the layer using the 35 and 35 arrows on the key oard, your cloud will moveD
The image finally o tained is referred to as a 7 composite 9 image &composed of several images2) In the case of our house and cloud, it is possi le 7 to spread 9 the house and sun as fi%ed ackgrounds or immo ile ackgrounds in time. In other words, one of the transparent rolls may e composed of identical images. The procedure is simple:
01E
"nimation layers
In the screenshot a ove, we selected bac$ground % none in order to have a etter reada ility in the timeline. Select one of the four image layers in the timeline and use the Insert frames option as descri ed a ove. *o the same with the other image layers, then move within the timeline again: this time, scenery and moving cloud are still visi le.
>
>
>
>
Play an animation
;sing the key oard arrows to play an animation is not very practical. ,ou have certainly noticed already: the most suita le options are availa le in the current pro!ect window. Here are the functions of all uttons availa le : the traditional uttons Play and &to' as you will find on video recorders and camcorders, etc. to advance or rewind one frame in the current layer. to go to the first or last frame of your current layer. to go to the 're(ious $ey or ne)t $ey &the notion of keys will e e%plained in the following lessons). to modify the ramerate when playing the animation. 6ote that this value is not necessarily used when e%porting your se$uences. /ress this utton to play the animation in a loop. If you have chosen a sound track to accompany your pro!ect &see lesson F page #), press this utton to play it with your pro!ect. the li' utton, key oard shortcut 3W5 offers you a $uick look at your work. It allows you to play your animation starting a few frames efore the current image and stopping a few frames after the current image. Then you come ack to the image you were working on !ust efore pressing the utton. The framerate used is the one selected in the pro!ect window popup menu. The num er of frames played on either side of the current image may also e set in the preview settings &see the Pre(iew &ettings section of this lesson). > The yellow rectangle located in the graduated line underneath the uttons indicates the image and the num er of the image currently displayed on the screen.
01G
"nimation layers
> The !ar$ in and !ar$ out uttons : These are numeric or time values indicating the frame from which the animation will start playing as well as the frame at which it will e stopped. In order for this function to e taken into account when playing your animation, you must ena le the corresponding uttons. Two red and green markers ena le identification of the mark in and mark out points. ,ou may use the arrow uttons to assign your mark in or mark out point to the current image. 6ow let+s move on to field pro!ects andHor pro!ects with a ratio other than ( : The uttons B, * and + of the horiJontal ar are only availa le when you are working with a pro!ect containing fields.
> Autton B ena les display of oth fields simultaneously when playing an animation or video. > Autton * will display the field which you have defined as the first field. > Autton + will display the second field of the current image. 6ote that the ( and # uttons may only e used if your pro!ect is set to use fields. =urthermore, moving to the ne%t image in a pro!ect containing fields will have the effect that the cursor of the current image does not move to the ne%t image ut to the ne%t field &as an image is composed of # fields). Autton A of the current pro!ect window is used to ena leHdisa le pi%el As'ect Ratio display. This does not modify the current pro!ect: only its aspect in the pro!ect window will e different.
01I
"nimation layers
If you use the left mouse utton, you change the image. If you use the right mouse utton you return automatically to the original image when releasing the utton.
The Navigator
The other uttons, specifically used for navigation on the pro!ect surface, are found in the Na(igator window which is accessi le in the "indows main menu. This panel also allows you to have a low $uality preview of your se$uenceHanimation which can e useful y pressing the utton. > Autton N shown a ove is used to open a new pro!ect window. > The red rectangle indicates the current display area in your window relative to the full image. > The -is'lay popup menu is the same as the one descri ed in lesson 3 page (G.
We o tained here an instance# This concept will e deeply studied in the lesson G. "ll you need to know here is that the first image is identically reproduced several time in the timeline.
01F
"nimation layers
/ressing the utton will erase the contents of all selected images in the layer.
It is possi le to only select a part of the layer y clicking on and sliding from the first image to e selected to the last. Kur instance has een replaced y empty images. you may now make your sun move, as you did for the cloud.
018
"nimation layers
6ow click on any image of the 7cloud9 layer and slide the mouse to the right efore releasing the utton. ,ou have now moved your layer in time. *o the same with the 7sun9 layer. In the screenshot elow, the 7cloud9 layer will only e shown starting from the tenth image of the animation and the 7sun9 layer starting from the fourth image.
The range in num er of frames &or in seconds, if you are in TimeCode display mode) located at the top of the timeline offers a glo al identification system, ena ling location of each layer in relation to the others within the current pro!ect. The ranges under the frames of a layer &in num er of frames or Time Code) only refer to these layers.
01(:
Lore details
More details
!how" hide the icons
It is possi le to show or hide the icons of an animation layer in the timeline. ,ou will find this option in the conte%tual menu of the animation layer &the first and last image are, however, always displayed).
The Auto it popup menu may e used to ad!ust the siJe of the icons in the timeline in order to view the entire pro!ect, current layer, current image, current selection or keys.
01((
Lore details
,ou will note that it is possi le to place your layers efore image : in the timeline using the 3Shift5 key while dragging the layer to the left. ,ou will therefore o tain 7negative9 images in the timeline or time values close to #3 hours, E8 minutes, E8 seconds.
It is possi le to place Boo$mar$s on the images of your animation layer &circled in lack a ove) using the corresponding option in the /dit main menu. Knce the Boo$mar$s are placed, the key oard shortcuts 3Shift4<trl45 and 3Shift4<trl45 ena le you to move to the closest Boo$mar$ to the left or right of the current image. =inally, the key oard shortcut 3Shift4<trl4M5 creates a Boo$mar$ for the current image or deletes the Boo$mar$ if the current image already contains one. This option provides fast access to key images in your animation without having to modify the Joom factor of your timeline andHor use the sliders.
Three pre1view modes are availa le in the Pre(iew popup menu : > The Real time mode respects the duration of your animation when viewing it. It depends on the processing power of your computer. If the computer is fast, all images will e displayed at the framerate chosen y you. In the contrary case, some images are not displayed in order to respect the framerate. In real time mode, the progress ar displays No 'ro)y.
> The Pro)y mode uses periods of less activity in the program to carry out a pre1calculation for viewing. If, for e%ample, you spend ten seconds without drawing and without using any program options, this time will e used to prepare some of the images for viewing.
01(#
Lore details
> The Render mode does not carry out the calculations re$uired for viewing during viewing. It pre1 calculates the viewing in advance, !ust efore playing. This compensates the inconveniences encountered in Real time mode for slower computers &!erking, image !umps, etc.) ut re$uires a lot of disk space and time for this calculation. The progress ar elow shows how many images may e viewed within the pro!ect.
>>
If you modify several images at the same time in Pro)y mode &for e%ample y erasing a layer), the viewing calculation will e re1started for the num er of images concerned. If you start viewing efore the calculation process is completed, only some of the images may e viewed in Pro)y mode. The other images will e viewed in Real time mode. In T./aint "nimation /ro, the preview ratio $uality is automatically set, depending on the data rate of your temp drive. In other words, the data rate automatically change the siJe ratio of your preview to play it as well as possi le regarding the play ack frame rate of your pro!ect. The tem' drive is the drive containing the tem' folder that can e chosen in the preference panel. &See lesson (.) ,ou can use the test utton to determine the data transfert rate of your temp drive. The $uality ratio will e reduced if you decrease the data rate value. It is not advised to set a higher value than the one T./aint "nimation /ro computes when you click on the Test utton. If you do so, the $uality ratio will e increased ut the se$uence won+t e played fluently anymore. The &how TC utton is used to display the time code during pre1viewing. The Play all utton forces the program to display all fields and images during viewing even if this affects the display rate of the chosen images. The li' Boo$ te%t field ena les ad!ustment of the num er of seconds to play on either side of the current image when the utton is pressed in the pro!ect window &see page G).
,ou may: > <reate a rush y deleting at the same time the area in which it is located on the screen &Cut option in the popup menu). > &mooth the cut rush &see lesson 3: smooth the contours of a surface). > With the 0ee' option you may keep the previous rush handle &refer to the following section to study the various handles availa le). > 'emove as many transparent pi%els as possi le around the rush &O'timi1e option). > The -is'lay option is used to cut your rush through the visi le layers. This is referred to as deep cut.
01(3
Lore details
Aelow, the sun, cloud and sky are placed on three different layers. The current layer is the cloud layer:
Area to be cut
The state of the SubPi)el option shown a ove will e kept if the 0ee' utton is ena led when the rushes are cut.
01(0
Lore details
The illustrations elow show the various concepts descri ed on the previous page... Cet+s take a look at the colors A &' @ E, ? @ #EE, A @ F ) and B &' @ #EE, ? @ (F3, A @ (() elow : "n e%ample of the various rush application modes :
The rush application modes will also e studied in lesson I in the chapter : 7 ;se of the rush as a drawing tool 9
,ormal brush
,on-optimi.ed brush
ptimi.ed brush
Centered handle
/andle custom-placed
Traditional drawing modes are applied to the rushes and sometimes provide interesting results:
01(E
Lore details
Cet+s talk a out the /dit utton: it is used to display the panel shown opposite.The various uttons from left to right and top to ottom have the following functions: > dou le the siJe of the rush. > dou le its width or height. > turn the rush 48:O. > flip rush on P a%is. > optimiJe the rush. > cut rush siJe in half. > cut rush width, height in half. > turn the rush 18:O. > flip rush on , a%is. > replace the transparent areas with A color. > lock the widthHheigth aspect ratio. > modify the siJe of the rush numerically or in the pro!ect window. > rotate the rush to an angle of your choice. > add a order to the rush &you may choose the color and thickness of the order). > anti1aliase the rush when modifying siJe and angle. > use the opacity map &see lesson 3). > reset all settings to Jero and recover the original rush. > validate the modifications and use the new rush. It is possi le to o tain all the configurations shown elow and many more DDD
!tandard brush
!tret$h
%ile
&rap
6ote that for this e%ample we used a rush created with the Te)t tool which will e discussed in lesson I ut the e%ample applies to all types of rushes.
01(G Temporal management of layers
Lore details
> Select all the images of your layer. > <arry out a rectangular rush cut in a siJe similar to that of the image. > T./aint "nimation /ro will ask you if you wish to cut an animated rush via a small window. > "nswer yes. ,ou have !ust created your first animated rush. We will soon e a le to use it: > *elete the content of the layer you have !ust created. > ;se the -dit rush option to reduce the siJe of your animated rush. > Cet+s now look at the short animation created previously &refer to the first chapter of lesson E e%plaining how to save your pro!ects) with the sun and cloud. <heck that you are working in color mode then click several times anywhere in the lue sky. This is the result: The irds you have drawn efore have ecome your rush 7each in turn9 as you place them on the screenD
" few words on parameter setting for animated rushes: > "t the ottom of the Tool 3 Brush panel you will find the num er of the image currently used. > The Anim popup menu of the Tool 3 Brush panel controls how the images appear. The images in your animated rush may appear in various ways : > 6one. > Knce. > StartQKnce, > Coop. > /ingpong. > 'andom. > Stylus pressure.
Temporal management of layers 01(I
Lore details
> Stylus speed. > Stylus direction. "ll other options and parameter settings for the rushes studied previously &modification of siJe, opacity, direction) also apply to animated rushes 2
-%ample # : 'eproduce an animation. Cet+s now look at the short animation created with our sun and cloud ut without the irds. > We start y merging all layers e%cept the 7clouds9 layer and rename the new layer. ,ou will o tain the following timeline:
> Select all images in your 7clouds9 layer, then cut a rectangular rush in roughly the same siJe as the red frame shown a ove. ,ou !ust created a new animated rush. > /lace your 7 animated rush of the cloud 9 in the free sky area, !ust a ove the house. > /ress the 4ndo utton: the cloud disappears. > <heck that the 7 animated rush of the cloud 9 is applied in mode &tart Q Once from image E. > Select all images of the 7 clouds 9 layer. > /ress 3-nter5. ,ou will notice that the images of the animated rush are applied in the given order to all images of the current layer: a second cloud now moves from left to right 2
>
>
>
>
*id you understand these two e%amples B If yes, you can now easily make the wings of a ird flap wherever you want to 2
01(F
Learn how to handle TVPaint Animation Pro projects: load, save, import, export, etc... Study the notions o Templates, Dependencies. !iscover the Video Grabber Panel. Learn how to use the project mana"ement panel.
Introduction
Introduction
In lessons # $ % we studied the concepts o image layers and animation layers as well as their temporal and spatial speci icities. &hat we re er to as a TVPaint Animation Pro project 'or simply project(, is all ima"e, animation or )sheet 'see lesson *( layers in a timeline 'whether created +y drawin", scannin" or any other method( with all associated options: "lo+al opacity, pre, post, +ehavior, -) stac. 'see lesson /(, num+er o ima"es per second, position in the timeline, resolution, etc.
Save a project
In lesson 0 we saw how to create a project with the parameters o your choice. A ter havin" wor.ed with tools and layers 'lessons 1, # and %(, you may wish to save your project or later use. To do this, use the Save project or Save project as unctions in the File main menu. Save project '.ey+oard shortcut 2Shi t3S4( allows you to save the project under the current name, whereas Save project as as.s you to choose a new ile name or your project. This unction allows you to easily duplicate your project as you pro"ress with its creation.
This window is laid out as ollows: 5 The text ield at the top o the window allows you to enter the name under which the ile is to +e saved. 5 The second text ield just +elow the irst is used to select the type o iles to +e displayed in the ri"ht section o the window. 5 The popup menu to the ri"ht o this ield is a shortcut used to select the ile types o your choice. In the de ault settin", all ile types are displayed 'extension .P67 .89P .:P7 ;(. TVPaint Animation Pro projects have the extension .TVP. 5 The le t section o the window contains the directory path. &hen necessary, the sliders 'and in"erwheel o your mouse( may +e used to scroll throu"h the list o olders availa+le or stora"e. A ri"ht,clic. on an item in this list opens a contextual menu o erin" access to Open, Delete and Rename unctions. The and +uttons are used to display or hide the content o your stora"e supports, olders or su+, olders. 5 The is used to return to the parent older. 5 The arrows are used to scroll throu"h the history o selections in the ile explorer. In this way, you may <uic.ly ind the olders in which you last saved your wor..
=,1
5 The ri"ht section o the window displays the iles contained in the older you selected on the le t side o the window. 5 @ou may choose to display thum+nails o your iles '+utton T !mbs, +utton Scan( or display a list containin" in ormation relative to your iles: type, name, count, resolution, time, siAe, date o last save '+utton "ist, then +utton Scan(. 6ote that some data is not ta.en into account or all ile ormats. 5 It is also possi+le to delete the selected ile, rename it or create a new older usin" the +uttons Delete, Rename and #e$ %older. 5 Bnce you have selected the ile or older you re<uire, clic. on O&. 5 To <uit the ile re<uester and i"nore all operations, clic. on 'ancel. &hen usin" the second text ield, the <uestion mar. is considered a random num+er or letter, whereas the asteris. is considered a complete random word. -or example : 5 Cnter D 5.jp" E to display all ima"e iles o the type jp" in the ri"ht section o the window. 5 Cnter D dessinFF#G.jp" E to display all iles named dessinFF# ollowed +y another character and the extension D .jp" E. There ore iles +etween dessinFF#F.jp" and dessinFF#/.jp" will appear whereas dessinFF1F.jp" or dessinFF%F.jp" will not.
A+ove an example o a ile re<uester with projects displayed in the orm o thum+nails.
Save a Template
A template is a +lan. project usin" a prede ined resolution, speed, aspect ratio and num+er o layers and ima"es. It is possi+le to save a Template usin" the dedicated option indicated in the File main menu opposite 'the template will have to +e "iven a name(.
=,#
Save a Template
In this way you may select the template you just created when a new project is started 'when startin" up or usin" the pro"ram(. @ou may also use one o the many prede ined models.
Modi ! a project
The option (odi%y project is accessi+le in the Project main menu. The latter opens the panel illustrated +elow: 5 The project properties are indicated on the top le t,hand side o the window and include: Project name, )idt , *eig t, num+er o rames per second ' re<uency(, Pi+el aspect and Field options. 8ottom le t you will see the uture siAe o your project, a ter modi ication. 5 :ust +elow, a popup menu is availa+le in which you may select the prede ined ormat you re<uire, correspondin" to the ormat you will o+tain a ter modi ication. It is possi+le to modi y a project ori"inally in V7A ormat, to o+tain a project in 6TSI ormat.
=,%
9odi y a project
5 The numeric ields located under the popup menu chan"e accordin" to your choice in the prede ined ormats menu. B course, you may modi y your project or your own ormat ' or example to create an animated "i on a we+site(. All you have to do is modi y each option manually: )idt , *eig t, Frame rate, Aspect Ratio, Field 'a mini popup menu is availa+le or the parameters Frame rate and Aspect ratio(. The "oc, aspect +utton allows you to .eep the width and hei"ht ratio o the ori"inal project. The Rotation parameter is used to rotate the project /F, 0*F or 1JF de"rees. 5 >ere you will discover the unctions o the next ive +uttons: 8y de ault, when the (odi%y project unction is used, TVPaint Animation Pro .eeps your ori"inal project and creates a new project which is modi ied accordin" to the parameters you have selected. , The Resi-e to ne$ si-e +utton ena+les, when chec.ed, the resiAin" o your ori"inal project to a new siAe. , The 'orrect aspect ratio +utton orces the pro"ram to respect the ori"inal ima"e aspect ratio 'this avoids the creation o disproportionate ima"es(.
, The Stretc to ne$ %rame rate +utton, when chec.ed, increases or decreases the num+er o ima"es so that your new project has the same duration as the ori"inal project. I , or example, your ori"inal project displayed 1% ima"esKsecond and your rame rate is set to 01 ima"esKsecond, your project will last twice as lon" 'the num+er o ima"es is, +y de ault, retained(. I the +utton Stretc to ne$ %rame rate is chec.ed, some ima"es will +e deleted so that the ori"inal project and modi ied project have the same duration. In the opposite case: ori"inal project with 01 ima"esKsecond, modi ied to a project with 1% ima"esKsecond, the modi ied project will +e shorter than the ori"inal project. I the +utton Stretc to ne$ %rame rate is chec.ed, intermediate ima"es will +e added to the modi ied project to ma.e it coincide with the duration o the ori"inal project.
>andlin" TVPaint projects =,=
9odi y a project
, The two a orementioned examples are similar to the layerLs contract and stretch section discussed in lesson %. The Time interpolation +utton also re ers to this unction as it imposes layer stretchin" or contractin" with interpolation when the +utton Stretc to ne$ %rame rate is chec.ed. , The Remove project +utton is used when the ori"inal project is not to +e .ept on the screen. ?se o the Remove project option is at your own ris. as in this case the .ndo unction cannot +e used to help you out; 5 The ri"ht section o the project modi ication panel ena+les selection o the portion o the project which is to +e modi ied. The mar, in and mar, o!t +uttons as well as the associated numeric ields will help you select the irst and last ima"es o the project to +e modi ied. 5 The central numeric ield and slider are used or navi"ation over the entire duration o the project.
This panel is similar to the project modi ication panel. LetLs assume you have loaded a video ile 'AVI or 9BV( , Bn the top le t,hand side o the import panel you will ind all in ormation relative to the ile selected in the re<uester window 'siAe, rame rate, aspect ratio, etc.(. , These are ollowed +y a text ield which indicates the path and name o the ile you have chosen. , The /ro$se +utton allows you, in case o error, to choose another ile in the re<uester window. , The Preload +utton will +e discussed in the Dependencies section o this lesson. @our video ile may +e modi ied when imported to suit your needs: project name, $idt , eig t, %rame rate, aspect ratio, %ield, rotation may all +e modi ied as we discovered in the previous section. The Alp a popup menu, however, possesses speci ic options includin": G!ess, Prem!ltiply, #o Prem!ltiply, )it o!t alp a and Alp a only.
=,N >andlin" TVPaint projects
5 The option G!ess will consider that the Alp a value is e<ual to the maximum M78A values present in the se<uence. 5 The option Prem!ltiply re ers to the method o calculatin" each pixel. In this case, each pixel is multiplied +y its alpha value which results in the act that these pixels are calculated <uic.er than with the #o Prem!ltiply option. 5 The option )it o!t alp a will load your se<uence without transparency i it had any +e orehand. 5 -inally, the option Alp a only will only load a mas. o the se<uence. This mas. will +e extracted rom the alpha layer o the se<uence. -urther down, three ta+s allow you to choose the orm to +e "iven to your imported video: the imported video may +e created either as a new project, a new layer in the current project or as a custom +rush 'these three options are mutually exclusive(. 5 &hen a video is loaded as a new project, two options are availa+le:
, The video sample loaded will +e that located +etween the two time mar.ers on the ri"ht side o the panel. @ou may also choose to include sound with your video +y chec.in" the 0mport a!dio +ox in the import oota"e panel. , The single %rame chec. +ox, i chec.ed, will create a project with a layer and a sin"le rame: the rame selected in the ri"ht side o the panel. 5 &hen a video is loaded as a new layer, a new set o options similar to those encountered in the (odi%y Project section +ecomes availa+le. @ou may: , Stretch your video ile to it the dimensions o your current project, , Adapt the aspect o your video to that o the current project, , Iompensate or any possi+le rame rate di erences +etween your current project and your video +y stretchin" or contractin" your video, , Ihoose to stretch or contract with or without interpolation, , Ireate a layer with a sin"le rame 'here a"ain, a sin"le rame or lar"e sample may +e imported +etween the mar. in and mar. out points(.
5 &hen a video is loaded as a custom +rush, the same options are availa+le with the exception o the Stretc to project si-e option. &hen you load a ile in PS! ormat, a new project is automatically created 'no import oota"e panel is opened( and the ima"e layers are all present in the timeline.
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The 0mport %ootage option in the timeline shown opposite returns the user directly to the import oota"e panel, #e$ layer ta+.
#ependencies
The Preload +utton present in the import oota"e panel is used to choose whether the video oota"e on which you wish to wor. is to +e read directly rom the computer stora"e support or i it is to +e included in your current project. This option is important or the ollowin" reasons: 5 LetLs assume your projects possess layers composed o non,preloaded video oota"e. &hen loadin" the same project a"ain, TVPaint Animation Pro will loo. or the data necessary to display the ima"es, layers and timelines in the external video iles. This unction is interestin" as it saves space when savin" as your project does not contain all the ima"es it comprises. Attention however: i the video ile to which your project re ers is deleted, modi ied or renamed, this will have an incidence the next time your project is loaded 'the layers and ima"es concerned will not +e ound;(. 5 To avoid havin" a project which is dependent on external videos, you may, when video oota"e is imported or the irst time, preload it immediately. @our project will then +e more voluminous when saved, +ut at least there will +e no ris. o loosin" the data when the imported iles are modi ied. I you or"et to do this, it is possi+le to preload the iles later via the main menu Project 1 Dependencies 1 "oad all. This menu also displays the path and name o iles on which your project depends.
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Cxport iles
$xport iles
Savin" a project in TVPaint Animation Pro ormat with all associated layers may re<uire a considera+le amount o stora"e capacity. Cven i it contains speci ic data relative to your project 'opacity, layers, etc;(, the TVP ormat is not a practical solution i you want to share it with your riends at parties or on a we+site. ?se o the dependencies unction will render your project smaller, +ut it is not more practical in the a orementioned cases. The option File 1 2+port project to... is used to convert your project into a ormat o your choice: animated 7I-, AVI or Ouic.Time ile, num+ered rames se<uence, etc. @ou will ind this very practical as you are a+le to save your wor. in smaller iles. This option is present in the File main menu. Bnce selected, the ollowin" panel appears:
Its layout should +e amiliar to you. @ou may choose to export an ima"e 'or ima"e se<uence( rom your project while retainin" the layers or current +rush 'possi+ly animated(. These three possi+ilities are mutually exclusive. To export the project ima"e: 5 A +ox on the top le t,hand side is the irst section o this ta+ and provides in ormation relative to the current project. 5 The second section deals with the export ile ormat: TVPaint Animation Pro allows you to export your projects in a wide variety o ormats: !IP, AVI, 7I-, O?IIPTI9C, -LI, P67, PI), S?6MASTCM, PS!, T7A, :P7, IL89, TI--, -L@CM ILIP, !0 MTV, II6CB6, S7I, SB-TI9A7C, VP8. Cach ormat has its own eatures which are explained in an appendix. Some are con i"ura+le ' or example AVI ormat(, others are not. &hen the export ile ormat imposes the choice and settin" o a video and audio codec, clic. on the 'on%ig +utton to display the correspondin" settin"s panel.
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Cxport iles
The codecs present in the popup menus and their con i"uration options are those installed in your operatin" system. In order to save a TVPaint Animation Pro project in !V! ormat, you must have a 9PC7,1 encoder codec installed in your operatin" system. &hen re<uired, and dependin" on the various ormats o export, you may need to set the ollowin" option parameters: , 9ode @ou may choose to export your wor. in the orm o ima"es or a video with a limited palette '* +itsQ1=N colors(, a lar"e palette '1% +itsQ0N.JJJ.10N colors(, a palette which ta.es into account the pixel transparency: #1 +its, a palette with no color data, +ut only pixel transparency 'a mas.(. , The palette In the case o a limited color palette, you may choose to use: A "ray scale palette. The pro"ram palette located in the /in ta+ o the palette panel A "lo+al <uantiAed palette to +e used or all rames o your oota"e or animation. A local <uantiAed palette which is modi ied or each rame o an animation. , The num+er o colors @ou may also choose a precise num+er o colors +etween 1 and 1=N 'to do this you must irst choose one o the two <uantiAed palettes(. , !ither The Dit er +utton is used to disperse the pixels o your animation in order to simulate use o a palette with a lot more colors 'technically re erred to as D-loyd,Stein+er" ditherin"E(. , Alpha Bptions relative to the Alpha unction were discussed on pa"e J. 5 The third section o the panel contains several options: , The /ro$se +utton and an associated text ield are used to enter the name and location o the ile to +e exported. , The Single image +utton is used to save the ima"e visi+le in the ri"ht section o the panel only. , The Se3!ence +utton is used to save, one at a time, the ima"es located +etween the (ar, in and (ar, o!t points. The ima"es created in this way are num+ered. 8y de ault, the ima"es are num+ered as ollows: ileHnameH0.ext, ileHnameH1.ext, ; ; ; ileHnameH01#.ext, ; Includin" a D F E in your ile name may help with num+erin" your ima"es. -or example i the irst ile name is D dessinHFFF E, the ima"es will have the names dessinHFF0.jp", dessinHFF1.jp", ; ;dessinH#=%.jp"; , The Animation +utton is used to save all the rames +etween the (ar, in and (ar, o!t points in a sin"le ile and is availa+le or some ile ormats 'deep, "i , <uic.time, li, avi(. 5 The ourth section o this panel mana"es the restrictions and attri+utes imposed on a ile to +e exported: width, hei"ht, rame rate, pixel aspect ratio, ield. 5 Several +uttons are present in the i th and last section: , The /ac,gro!nd +utton, when chec.ed, renders all the pixels o your ima"es opa<ue usin" the +ac."round selected 'color, chec. or none( which is placed +ehind the transparent pixels o your ima"es. , The 'orrect aspect +utton is used to correct the pixel aspect ratio o the ima"es to +e exported in accordance with the settin" made in the ourth section. The Stretc to %rame rate +utton, when chec.ed, imposes a previously selected rame rate on the ile to +e exported while retainin" the ori"inal duration.
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Cxport iles
, I the a orementioned +utton is chec.ed, the Time interpolation +utton allows you to decide whether the rame rate 'or ields( correction should +e carried out +y interpolation 'smoothin"( or duplication 'or deletin" as the case may +e(. To export an animated +rush: The options are the same as those availa+le to export a project display. To export project layers: The options proposed are: , Ihoose the path and ile name , Ihoose the ile ormat: TVPaint or PS! '+oth ile ormats retain the layers you have created(. Cxportin" in PS! ormat : Carlier we saw that the Cxport panel contains three ta+s: Project display, Project layers and '!stom br!s . The '!stom br!s ta+ does not concern us at this point in time as we are only interested in the di erences resultin" rom the choices made in the Project display and Project layers ta+s : I you decide to export a project in PS! ormat in the Project display ta+, you will export an ima"e 'or an ima"e se<uence( with all the layers o your project in a sin"le ima"e without transparency. The transparent areas will +e replaced +y the color +lac.. I you decide to export a project in the orm o layers in the same way as your project .tvp, you will have to choose the Project layers ta+ or this export. I you decide to export a project in PS! ormat in the Project layers ta+, you will export an ima"e 'or an ima"e se<uence( with all the layers o your project in the spatial order, with transparency.
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&e will remedy to this situation, without closin" any loaded project. To do so, just +e"in +y clic.in" on the Project ta+, located near the well .nown Timeline ta+. The project ta+ is divided in two parts, as shown +elow : 5 Bn the le t part o the ta+, there is a window displayin" the current project. It displays the current ima"e and the visi+le layers. The display is automatically updated when you move throu"hout the timeline. 8elow the preview window, you can view datas relatin" to the current project : , 6ame , SiAe , -rame Mate , Pixel aspect , -ield
@ou can also add comments to your project. ' those comments are saved each time you save a project (
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5 Bn the ri"ht part o the ta+, the thum+nails o the opened K loaded project are visi+le. @ou can chan"e the current project +y clic.in" on the thum+nail o your choice. -or each thum+nails, you can use : , The +utton allows to hide the correspondin" project , The +utton allows to displays the correspondin" project , The +utton allows to close the correspondin" project A contextual menu is availa+le or each thum+nail 'see +elow(. The options at your disposal are standard : , Activate the current project. , >ide the current project.. , >ide the other loaded K opened projects. , Show all projects. , Ilose the current project , 9odi y the current project. , !uplicate the current project , Save the current project. , Save the current project with an other name. , Cxport the current project in an other ile ormat. @ou can also use the ollowin" shortcuts, instead o the contextual menu : >ide other projects : 2Itrl 3 B4 Show All Project : 2Itrl 3 P4 Show the Timeline ta+ : 2Itrl 3 04 Show the )Sheet ta+ : 2Itrl 3 14 Show the Project ta+ : 2Itrl 3 #4 Bnce you will have mastered the project ta+, it will +e easy or you to turn the situation descri+ed on the last pa"e, into somethin" clean, unctionnal and ready to use :
At this state, you only have to clic. on a thum+nail in order to +e"in your wor. on the correspondin" project.
The project ta+ is especially desi"ned or those who need to use at the same time several se<uences +ein" part o a same animation. Cach se<uence is easily availa+le.
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Video "ra++er
Video gra%%er
It is sometimes use ul to re er to video oota"e to create the drawin"s necessary or an animation. -or this reason, it is possi+le to enter a video directly into the so tware. TVPaint Animation Pro is compati+le with &!9 standard e<uipment without havin" to install speci ic drivers or plu"ins. -or in ormation, &!9 devices are &indows !evice 9ana"er devices 'used +y most &e+Iam and !V ormat camcorders(. Bn 9ac BS ), TVPaint Animation Pro is compati+le with Ouic.Time devices. To "ra+ video oota"e, you must irst ensure your peripheral device is correctly installed. Then, you must ri"ht,clic. on the V +utton located on the +ottom ri"ht,hand side o your project window. This action opens the Video grabber window:
In the Video 0ntp!t ta+ : 5 The irst Device menu allows you to select the type o peripheral device you intend usin" to "ra+ the video oota"e. 5 The 0np!t menu displays a list o the peripheral devices availa+le and allows you to select the device to +e used. 5 The Format menu allows you to select the resolution with which your peripheral device will "ra+ the oota"e which in turn depends on the capa+ilities o your e<uipment. 5 The Settings +utton allows you to automatically open the options panel o your e<uipment and de ine in most cases certain parameters such as luminosity, rame rate, contrast, etc. I your device is correctly connected to your computer, openin" this window will show what is presently DseenE +y the device in the preview window. I you wish to view this video in the project window, le t,clic. on the same V +utton you used to open the Video grabber panel.
The value o the (i+ parameter de ines the video oota"e opacity percenta"e. This will allow you to continue viewin" your project whatever happens. -inally, the Apply in menu allows you to de ine whether the video "ra++ed +y your peripheral device should +e automatically inserted into a new layer or simply added to the current layer. The "engt option de ines the num+er o rames to +e "ra++ed. I this value is set to = and you "ra+ a video, the resultin" video will +e duplicated on = rames o the destination layer. This is very use ul as it allows you to monitor the rhythm o your animations. The last menu is the Field menu which is used to de ine mana"ement o your video ields. -our options are availa+le: As is .eeps +oth ields, 4.pper %irst and 4"o$er %irst will only use one o the ields, interpolated to correspond to your project window. The (i+ option is use ul or non, interlaced rames and ena+les reduction o rame lic.in". -inally, this panel is completed +y the Grab inp!t +utton which "ra+s the video each time it is pressed. A detailled example o animation created with the help o the video "ra++er and a Ianon camera is availa+le in the lesson 0* 'chapter D plu",in Ianon E( o this manual.
=,0% >andlin" TVPaint projects
Video "ra++er
The Video Input ta+ o the Video 7ra++er panel allows to mana"e the visualiAation o the project window throu"h an external hardware such as television, overhead projector, ... 5 The popup menu allows to select the device you will use to display the content o the project window. 5 The Activate +utton allows to start the selected external device.
5 The 2nable O!t +utton allows to activate the visualiAation throu"h your external device. 5 The Re%res +utton allows, i possi+le, to o+tain a realtime display on the external device. '+y de ault, the display is re reshed a ter each stro.e( 5 The &eyer +utton allows to improve the mana"ement o the transparent pixels with some external devices. 5 The Fit +utton allows to adjust the dimensions o your current project in order to o+tain a +etter result on the external device. Please read the appendix o this manual to o+tain the complete list o external hardware compati+le with TVPaint Animation Pro.
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Learn, one by one, the various stages involved in the creation of an animated drawing using this application. (the scan cleaner, light table, rotative drawing disk and inking options will be introduced) Use the nimator !anel. Use the scan and print options of the software. Learn how to use instances.
Introduction
"he aim of this section is to sum up the various steps involved in creating a cartoon using "#!aint nimation !ro and to deal with fre$uently asked $uestions. %ome steps will be e&plained in more detail when studying the corresponding effects.
"#!aint nimation !ro works with "wain standard scanners in *indows. + "he File > Twain > Select option is used to choose the scanner you intend using. + "he File > Twain > Acquire option displays the "wain interface of you scanner in order to begin working with the latter. ,n -ac ,%./, "#!aint nimation !ro works with I0 standard scanners. Use the File > ICA > Acquire option to display the ac$uisition interface. In this way, when you scan a set of images, you may either import these images directly after the current animation layer, or in a new animation layer, or simply in a new pro1ect.
Inversely, it is also possible to print the content of an animation layer. "he File > Configure printer option displays the options available on your printer, The File > Print option opens a new window: . t the top of this window you will find the name of your printer. . "he Setup button displays the options available on your printer.
2.3
. "he Single tab opposite is used to print the current image. 'ou may ad1ust the si6e and position of your image on the future sheet of paper using the click and slide function as well as the Scale field. "he Center button places your drawing in the center of your future sheet of paper.
. "he Ani" tab offers the possibility to print several images of your animation (merged layers) on the same sheet of paper. In addition to the image si6e and position setting options, you may: 0hoose the number of columns for your images. 7isplay the position of each image on the timeline. 0hoose every second, third, fourth, etc. image in the Step! field. "he two buttons in the bottom right.hand corner of the panel are used to scroll through the various pages to be printed.
Cropping a project
"he Crop tool is used to define a rectangular area in the current pro1ect and to transform the content of this area (including all layers) into a new pro1ect. "his is very practical when cropping your animations due to badly defined edges (see e&le opposite). "he variables Start X and Start Y are used to define the top left.hand corner of the rectangular area, whereas the ne&t two variables ad1ust the Width and Height. Loc a!pect retains the current width4height ratio.
before cropping
after cropping
2.5
or
(6oom)
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"hose who have worked with earlier "#!aint 78veloppement software packages use the Lu"a e# effect followed by one of the color effects to remove the (light) gray aspect of the semi.transparent pi&els. 9ew users will no doubt prefer the new Scan cleaner effect specially designed to accomplish the two aforementioned operations in a few clicks (even the veterans should give it a go). "o use this function, simply open the :/ stack (discussed in lesson ;) and add the 0olor < Scan Cleaner effect. ,nce all drawings have been scanned, many users wish to delete, add or duplicate images. %ometimes, they also have to transfer complete images or layers from one pro1ect to another. It is this traditional, and yet vital, aspect that we will now e&amine in more detail.
$lip an image
It is possible to flip your images around the hori6ontal, vertical or both a&es.
%riginal image
&ori'ontal flip
(ertical flip
"o do this, simply use the main menu options I"age > $odif# > Flip %Hori&ontall#' (erticall# or )oth* an image or the selected images.
2.= "he steps to create animated graphics
+ If you need to do so, use the two erasers at your disposal to refine on our image. In the e&le below, the first eraser was used on the head of the character, the second eraser was used on the legs. (the colored eraser will only delete the corresponding colors)
2.@
(ither you draw or erase, don?t forget that the rotative drawing disk can help you work with more precision. + ,nce the sketch with orange and blue colors is finished, use the black pencil to clean up the drawing.
+ 9ow use the +lue cro!! icon : you now have deleted the blue construction lines of the arms : only the black lines of the arms are now visible. "he orange and black areas of the image (head and legs) are still visible.
*hen you use the two colors blue and orange to draw, it is easier to choose whether part of the image should be erased or kept. + If you use now the orange cro!! icon, only the black lines will stay on the screen. "he sketch is more precise than at the beginning.
+ t this state of the process, you can stop here or continue to have a better result. + *e have turned here the lines into orange by using the orange fla! icon. It is still possible to add some lines or to clean the image with the erasers.
2.2
+ If you want, you can turn the arms of the character into blue by using the blue paint+ru!h icon.
+ >ere again, we draw with the black pencil on the colored construction lines.
+ 9ow we can delete the orange and blue construction lines : "he image is not rough anymore. (if it is not the case, you can return to the previous steps)
"his method is not the only one that can be used with the S etch panel : you can use three colors in a different way or you can use only two colors. %ome artists uses one color for the characters and another color for the background landscape ... It should be easy for you to adapt the S ech panel to your workflow.
2.A
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right click on the timeline opens a conte&tual menu which allows you to duplicate or delete your image (above). *hen duplicating, you will be asked to indicate the number of copies of the current image you wish to create. *hen deleting, you will be asked to confirm the operation. "o insert one or several empty images in your animation, simply call up the same conte&tual menu. It should, however, be noted that the new empty images inserted will be placed 1ust behind the current image. "he other images of your layer will be shifted accordingly.
image 32 duplicated
"he In!ert' ,uplicate' ,elete i"age! options are also available in the I"age main menu.
2.B
It is possible to select several consecutive images of a layer with a simple click and slide of the left mouse button under the timeline icons. "he images selected are then marked in yellow (see below).
It is therefore possible to duplicate or delete all images selected in the same way as described above.
"heCut' Cop#' Pa!te options are also available in the I"age main menu.
"he Cut' Cop#' Pa!te la#er! options are also available in the La#er! main menu.
Eefore transferring the layers from one pro1ect to another, always ensure the resolution is correct, otherwise your images may be distorted.
2.;
Introduction
In traditionnal paper animation, the animators are often using the following method : + :irstly the key images are drawn. "he purpose is to get a handle on the global movement, on the re$uired number of images, on the timing to schedule, etc ... In the e&emple opposite, the kid is running from the left to the right of the screen. "wo key images are drawn. + "he second step is to locate and draw the most important frames. In our e&le, this is when the kid is 1umping (the two feets are not on the floor). + :inally, the inbetween pictures are added :
6
"o begin, an image is drawn between each picture already visible on the timeline. fter this, new inbetweens are added among the previous one. this usually helps a lot to obtain a good $uality of animation (in other words a smooth flow of movement) + "he subdivisions are repeated until the animator is satisfied of the rendering.
final
"his simple process needs some successive subdivisions along the animation layer of the timeline. "hat?s not always easy because the images duplication, creation or copy are not always convenient to use. d1usting the timing of the whole animation usually needs to duplicate and4or delete some frames and can be time consuming. "hat is the reason why the use of the images instances is clearly advised.
What is an Instance :
n instance is simply an image in an animation layer, an image which duration can be ad1usted. It is the new animator dedicated tool. (ach icon (or cell) of the timeline has now a small colored s$uare which allows to use this feature. "o do so, simply click on this little handle (it becomes yellow) and move it as shown opposite.
2.GH
'ou have 1ust increased the duration of the current image. ny image of an animation layer can be considered as an instance. "he use of the instances allows to save a lot of time when following the previous steps. It also allows to manage more easily the timing.
Some !ocabulary
>ere is the name of each new element visible on screen : ,pposite, we have an In!tance containing four Cell!"he first cell is called Head Cell or more simply : Head"he following cells (when e&isting) are called ./po!ure! cell! or ./po!ure!"he tail of our instance is the little handle ending the In!tance which you can drag to ad1ust the number of ./po!ure Cell!-
6#7
7#8 2.GG
*e can already and easily distinguish four key images from which the inbetweens will be drawn. Let?s re.use the method introduced earlier in this lesson, but with image instances : + :irstly create a new animation layer and duplicate the current frame three time. 'ou must have four empty instances on the timeline. + *e need then to draw the four key images in each instance.
+ Kust after this operation, you can ad1ust the timing by choosing the appropriate number of e&posure cells in each instance.
If you need a $uick preview of the animation when drawing, it is advised to use the FLip0)oo option. (see lesson = for more details)
+ ,nce this task is finished, we can break the four e&isting instances in order to draw the first inbetweens. (the inbetweens are drawn in blue for more readability)
'ou can use the Lightta+le option to help you during the drawing process. It will take only the head cells into account. (please read the lighttable section further in this lesson)
2.G3 "he steps to create animated graphics
+ 9ow we can break, move and resi6e again the e&isting instances in order to draw the second series of inbetweens. Eelow, you will find the begining of the resulting timeline.
t any moment of this process, you can, by only few mouse clicks, change the number of cells of your instances, and then improve the whole timing of the animation. + 0ontinue the process by breaking again the e&isting instances and by adding inbetweens. %top it once you are satisfied with your animation. .................. "o finish, here is a $uick overview of the steps which were needed to create the animation from the first to the second key image : "he blue L I M below shows where the last instance was broken (ie : splitted) into two instances.
3#6
>ere are the two key images, at the e&tremities of the animation first instance is created in the middle of the layer.
2.G5
# Using the erase button of the main panel on an e&posure cell of an instance always breaks the instance into two smaller instances. # Using the erase button of the main panel on several cells and4or instances turns each cell into an empty single instance. #
2.G= "he steps to create animated graphics
7eleting the e&posure cells of an instance will make all the images of the layer move to the left. "he head of your instance stay the same. # 7eleting the head cell of the first instance of the current layer will make the images of the layer move to the left and will also delete the content of the instance. # 7eleting the head cell of an instance in the middle of the layer will make its e&posure cells be linked to the previous instance. #
Split a layer
It is possible to subdivide an image or animation layer into two separated layers. "o split a layer in two parts, you first need to go on to the image in front of the point at which you wish to place the split. "hen select Split la#er in the layer?s conte&tual menu to obtain the result shown below :
$or an instance
2.G@
+erging layers
*e already saw in lesson 5 how to merge the image layers. It is not really different if you decide to merge animation layers with instances. 'ou can use the "erge menu of the timeline or drag?n drop a layer on another layer. "#!aint nimation !ro will always try to create instances in the merged layer. ,pposite, four layers : , E, 0 and 7 are going to be merged. (we used the option $erge all La#er!) "he resulting layer at bottom use the instances system.
!lease note that if you merge an image layer containing more than one image, it will be transformed into an Instance with the ade$uate number of cells. %ee below : ,pposite, two image layers : and E are going to be merged. In the resulting layer, at bottom (we called it L NE M), the and E layers are replaced by two instances. "he empty space between the two original layers is replaced by an empty instance.
Stretch a layer
*e have described how to increase the number of images of a layer by inserting some new e&posure cells in the instances. "here are, however, other methods to increase the number of images in a layer. 0lick and slide to the right on the tab encircled in black (see ne&t page) to call up the panel shown opposite. "he e&le below gives you an idea of the effects produced by the various options. Interpolation is nothing but a fade effect calculated and applied by "#!aint nimation !ro to fill the intermediary images which will be inserted between the original images. It is possible to stretch a layer to the left by repeating the operation described above with the left tab.
2.G2
,riginal layer to be stretched to the right. %tretch without interpolation. %tretch with interpolation. Oepeat: Loop. Oepeat: !ing.!ong. Oepeat : >old. Oepeat : (&posure. dd empty Images. dd empty (&posures.
2.GA
2.GB
(verything in relation with the creation or modification of custom panels will be discussed in lesson GB.
"he 1a3igation icons : "hese two buttons offer direct access to the first and previous frames of the current layer. : "hese two buttons allow you to move from key to key (if your pro1ect has keys) by passing respectively to the previous or ne&t keys. : "hese buttons are used to move to the last or ne&t frame. : Oun a fast preview of the current animation. : !lay the animation. : "hese buttons are workspace rotation shortcuts with respective angles of .G@R and NG@R. : Layer %haker. : %hortcut to select either the layer above the current layer or the one below it.
2.G;
: Eookmark shortcut buttons used to go to the previous bookmark, ne&t bookmark, or to Acti3ate5,eacti3ate a +oo "ar in the current image. "he I"age section : "hese buttons are used to create an empty image in the current layer in front of the current image (first button) or after the current image (second button). : "hese shortcuts are used to duplicate the current image by placing a new image before or after the current image. : 7elete the current image. "he La#er section : Euttons used to either convert an image layer to an animation layer, or to convert the current animation layer image into a single image in an image layer (If you select an image se$uence, this button will create as many Image layers as the number of selected images). : "he first button is used to split the current layer into 3 separate layers after the current image. *orking similarly to the previous button, if you select a se$uence, the %plit action will create 5 layers : one with the images before the selection, one with the selection and a last one with the images after the selection."he second button, as you may have already guessed, is used to 1oin 3 layers to form a single layer. (nsure you select the layers to be 1oined correctly. : "hese two buttons both open the same window in which you will be asked to enter a number of empty images to be inserted. "he first button will increase the si6e of each instance of the current layer by adding e&posure cells. "he second button will insert empty instances between each instance of the layer. "he number of images or cells inserted depends on the number you enter in this window. "he Pro4ect section : "hese buttons are used to move the current layer up or down a notch in the layers window. : "he first button simply deletes the current layer whereas the second automatically selects all frames in the current layer. : "hese shortcuts are used to 1ustify all layers selected either right or left. : "he first button is used to link the previously selected layers. "he second button is useful when you wish to split your current pro1ect into 3 distinct pro1ects after the current image. "he $i!c section : "hese 3 buttons enable the use of a virtual stack in which you will store the current image with the first button. "his image may then be used by simply pressing the second button. 9ote, on the one hand, that the last image added to the stack is always the first to be removed and, on the other hand, that the number of images stored in this virtual stack depends on the hard drive space available. : "his button opens the Tool )in panel seen in the ne&t lesson.
2.3H
bove to the right you will find all information relative to your pro1ect (including the workspace rotation angle) which is accessible by placing the cursor on the pro1ect title bar. It is possible to play your animation with a tilted workspaceF
9ote that workspace rotation always takes place from the center of your pro1ect window. If necessary, you may use the bottom and right.hand sliders of your pro1ect window to position the latter (see opposite).
*hile the workspace is rotated, it becomes visible in the form of an animation disk. If you do not need this function, it may be disabled in the ,i!pla# popup menu of the current pro1ect.
2.3G
nimation artists who prefer to use the Ani"ator field! may use the same menu to select this option.
+ Load the animation L Ounning Sid 3 M and display only the current layer. + %tart by choosing the color option in the popup menu on the left.hand side of the Light ta+le panel to display all frames behind the current frame in the color indicated (default color red). + "hen disable all the frames in front of the current frame that you do not want to see by clicking on the corresponding frame number. + )o to the frame in the center of the animation. + "o enable the light table in your layer, click on the LT icon in this layer. "he following image will appear in the current pro1ect window: "he frames in our animation layer which precede the current frame are displayed on the screen. "he frames closest to the current frame L in time M are the most visible and those furthest away L in time M are the most transparent.
"he light table is an e&tremely practical tool as it is also possible to display all frames after the current frame in time and for a given layer. If you configure your light table as indicated below (choose the gradient option in the popup menu on the right.hand side of the Light Ta+le panel), the frames after the current frame Lin timeM are displayed in a colored gradient, with more or less opacity depending on their position in relation to the current frame.
2.33 "he steps to create animated graphics
9ow that you understand how this tool works, let?s go back and take a closer look at its control panel: + "he two popup menu allows you to display the images after and before the current image with : their original colors, a color or a gradient of your choice. + "he two colored bo&es near those popup menus allow you to select the colors on the screen or a gradient in a preset list to view the frames before and after the current frame. + "he use of colors in this viewing mode is not mandatory. If you wish to keep the original image colors, select the option none (%ee below). + "he sliders are used to manage the opacity level of frames displayed (the Lin button avoids having to move each slider individually by linking them to one another).
+ "he numbers are used to select the frames to be displayed. :or e&le: in the panels shown as an e&le above, the number @ to the right of the 6ero is selected and its slider is set in the center of the scale. "his means that the fifth frame after the current frame will be visible with medium opacity. + "he Front button allows to display the light table images in front of the current image. + "he buttons All and 1one allow to display all the images of the light table or no images. "he number 6ero enables or disables the light table, its slider manages the global opacity of the table. If you use instances, only the head cells are taken into account by the lighttable.
2.35
,nce the Floodfill tool has been selected, various options are proposed in the Filling !hape panel shown opposite: . "he color modes were discussed in lesson 3, . "he S"ooth, 6pacit#, 7radient and 6pacit# "apping options were discussed in lesson 5. . "he Wrapping +ru!h option was studied in lesson =. *e will therefore only take a closer look at the second section of the Filling !hape panel.
*hen using the traditional Fill option you choose a pi&el in the current pro1ect window and then click on it. *e refer to this pi&el as the origin pi/el. "he Fill option changes the color of neighboring pi&els until it is prevented from progressing by the LborderM pi&els. ,pposite, the LborderM pi&els in black and the color dispersion from the origin pi&el in blue.
"he options indicated above allow you to choose the type of pi&els to be used as a LbarrierM for the Floodfill function (i.e. pi&els which will not be modified after choosing this option). 7epending on your choice made in the Fill popup menu, the pi&els considered to be LbarrierM pi&els will be those with: + a different color to the original pi&el color + a different density + a different color and density + a different luminosity + a color identical to the ) color. 7epending on your choice in the Source popup menu, the pi&els considered to be barrier pi&els are located: + on the current layer (by default) + on all layers behind the current layer + on all layers in front of the current layer
2.3= "he steps to create animated graphics
+ on all layers displayed on the screen It is therefore possible to color our running kid on a layer independent of its contours. Let?s take a look at the timeline below: (in this case, the white pi&els are transparent following a clean up of the animated footage)
)o to the Lcoloring layerM located behind the LOunning SidM layer and choose the layer placed in front of the current layer to color the running kid in the Lcoloring layerM using the outline of the LOunning SidM layer. It is then possible to obtain the following result:
+ "he 2ange option enables you to numerically ad1ust the tolerance threshold for the aforementioned criteria (Fill !hape menu). :or e&le, opposite, a green shape is drawn with an airbrush on a transparent surface with a checker background. "he floodfill option applied in the center of the circle with the color blue provides the image results shown below.
fill 9 color and opacity- e0pand 9 > /in all cases below1
range 9 >
range 9 4>
range 9 3>>
range 9 6>>
range 9 644
!rogressively, it is noted that the tolerance to LborderM pi&els becomes less and less.
"he steps to create animated graphics 2.3@
+ "he ./pand option increases the si6e of the floodfill area to the number of pi&els of your choice. "his enables you to limit the number of border pi&els. :or e&le: you draw a green line with the airbrush. left click with the Floodfill tool and the color blue and you will obtain the following results:
$loodfill 9 color and opacity- range 9 > /in all cases below1
e0pand 9 >
e0pand 9 4
e0pand 9 3>
e0pand 9 64
0ombine the two options ./pand and 2ange to avoid the result indicated below left and to obtain the result below right.
## + "he 7ap option allows you to avoid LoverspillsM when you try to fill a surface which is not completely closed. Low values are used in the case of Lsmall gapsM, whereas high values are used for larger gaps (it is worth noting that higher values sometimes result in a lower floodfill $uality).
ap
2.32
ap closer
Create shadows
,nce you have finished coloring your running kid, you may add shades to the latter using the toonshading effects discussed in lesson G3.
toonshading
toonshading
;rop Shadow
2.3A
*dd music
"he graphic design side of your pro1ect is now complete. If you wish, you may now add a sound track in order to give it that final touch. (see lesson B for more details about this sub1ect)
2.3B
Finish studying the drawing modes. Use the clipboard. Use the spare image. Learn how to use animbrushes as drawing tool. Use cutouts and selections.
The pi els o# the house are gray with a light red hue. The Saturate mode will there#ore increase their red components and render them more vivid. The Unsaturate mode will have little e##ect on the same pi els as they are already close to gray. The pi els o# the sun and s(y are very saturated. The Saturate mode will there#ore change the yellow hues only a little. The Unsaturate mode will modi#y them according to di##erent shades o# gray.
)*2
)*'
)*7
The Emboss mode accentuates the image contours by adding a shadow. +nce the tool is used on the image, it appears to have more volume.
These last #our modes : Add, Sub, Multipl and Screen are more use#ul when they are used with brushes or with certain e##ects. We will come bac( to them in #urther lessons.
The re#erence area can be set in the shape setting panel /we already tal(ed about it in the lesson 20" It is accessible in the #indo$s main menu or with a right clic( on one o# the seven drawing shapes /dot, #reehand, line, spline, rectangle, ellipse and #lood#ill0.
In the e amples below, two wounds o# a photographied hand have been corrected by using the !ealing mode with the airbrush tool. The pantograph mode on the right doesn9t give good results, with similar settings.
+pposite, the source picture and two #ingers that will be retouched.
>
)*:
With a bit o# practice, it could be easy #or you to remove the dimple o# your photographs.
>
The face with dimples The same face with the dimples remo!ed
-lease note that the re#erence area can be located on a di##erent picture than the current one. The re#erence area can be the bac(ground, the displayed picture, the current image, the previous image, a paper or an image copied into the spare. It is there#ore possible to #a(e your photographs : here below, some scars have been added to the s(in by using this #issured wall picture as re#erence layer.
)*)
The clipboard menu is located in the Edit main menu and comprises #our use#ul options which, in a way, serve as an inter#ace between T,-aint !nimation -ro and your other so#tware pac(ages. . The Cop brush to clipboard option ma(es the current brush available #or other so#tware pac(ages installed on your computer. . The Cop image to clipboard option ma(es the current image displayed in your pro<ect /including the bac(ground0 available #or other so#tware pac(ages installed on your computer.
Wordprocessors, spreadsheets and digital creation so#tware pac(ages generally use a #unction re#erred to as Paste bu%%er content or Paste which you simply have to call up in order to use your brush or image.
When you use the =print screen> (ey on your (eyboard or when you use the Cop option /to be understood ?copy to bu##er@0 in the program, it is possible to recover the image stored in T,-aint !nimation -ro : . The Get brush %rom clipboard option ma(es the current image stored in the bu##er memory o# your computer available as current brush. . The Ne$ la er %rom clipboard option creates a new image layer #rom the clipboard.
For the latter option, ensure the si6e o# your current pro<ect is adapted to that o# the image stored in the bu##er memory, otherwise the image may be cropped.
)*8
Cave the T,-aint logo opposite as a spare image /main menu Edit ' Spare ' Cop to spare or shortcut =Chi#tDE> 0 Felete it #rom the current layer /standard delete tool: 0, then draw an ellipse with an opacity o# )3& in its place. . The option S$ap spare /shortcut =E>0 returns the T,-aint logo to the screen and replaces the spare image with the ellipse. Using this #unction again will rede#ine the T,-aint logo as spare and will display the ellipse in the center o# the window. . Fepending on your selections in the popup menu, the Cpare mi)er option o##ers the #ollowing results:
Spare
Current image
. Finally, the option (elete spare is used to delete the spare image. I# you are wor(ing with several pro<ects at the same time, note that each pro<ect has its own spare image.
When you save a pro<ect, the spare page is also saved with this pro<ect.
)*B
The "arpbrush
The #arpbrush may be used to give the impression that a drop o# water has #allen on the image. ;ombined with certain types o# paper, it gives the impression that you are loo(ing at the image through a window. There are two types o# warps: warp out and warp in /see below0.
Original image
. Shi%t mode
. Smear mode
)*$%
!s indicated above, the &mpressionist mode reAuires a spare image in order to wor(. When drawing a line in this drawing mode, the current image is deleted in order to ma(e place #or a spare image and the latter is smeared in the direction o# the line traced. This creates Auite an eye*catching e##ect when wor(ing with a small tool and with ? dotted @ Pro%iles and a *atio close to %& /see Special brush panel below0. When reAuired, the current image used as spare image may also provide a very original artistic e##ect.
+pposite an illustration in impressionist mode with parameters panel together with the current image 2 Cpare image.
"ere you will #ind a general introduction into how to add a te t to your images: . Gnter the te t o# your choice in the te t #ield at the bottom o# the panel. . Celect the #ont o# your choice.
+ther T,-aint !nimation -ro drawing tools )*$$
. Celect +etter mode or #ord mode depending upon whether you wish to display the entire content o# the te t #ield or simply one letter at a time. . Hodi#y the parameters as you reAuire. !ll changes to the numeric #ields or using the mini*sliders will be ta(en into account and displayed interactively on the screen #or several seconds in order to allow you to view the result o# changes and settings made. . Iow all that is le#t is to apply the te t to the layer in the location o# your choice. 5elow you will #ind a detailed description o# the parameters at your disposal #or this tool: . The #irst popup menu is used to select the #ont best suited to your pro<ect amongst those installed on your operating system. The two arrows are used to Auic(ly scroll through the list o# #onts available. . The popup menus Script and St le are used to select the character type to be used /occidental, oriental, 4ree(, etc.0 and their style /bold, italic, underlined J0. The #onts used by T,-aint !nimation -ro are o# the ? .tt# @ /True Type Font0 #ormat #or -;. . The Size variable de#ines the #ont si6e in pi els. . The ,Scale variable manages the #ont width. . The Space variable de#ines the space between characters /a negative value overlaps the characters0. . The &talic variable modi#ies the inclination applied to characters. . The *otate variable is used to increase or decrease the angle #ormed between the te t and the hori6ontal a is. . The Trac- variable adapts the space between characters, but this time, in proportion to the si6e o# each letter in the te t #ield. . The .pacit variable de#ines the te t transparency. . The .utline variable creates an outline o# varying thic(ness around the letters, but renders the interior o# the letters transparent. . The Smooth variable applies a blur to the letters. . The /order variable creates an outline o# varying thic(ness around the letters. . The Glo$ variable creates a luminous halo around the letters. The border and glow may be o# any color o# your choice. . I# the +etter button is selected, an Anim. /!nimation0 popup menu is present: you may then choose to apply the letters in the te t #ield once only, in a loop, randomly or in ping*pong. . I# the #ord button is selected, a Step variable is present: this variable #unctions in the same way as #or standard drawing tools /see lesson 20. . The *eset button resets all settings. . The ?K@ button provides access to the last phrases or words entered in the te t #ield. . The / button opens a larger te t #ield in order to wor( with longer te ts. . The number in the bottom le#t hand corner o# the panel represents the te t width in number o# pi els /a width which is dependent on your settings0. . The Create brush button allows you to trans#orm your te t into a custom brush and switch to the brush settings in the tool panel. In addition to the settings via the mini*sliders, do not #orget to tic( the bo es to ta(e these variables into account.
)*$2
The connections
Throughout this lesson, we have modi#ied the si6e, power, opacity, etc. o# our tools and you have certainly noticed the letters located in a bo le#t o# the corresponding numeric value. These are the Connection parameters. The corresponding conte tual menu is accessible by clic(ing on the bo . Host graphic tablets available on the mar(et are sensitive to pressure, stylus travel speed and inclination, etc J T,-aint !nimation -ro ta(es all these advantages into account and it is there#ore possible to imitate the speci#ic aspects o# drawing by hand.
"ere are some e amples: . I# you connect the Size o# the pen tool with the stylus Travel Speed, the thic(ness o# the line drawn will be thic(er the #aster you move your stylus /to do this, select Speed in the Size connection menu0. . I# you connect the stylus Pressure to the airbrush tool Po$er, the more you push down on the tablet with the stylus, the brighter the color will be on the screen. . I# you connect the .pacit o# the wetbrush tool to the Altitude o# the st lus, inclining the stylus will render the aAuarelle almost transparent. ! wide variety o# setting combinations are available. 5elow we will describe each o# them. It is then up to you to ma(e the connections according to your needs and creative spirit, don9t hesitate to e perimentL The #irst set o# connections applies to pointing peripherals /mouse, trac(ball, stylus0 : & None0 no connections. 1 pro%ile Editor0 it will be e plained in the ne t chapter. & &nvert0 invert the e##ect o# the connection chosen. & Speed: the parameter connected to the Speed will change at a speed proportional to the stylus travel speed. & (irection0 the parameter connected to the (irection will change according to the direction o# the stylus. & .rientation0 the parameter connected to the .rientation will change according to the stylus orientation. & 2ade0 the parameter connected to 2ade will decrease its values as the line drawn progresses. & *andom: the parameter connected to *andom will vary randomly. The second set o# connections applies only to stylus and graphic tablets: & Pressure0 the parameter connected to Pressure o# the parameter connected will vary proportionally to the pressure applied to the stylus on the tablet. & Altitude0 the parameter connected to !ltitude will vary proportionally to the angle #ormed by the stylus inclination on the tablet. & Azimuth0 the parameter connected to !6imuth will vary proportionally to the angle #ormed between the stylus pro<ection on the tablet and the vertical plane. & *otation0 the parameter connected to 1otation will vary when you roll the stylus between your #ingers. /you need a :F !rt pen #rom Wacom to use this connection0 1 2inger#heel0 the parameter connected to 2inger#heel will vary according to these options when using the Wacom airbrush #ingerwheels.
+ther T,-aint !nimation -ro drawing tools )*$'
+pposite you will #ind a summary diagram o# the connections indicated above. Iote that some tablets do not o##er all these options. For optimum results, T,-aint recommends the use o# Wacom Intuos ' tablets L
The speed, #ade, orientation and direction connections are ad<ustable. +rientation angle, direction angle, speed curve and #ade speed may be modi#ied in the Connection Settings window /select .ption in the connections conte tual menu shown on the previous page0.
5elow you will #ind some e amples to illustrate the e##ects: Size connected to 2ade #or various #ade values.
Size connected to .rientation /right drawing0. Size connected to (irection /le#t drawing0.
Size connected to Speed using various curves. !ll three lines were obtained by increasing the stylus travel speed /i.e. with progressive acceleration0.
)*$7
I# you connect the stylus Pressure to the Po$er o# the Pencil tool, the more you push down on the tablet with the stylus, the thic(er your line will be. In the e ample below on the le#t, the si6e o# your tool will be bounded between % pi els and '% pi els. /In this e emple, we want to #ocus on the si6e parameter behavior, so we will choose connection 3 none #or the power parameter.0 Iow i# we change the pro#ile curve as shown below on the right, the minimal si6e value #or your tool will be $3 pi els.
Let9s admit that we draw a straight line on the current picture, #rom right to le#t with the oilbrush tool. I# the pro#ile curve stays unchanged, the line thic(ness is smaller and smaller. In our e ample : The hori6ontal a is o# the Connection pro%ile panel shows the chosen connection #rom the ma imal value to the minimal value. The vertical a is o# the Connection pro%ile panel shows the values o# the Ci6e parameter. !s a conseAuence, i# we change the pro#ile curve as shown below, you will obtain the #ollowing results :
)*$3
Let9s admit that you are using an animbrush with #our images in order to add some colored #lags on a picture. /see below, the handle o# the animbrush is on the red cross or red line and the anim behavior is set to *andom0
handle
"ere is the result i# you draw a straight line with the settings opposite : /Fon9t hesitate to modi#y the Step parameter i# you need to change the distance between the #lags0
)*$:
I# we connect the animbrush Angle parameter to *andom, the #lags will be arranged in every directions. It is completely disordered ...
Iow let9s modi#y the pro#ile curve as shown herea#ter : The angle o# the animbrush will be randomly chosen between 8%N and $%%N compared to the hori6ontal a is. The general aspect will be less monotonous. /each gradation represents B%N0
The minimal and ma imal angular values on the vertical a is o# te pro#ile curve are the same as the one you have chosen in the tool panel o# the current custom brush. For instance, i# you select an angle o# *3%N, the gradations will then be :
>>>
M Si'e and )andom
We will now continue to wor( on the same e ample : The purpose is now to ma(e all the #lags have a di##erent si6e. +# course, we can connect the Size parameter o# the brush to *andom"
Ievertheless a problem persist : we can have too small #lags. To remedy this, we only have to select a minimal si6e #or our animbrush in the pro#ile connection window. +pposite and below, some randomly selected values between )3& and $%%& o# the original si6e will be used.
)*$)
. !n animbrush using the Add mode can be applied directly on an empty layer and can be also shi#ted than(s to the shi%t option /see lesson 70. It could give very good result i# you need to use some +ilbrush or Watercolor :
Color mode
)*$8
/our brush0
Color mode
Alpha mode
The Shi%t parameter does not wor( with the Alpha et Alpha Ma) modes.
)*$B
The numbers ne t to the brushes indicate the number o# animated brush images or si6e o# the brush. 1ight clic( on the brush in the tab to: . Add the current brush to the bin . Get the brush you <ust clic(ed on as current brush . S$ap the current brush with the one you <ust clic(ed on . E)port the brush . (elete the brush #rom the bin Oour settings will be saved i# you clic( on Save this con%iguration when you leave the program. I# you reset T,-aint !nimation -ro9s con#iguration, your settings will be lost.
+pposite you will #ind an e ample o# the prede#ined animated brushes available in T,-aint !nimation -ro.
)*2%
)*2$
Let9s ta(e a closer loo( at this #unction: don9t worry, it9s no sorceryL When using the 2lood%ill tool, the boundary points /not #illed in0 are de#ined and the other points are colored /see lesson :: ad<ustment o# shape settings0. The same applies to our magic wand e cept that the ?#lood#ill@ area o# the image becomes the current brush. The current brush may there#ore ta(e all (inds o# shapes. For e ample, by adding the E)pand and *ange parameters, it is easy to obtain the #ollowing two brushes.
Original image
>>
7rush cutout
Original image
Oou may also select an area o# a layer and then ma(e the modi#ications in another layer, #or added sa#ety.
)*22
I# you have selected an area, using the (elete image icon in the main panel will only delete the selection. The choice o# a color channel #or wor(ing also a##ects only your selection.
1egarding the #unction o# the magic wand, re#er to the section &n-ing Process in lesson :. In the present case, we create selections instead o# #illing sur#aces, otherwise the mode remains identicalJ
)*2'
Original image
Shi&t option
"rap option
. I# you chec( the Appl to selection bo as well as the Appl to image bo , the current selection will be ta(en into consideration when shi#ting /see below0,
. I# only the Appl to selection bo is chec(ed, the image will not change but only the selection.
)*27
Original image
"rap option
Shi&t option
The Trans%orm tool in the main panel is used to shi#t, increase or reduce the image. 5elow you #ind a detailed description o# the options proposed in this panel: . The popup menu allows you to either Shi%t the image or to 2ill the screen with the current image. . !s with the Panning tool, it is possible to shi#t the image andPor the selection /see e amples below0.
. The Panning , and Panning 5 variables are used to translate the image on the screen. The Center button is used to re*center it. . The Scale variable is used to modi#y the si6e o# the image /increase or decrease0. . The Angle variable is used to rotate the image. . The *eset button resets the settings. . The Previe$ bo enables interactive viewing o# the previous parameters on the screen. . +nce satis#ied with the settings, the Appl button is pressed to #inish the operation.
Original image
)*23
Oou may also wor( directly on the screen using the mouse: . le#t clic( and slide to modi#y panning. . right clic( and slide to modi#y si6e.
To shi#t all images o# a layer, #irst select them all. Use the (eyboard shortcut =;trlDC> or the conte tual menu in the timeline.
)*2:
The blue line that appears on the screen during setting is the hori6on line. Oou may move the two vanishing points as you wish to set the perspective.
)*2)
Add a sound track to your project. Learn to use the XSheet layers. Learn to use the Spreadsheet panel. Make a Lip-Sync.
&ote that the utton in the current project window is used to play a sound track when the project is viewed.
Here are the various "unctions proposed y T'(aint Ani!ation (ro : ) Load a sound track to e included in your project. *n the le"t o" the ti!eline+ the na!e o" the loaded sound "ile will appear and another trian$le will allow you to chan$e the si,e o" the track display : Optimised display Reduced display ) Delete a sound track "ro! your current project ) It is possi le to !ove the audio track alon$ the ti!eline with a click and slide on the "or!er. This "unction allows you to adjust synchroni,ation o" your ani!ation and sound track. ) The Offset option ena les synchroni,ation usin$ a nu!eric value ) The Lock option prevents all !ove!ent o" your sound track with a click and slide. *nce you have co!pleted your settin$s+ this option will allow you to avoid any risk o" handlin$ !istakes. ) I" the jo$ audio is in None position+ no sounds will e e!itted when you !ove alon$ the ti!eline. ) I" the jo$ audio is in Scrub position+ the sounds will only e e!itted i" your !ove!ents alon$ the ti!eline is carried out with a !ouse or stylus. ) I" the jo$ audio is in Always position+ the sounds will always e e!itted when you !ove alon$ the ti!eline+ re$ardless o" whether you use the !ouse+ stylus or key oard arrow keys. ) I" a sound is e!itted each ti!e you chan$e the current i!a$e in the ti!eline+ the option Enter the scrub audio duration allows you to de"ine the duration o" this sound. ) The Notes option is availa le when usin$ the -M. on the sound area. It allows to add te/t in the Ti!eLine. 0ach cell o" the Ti!eline can receive a note.
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The XSheet panel+ co!!only called XSheet tab in T'(aint Ani!ation (ro #see ne/t pa$es% is the nu!eric transposition o" the classical paper XSheet. The reason XSheet panels were included in T'(aint Ani!ation (ro is to !ake easier to ti!e and synchronise the ani!ations+ thanks to the XSheet layers. It is also a very use"ull tool "or people who uses to scan their drawin$s. The !ain advanta$e o" the XSheet layer is that a "ra!e that is used !ultiple ti!es in a scene need only to e adjusted or colored once and all instances o" this i!a$e in the XSheet layer will chan$e accordin$ly. It saves a lot o" ti!e since the process o" copyin$ and editin$ "ra!es is !uch si!pler and easier to control throu$h the XSheet panel. #This is !uch si!pler than the old way in which you4d have to !anually copy and paste "ra!es in the layers o" the ti!eline.% 3or e/a!ple+ let4s assu!e that the colorin$ and the shadows o" a character are on separate layers: I" you need to re-arran$e your ani!ation in ti!e+ it is always very tedious to edit a layer in the sa!e way twice or !ore ... 3ortunately+ with the XSheet panel this can e done really easily and 5uickly.
1-6
All those notions !ay see! a stract at "irst+ ut you can rela/. 7e will 5uickly study so!e concrete situations and e/a!ples.
3ive layers are visi le: an i!a$e layer called = ack$round > and "our ani!ation layers called = shadow >+ = colors >+ = -unnin$ 8id > and = Toonshadin$ >. 0ach layer has its own assi$ned color. (lease note that your project does not have any XSheet layer at this ti!e.
"" Let?s study "irstly the le"t part o" the XSheet panel. #the ri$ht part will e the su ject o" a "urther chapter%. The le"t part o" the XSheet panel is in a way the !irror o" the !i"eline. #see ne/t pa$e "or the screenshots% : ) 0ach colu!n o" the XSheet Panel corresponds to a layer o" the !i"eline+ with its colour. The title o" a colu!n is the na!e o" the correspondin$ layer. ) 0ach line o" the XSheet panel is nu! ered. This nu! erin$ is the sa!e as the one you can "ind on the top o" the correspondin$ ti!eline #see elow% ) The i!a$e layers contain an uni5ue i!a$e repeated throu$h the ti!e+ so they are not su divided in the XSheet panel. ) As the ani!ation layers contain di""erents i!a$es+ they are su divided. ) The ook!ark located here and there on your ti!eline are also visi le and !odi"ia le in the XSheet panel. The thu! utton allows to swap etween the classical XSheet display and the thu! nails display. #see ne/t pa$e on the ri$ht% Aou can also use the sliders or the arrow keys o" your key oard to navi$ate throu$h the XSheet panel.
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1-B
The project ta a ove allows to !ana$e the opened project. It is discussed in lesson B.
Timeline ta$
XSheet ta$
.e"ore ena lin$ the li$hta le "or the layer o" your choice+ :on?t "or$et to ena le the $lo al li$hta le y clickin$ on the utton :
1-D
At the ends o" the colu!n+ it is still possi le to set the pre and post ehaviour o" your layers. #see elow% In the e/a!ple elow+ a "ew pictures "ro! the thrid layer are selected. They are enli$hted in yellow in the Ti!eline and also in the XSheet ta .
%"
Timeline ta$ XSheet ta$
A"ter selectin$ several layers+ the option Ali n left and the option Ali n ri ht allows to ali$n your layers on either side o" the current i!a$e in each ta #Ti!eline or XSheet%
At this state+ the %ena"e& Duplicate& Delete& 'opy& (ide and other classic options o" the so"tware are still availa le. .ut you certainly noticed that you can4t shrink or stretch this new layer. There are no thu! nail icons too. The & and ' uttons o" the XSheet ta can also e used to create or delete a XSheet layer. The letter = X > indicates that the colu!n represents an XSheet layer.
1-F
Mana$in$ the content o" an i!a$e o" the XSheet layer or !ana$in$ the position in ti!e o" its i!a$es have to e done in the XSheet panel. *nce your XSheet layer is created+ you have to speci"y in the XSheet ta one or !ore sources. *therwise+ it will e not possi le to use it+ ecause you can?t draw on a XSheet layer. The i!a$es o" the choosen sources will constitute the ele!ents o" the XSheet layer.
The width o" oth sides o" the XSheet ta can e adjusted y dra$$in$ the !iddle separator. The thu! nails options and the position o" the separator are also saved with your project. :o not con"use the source colu!ns on the ri$ht part o" the XSheet ta and the layers colu!ns on the le"t part o" the XSheet ta . The source colu!ns are used to !ana$e the content o" the XSheet layers and are not visi le in the ti!eline whereas the layers colu!ns are also visi le in the ti!eline. #see elow%
1-1
# concrete e*ample
I" you have "ollowed this lesson "ro! the e$innin$+ you should have two projects on the T'(aint Ani!ation (ro screen. The project %unnin -)id$t*p and a new project called +ntilted-,- containin$ an XSheet layer. Aou can take a look at the Project tab to check it. The project +ntitled-,- has an XSheet layer. #see elow%
In the project called +ntilted-,- we added the project %unnin -)id$t*p as source+ as shown elow. &ow we only have to add so!e i!a$es "ro! our source into the XSheet layer.
I" you selected a project as source+ its layers are considered as i" they were !er$ed.
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) .y de"ault+ all the cells "ollowin$ a !anually "illed cell are written in pink color and have the sa!e re"erence i!a$e. Those i!a$es are also called key"ra!es. ) *nce "inished+ each cell "ro! the XSheet layer correspond to an i!a$e choosen into the Source colu!ns. #3or a etter reada ility+ you can use the thu! nail view in order to replace each cells y its correpondin$ i!a$e% *pposite+ here is how to stretch an XSheet layer.
*pposite : ) The "irst three cells o" the e/position layer are e!pty. ) The "ourth cell o" the XSheet layer is the 2Dth i!a$e "ro! the source colu!n called )id$ ) The "our last cells have the sa!e re"erence as the "ourth cell.
-ith thum$nails -ithout thum$nails
I" you selected an opened project as source+ the source project will e stretched to "it the XSheet layer.
In order to "ill in the cells o" an XSheet layer #in other words+ to add i!a$es in a XSheet layer%+ you can also dra$?n drop thu! nails and cells "ro! the source colu!ns into a XSheet layer.
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This utton creates a new XSheet Layer. This utton deletes the current XSheet Layer. This utton to$$le the thu! nails < cells view. 3or a etter reada ility+ the icon opposite allows to display < hide the colu!ns o" the i!a$e and ani!ation layers in the XSheet panel. This option is only workin$ with the XSheet ta and does not interact with the ti!eline or the project display. This utton allows to add a source into the XSheet ta . This utton allows to delete a source "ro! the XSheet ta . This utton allows to add one tween to each selected "ra!es. This utton allows to delete one tween "ro! each selected "ra!es. This utton allows to add !ultiple tweens to each selected "ra!es. A popup panel will appear to set the nu! er o" tweens to add. This utton allows to delete !ultiple tweens "ro! each selected "ra!e. A popup panel will appear to set the nu! er o" tweens to delete. This utton allows to invert the order o" the selected "ra!es. This utton allows to copy the selected i!a$es < cells. It can e either source i!a$es or i!a$es < cells "ro! a XSheet layer. This utton allows to cut the selected i!a$es < cells "ro! a XSheet layer. This utton allows to shu""le the selected i!a$es o" a XSheet layer. This utton allows to paste the cut or copied i!a$es < cells "ro! a XSheet layer into e/istin$ i!a$es < cells. This action delete the selected i!a$es and insert the new ones.
The XSheet Layers and (anel 1-JJ
Aou can also use : the LM. and dra$ to = !ove > #cut and paste% a selected ran$e o" "ra!e. 9trl N LM. to = !ove > #copy and paste% a selected ran$e o" "ra!e Here is a s!all recapitulative dia$ra! :
The options that allows to cut+ copy+ or paste the cells can e applied "ro! an XSheet layer into itsel" or into another one. #however+ it is not possi le to cut source i!a$es%
1-J2
Layer GeyesH Layer GpupilsH Layer G rowsH Layer G"ace hairH Layer Ghair colorH Layer G!outh @H Layer G!outh 6H Layer G!outh 2H Layer G!outh JH Layer GjawH Layer G"ace-colorH
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7e have choosen the "ollowin$ colors to have a etter reada ility throu$h the ti!eline: -the layers relative to the !outh !ove!ents are in red. -the layers relative to the jaw and "ace are in lue. -the layers relative to the eyes !ove!ents are in purple. I" you play now this project+ the result will not e really interestin$. .ut we will 5uickly re!edy this situation.
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I" the te/t that you want to synchroni,e with our character is lon$+ try to add ook!arks to the i!a$es "ro! which a sylla le or phone!e starts. It will e easier to "ind a$ain those i!a$es later. Aou can already hide the ani!ation layers. Those layers will not e visi le when the project will e "inished. They are only here in order to e selected as source "or the XSheet layers. However+ you can set hold as postehavior "or the I!a$e layers. #they will stay visi le until the end o" the lip sync process% Aou should o tain the i!a$e elow :
1-JB
Here the = A > sound " " " The = I > sound " " "
The = 0 > sound " " " 0ach ti!e that the = * > = A > = I > or = 0 > sound will e encountered on the ti!eline+ you will then have to reproduce the correpondin$ con"i$uration. A XSheet layer derivated "ro! the two last descri ed XSheet layers will e used here. However+ it will not have a de"ault source+ ecause it will use the "our source colu!ns #!outhJ !outh2 !outh6 !outh@% 3inally+ you will have to !ake the character link periodically in another XSheet Layer.
"
"
"
"
The !ove!ent o" the rows will depend on the conte/t o" the scene. It can e/press astonishe!ent+ neutrality+ "ati$ue+ etc ... It will also need an XSheet layer.
1-JD
Let?s assu!e that our character co!es "ro! an ani!ated T' serie. It will e possi le to re-use the sa!e i!a$es "or the "ace+ XSheet layers constructed with the !ethod+EetcE
-----------
Aou can always trans"or! an XSheet layer into an Ani!ation layer with Instances y usin$ the!ransfor" into Ani"ation Layer option #use the layer conte/tual !enu in the Ti!eline%.
1-JF
Use the FX-Stack. Discover the concept of the animation keys. Create our first 'real worl ' animation.
In lessons # to $ we have% amon"st other thin"s% stu ie the &'(aint )nimation (ro rawin" tools an iscovere the timeline an its functions. *ou are now a+le to pro uce , frame +y frame rawin"s. &'(aint )nimation (ro also offers you a wi e ran"e of effects. &his has +een specially esi"ne for workin" on animate foota"e. &hese effects or composition tools are availa+le in the Effects main menu 9see opposite:. &hey are arran"e accor in" to cate"ories. !e will stu y them pro"ressively in the su+se;uent lessons.
&he effects cate"ories comprise: . /lur : to alter the e0istin" pi0els of the animation. . Colors : to rework the colors of an animate foota"e. . Distortion : to istort the ima"es of a foota"e. . 1eyin" : to cut out a part of the current animation. . 2otion : to mana"e camera movement. . (aint : to repeat a line on the screen. . 3en erin" : to create li"htin" an particles effects. . Styli4e : to rework the pi0els of an animate foota"e.
It is possi+le to set the parameters for your effects in a special win ow 9for e0ample : the power of a +lur% the luminosity of the animate foota"e% the spee of a fa e <:% this is the FX stack. *ou call up the FX stack +y clickin" on the FX icon in the tool bar or +y selectin" FX stack panel in the Windows main menu.
&he popup Add FX menu contains all the effects in icate a+ove: the menu is i entical to the Effects main menu.
8-#
=ur effect stack is presently empty. Select the effect Stylize > Mosaic from the menu. &he effect stack must looks like the one shown opposite. >ow mo ify the parameters Width an Height +y settin" the values to #? an @?.
&he result is imme iately visi+le on the current ima"e: the ima"e is cut in +locks of #? pi0els in wi th an @? pi0els in hei"ht 9the color of a +lock is e;ual to the avera"e of the pi0els makin" up the +lock in the ori"inal ima"e:. &he Smooth +utton ena+les +len in" +etween a 6acent +locks% the ima"e o+taine is therefore closer to the ori"inal ima"e.
Original image
&hat sai % the ri"ht ima"e a+ove is% in fact% for the moment only the preview of our mosaic effect 9 isa+lin" the Pre iew +utton allows you to return to the ori"inal ima"e:. &o vali ate your settin"s an apply them into the current layer% all you have to o is apply your effect : click on the A!!ly FX stack +utton at the +ottom of the FX stack win ow. *our current layer will +e mo ifie accor in" to your settin"s 9if re;uire % use the "ndo option to un o the mo ification<:. Don't for"et that all ima"es of the layer must +e selecte if re;uire .
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+utton is presse to preview your effect in real time +ut only on a "iven
Some operations
. If you have applie the Stylize > Mosaic effect% click "ndo to cancel the effect an return to the unmo ifie animation. . Go into the #!tions popup menu of the FX stack an choose $elete all. *our stack is empty a"ain. . Select the %olors > Fade effect from the availa+le menu. . ) a secon layer +ehin the current layer an name it , Flowers -. . Import the pro6ect , Flowers -% mer"e it an sprea it over @? ima"es. . Copy all the ima"es of the layer o+taine into the layer name , Flowers - in your pro6ect. . Finally% "o to the first ima"e on the timeline% on the layer name , house - 9see timeline +elow:. . 2o ify the value of the position parameter to H?I then apply the FX&Stack'
The Flowers ! "ro#ect
8-7
$ *ou have certainly un erstoo that this effect creates a fa e +etween the ima"e of the current layer an the ima"e on the lower layers. In ee % +ut this effect is applie to the current ima"e 9the first: an not to all the ima"es of the layer% < so let's reme y this. Click on "ndo to fin the layer name , house - intact. >ow select all the ima"es of the layer an apply the FX stack. &he effect now applies to the entire layer. &his is not yet perfect: the fa e effect is locke at H?I of its pro"ress for all ima"es of the layer< it oes not evolve in time.
&o o+tain a true fa e effect on the screen% one has to apply the FX stack with a position value : ?I for the first ima"e% JI for the secon % #I for the thir < an so on all the way to the last ima"e< 9assumin" that our animate foota"e has a total len"th of J?? ima"es< If not% complicate a 6ustment calculations must +e ma eA:. )t first si"ht this seems like a lon" an complicate process. Fortunately% &'(aint )nimation (ro offers tools which re uce this fasti ious process to a few secon s: the Animation keys.
8-H
&he name of the Fade effect is written to the left of the timeline. . &he Fade effect is now set to a value of ?I for the first frame of the timeline. )t this sta"e% application of the FX stack has no animation effect. In ee % the value of this key will +e repeate for all frames after this one. It is necessary to create a secon key +efore applyin" the FX stack in or er to o+tain an animation effect. . Go on the last ima"e of the , house - animation layer% create a key usin" the +utton of the FX stack. *ou may now imme iately set the effect to J??I. In this case it is not necessary to click on the +utton C as +efore an the key represente +y the sym+ol will +e create automatically.
. >ote that +y sli in" alon" the timeline usin" the BD an BD keys of the key+oar or pressin" the Play +utton allows you to view the pro"ress of the chosen effect from the first to the last frame. . >ow select all frames of the layer an apply the FX stack. &his time% application of the effect stack will mo ify pro"ression of the fa e effect in time 9see followin" ima"es:.
&'(aint )nimation (ro has calculate an effect with a pro"ressin" position parameter for the interme iate frames. &o sum up% an animation key is a sort of a 6usta+le time parameter lock which sets the value chosen +y the user to a precise point in the timeline. Fowever% the rawin" tool parameters vary ynamically accor in" to the user's irect action on the pro6ect an may therefore not +e assimilate to animation keys.
8-K
&his +ein" the case% the pro"ress profile e itor has a very specific function within the effect stack: . &he a+scissa in the "raph represents time% . &he or inate in the "raph represents the pro"ress of the chosen effect. 5et's "o +ack to the fa e effect in the , house - layer: . Use the "ndo option to recover the layers intact. . Choose the same keys as those in icate in the chapter a+ove. . Draw the spline a+ove +efore applyin" the FX stack. )fter playin" the pro6ect you will note that the effect is first carrie out slowly an then at top spee 9see timeline +elow:. &his correspon s to our spline : it rises slowly first an then very fast.
In the same way% if we choose the spline shown +elow +efore applyin" the FX stack% the Fade effect will +e fast at the +e"innin" an slower at the en .
Choosin" a hori4ontal strai"ht in the profile will stop pro"ress in time of the effect. If the spline rises an then falls off a"ain% pro"ress of the effect will chan"e accor in"ly:
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&o make it easier we have eli+erately chosen to work with an animation layer always containin" the same ima"e. Mverythin" that follows also applies to an animation layer. *ou will see that there are three parameters which may +e locke with an animation key: . the position of the center% . the !ower of the +lur% . the radi*s of the circle in which the +lur is not applie . &he position of the circle in which the +lur is not applie as well as its center are shown in the preview 9see ima"e a+ove: Some parameters may +e a 6uste irectly on the screen +y clickin" an sli in" the mouse on the color handles 9shown opposite:. !hen the effect is applie % circle an han les will% of course% have isappeare . &he parameters irectly a 6usta+le on the screen 9han les% circles% spline: are referre to as H"$ 9H"$ stan s for Head "! $is!lay:. &he Hide H"$ of the FX stack is use to hi e the latter. >ow let's take a look at the timeline: . )s soon as an animation key is create % a left click on the %enter )l*r trian"le in the &imeline +elow isplays the name of the parameter which have +een set with the animation key. . &o the ri"ht of the parameter names% correspon in" key lines will +e isplaye as you create your keys. It is possi+le to create animation keys for each parameter% for the ima"e of your choice alon" the timeline.
8-$
) separate set of keys may +e create for each parameter 9%enter of circle% Power' +adi*s:. &his means that the parameters may pro"ress in time in epen ently of each other. For e0ample: the power of the centere +lur may ecrease slowly while its ra ius may increase rapi ly% all at ifferent times < &hanks to several keys% the parameters can +e a 6uste in time. &his is the case for the %enter parameter in the timeline a+ove : three animation keys are place on the key line associate with the %enter parameter. /elow% the effect pro uce usin" these three keys.
&he first key line in the timeline has the name of the effect in the stack an isplays all its keys.
The path
!hen position parameters pro"ress in time% there must +e a path taken +y the parameter in ;uestion. For e0ample% three animation keys were create at the ima"es J% K an @? for the %enter parameter a+ove. &he center of the %enter bl*r effect conse;uently follows a path as time pro"resses. In our e0ample% the path is visi+le via the H"$ an looks a +it like a re , ' -. It is possi+le to choose an interpolation mo e +etween the key points which efine your paths. *ou may choose to connect the points in a linear% spline or smooth manner usin" the first menu of the effect 9the ,ools menu will +e stu ie later in lesson J7:.
8-8
&he path
Linear
Spline
Smooth
!hen usin" S!line% it is possi+le to use han les. &he BCtrlD key N mouse click on a han le are use to move only this han le.
) ri"ht click in the timeline on a , keyline - 9see opposite:% calls up a conte0tual menu. *ou may : . create or elete keys 9which re;uires confirmation:% . select one or all keys 9they will then +e isplaye in yellow...:% . cut% copy% paste keys 9a process alrea y use for ima"es an layers: see lesson K:. !hen usin" animation keys: . &he layer conte0tual menu offers the possi+ility to select the frames correspon in" to the keyline. . &he A*to Fit menu is use to a 6ust the 4oom of the timeline in or er to view the keys.
Stretch )ontract
If re;uire % it is possi+le to move a key from one place to another in the timeline 9click an sli e with the left mouse +utton:.
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&he path
$$ &his effect is use to li"ht up the ima"e or se;uence of your choice as if usin" an e0terior li"ht source 9li"ht% pro6ector<:. /y efault% nothin" is present in the list. &he -ights menu may +e use to create one or several li"htin" effects amon" the followin" cate"ories: S!ot. #mni an Ambient. )s soon as a li"htin" effect is create % you may uplicate% elete or rename it. &he -ights menu isplays the name of the li"ht whose parameters are shown in the stack. If you work with several li"hts you may "o from one to the other +y selectin" their names in the -ights menu. Fere an overview of the ifferent li"htin" types: . Ambient li"htin" li"hts up the scene "lo+ally in the color of your choice. 'alues un er J??I will arken the ima"e% values hi"her than J??I will +ri"hten it. . #mni li"htin" li"hts up a circular area of your choice similar to a pro6ector locate on an a0is perpen icular to the ima"e. &he parameters to +e set are color% li"htin" intensity% center an ra ius of the circular area% as well as altitu e of the virtual pro6ector.
!orkin" with the FX stack 8-JJ
Omni .*/
Omni lighting
. S!ot li"htin" li"hts up the ima"e similar to a tilte pro6ector. &wo position parameters are availa+le for this mo e% which allow you to a 6ust the position of the li"ht source as well as its irection.
Spot .*/
Spot lighting
For many of the parameters escri+e a+ove% the settin"s may +e ma e irectly on the screen 9 on't for"et to isplay the H"$:. S!ot an #mni li"htin" have a profile e itor which works similarly to that of the rawin" tools 9see lesson # for more etails:.
Omni
Spot
"rofile
!ith the -ight popup menu it is possi+le to use several li"ht sources 9re"ar less of type:% as well as to rename% d*!licate or delete them. &his is how our cave may +e lit up in various ways A
8-J#
&his -ighting effect only applies to the opa;ue pi0els of the current layer. &o o+tain the e0amples a+ove it is therefore necessary to first mer"e the layers of our pro6ect.
Usin" the parameters +elow% place a %enter bl*r effect in your FX stack. *ou now have the followin" preview:
2ay +e you notice the options M*lti!le FX an Sim!le FX in the Effects main menu or in the Add FX popup menu of your stack.
If you select a new effect in the popup menu: . !hen M*lti!le FX is checke % the chosen effect is a e to the present effect. . !hen Sim!le FX is checke % the chosen effect will replace the present effect. Check M*lti!le FX in the menu an choose the +endering > -ighting effect e0plaine a+ove: this effect will automatically position itself over the current effect.
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Set the parameters for the two effects as shown opposite. &o simplify our e0ample% there is only one type of li"htin" use an our effect applies only to one frame 9so no key is re;uire <:. &his sai % everythin" that follows still applies if you use keys an animation layers. =nce the preview is ena+le % you see the followin" result: li"htin" is applie , a+ove - the center +lur of the previous pa"eA &he a vanta"e of our stack with two effects is that it is possi+le to mo ify any of the two effects at any time urin" the preview. 2o ifications of this kin woul in ee +e very fasti ious if you use a sin"le effect at a time: application of the FX stack twice in a row for two ifferent effects followe +y the "ndo option twice in a row% chan"e the first effect% reapply the two effects one +y one% *ndo option a"ain% etc.
0esult of the FX stack a+ove It is also possi+le to accumulate the num+er of effects of your choice or even several times the same effect if you nee itA 3emem+er the Play +utton to view the effect on the animation layers <
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=pposite% &he -ighting effect is ena+le an re uce . &he %enter bl*r effect is isa+le an visi+le. &he current effect is the -ighting effect.
If the FX stack a+ove is applie to our initial frame% we o+tain the ima"e shown opposite: =nly the -ighting effect is taken into account. &here is no %enter )l*r applie +efore it.
&he effects containe in the stack are e0ecute from +ottom to top urin" preview or application. &here is a kin of chronolo"ical or er for the effects < &he results may therefore vary if two effects are swappe : . In the left ima"e +elow% the FX stack applie is the one illustrate opposite. &he center +lur is applie after li"htin". . In the ri"ht ima"e +elow% the FX stack applie is the one illustrate on the previous pa"e. &he center +lur is applie +efore li"htin".
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It is also possi+le to swap the effects +y clickin" on an sli in" its name. &he process is i entical to the one use to swap the layers in lesson @.
) left click on the ri"ht trian"le a+ove calls up a conte0tual menu which may +e use to: +ename the current effect in the FX stack% %reate or $elete an animation key% +eset the effect parameters to their initial values% $*!licate or $elete the effect from your FX stack.
&he #!tions menu of the effect stack may +e use to elete or reset the values of all your effects.
!hen you a an effect to a pre- efine effect stack% all keys an profiles relative to the pro"ression of each effect you have create are also save .
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)lso note that% when you save a pro6ect% as well as savin" the layers% their position an the associate parameters 9Position. $*ration. Pre&Post& )eha ior% etc.: you also save the current effects stack. &his makes it possi+le to keep a complete an intact animation an the effect stack necessary for your finishin" touches. Useful% isn't itO !hen you work with several pro6ects at the same time% note that each pro6ect has its own effect stack.
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. /e"in +y importin" those se;uences in your pro6ect. 3esi4e them if it is necessary. 9note that the se;uences can +e irectly importe from your camera into the software +y usin" the 1ideo 2rabber panel:. DonPt for"et to use a pro6ect with fiel s if your vi eo se;uences are fiel e . . 2ove them insi e your timeline as shown +elow an import the music. ) color has +een a the layers to make them more reco"ni4a+le. e to
*ou shoul have three overlappe layers 9look at re areas in the timeline a+ove:. &his will help us to use the transition effects. )+ove% a transition effect has +een applie on the first animation layer of the timeline. &he 4oom factor of the timeline has +een increase to make it more visi+le.
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. &o a a personal touch to our weather report% it is possi+le to use several effects : /elow% the )l*r > +adial )l*r effect was use . &herefore% the animate se;uence appear pro"ressively on screen.
. *ou can easily make +utterflies fly in front of the trees an make them follow the paths of your choice% as e0plaine in the lesson J7 : !e use the +utterfly animate +rush 9supplie on the &'(aint )nimation (ro CD-3om: with the Motion > 3eyframer effect an a pre-recor e path for each +utterfly. =f course% our two +utterflies can +e a e on a new layer : it will allow you to keep the ,trees4 animate layer unchan"e . /y usin" a new layer% you will also +e a+le to chan"e the moment when the +utterflies have to appear : you only have to move the whole layer throu"h the time a0is of the timeline.
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. !e will now work on the QS*nset5 animation layer : It is possi+le to istort the pictures to stay close to the weather report thema. &his can +e one +y usin" the +endered > Wa es stu ie in lesson J@. /elow we imitate two water waves% as if two rocks were thrown into water.
. !e have afterwar s to mana"e the transition +etween the 6S*nset4 an the 6%lo*ds4 animation layers. /elow% the ,ransition > %lassic effect with the circle option has +een use . Fere is the timeline an the ren erin" :
It is possi+le to mo ify the timeline scale thanks to the 2 +utton of the timeline. 9see lesson 7: *ou can also use +ookmarks to navi"ate easily throu"h the timeline. 9see lesson 7:
. 5et's now a
a raim+ow in the clou y sky : &o o so : . Create a new layer 9the clo*ds animation layer will remain intact: . Draw a rectan"le fille with the spectrum "ra ient% as shown opposite.
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)fter this% you have to use a multiple FX-stack with these effects : 9in or er% from the first to the last: . %olors > %olor Ad7*st 8 the re area shoul +e on the outsi e of the arc an the violet area on the insi e. . )l*r > +adial )l*r : this effect will allow you to create the arc itself. &he center of the ra ial +lur must +e locate far from the colore rectan"le 9out of the viewa+le area% to +e e0act:. . )l*r > 2a*ssian )l*r will mer"e the colors a little. . ,ransition > Fade will make the rain+ow fa e in as time pro"resses.
a title to this se;uence% thanks to the +endered > Sim!le&te/t effect. !e use here the effect +endered > Sim!le&,e/t 9you can fill in the te0t% a 6ust the font% the +or er% the sha ow% their colors or "ra ients ...: &his effect is very convenient +ecause it allows to keep all the colors% +or er% font an sha ow settin"s an to re-use them with another te0t line ... 9for e0emple if you nee to o a translation :
. For the final touch% we nee the +endered > -ens&flare effect :
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Fere is the resultin" timeline with the te0t% the rain+ow an the 5ens-Flare on separate animation layers.
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Discover the various Blur effects at your disposal. Discover the various Transition effects at your disposal. Learn how to increase the transition possibilities by using the FX-stac .
Independent of which blur effect you will choose# don't forget it will be controlled by the ani!ation ey syste!. ( recorded video se)uence can also beco!e gradualy blurred in ti!e.
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There are three !odes : image, color and gradient as shown below :
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Below# the Classic Transition# the Blind Transition and the Gaussian Blur effects were used in the sa!e stac :
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2f course# we can't show you here all the possible co!binaisons because they are too !uch ... But we guess you will certainly try so!e of the!.
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Touch up the colors of a video sequence or an animation. Handle the effects of the Keying group.
Unless indicated otherwise, all images in this lesson have only one layer.
Color channels
Color channels
Based on the additive color principle, all colors are a mi ture of red, green and !lue "more or less dar#$ in e act proportions. The color of a pi el therefore has a dar#er or lighter Red component, a dar#er or lighter Green component, a dar#er or lighter Blue component and a last component which indicates the pi el transparency level. This last component is referred to as Alpha component.
T%&aint 'nimation &ro ena!les the independent modification of each of the components descri!ed a!ove, for all pi els on the screen. Clic# on the icon shown opposite in the Tool bar to modify only the red component of the pi els : The !lue and green pi els are not affected !y your wor#. The yellow and purple pi els, which are partly composed of red, are partially affected. This is what we refer to as (na!ling the Red channel of the image. )ou may proceed in the same way to ena!le the Green and Blue channels. The left icon is the toggle to ena!le the 'lpha channel. *hen it is ena!led all pi els are loc#ed in their current opacity, while the other channels can still !e changed for these pi els, this ma#es it an ideal tool for recoloring the lines of a drawing.
Default settings
Default settings
riginal image
*e0ll #eep the image from the !eginning of this chapter and study the Color Adjust effect shown opposite in detail. This effect uses the traditional notions of color modification for drawing and photo touch-up software pac#ages:
5 The Brightness parameter is used to increase or decrease the glo!al !rightness of the current image or video "use negative values to decrease lighting$. In other words, all the pi els present are either changed over to the !lac# color or the white color.
riginal image
!rightness % #5$
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5 The Contrast parameter, if increased, will accentuate the luminosity differences !etween the light and dar# areas. *hen decreased, it will reduce them. ' setting close to ,778 will only ma#e the primary colors appear, as well as !lac# and white. ' setting close to ,778 will ma#e the image or footage almost entirely gray.
riginal image
5 The Saturation parameter accentuates or reduces color vivacity. ' setting close to ,778 will reduce the num!er of pi els close to the gray colors while reviving the colors, a setting close to ,778 will produce a gray drawing.
riginal image
5 The Ga a setting is often used for photo touch-up !ut also ena!les lightening or dar#ening an image without leaving the impression that a dar# or light sheen was placed over it. Its value may vary !etween 7.7, and 9.
(amma ) 2
(amma ) 0*5
't first sight, the Ga a parameter seems to have the same effects as the Brightness parameter. This is true, with the difference that the Brightness parameter affects all pi els on the screen whereas the Ga a parameter affects the light and dar# pi els only marginally.
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Below you will find an e ample of the difference !etween a gamma reduction and a reduction of the !rightness : +educing the Ga a !y half only slightly affects the pi els ma#ing up the paint and the !ac#ground: the latter remain !right and clear. ;odifying the !u inosity to 978 gives the same pi els a dar#er hue.
(amma ) 0*5
Luminosit+ % 50$
5 The Angle parameter ena!les rotation of colors at the angle of your choice around the color wheel "see !elow$. <or e ample: going from angle 7= to the angle >7= will transform the orange colors in the image to green, !lue to purple,?etc.
riginal image
5 The Rotation parameter reflects the num!er of turns around the color wheel !efore arriving at the chosen angle. This allows you to ma#e the colors vary in a time cycle, which is sometimes useful for colored logos. In the e ample !elow, we start with a !lue T%&aint logo "+@7, A@7, B@.99$, placed on each image of an animation layer comprising forty-eight.
'n animation #ey is placed at the first image of the layer, loc#ing the value 2 7 3 for the Rotation parameter. ' second #ey is placed at the last image of the layer, loc#ing the value 2 . 3 for the Rotation parameter. *hen the <B stac# is applied, you see the following result:
The logo changes color in cycles, going twice in a row through the colors of the color wheel.
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riginal image
Ctart !y selecting a color in the green area of the image in the Color !o of the panel a!ove. &art of the green pi els will then !e unsaturated and turn to gray. To o!tain a !etter finish, you may increase or decrease the tolerance or softness thresholds. To select the pi els according to their hues, the color !ar of the panel as well as the : mini-sliders will help you. non-unsaturated hues, progressively unsaturated hues, completely unsaturated hues, The "nvert !utton is used to invert the final result: saturated pi els !ecome unsaturated and vice-versa. If necessary, the popup menu #isplay ena!les recovery of source image viewing.
The Color Replacer effect is !ased on the same principle as the effect Color $raser, with the difference that you do not unsaturate the colors. Indeed, using Shi%ting values ena!les progressive modification of the hue, saturation and luminosity of the chosen color range. )ou may thus easily toggle one color range to another. The Shi%ting values are calculated as !eing 2 gap 3 in the H.C./ system !etween the two colors of the panel "!lue and yellow in this e ample$.
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riginal image
The options proposed are traditional: flip the curve along the 2 B 3 or 2 ) 3 a es, use pre-defined curves, save the settings, modify interpolation of the points?
Eow we 1ust have to study the meaning of the curve: 5 The hori4ontal a is represents all luminosity values that may !e contained in a pi el on the screen "values !etween 7 and .99$ 5 The vertical a is "also #nown as !*T: /oo# Up Ta!le$ represents all luminosity values of the pi els once the Curve effect has !een applied.
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/et0s ta#e the curves !elow as e amples: 5 In this e ample: the luminosity of every pi el is divided !y two after application of the effect "for e ample, a luminosity value of 97 changes to .9 after application of the effect$. 5 In this e ample, the luminosity of every pi el remains unchanged. 5 In this last e ample, any pi el with a luminosity value !etween appro imately D: and ,>. will turn !lac#, the others remain unchanged. *e have 1ust studied the luminosity curve in detail. Eow it0s up to you to wor# with the other curves and use them to the advantage of your pro1ects.
The !og !o ena!les use of a logarithmic scale instead of a proportional scale. <or the moment, pay attention that this !o is not chec#ed ? 5 The more dar# pi els the image on the screen contains, the more dense the graph is to the left "this is the case for our red planet$. 5 The more light pi els the image on the screen contains, the more the graph is concentrated on the right "this is the case for the image of the tree$. <or a luminosity value given in the a!scissa, the graph proportionally represents the quantity of pi els of the image having this luminosity value on the ordinates a is. The !lue curve represents the percentage of pi els having at least attained the luminosity value in the a!scissa, the vertical red line represents the pi els the luminosity of which is the most represented on the screen. The ta!s Red, Green, Blue and Alpha wor# according to the same principle and image analysis is reduced to the channels of the corresponding colors. The second function of the histogram, as you may have guessed already, is to modify the color properties of the image or video of the current layer "here again, the animation #eys loc# the parameters for a given position in the timeline$.
,,-G The effects of the Color and Keying groups
To do this, we have to use the slider system of the histogram. )ou may use two, three or four of them. The latter ena!le re-cali!ration of the histogram !y stretching or contracting it. /et0s again ta#e a loo# at the pi el luminosity component. Below, you see the e ample of luminosity modification using the three sliders:
'ettings
The section of the histogram !etween the a!scissas .9 and ,.G will !e contracted to fit !etween the a!scissas 7 and 9,. The section of the histogram !etween ,.> and .99 will !e stretched to fit !etween a!scissas 9. and .99. This means that the dar# components of the pi els in the image will !e reinforced and contracted whereas the light components of the pi els in the image will !e redistri!uted, spread and therefore reduced. The ta!s Red7 Green7 Blue and Alpha ma#e the other graphs relative to the current image appear. (ach of them may !e modified independently of the others.
The principle of contracting and stretching is the same, regardless of how many sliders are used. Inly the num!er of contracted or stretched intervals changes.. The first row of ta!s contains four ta!s: ;aster, Chadows, ;idTones and High/ights. 5 Clic#ing the Shado+s ta! limits the impact of the slider modifications to the dar# colors, gradually. 5 Clic#ing the )idTones ta! limits the impact of the modifications to the medium tones and will reduce them progressively and finally cancel them out for the dar# and light colors. 5 Clic#ing the 'igh!ights ta! limits the effects of the histogram modifications to light tones, the latter waning progressively then cancelling out for the medium and dar# tones. 5 The )aster ta! affects all color ranges in the same way. /oo# at the following graphs for a !etter understanding:
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Three curves are represented: 5 The !lac# curve represents the impact of the modifications in the histogram on the dar# tones "Shado+s ta!$ 5 The gray curve represents the impact of the modifications on the medium tones ")idTones ta!$ 5 The white curve represents the impact of the modifications on the light tones "'igh!ights ta!$ The tones concerned are located on the a!scissa. The impact power is represented on the ordinates a is "the higher the curve for a given range, the higher the influence of the histogram modification on this range$. The circled sliders in the graph opposite are used to move, contract or stretch the three curves and, consequently, modify the effect of the ta!s.
*hen the Ga a ta! is selected, moving the slider to the right increases the height of the /.U.T curve "and therefore increases the values of Te perature, )agenta, Red, Green, ...$ for the range selected "Shado+s, )idTones, 'igh!ights$. The ends of the curve are less affected !y the slider modifications "the modifications ta#e place progressively$. *hen the Contrast ta! is selected, moving the slider to the right increases the height of the /.U.T curve in its high sections and decreases the curve in its low sections for the chosen range. This means that the strong values of "Te perature, )agenta, Red,?$ will !e reinforced and the wea# values reduced for the range of your choice "moving the slider to the left produces the opposite effect$. The Gain ta! functions in roughly the same way as the Contrast ta!, !ut the ends of the curve are gradually less affected !y the slider modifications "the modifications of the values of Te perature, )agenta, Red,? are the same as with the ta! Contrast !ut wor# in a more su!tle and progressive manner$. The effects of the Brightness ta! are similar to the Ga a ta! !ut the modifications are not applied in a progressive fashion due to the identical attri!ution from one end of the curve to the other.
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22 The diagram !elow illustrates the role of the profile curve present in this effect :
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2 /et0s ta#e a loo# at the drawing on real paper a!ove. 'pplication of the !u a Keyer effect set with correct parameters will render the light pi els transparent "independent of their hue and saturation$, progressively increase the opacity of the medium tone pi els and leave the dar# pi els intact. This gives us the image shown to the right. 't this point, it is possi!le to re-color the image, if desired : simply place a layer under the image o!tained and spread the colors of your choice on it "see e ample opposite$. )ou may also use the shape floodfill tools studied in lesson D.
These are the functions of the Jeying K !u a Keyer effect: 5 The #isplay popup menu is used to choose !etween viewing the source image and viewing the result. 5 The color !o is used to choose the color the luminosity of which you wish to render transparent directly on the screen. 5 The !uttons / and L are used to ad1ust the tolerance and softness of pi el cut-out. 5 The mini-sliders allow ad1ustment of the following, depending on the luminosity and with the help of the diagram !elow: The type of pi els which remain opaque Those which are progressively made transparent Those which will !e completely transparent
It is recommended to com!ine the !u a Keyer effect in a multiple <B stac# with the Colors 0 'istogra or the Colors 0 Slider effects to !e a!le to precisely ad1ust pi el transparency "use the parameters relative to the alpha component$ and remove the gray aspect "light$ of semi-transparent pi els.
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The effects Keying 0 !u a Keyer and Colors 0 Scan Cleaner change the opacity of the pi els differently : the !u a Keyer doesn0t remove the unwanted pencil mar#s. The Ccan Cleaner change the color of the pi els, and the !u a Keyer doesn0t.
The Color Keyer effect uses the same principle as the !u a Keyer effect. It deletes the selected color on the image or video footage of your choice. It is no longer required to concentrate on pi el luminosity !ut on the entire color. Two types of parameters may !e loc#ed with a #ey: Tolerance and S ooth. In the <B stac# a!ove we see: the higher the value of the Tolerance parameter, the more colors close to 2 !lue 3 will !e deleted. The higher the value of the S ooth parameter, the less a!rupt the transition !etween opaque and transparent pi els will !e.
Ipposite, most of the !luish colors of the s#y and cloud !ecome transparent. The green and dar# colors of the tree are further away from !lue and therefore opaque.
These two #eying effects may, of course, !y applied to a complete footage, which ma#es wor# easier when using a scanner with loader or a recorded video sequence. /et0s ta#e another concrete situation :
The character near!y was shot on front of a !lue screen. *e are going to e plain how to remove this !lue !ac#ground and to replace it !y another !ac#ground. It0s a technique often used for animation : weather reports are shot with a single-colored !ac#ground which is removed and replaced !y a weather chart.
The effects of the Color and Keying groups ,,-,6
/et0s go !ac# to our character : the purpose is to ma#e transparent all the !lue pi els and to display a new !ac#ground on another layer. To do so, let0s load a landscape !ac#ground near!y and put it as an 'nimation layer, under the layer containing the character. The !lue color is called key color "that0s why the effect is called #eying$. )ou should have a timeline loo#ing li#e this :
Eow select the Color Keyer effect in the <B Ctac#. Choose a !lue pi el from the !ac#ground and ad1ust the tolerance and so%tness parameters. 'pply the effect to the whole image sequence, and here it goes, the !lue !ac#ground has disappeared and is replaced !y the landscape. The same method is also used to create a weather report "see !elow$
There are other #eying effects, more comple , which have to !e used in some specific situations.
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The panel and the !uttons of this effect loo# very similar to the ones of the effect Color K Color $raser& That0s why we will not e plain each parameters in details... /et0s ta#e for e ample the video sequence a!ove with orange and red flowers. The !ac#ground of this sequence is a !lue-gray shutter "more or less dar# !lue-gray tints$. If you use the Keying 0 Color Keyer effect !y selecting one of the dar# shutter colors, it will not remove all the shutter pi els !ut it will remove some pi els of the flower0s stal# too. "see !elow ",$$ If you use the Keying 0 Color Keyer effect !y selecting one of the light shutter colors, it will remove all the pi els of the shutter !ut it will remove the light pi els of the flower0s too. "see !elow ".$$
",$ The Keying 0 Chro a Keyer effect will help us to o!tain !etter results.
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The results a!ove, o!tained after the use of the Keying 0 Color Keyer effect, are imperfect.
5 The Tint parameter !ar will ma#e transparent the !lue pi els in a wide range : light !lue or dar# !lue will not change change the result. The orange-red pi els of the flowers and the green pi els of the stal# will stay unchanged.
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5 The Caturation parameter !ar permits to ma#e green pi els more or less transparent depending on their saturation. 's a consequence, we will !e a!le to ma#e transparent all the !lue-gray pi els. Here is the result : we finally succeed to #eep the the pi els of the flowers visi!le and made the pi els of the shutter transparent.
22 To finish our wor#, we can easily add a landscape on a layer and put it !ehind the flowers layer. "see the timeline !elow$
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/et0s go !ac# to our !lue-screened character : 'lthough we used the Keying 0 Color Keyer effect with the our !lue-screened character in the last chapter, you certainly guess that it is also possi!le to use the Keying 0 Chro a Keyer effect& *hen characters are shot with !lue screen, there are sometimes some undesired light effects, especially little !lue reflections colori4ing some part of the image "see image !elow on the left$. It is of course possi!le to remove the !lue tint to these pi els !y ma#ing them grey. That0s the function of sliders and !uttons from the Spill Re oval section of the panel.
KK
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that some imperfections remain : a !lac# !orderline, more or less visi!le, is still remaining, small lines or points are not fully transparent and stand out from white clouds. The Alpha Control effect can fi these errors.
K
Here is how the effect appears in the <B Ctac# : 5 )ou can first notice the presence of a histogram, a tool you are now familiar with. This one represents the quantity of pi els displayed on screen depending on their luma "in percentage$. 5 In the !ottom of the panel, there are some numeric fields and mini-sliders at your disposal :
The Shrink parameter can trim the opaque pi els of the image. That is the !est to remove the !lac# !orders around the flowers. The $rode parameter erase progressively the opaque pi els of the image !y starting from its !orders. It permits to soften the transition !etween transparent pi els and opaque ones, and even to improve the superimposition effect. Both Blur parameters can reduce and soften the shapes !orders !etween opaque pi els and transparent ones. The Gain parameter permits to turn opaque and to dar#en pi els which are almost transparent. This is very useful to stand out the little imperfections, especially the ones that have not !een fully removed when using some Keying effects. In the opposite, the !i%t parameter can turn opaque the pi els which are almost transparent.
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5 The Key ta! lets you ad1ust the #eyer in the different color systems. 5 The ;atte ta! has the same function as the previously descri!ed Keying 0 Alpha Control effect so you can 1ust ad1ust the cutout process !etter. 5 <inally, the Spill Re oval ta! is also availa!le and wor#s the same as the Jeying K Chro a Keyer one.
*or#ing with the 'ue and Saturation component of the HC/I system is the same than wor#ing with the Keying 0 Chro a Keyer effect. *or#ing with the !u a component of the HC/I system is the same as wor#ing with the Keying 0 !u a Keyer effect.
,,-,G The effects of the Color and Keying groups
The Keying 0 Cross Keyer effect wor#s in a different way than the other #eying effects : It doesn0t require to select a range of colors in a color system li#e +AB, TC/, )U%, etc ... In this effect, you only need to define a first region whose colors will !e #ept, and another region whose colors will !ecome transparent. Celecting those two regions can !e easily done than#s to the two dedicated Region !uttons : 5 To select the colors you want to #eep after applying the <B, 1ust use the left mouse !utton on the Keep !utton. 'fter this you will !e a!le to select an area directly on the HUM. "your cursor will !e changed into a lasso$ 5 To select the colors which will !ecome transparent, you can use the same method with the #rop !utton. *hen selecting a new area on the HUM : 5 Use the left mouse !utton to add it to the previously selected area. 5 Use the right mouse !utton to su!stract it from the previously selected area. To visuali4e the render of this effect, use the right mouse !utton on the current activated !utton "Keep or #rop$. If course, the result depends on the two areas you have 1ust selected. In the e ample !elow : In the left image : there are two areas located on the s#y and on the pathway. They indicate the colors "red and cyan$ that will !e #ept on the whole picture. In the right image : there is one area located on the grass and on the trees. It indicates the colors "orange and green$ that will !e dropped. The picture in the right shows the result after applying the effect :
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9eep region Drop region 3inal result
5 The s+ap keep and drop regions !utton allows to swap the Keep and #rop regions. It is then possi!le to o!tain the opposite result.
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5 The )i. parameter allows to e tend or restrict the num!er of colors located in the transparent area of the resulting image.
:i; ) 0$
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5 The $dge parameter allows to ad1ust the mi ing level !etween the transparent and opaque pi els. The lower the value will !e, the less the two regions will differentiate. The higher the value will !e, the sharper the edges will appear.
<dge ) 0$
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5 The Spill Re oval parameter has the same function as the Spill Re oval parameters encountered in the effect Keying 0 Chro a Keyer : it unsaturates the undesired light reflections. In the e ample !elow, we 4oomed on the frontier !etween the grass and the pathway.
'ource /mage
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Discover some effects of the Stylize group dedicated to the animation. Discover some effects of the Stylize group dedicated to the video-editing.
Introduction
Introduction
The effects of the Stylize menu are often used to work on logos, drawings or video footages. We will take the images below as reference images for our e amples:
The running kid and the T+,aint logo are located over different background layers.
Original image
Monochromatic noise
Polychromatic noise
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Original image
Inner e!el
Outer e!el
Inner e!el
Outer e!el
Traditional shadow and lurred shadow "the ac#ground and the running #id are located on different layers$
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The Shado" only option of the %oon$hading and rop Shado" effects will be studied later in the chapter called ' the Color & '#age Source effect (
Toon %hading
&rop shadow
2et3s take the shape filled with white below as an e ample to study this effect:
- The Color bo is used to choose the color of the shadow you will create.
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- The 'nten$ity option is used to vary the power of the shadow in time:
- The Angle parameter is used to choose the direction of you lighting5shadow. When using animation keys, the Rotation parameter reflects the number of complete rotations to be carried out before arriving at the chosen angle.
- The Spread parameter "in degrees# defines the angle over which the shadow will be spread "see ne t page#.
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- The Ray Count parameter refines the result when applying the effect. The higher this value, the higher the &uality of your image, the lower the value, the more noise your shadow will contain.
- The Border bo , if checked, is used to create a shadow from the borders of your pro%ect "see below#.
Original image
7nce you know how to use the Toon-shading effect, it is possible to create all kinds of shadows for your characters:
The Shado" only option of the %oon$hading and rop Shado" effects will be studied later in the chapter called ' the Color & '#age Source effect (
)*-8 The effects of the Stylize group
=ere again, the option Border only will be studied later in the chapter called ' the Color & '#age Source effect (
This effect produces a light blurred aura on the current image und may give an unreal aspect to an animated footage. >ontrary to the Glo" effect this bloom is applied to the opa&ue areas of the image.
The effects of the Stylize group )*-?
The parameters Width and Height are the same as those for the Glo" effect. If you wish, you may apply the bloom effect to the channel of your choice "Red, Green or Blue# and control Blur, Saturation and Lu#ino$ity of this aura.
This effect blends the original image in a certain way and then transforms it into a large pu$$le, the pieces of which have distorted contours. The ad%ustable parameter enables random modification of the result.
This effect was already studied in lesson A. It enlarges the pi els on the screen to the Width and Height of your choice.
This effect is used to reduce the number of colors on the screen and simplifies the original image or video footage. The +u#,er o( color$ parameter may be set using the mini-slider and locked with a key. This +u#,er o( color$ parameter does not represent the e act number of colors on the screen but the number of colors blended to obtain the effect re&uired.
)*-B The effects of the Stylize group
This effect moves the pi els of the original image at a distance corresponding to your parameter setting. 0ou may also choose the percentage of pi els of the original image to be moved. Well applied, this effect gives the impression that one sees the image or video footage through frosted glass.
=ave you ever looked at a comic or cartoon strip through a magnifying glassD The color areas are made up of superposed round points of different si$es and colors. The !rint effect reproduces e actly this aspect. 0ou may choose to work in Color, in Blac- . White or work only on the non-opa&ue areas of the image!
The Size parameter is used to set the si$e "and therefore the number# of dots on the screen. 7pposite and on the page above you see the print effect applied with the Color channel and with the Blac- . White channel.
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This effect reproduces the photographic effect named solari$ation which consists of mi ing the colors of an image with the colors of its negative. These two effects have no parameters.
This effect substitutes the colors of one of the channels Red, Green, Blue, Alpha or Lu#ino$ity with those of the gradient of your choice "see lesson 1 for gradients#. In the e ample above: the gradient blue . orange . yellow was applied on the image3s luminosity channel: the yellow pi els replace the light pi els of the image, the red pi els replace the mid tone pi els, the blue pi els replace the dark pi els.
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The Hal(tone effect reproduces the aspect of a ' grid ( on the current image and gives the current image the appearance of an 'artist3s canvas(. E 0ou may set the parameters for the hori$ontal and vertical cells "H cell$ and V cell$#, irection, Opacity of the grid as well as their type "Line, ot, Cro$$, Chec-$, Bloc-$, etc.#. E There are also several application modes: Color on ,lac-, Color on "hite, Saturation, etc. E Finally, you may use the /itter parameters which will slightly modify the shape of the grid.
**
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**
E The choice F2 $tac- will use the current image with the effects of the F2 $tac- applied as Source '#age before applying the parameters set for the Source '#age. E The choice Current layer allows you to apply the effect from the current layer. E The choice i$play allows you to apply on the current layer the effect from the footage viewed when playing your pro%ect "the effect will be that all layers appear to be merged, while the hidden layers are not taken into account#. E 0ou may also choose to use the Spare '#age or !aper if they are available. E When choosing another pro%ect, layer or brush, you may ad%ust the ,re- and ,ost-@ehavior, the position and the animation mode: the number ' n ( of the !o$ition parameter corresponds to the image ' n ( of your pro%ect, animation layer or animated brush. The Ani#ation mode controls the ' behavior ( of your brush, layer or pro%ect: random animation, ping-pong, animation reduced to the image indicated in the position parameter, etc. If the number of source images is lower than the number of images to which your effects are applied, you may ad%ust the ,re- and ,ost-@ehavior for your source "random, pingpong, loop, etc.#.
)*-)* The effects of the Stylize group
;s re&uired, you may choose to flip your source vertically, hori$ontally or both, before using this source.
The
The Color$ & '#age Source effect allows you to display the image or the se&uence of your choice on the current layer. E The Source menu use all notions encoutered in the last paragraph. ;s a conse&uence, you can choose to display the current layer, another layer, a paper, the spare image, an other pro%ect, the current custombrush, etc. E The Blend popup menu is used to choose the mode to be used when drawing the -ource '#age or Se3uence on your current 2ayer ">olor, @ehind, :rase, ...# E The Opacity parameter allow you to ad%ust ... the opacity of the displayed image or se&uence. This effect could seem simple, even obvious, but it has a lot of useful applications : )st e ample : 7n the uni&ue layer of our timeline, a 'T+,aint( logo has been drawn. We are going to replace it by its own glow.
2et3s take a look at the FG-stack opposite : )# The first effect that will be applyed is the Stylize & Glo" effect. *# The >olors . Image -ource effect is the second effect that will be applied. The Source selected is Current layer and the Blending Mode is the *ra$e Mode. In this way, the 'T+,aint( logo will be removed %ust after the rendering of the glow on the screen.
This process works with other effects of the Stylize group like Add Border or Be4el "with Outer option selected#. "For the rop Shado" and %oon$hading effects, please study the ne t e ample#
**
Original image +fter applying the effect Stylise > Glow only
**
+fter applying all the ,-'stac#
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*nd e ample : In this e ample, we will create a shadow for the running kid thanks to the Stylize & %oon$hading effect. This shadow will be rendered on an empty animation layer. In the FG-stack opposite, the Styli$e & %oon$hading effect will be applied on the animated layer called HToon -hadingI. "see the timeline below# The effect Color$ & '#age Source allows you to specify the reference layer used to render the shadow. =ere, the Source is the animation layer called HcolorI. If we use the *ra$e blending mode as we did in the first e ample, the shadow will disappear. "the toonshadow is inside the running kid# That3s the reason why we will keep the Color blending mode and use the Shado" Only option of the Styli$e & %oon$hading effect5 It allows to create the shadow of the running kid without re-drawing it. It is then possible to generate a shadow for our running kid on a separate animated layer. ;s a conse&uence, the character is not altered by the rendering of the shadow.
In this e ample, the Color$ & '#age Source effect allows you to define an image or an animation se&uence as reference for the HfollowingI toonshading effect in your FG-stack.
In this e ample, it is also possible to replace the effect Styli$e & %oonShading by the effect Stylize & rop Shado". "the Shado" Only option is also present in this effect# In that case, you will obtain a classical shadow. 7f course, the character layers "color$ and Running 1id# will stay unchanged.
)*-)4 The effects of the Stylize group
=ere is the 1D view of the layers you can obtain after using the effects Color$ & '#age $ource, Styli$e & rop Shado" and Styli$e & %oon$hading5
Toonshading Layer
Borders Layer
.olors Layer
Bac#groung Layer
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onvolve /ffect
The effect Styli$e & Con4ol4e allows to modiffy the pi els of an image or an animated se&uence by using a matri "here above on the right#. For the neophyte, a matri is an ordered set of numbers listed in a rectangular form. For the mathematicians, it is a powerful and convenient calculation tool used in algebra. To open the matri relative to this effect, %ust click on the *dit button of the panel.
The matri of our effect contains )1 rows and )1 columns, and as a conse&uence )8A numerical fields. :ach numerical value is usually called coe((icient. The grey bo es are located on the two diagonals of the matri . It usually gives a better readability when you fill in the matri . We have already seen that each color can be broken up in various ways depending on the color system. For e ample, the Slider tab of the Color !ic-er panel gives the numerical values of the ; color in the J,/,@ and T,-,2 color systems. The Styli$e & Con4ol4e effect calculates a new value "and so gives a new a color# for each pi el in an image or an image se&uence by using the values "and so the colors# of its neighboring pi els. In the mathematical point of view, each new value in the J,/,@ color system will be calculated by taking the average of itself and the pi els surrounding it. It a weighted average using the matri coefficients. Well, you are an animator, not a mathematician, it doesn3t help you a lot to get an idea of the internal working of this effect... =ow to obtain convincing results by changing the numerical values of the matri D The e amples below should help you in this task. )st e ample : =ow to create a @lur 2et3s take a look at the matri opposite : each coefficient is e&ual to 1, e cept the central coefficient which is e&ual to ). ;ll the other coefficients are e&ual to $ero "and not visible here# 9sing this 1 1 matri "1 rows, 1 columns# will make each pi el modify itself according to its neighboring pi els. The surrounding pi els will have more weight "or will be more represented# than the central pi el : this is e actly the common process to render a blur effect.
=ere is an e ample. In the T+,aint logo opposite : E The white and opa&ue pi els outside the T+,aint logo are most often surrounded by opa&ue white pi els. ; weighted average of white pi els gives ... a white pi el.
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E The blue pi els inside the T+,aint logo are most often surrounded by blue pi els. ; weighted average of blue pi els gives ... a blue pi el. E For the pi els located at the frontier between the blue and white areas, the situation is a bit more complicated : a weighted average of blue and white pi els gives a more or less light blue, as shown below :
@elow, two $ooms on the ' T ( letter of the T+,aint logo : From the result above, it is possible to deduce the result of the Styli$e & Con4ol4e effect on some pi els *
Before applying the effect +fter applying the effect
=ere is the result on a wider area of pi els. The T+,aint logo begin to get blurred ... * ;nd here is the final result :
*
Before applying the effect +fter applying the effect
*nd e ample : What happens with a bigger matri D 2et3s take a look at the matri opposite : each coefficient is e&ual to 1, e cept the central coefficient which is e&ual to ). ;ll the other coefficients are e&ual to $ero "and not visible here# 9sing this 6 6 matri "6 rows, 6 columns# will make each pi el modify itself according to its neighboring pi els. We use here a larger radius than in the 1 1 matri of the first e ample. In this case, the principle is the same as the one enunciated above, but more pi els are taken into account to calculate the average It gives a larger blur than the one obtained with the 1 1 matri . "see ne t page#
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*
Before applying the effect +fter applying the effect
*
Before applying the effect +fter applying the effect
*
Before applying the effect +fter applying the effect
It is easy to understand that the bigger your matri will be "the more coeficients e&ual to 1 in our e ample#, the more pi els will be used to calculate the resulting colors. "the larger will be the blur in our e ample# =ere is what you can e pect by using bigger matri , constructed in the same model than the one above.
;bove the source image. @elow the blurs that you can obtain by using a :
010 matri1
212 matri1
313 matri1
414 matri1
11111 matri1
10110 matri1
The e ecution speed of the Styli$e & Con4ol4e effect depends on the number of coefficients which are different from $ero inside the matri . In oher words, the more $ero coefficients you will have in the matri , the faster the effect will be applied.
1rd e ample : =ow to have a sharper image : 7btaining a sharper image is the opposite as obtaining a blurred image. The surrounding pi els will have less weight than the central pi el : in other words, they will be less represented than the central pi el. 2et3s take a look at the matri opposite : each coefficient is e&ual to -*, e cept the central coefficient which is e&ual to **. The central coefficient is really higher than the coefficients surrounding it. Cow we can apply this effect to our logo :
*
Before applying the effect )*-)B +fter applying the effect The effects of the Stylize group
;s seen above, the weighted average of the blue "or opa&ue white# pi els gives ... a blue "or white# pi el. That3s is not always the case, as we will see later. For the pi els located at the frontier between the blue and white areas, the situation is a bit more complicated : they will become more visible than the blue and white pi els surrounding them. In other words they will become a little darker. It results a sharper image ... 4th e ample : how to draw the edge of a picture : In order to obtain the edges of a picture, you need to have a sharper image and you need also to make the pi els surrounded by same color pi els become black. To do so, we will use a matri which coefficients are close from those we used in the last e ample. ,lease note that the sum of the surrounding coefficients is e&ual to the opposite of the central coefficient. In this case, the pi els surrounded by pi els with the same color will become black. The weighted average of the values "or colors# is e&ual to <. The pi els at the frontier between the blue logo and the white background will be strengthened. =ere is the result :
*
Before applying the effect +fter applying the effect
6th e ample : =ow to emboss an image. ;dding relief to an image can be done by strengthening the pi els colors in a given direction and by reducing the impact of the pi els colors in the opposite direction. The matri opposite allows to emboss the image as if a light source was added at its right. "all the layers have been merged before applying the effect#
*
Before applying the effect +fter applying the effect
Cow, let3s study a few notions : E We saw that our effect was modifying the color of the pi els on the screen. It is also possible to modify the pi els transparency by using the )$e alpha button5
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In this case, the calculation of the weighted averages is applied to the alpha component of the pi els too. E The Border popup menu allows to choose how the pi els at the border of the image will be calculated. "The pi els located at the border of your image don3t have neighboring pi els ...# 0ou can choose to use as neighboring pi els : - @lack pi els "none option# - ,i els resulting from a symetry of your image "#irror option# - ,i els resulting from reproduction of the image "tile option# - ,i els resulting from reproduction of the last "first# line "or column# of pi els "repeat option# E The #ultiplying coe((icient allows to multiply all the coefficients of the mati by the same value. It does not change anything to your picture if all non-$ero coefficients of your matri are the same. 7therwise your convolution effect will be more or less pronounced. -ome preset e amples : Cow that you have some basis about the convolution matri , you can try to modify the numerous matrices at your disposal in the ,in menu of your effect. ;bove, you will find the results obtained with the matri :
Blurred Image
%plitted Image
/m ossed Image
%pecial lightning
Other 5esults
)*-*<
Manage the symmetry effects: Flip, Mirror, Kaleidoscope, ... Manage the Wrapping effects: Bump, Waves, Tornado, ... Create a shadow in perspective. Animate with the Wrapping Grid effect.
The Distortion
!lip effect
Source Image
Vertical flip
Horizontal flip
>>>
Source Image Mirror effect, opacit !"#
If needed, you can move the a%is through the ,-D interactively in the current pro+ect window.
./01
The Distortion
2aleidoscope effect
The num&er of segments is the num&er of symmetric a%es used to o&tain the final image $see &elow'.
$riginal image
./0/
The Distortion
2aleidoscope effect
,nd so on ---
The value of the first angular parameter varies the a%is formed &etween the symmetric and the hori"ontal a%is. The grayish diagrams indicate the area in the original image which will &e duplicated &y the symmetry. In &lac), the rotation angle applied &efore symmetry in relation to the red a%es. ,ere for one symmetric a%is :
./03
The Distortion
2aleidoscope effect
The #ource coordinates define the position on the screen of a point at which the symmetry a%es cross each other $see the various e%amples hereafter'.
The value of the second angular parameter is used to vary the glo&al angle of the image o&tained:
The "estination coordinates define the position on the screen of an image centre o&tained after application of the effect $see the various e%amples hereafter'.
The effects of the "istortion group ./04
The Distortion
2aleidoscope effect
When the Fill option is disa&led, the )aleidoscope effect is calculated according to the current image. When it is ena&led, the calculation is also carried out on all reproductions of the current image. 5elow, the area inside the white rectangle represents the current pro+ect window. All areas inside and outside the white rectangle represent the space used to calculate the effect. In the .st case, the option is disa&led, the effect is calculated from the current image. In the 1nd case, the option is ena&led, the effect is calculated from the current image and its reproductions.
In &oth cases the original pro+ect is represented with the result after the effect is calculated and the other showing the result o&tained when the destination parameter is set to another point.
./06
The Distortion
>
Source Image .urrent Image /esult after appl ing the stac0
* The Position ta$ allow you to manage the coordinates of the four points used for this effect $the four corners of the ,.-.D' * The Render ta$ permit to select the type of image, called 8ource Image, which will &e put in perspective $current layer, !908tac), other pro+ect, &rush, etc.'. Associated with the Pi%el Trac&er $this option will &e e%plained in details in the ne%t lesson', this effect can wrap a video se(uence or a picture onto a moving shape. This could &e the case if the cameraman was moving his recorder while filming the computer screen a&ove. ,ere &elow, a shadow was created for our character. The two effects 'olor ( #ource )mage and #t!li*e ( "rop #+ado, were used in order to have the shadow drawn on an empty layer $go &ac) to the last chapters of the last lesson for more details'. This shadow was put into perspective than)s to our effect. We succed to imitate the pro+ection of a shadow on the floor.
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The Distortion
Wave effect
;nce again, these parameters can &e partly ad+usted in the pro+ect window through the ,.-.D.
>>
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>>
The effects of the "istortion group
The Distortion
Tornado effect
>>
>>
* The Angle parameter allows you to define the power of the applied distortion. * When using animation )eys, the Rotation parameter reflects the num&er of complete rotations to &e carried out &efore arriving at the chosen angle.
.urrent image
The Distortion
5ump effect
* Aou can ad+ust the depth of the relief and soften the &orders using the numeric fields "ept+ and #moot+. * A relief re(uires a lighting to &e visi&le : than)s to the Appl! ,it+ menu, you can define a centered lighting than)s to the 'enter option, or a directionnal lighting $"irection option' whose angle will have to &e ad+usted.
.urrent image
The more luminous the 8ource image is, the more important the displacement of the pi%els in the current image is. The dar)er the 8ource image is, the less visi&le the "isplacement Mapping is.
./0.C
The Distortion
The wrapping grid is an e%tremely useful animation tool and is capa&le of distorting the images in time according to the criteria of your choice. The Wrapping grid effect, when correctly used, can produce (uite spectacular results: wave movement, /D rotation of faces, movement of hair &lowing in the wind, etc... $&elow, you will find a summary overview of the possi&ilities proposed'.
1st image
>>
Movement
>>
Last image
$pro+ect s)ull.tvp'
;nce the effect has &een placed in the !9 stac), a grid is displayed on the current image. 8ome hints for &eginners: * The use of two grids will &e necessary for your effects to wor) correctly: these grids are referred to as #ource and "estination grids. The "ispla! popup menu is used to select on which of the two grids you intend to wor). Depending on your choice, the -." will &e modified accordingly: the letter # appears when the source grid is displayed and the letter " appears if the destination grid is displayed.
In the -.", when the source grid is displayed, the destination grid is always visi&le &ehind in a less &right color. When the destination is displayed, the opposite case applies $see ne%t page'.
./0..
The Distortion
3ispla of Source and Destination grids (the current grid is green, the other is 4lue)
* Modification of an intersection in the #ource and#or "estination grid distorts the current image accordingly. The image is distorted, stretched or contracted over a narrower or wider area on the screen so that the points on the source grid of your initial image are moved to the same location as the points on the destination grid. 5elow, source and destination points on a grid with the resulting distortion.
>> * The Point menu is used to edit each grid point present on the screen. The latter may &e identified &y their position on the grid $see &elow'.
* The first two numeric fields are used to select the num&er of intersection points on your grids $#ource and "estination grids have the same num&er of intersections'. Aou may increase or decrease the height and#or width of these grids.
5 ' 5 grid
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6 ' 5 grid
6 ' 17 grid
The effects of the "istortion group
The Distortion
* The five &uttons present in this panel are used respectively to: 0 Edit grid points. 0 Distort the grid as a whole. 0 Copy the source grid to the destination grid. 0 Copy the destination grid to the source grid. 0 8wap source and destination grids. Edit grid points * When this option is ena&led, each intersection point of your grid $source or destination grid' may &e moved in space along three a%es $,idt+, +eig+t and dept+' the effect of which will result in immediate distortion of the current image. Aou may also use the predefined paths to manage intersection movement.
A&ove, from left to right, the initial image, movement of the destination intersection along the 9 and A a%es, movement of the destination intersection along the F a%is. * It is possi&le to select several intersection points when the ,-D is visi&le &y drawing a rectangle inside the ,-D. ;nce this has &een done, it is easy to carry out all movements with a single clic) and slide on an intersection.
./0./
The Distortion
* It is possi&le to choose an intersection interpolation mode $linear, spline or smooth' in the first effect popup menu $see &elow'.
Spline interpolation
Smooth interpolation
Linear interpolation
If the interpolation mode chosen is #pline, use of the G8hiftH )ey when moving the handles ena&les movement of one handle at a time. Edit grid &ounding &o% When the second icon is selected, it is possi&le to distort the current grid as a whole &y rotating it or &y modifying its dimensions $see &elow'.
$riginal grid
8wap the source and destination grids This option is practical when creating a distortion opposite to that of the current distortion. 5elow, the rear end of the arrow represents the #ource point of the grid and the arrow tip corresponds to the "estination point.
3istortion:
3istortion:
./0.3
The Distortion
Distortion of the current image in time. We +ust saw how to distort an image in space using the source and destination grids. To distort the current image in time as was done for the Is)ull.tvpJ pro+ect, you must: * Duplicate the latter along the entire layer. * -nactivate the previsualisation of the effect $use the menu at the &ottom left of the !908tac)' * 8et the display option on #ource. * 7ay attention to place intersections of the #ource Grid at all strategic points on the image : eyes, teeth, etc > and ensure the grid covers the lines of your drawing. * Copy the #ource Grid to the "estination Grid. * Beactivate the previsualisation of the effect. * 8et the display option on "estination. * Ma)e the "estination Grid slightly different from the #ource Grid for at least the first and last frames of the animation layer and then create the corresponding )eys. The result is a distortion, and conse(uently, a movement which ta)es place over a period of time.
The method descri&ed a&ove is not the only way of using this effect. Many others e%ist. Aou should try them out and share your impressions in the on0line forum.
The purpose of this effect is also to distort the current image or animation, &ut in a different way than the "istorsion ( Wrapping Grid effect. It uses a vector field instead of a grid. This vector field defines a flow that will &e followed &y the pi%els of the current image. This effect comprises four ta&s :
; The "dit ta4
L<image source
* The first &utton allows to set the si"e of the vector field. More e%actly it allows to set the num&er of vector that you will use on &oth the hori"ontal and vertical a%is.
The effects of the "istortion group ./0.4
The Distortion
;nce you have chosen the si"e, you can edit the current vector field itself. To do so, display the ,.-.D and draw directly on the screen $to &e e%act : on the ,.-.D' with the purple circle, as shown &elow. If you have a picture &ehind the vector field, you should see the render of the distortion.
Vector field
Modified image
The left mouse &utton allows to increase the tension of the vectors in a chosen direction. The right mouse &utton allows to decrease the tension of the vectors in a chosen direction. The red points are the source points of your vectors, $they canKt &e moved' The green points are the destination points your vectors, The &lue segments are the vectors themselves.
!or a given picture in your timeline, modifying the vector field creates an animation )ey. If more than one animation )ey is created in the timeline, it means that your vector field and thus the distortion will evolve in time. * The Reset 'urrent Ke! &utton reset the vector field of the current picture in the timeline. If this picture does not have an animation )ey, a new one will &e automatically created. * The &utton : allows to modify all the vectors of the field in only one operation. This tool is perfect if you need to distort, move or pivot an image entirely.
The more vectors you will use, the more time you will need to render the effect.
./0.6
The Distortion
* The &utton : allows to change the parameters of your ,.-.D &rush $i.e : the purple circle' =i)e the common tools $air&rush, etc ...' that you use to draw, you can set its profile, si"e and also power. =etKs admit that we will always choose the direction opposite when editing our vector field $i.e : the red arrow' : The pictures &elow shows the impact of the different settings at your disposal.
* In this ta&, you can select the vectors of the field that you want to edit via the previously discussed tools. 5y default, all the vectors are selected. The two &uttons #elect All and 'lear #election allows to reset the selections. As in the main panel, you can use one of the three selections icons : or 'ircle selection. #/uare, Free+and
./0.:
The Distortion
When doing a selection, if a vector is selected, it appears in yellow instead of &lue. $if you want to select a vector, +ust select its source' If a vector source is not selected, its ,.-.D color &ecomes lighter. The tools availa&le in the 0dit menu will only apply on the selected vectors. The circle selection use the same parameters as the ,.-.D &rush $the purple circle' so you can select your vectors &y Ldrawing on the ,.-.DM It allows to have source points only selected in part and thus to have nice effects when editing the vectors. Note that if you reset the si"e of the vector field, all the settings that you have done $vectors, animation )eys, selections, ...' will &e lost.
; The #ender ta4
The Render ta& allows to choose : * The calculation algorithm of the distortions $Blac&man or $! de1ault' * The distortion mode of the image &orders $The e%ample &elow illustrates the three modes at your disposal.'
Source Image
Vector *ield
./0.?
The three &uttons: #+o, #rc, #+o, "st and #+o, 2ector allow you to select e%actly what you want to see on the ,.-.D : the red source points and#or the green destination points and#or the &lue vectors. The &utton #+o, nl! #election allows to see only the vectors located inside the current selection.
./0.@
Lesson 14 The effects of the Motion and Paint groups, management of the paths
Study the AutoPaint effect. Learn how to use paths. Study the Motion > Keyframer effect. Study the Stabilization effects.
Have you ever watched a weather report !hen the pro"ra# is over, you often see the si"nature of the spea$er%s& displayed on the screen. It is possi'le to reproduce this effect in T(Paint Ani#ation Pro, usin" the effect Paint > AutoPaint. This is the perfect way to dyna#ically si"n your future ani#ated wor$s of art)
* +irst, you have to record the stro$e which corresponds to the si"nature: "o onto an e#pty ani#ation layer, clic$ on the Record a stroke 'utton in the AutoPaint effect and then draw your si"nature on the screen. * !hen this is done, clic$ on the Stop 'utton or press the ,-scape. $ey. /ou have now recorded the si"nature in the pro"ra# #e#ory. A lon" series of $eys is visi'le in the ti#eline %see 'elow&.
* 0elete the current i#a"e on the screen %i.e. the si"nature&. * Select the tool of your choice and ad1ust its para#eters for the future stro$e of the si"nature. * Stretch your ani#ation layer so that it covers all $eys of the ti#eline. * Select all its i#a"es and then apply the +2 stac$. !hen you play the pro1ect you will note that the si"nature is 3drawn4 pro"ressively on the screen.
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To ensure that your stro$e is carried out on the nu#'er of i#a"es of your choice, two #ethods are availa'e: * /ou #ay stretch or contract the set of $eys ri"ht after recordin" the stro$e as indicated a'ove. * /ou #ay create an ani#ation layer with the nu#'er of i#a"es desired and select all i#a"es 'efore recordin" the stro$e.
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The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
Let9s now study the AutoPaint effect in detail: * :ecordin" the stro$e "enerates a lar"e nu#'er of $ey points on the ti#eline each of which stores the position of your stylus at a "iven #o#ent. !hen the stro$e is recorded, you #ay #odify the position of the stylus on the screen for the $ey of your choice than$s to the nu#eric fields 2 and /. * +or a "iven $ey, the Draw 'utton indicates if the stylus was in contact with the ta'let or not. If it is not ena'led for a "iven $ey, there will 'e no stro$e for this $ey %e.". this is the case if you lifted the stylus durin" recordin"&. * :ecordin" a stro$e with the AutoPaint effect allows for other recordin"s, too : in particular the data relative to Pressure, Altitude, Azimuth and in!erwheel availa'le on the ta'let. It is also possi'le to choose whether this data will 'e restored or not when applyin" the +2 stac$ 'y chec$in" or unchec$in" the correspondin" 'o;es. * The section Stroke mode offers several choices : "ormal, Size, ull and #ast. These are results o'tained usin" these #odes: 7 The "ormal #ode pro"ressively reproduces your stro$e on the screen. This is the one we have 'een usin" since the 'e"innin" of this lesson. 7 The Size #odes re<uires ad1ust#ent of the para#eter with the sa#e na#e and will erase the stro$e pro"ressively in ti#e.
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7 The #ast #ode is a $ind of Size #ode para#eter set to value = 5 >, which only draws one = point > of the stro$e at a ti#e. In $omplete #ode the co#plete stro$e is drawn on the screen, independent of the circu#stances. * The last is the "oise para#eter: it defines a possi'le deviation fro# the ori"inal path and is used to o'tain less re"ular curves %see opposite, the T(Paint lo"o is sli"htly distorted, as if written with a tre#'lin" hand&.
The AutoPaint effect is in a way si#ilar to the Re%apply option as the result depends on the drawin" tool selected 1ust 'efore application of the +2 stac$. Here, two interestin" e;a#ples : ?pposite, after recordin" a si#ple stro$e in the shape of a se#i7 circular arch, the AutoPaint effect was applied usin" the &e't(rush tool in #etter #ode with the rotation para#eter connected to the stylus direction.
The te;t see#s to follow the defined path in ti#e, each letter havin" its own rotation dependin" on its position on the path.
The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
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Mana"e#ent of Paths
Management of Paths
In lesson A, when studyin" the $enter (lur effect, we already discussed the idea that an effect #ay #a$e use of the Position para#eters which will then define a path on the screen. !e will now discuss this Path notion in #ore detail.
!hen an effect authoriBes use of a path%s& for one or several of its para#eters, you have access to the &ools #enu in the panel of the correspondin" effect as shown opposite.
This is what it contains: * /ou #ay use the Pi'el tracker to create a path. * /ou #ay also record a stro$e on the screen, to create a path. * The third option of the &ools #enu allows you to re7use a path you have already created previously in your effects stac$ and use it with the current para#eters. * As is the case for the palettes, the tool settin"s, the effects, etc, a path #ay 'e rena#ed, saved, etc. The option Path Mana!er is used for all these tas$s. * The option Add to bin allows you to save the current path under a na#e of your choice for later use %we have already done the sa#e for custo#iBed palettes, #i;ers, tools ..... &. * The $opy from path bin allows you to re7use a path saved in the (in for your position para#eter. * The $enter option replaces the position values for the current $ey with those of the center of the i#a"e. * The option Reset deletes all the $eys of your effect.
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Csin" the standard Path Recorder allows you to "enerate a lar"e nu#'er of $eys containin" position para#eters, however, contrary to the AutoPaint effect it does not allow to restore pressure, aBi#uth and altitude.
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The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
* The A)era!e ta' has four popup #enus for you to choose the (in paths. It allows you to set the values for each ani#ation $ey of the current path as an avera"e derived fro# the $eys of every chosen path.
1st path
2 nd path
Path average
* The Smooth ta' allows you to s#ooth the values associated with the ani#ation $ey of the path chosen %the hi"her the nu#eric value, the #ore the paths will 'e s#oothed after application&.
Basic path
The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
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Smoothed path
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* The Size ta' allows you to #odify the siBe of the co#plete path on each of the three a;es %horiBontal, vertical or depth&. This #ay 'e useful if you wish to transfer a path fro# one pro1ect to another with a different siBe.
Basic path
Csin" a value of 75EEF on one of the a;es allows to co#pletely flip your path. To #ove the entire path on the screen, you si#ply select all its $eys in the *+D and then clic$7slide usin" the #ouse.
Save paths
!e e;plained a'ove that it is possi'le to save paths to 'e used later for an effect of your choice %option Add to (in&. However, a path saved in this #anner #ay not 'e recovered after closin" and re7openin" T(Paint Ani#ation Pro. Three #ethods are availa'le to solve this pro'le#: * Save your confi"uration 'efore <uittin" the pro"ra#. * The effects of the +2 stac$ and their para#eters #ay 'e saved in a (in , #enu %see lesson A&. This save #ode offers the advanta"e that it also stores the path%s& associated with your effect so that they #ay 'e recovered when re7startin" T(Paint Ani#ation Pro.
* /ou #ay also save your paths 'efore closin" T(Paint Ani#ation Pro, then reload the# after re7 start than$s to the ile #enu of the Path Mana"er. /ou can also e;port a path into #i!htwa)e Motion for#at The saved path is that of the Mana!e popup #enu, a loaded path will 'e added in the path 'in and availa'le in the popup #enu of the Mana!e ta'-
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The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
origina$ animation
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?pposite, the path of the eye was re7used with /mni li"htin".
The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
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This is how to use the Pi'el &racker panel : * In the first section, you #ust define the layer on which the character whose #ove#ent you wish to follow %or any other ele#ent& is located. Two ti#e or fra#e #ar$ers deter#ine the section of the layer that will 'e ta$en into account for pi;el trac$in" %the entire layer, 'y default&. * In the second section, you #ust define a focus area within the current i#a"e. The Pi'el &racker will try to find this in the followin" i#a"es of your video in order to create a path. To = follow > a hu#an face, i.e. to create a path fro# the face, the eye is often used to define the focus area. The values Ref , and Ref 0 are used to choose the center of this focus area and the values Ref . and Ref * to set its width and hei"ht. The para#eters &rack . and &rack * will li#it search in the focus area to the nu#'er of pi;els in len"th and hei"ht of your choice, around the focus area of the first i#a"e %see dia"ra# 'elow&.
!hen the pi'el tracker tool passes fro# one i#a"e to another, it will #e#oriBe the focus area of the first i#a"e and try to find it in the ne;t i#a"e in the trac$in" area. This ena'les creation of the position $eys necessary for path creation.
If *+D display is ena'led after havin" clic$ed on the Set tracker 'utton, you #ay #odify these para#eters directly with the followin" co#'ination : ,JtrlKri"ht clic$Kslide the #ouse. or ,JtrlKleft clic$Kslide the #ouse.. If, for e;a#ple, you select the ri"ht eye of our 'lue7screened character as =focus area>, and the values for the para#eters &rack . and &rack * are too s#all, this will #a$e it difficult to find it in the followin" i#a"es %as our character is #ovin"&. Inversely, hi"h values for these para#eters #ay define the left eye of the character as = focus area > durin" the process and this will falsify the path o'tained. * The third section contains three popup #enus: The Reference popup #enu is used to choose if the reference = focus area > for the process is always that of the first i#a"e selected or will 'e updated as trac$in" pro"resses. The $hannel #enu will, dependin" on your choice, restrict the channels to which analysis of #ove#ent trac$in" will 'e applied. The Accuracy popup #enu allows you to define the co#ple;ity of the concordance test. If you choose 1%1, the test is carried out at pi;el level. The trac$in" is then fairly rou"h. If you choose 1%23, the pi;els deter#ined 'y the 1%1 test will 'e #oved G6 ti#es 'y a G6th of a pi;el in order to fine7tune trac$in". * The fourth section is a Boo# on the focus area you have selected. * The fifth section contains two 'uttons: The &rack 'utton starts the process of creatin" a path with the chosen para#eters whereas the Re)- &rack 'utton has the sa#e effect 'ut reverses the path.
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The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
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To create a path you #ay position a 'rush outside the area Bone: the 'rush then appears hidden and only its outline is visi'le as *+D %see opposite M&.
0o not i##ediately apply the , stack. 0id you notice the 5 position nu#eric field This is used to set the depth of the o'1ect #oved on the screen. Let9s now #odify the second $ey we created: enter the para#eters for the followin" positions : 2P D6E, /P 86E, QP *LEE A fast slide alon" the ti#eline allows you to see that our lo"o #oves fro# left to ri"ht 'ut, in addition to that, Boo#s towards the viewer ) %see 'elow&
A positive value in the Q nu#eric field would have resulted in the lo"o #ovin" away. It is possi'le to "enerate even #ore su'tle #ove#ents as our lo"o #ay follow the pre7defined path of our choice than$s to the Path Recorder or Pi'el &racker. /ou #ay also curve the paths than$s to the *+D and the $eys of your choice %#inear, Spline or Smooth&. +or e;a#ple, in the tra1ectory 'elow, the lo"o follows a spline on the screen while Boo#in" li"htly towards the fore"round.
>> Oow we will #a$e it a 'it #ore co#plicated... It is possi'le to leave a trail 'ehind our lo"o, a trail that depends on its speed and tra1ectory. No to the Render ta' : the (lur step value defines the nu#'er of lo"os which will #a$e up the = trail >. The (lur Size is used to set the para#eters of the trail len"th %see opposite&.
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The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
Oote that a low value "enerates a sli"ht 'lur in the #ove#ent direction which is ideal for creatin" 'lurs "enerated 'y fast o'1ect #ove#ent. A Bero value will eli#inate the trail.
The settin"s of the pro"ress profile %lesson A& co#e into their own here: the #ove#ent is accelerated or slowed at your discretion )
In this second e;a#ple, we will pivot our =T(Paint> lo"o usin" the pitch, headin" and 'an$ para#eters.
:eset the values of the Keyframer effect to Bero, select the =T(Paint> lo"o as source a"ain and #odify the (ank an"le usin" the slider. The lo"o then turns alon" the 'lue a;is represented on the dia"ra# %see 'elow&.
:eset the values of the Keyframer effect to Bero and proceed in the sa#e way with the Pitch para#eter. The lo"o now turns alon" the "reen a;is represented in the dia"ra#.
!ith the *eadin! para#eter, the lo"o turns alon" the red a;is represented in the dia"ra#.
The co#'ination of these three para#eters "ives a wide variety of results. It is now up to you to use these rotations in your ani#ations and videos.
The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
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The lo"o #ay carry out several rotations around an a;is: you si#ply #odify the value of the Rotation para#eter when creatin" the ani#ation $eys to increase the an"le to @GER. In the e;a#ples a'ove, our lo"o always turns in relation to its center: the a;es the lo"o turns around cross each other in its center. The Pi)ot para#eters #ay 'e used to #odify the position of the rotation a;es in relation to the 'rush. Modifyin" the pivot 2 coordinate 'y increasin" it 'y 5EE pi;els and decreasin" the / coordinate 'y 5EE pi;els will "enerate other types of rotation when #odifyin" Pitch, *eadin! and (ank, as the rotation a;es are outside the lo"o. Selow you will see the effects of the *eadin! #odification for our new pivot.
Modifyin" the 5 coordinate of the pivot allows even #ore co#plicated @0 #ove#ents:
-ach of the 'uttons (ank Ali!n-, *eadin! Ali!n-, Pitch Ali!n-, when ena'led, allows #odification of the 'rush an"le dependin" on the path it follows. Selow: the an"le of the *eadin! para#eter varies accordin" to the lo"o tra1ectory.
So#e words re"ardin" the Renderin! ta': * The ill option is used to fill the screen with the current source. In this case, ani#atin" the source will also ani#ate all its copies. * The /pacity para#eter is used to ad1ust lo"o transparency as ti#e pro"resses.
* The 5 camera para#eter represents the distance 'etween the = virtual ca#era > and your i#a"e in pi;els. The s#aller this distance, the lar"er the openin" an"le of our = virtual ca#era >. This ena'les you to use the = wide an"le > effect well $nown in ca#eras 'y usin" the para#eters for Pitch andTor (ank.
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The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
> A'ove, the pitch para#eter was set to 6D- for our #er"ed i#a"e of the tree. The i#a"e at the top was o'tained with a 5%$amera e<ual to 5EEE, the one 'elow with a value of 85E.
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+ .rd e%amp$e
This third e;a#ple will allow us to wor$ with different sources %Renderin! ta'& in the Keyframer effect. Let9s "o 'ac$ to our = planet > i#a"e used in previous lessons. !e9ll assu#e that your cartoon is finished. Oow you want to scroll the list of participants in the for# of end credits
!e9ll assu#e that this list is contained in another pro1ect #uch =hi"her> than the one of your planet %opposite&. Pay attention that the te;t is written on a transparent 'ac$"round, then select %(ack!round 7 "one& in the ti#eline of this second pro1ect.
This is how to scroll the list fro# 'otto# to top: * In the Renderin! ta', select the Pro6ects list as source and then the na#e of the pro1ect containin" the list of participants, * Place two $eys at the 'e"innin" and the end of the ani#ation layer with the position para#eters close to the illustration on the followin" pa"e.
The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
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* Apply the , stack. It9s done ) M The list #oves fro# the 'otto# to the top as intended. Than$s to the Keyframer anythin" #ay 'e #oved on the screen: a 'rush, another pro1ect, the layer of your choice, the spare i#a"e, the current i#a"e, etcM /ou si#ply choose what you want in the Source popup #enu of the Renderin! ta'. +or e;a#ple, e;chan"e the current 'rush with the = 'utterfly > ani#ated 'rush in the (in ta'. This ani#ated 'rush #ay also 'e #oved as you wish and, why not, follow one of your pre7recorded paths.
Selow, our 'utterfly lands on the tree 'efore flyin" off a"ain and leavin" the screen.
!hen usin" ani#ated 'rushes or ani#ation layers as source i#a"es, additional settin"s will 'e re<uired. In this case, you have two popup #enus at your disposal: (efore and After. They #ay 'e used to define how the i#a"es of your ani#ated 'rush or ani#ation layer would 'e applied 'y the Keyframer effect if their nu#'er were lower than that of the se<uence you are wor$in" on %application of the 'rush or ani#ation layer i#a"es with #oop, Pin!pon!, Random, etc.&. +or our 'utterfly we have chosen the #oop #ode.
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The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
Please note that the H.C.0 displays the splines followed 'y the four corners of the source and also the ed"es of the first and last fra#es. %see 'elow&
+ 4th e%amp$e
This e;a#ple will help you understand the (lend #enu in the Renderin! ta'. Load the video foota"e of your choice and then create an ani#ation layer containin" only 'lac$ and opa<ue fra#es 1ust in front. /ou should then see the followin" ti#eline:
Jreate any type of #ove#ent for the o'1ect of your choice usin" the Keyframer tool. Here, we are ta$in" a red = T(Paint > lo"o 'rush. Its tra1ectory is of no i#portance. ?ur red lo"o will, after application of the +2 stac$, 'e placed on each 'lac$ i#a"e. So far, nothin" new.
If, 'efore applyin" the +2 stac$, you select the 4rase #ode %descri'ed in lesson 8& in the (lend popup #enu %Renderin! ta'& you o'tain the result shown opposite. ?ur = 'lac$ > layer was erased at the lo"o passa"e areas which #ade it possi'le to see the layer underneath.
It is as if our lo"o had 'een applied with the 4raser color #ode. The Mi'er #ode refers to that encountered when usin" a spare i#a"e.
The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths 5675D
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Source /mage S$ight sha&es
It is possi'le to avoid these undesired sha$es 'y ad1ustin" each i#a"es as the se<uence "oes alon". If you proceed i#a"e after i#a"e it can 'e <uic$ly tireso#e. +ortunately, the Motion > Stabilization 1 point and 8 points effects will ta$e it in char"e.
0rigin point
3estination point
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The effects of the Motion and Paint "roups, #ana"e#ent of the paths
/ou can ar"ue that each positions of the /ri!in and of the Destination points are different for each i#a"e, which #a$e the process tireso#e. That9s why, at this sta"e, usin" a path for the /ri!in andTor Destination points can speed up the process, especially paths created with the Pi'el &racker... As soon as the effect is applied and that the i#a"e is sta'iliBed, you could have to crop it to re#ove the white 'orders due to possi'le pannin"s. /ou can also use the fill 'utton to re#ove the 'orders 'y tilin" the i#a"e.
Selow, the ca#era#an has rotated a little 'it the ca#era while shootin" the se<uence. If you define two ori"in and two destination points in the Motion > Stabilisation 8 points effect and chec$ the Rotation 'o;, the effect will then calculate the ;R rotation an"le of the i#a"e and #a$es the Source and Destination points coincide. %see 'elow at the e;tre#ity of the arrows&
2 0rigin points
2 3estination points
If the ca#era has Boo#ed a little 'it while the se<uence was recorded, you will have to use the sa#e process and chec$ the Scale 'utton. As we did for the effect Motion > Stabilisation 1 point, you can chec$ the fill 'utton to re#ove the 'orders 'y tilin" the i#a"e.
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Study the concept of a Multiplane Camera. Learn how to use the Multiplane Camera effect (we will discuss various examples).
The concept
The concept
With the multi plane camera effect you may control movement of several planes with ac!"round scenery. #ach plane has a specific depth and conse$uently, its own speed in the eyes of the o server.
In the ima"e a ove, the followin" are placed one over the other in the order of furthest away to closest: the starry s!y, the mountains, the forest, the first row of trees, the runnin" !id and finally the second row of trees much closer. When the animation is complete: % The trees in the front will move from ri"ht to left very $uic!ly as they are closer to the viewer. % The mountains at the ac! will also move from ri"ht to left, ut much slower.
In the photos a ove, the tree is a lon" way from the rose. In the left photo, the camera has focused on the rose and the tree is lurred. In the ri"ht photo, the camera has focused on the tree and the rose is therefore lurred.
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Layer where the effect is applied Layer 3character4 Layer 3distant trees4 (near) Layer 3distant trees4 (far) Layer 3forest4 Layer 3mountain4 Layers 3s!y4 and 3stars4 which do not move
The layers 3mountain4, 3forest4, 3distant trees (4, 3distant trees +4 and 3character4 will e used to reproduce the desired animation.
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56 views
3D views
This effect has an Open stage utton which allows you to view the multiplane camera from various an"les. These 56 views will ma!e ad'ustment of settin"s much easier. The default settin"s are as follows: % 7 perspective view (window ottom left) % 7 left side view (window top left) % 7 front view (window top ri"ht) % 7 top view (window ottom ri"ht)
The followin" uttons are availa le in each panel to simplify viewin": % The utton allows you to .oom with a clic! and slide on the left mouse utton. (shortcut : 8alt 9 ri"ht clic!: 9 move your mouse.) % The utton is used for pannin" with a clic! and slide on the left mouse utton. (shortcut : 8alt 9 left clic!: 9 move your mouse.) % The utton when selected, ensures the .oom and pannin" options are only applied to the current view. % The % The utton is used to reset the view to its default values. utton displays the camera and the 3viewin" an"le4
% The utton displays the focusin" plane. In other words, the plane on which the ima"e is focused. This plane is seen as a red dotted line in the left and top views. The focusin" plane is also visi le in the perspective and front views in the form of a "ray rectan"le. This will e studied in "reater detail at the end of this lesson. % The utton displays all the planes in the perspective view. (see pa"e ;(<)
The popup menus of each window allow you to customi.e your viewin" options: left, ri"ht, top, ottom, front, ac!, camera and perspective. The front and ac! views are not in perspective. If you choose to use them, remem er that you are viewin" the various planes 3ortho"onally pro'ected4 on the -xy plane (see next pa"e).
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0ositionin" in space
Positioning in space
-f course, we will not e wor!in" in the same way as with a 56 software, ut it is still important to !now your position in space when wor!in" with this effect. 1ompliant with the dia"ram elow : % The crosses visi le on the 56 view represent the coordinate point (>?<, @?<, A?<) which will e used as our reference point when positionin" our camera and o 'ects (mountain, forest, etc.). % The indications >9, @9 and A9 indicate the direction of the orientation of the camera in space.
The coordinates >, @ and A of the Camera are in fact the coordinates of the virtual camera filmin" our scene in accordance with the space dimension descri ed in the chapter a ove. If, for example, you chan"e the A coordinate from (<<< to ()<< units usin" the mini*slider, the center of the camera will e moved further away and the ima"e you see will e chan"ed accordin"ly.
The Rendering > Multi plane Camera #ffect ()*)
The Biew ta
It is possi le to move the camera directly from the window of your choice in the 56 viewin" mode: simply clic! and slide with the left mouse utton on the "ray line or on the camera icon. % The Angle and Rotation parameters rotate the camera around the Z axis (To simplify matters, these two parameters are not ta!en into account in the 56 view).
% The Field of view parameter represents the camera viewin" an"le. The wider the an"le, the "reater the num er of o 'ects illustrated on the screen.
% The Dept of Field effect and Fo!using Distan!e parameters will e discussed at the end of this lesson.
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The 0lanes ta
The Planes popup menu is used to create, rename, duplicate or delete planes. The header of this menu contains the name of the plane for which the options are displayed in the panel.
7t this point, you must: % 1hoose a #our!e ima"e to create the plane. 7s was the case for the $e%framer effect, the source may e of various types (pro'ect, layer, paper, spare ima"e, etc...) and you may set the pre*, post* ehavior, animation mode settin"s, etc... We will select the 3runnin" !id4 layer for our pro'ect. % 1hoose a tile mode: 1hoose 3 none 4 in tile mode for our runnin" !id. % Set the Pivot and Position parameters. These parameters have the same functions as those discussed in the $e%framer effect, ut donHt worry, we will e ta!in" another close loo! at them.
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% The Pivot parameter allows you to use a reference point other than the center of the source ima"e to ad'ust the position and si.e of your plane. This is very useful when you decide to modify the #i&e of your source ima"e: #i&e modifications use this pivot point as ori"in point ( elow in oran"e).
-nce you have understood this concept, positionin" planes ecomes much easier. 7ll you have to do is: % 0osition your pivot, % 0lace your plane at the ottom of your pro'ect, % 7d'ust the si.e of your plane. LetHs "o ac! to our 3runnin" !id4 plane and apply the aforementioned procedure usin" the followin" settin"s: % Position parameters : >? <, @? +=D, A? < % Pivot parameters : >? < ,@? (5< % #i&e parameters: I)J of initial si.e
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% @ou may now ad'ust the 0ivot parameter (>?<, @?+(<) and the remainin" position parameters (>?<, @?L)<). The plane must then e 3stuc! to the "round4 % 7ll that is left is to choose the #i&e (5<<J). The 3 forest 4 layer was created with the Panning tool in the main panel (refer to lesson I for further details). @ou may therefore duplicate it hori.ontally to avoid havin" to create too many planes. To do this K % Nse the *ile mode popup menu.
Cow that the second plane has een created, all that remains to e done is create the remainin" planes in the same way: 3close trees4, 3distant trees4, 3mountain4, with the only difference ein" that the 3close trees4 plane will have a Z value "reater than <. If necessary, the F> stac! correspondin" to the parameters we wish to o tain is attached to the /01.tvp pro'ect. @ou must therefore close it and load it a"ain in order to "o to the next sta"e $uic!er.
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6o not confuse camera movement and possi le chan"es in the position of your planes. The use of animation !eys with plane position parameters is only useful if the latter effectively move (if the camera is fixed: mountain, forest and trees are fixed). In such a case, this method would e 'ustified if we had created an additional plane to illustrate movement of the moon in the s!y (if the camera is fixed: the moon still ma!es an arc across the starry s!y).
6urin" our animation, all the planes seen in the 56 view on the previous pa"e are in focus.
()*(< The Rendering > Multi plane Camera #ffect
2owever, to create a more realistic effect, you may wish to create a camera focusin" lur effect (refer to pa"e + of this lesson, section Fo!using ,lur). @ou will therefore have to "o ac! to the View ta and ad'ust the Fo!using distan!e (i.e. indicate at exactly what distance the camera will e focused). If you have followed all the steps of this lesson, your runnin" !id will e at a distance of (<<< units from the camera and your focusin" distance is also (<<< units. The runnin" !id is therefore in focus. In order to lur the other elements (mountain, forest, treesK), the Dept of Field parameter will need to e increased (when at <, no lur is applied). This is illustrated y the creation of a red cone in the 56 view (see elow) and a lur on the screen.
The further the o 'ects are away from the apex of the cone, the more lurred they will e. Inversely, the closer they are to the apex of the cone, the sli"hter the lur will e.
If your focusin" distance is now 5<<<, your camera is located at (<<< units from the center point and the mountains are +<<< units on the other side of the center point ((<<<9+<<<?5<<<), the mountains will e focused and the other planes will e lurred. 1onsiderin" the position of the cone in the 56 dia"ram, it is also safe to say that the closer the camera comes, the more the ima"e will e lurred (see next pa"e).
The focusin" plane is also visi le in the perspective view and in the front view in the form of a "ray rectan"le. In the case of the perspective view, you will see a "ray 3viewin" an"le4 at the focusin" distance.
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In the dia"ram a ove, the lur is applied to your plane either inside or outside the red cone. The width of the cone only indicates the lur amount.
The 'lur parameter present on each plane of the Plane ta is used to ad'ust the lur for each plane individually. It is expressed as a percenta"e of the lur "enerated y the Dept of field effe!t parameter.
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Multiplane !amera effect. Caturally, it was important to first study the "lo al functions offered y this effect efore introducin" you to the latter function. So now clic! on the -i&ard utton. The window which then opens as!s if -i&ard should create planes usin" external pro'ects or from the layers of the current pro'ect. These are the + most common cases.
1reate planes from pro'ects 1hoosin" option ( implies that you have first opened the pro'ects you wish to use for the planes of your animation. #nsure the pro'ects you intend to use are open efore validatin" this window. -nce validated, each pro'ect will ecome a plane in our Multiplane !amera effect. The next window to appear invites you to sta"e these planes. This sta"in" may e adapted to meet your specific needs. This is how the window loo!s: The animation plane is created as the first plane and the other planes are listed in a column elow it. #ach plane has a chec! ox which allows you to choose whether or not this plane should e used in your animation. The planes order is inverted compared to the order in which you opened your pro'ects (the last pro'ect opened is the first plane, the first pro'ect opened will e the last plane). @ou will have noticed that each plane has a A axis position value. With the default settin"s, each plane is "iven a Z value which is a multiple of *(<<: < for the first plane, *(<< for the second, *+<< for the third, etc... Therefore, all you have to do is define the Z values for each plane as you re$uire and then validate your choice. 7ll your planes will then e incorporated into the effect with the Z values defined a ove and all that remains is for you to animate them. 1reate planes from the layers of your current pro'ect 7ssumin" the pro'ect /01.tvp supplied on the 16 is open, chec! the 3layers from current pro'ect4 ox and then validate your choice. The -i&ard will then ta!e each of the layers of the current pro'ect and incorporate them in each layer as a plane. The planes sta"in" window, correspondin" to sta"e +, appears and displays each layer with the associated Z value:
In this window, you have the possi ility to define whether or not each plane is to e ena led to"ether with the customi.ed A axis position value (or not) for each plane. @ou may also modify the 2N6 color. Cow all that remains is to clic! on O$ and the Wi.ard will automatically create all your planes usin" the layers.
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-ther situations
,ther situations
We have now learned how to use the multi plane camera effect with a simple example. -ur Multiplane !amera effect may also e used in other situations: ,elow you will see the transversal movement of the two planets with a fixed sun and .ens Flare effect (it will e studied in the next lesson).
The multiplane camera can also e used to .oom etween the planes you have created : % 7fter you have created the planes with the wi.ard, "o in the View ta and on the first frame of the 3multi plane camera4 layer in the timeline. % 1reate an animation !ey for the Camera with a ne"ative value for the A axis. % Eo to the last frame of the 3multi plane camera4 layer in the timeline, create another animation !ey for the Camera with a positive value for the A axis, % 7pply the F>*Stac! to the whole layer. % Nse the Pla% utton in your pro'ect window to view the result : the first planes should disappear smoothly as shown in the exemple elow.
TT
TT
TT
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Study the rendering effects relative to the light : Lens-Flare, Volumetric Light, Healing Tracker, ... Study the rendering effects relative to the text : Simple text, Multiline text, Time Code Generator, ...
Note : The article Generator effect will be the main subject of the 1 th lesson.
The Lens Flare is an over%illumination effect seen through an o&tical lens. 'enerally encountered in the world of &hotogra&hy, it occurs when the image framed is excessively illuminated and when a non ade(uate lens is used. Several ty&es of lens flare are encountered: ring, strea)s, circles, * They are located along the straight line from the light source to the camera lens used. Sometimes the lens%flare effect obtained ta)es the sha&e of blades used as the lens dia&hragm +see drawing below,.
> Examples of the resulting Photo with a true Lens Flare effect Lens Flare effect (hexagonal effects
The larger the lens, the more the Lens Flares will be visible and the si-e is &ro&ortional to this lens +when using the -oom, for exam&le,. .e will now ta)e a closer loo) at the various o&tions &ro&osed for this effect in order to allow you to obtain results similar to those illustrated in the image above.
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.hen you choose the Lens-Flare effect in the !endering effects menu, the first &arameter to be entered is the osition of the light source and the lens. The first four numeric fields are used to adjust these &ositions. The Lens radius is measured in &ixels and is used as a reference for the si-e of future light interference effects you wish to create +ring, strea)s, circles...,. The Luminosit" &arameter controls the luminosity of all light interference visible on the screen. The &osition of the light source, lens and lens radius may also be adjusted with the H'(
The Lens Flare &o&u& menu creates various ty&es of lens flare effects: they may be of the Generic, Streaks or #mage ty&e. It is also &ossible to rename, du&licate or delete these effects at your convenience. 7nce a ty&e of lens flare has been created, its name a&&ears in the Lens Flare &o&u& menu. In the header of this menu you will find the name of the lens flare the &arameters of which are visible on the screen.
8ere are the various Lens Flare &arameters of the generic ty&e.
9ou may: % 2hange the Si$e of the Lens Flare: this value is a &ercentage of the lens si-e +the si-e that you have im&licitly chosen when setting the lens radius,. % 2hange the %&&set of the Lens Flare : in other words, modify the &osition of the lens flare in relation to the center of the lens and light source. 3n offset of 4 &laces your Lens Flare at the same level as the light source. 3n offset of 1 &laces the effect at the same level as the lens center. 3n offset of 4.5 &laces your Lens Flare in the middle of the two aforementioned &oints. It is also &ossible to use a negative offset or an offset greater than 1. % 2hoose single%color or gradient color artifacts +see below,.
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% :odify the &rofile of your artifact using the &rofile curve. This effect is constructed in the same way as we have already seen in lesson 0. 2orrectly setting the &rofile &arameters is essential if exce&tional results are to be obtained +see exam&les below,.
The )lade mode indicated above enables adjustment of all Lens Flares of the generic ty&e according to the dia&hragm blades of your virtual camera +see diagrams on &age 0 of this lesson,. It is very im&ortant to set its &arameters correctly if realistic results are to be obtained. 9ou may choose a )lade mode of the Circle ty&e +images above, or a user defined )lade mode +see next &age,.
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% 9ou may choose the )lade count for your virtual camera lens +see exam&les below, based on the various &rofiles described above,. $rom left to right: The lens dia&hragm of your camera is circular, with three blades, five blades and seven blades.
% 9ou may modify the Form &actor: .ith a factor of 4, the &oints are lin)ed to form a circle. .ith a factor of 1, the &oints are lin)ed by straight segments. .ith a factor of 0, the &oints are lin)ed by incoming arcs.
$rom left to right: 3ngles 4<, %15<, %64<, %;5<, %/4<, % 5<.
.hen re(uired, each Lens Flare of the generic ty&e may be given its own )lades mode different from the Glo+al blades mode described above. The latter is located at the bottom of the generic Lens Flare &arameters and offers the same o&tions.
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1 Streak t!pe Lens Flares =ven if the Lens Flares of the Streaks ty&e offer a com&letely different effect than the Generic lens Flares +see exam&les below,, the &arameters are nonetheless (uite similar. 9ou may therefore set the Si$e, %&&set, Color-s. and ro&ile in the same way as described on the &revious &ages. There are, however, several s&ecific o&tions which we will now ta)e a closer loo) at :
% The *ngle and !otation &arameters are used to rotate light interference effects.
% The Spokes &arameter is used to select the number of s&o)es in the strea)s +o&&osite from left to right the Spoke &arameter with the values 044, 54, and 04,
% The Minimum &arameter is used to adjust the contrast between the s&o)es. If this &arameter is set to 4, maximum contrast is obtained. If this &arameter is set to 1, minimum contrast is obtained . +o&&osite from left to right with contrast values 1, 4.5 and 4,
% The ,oise &arameter is used to adjust the shar&ness of the s&o)es: If this &arameter is set to 4, the s&o)es are less shar&. If this &arameter is set to 1, the s&o)es are more shar&. +o&&osite from left to right with noise values 1, 4.5 and 4,
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2ombined use of several ty&es of lens flares and light interference a&&lied to the same &oint in your &roject may create a very realistic effect. 7&&osite you will see two generic lens flares and one strea)ed lens flare to create a sun surrounded by a light halo.
Lens Flares of the #mage ty&e allow, as the name im&lies, selection of the image of your choice to create a lens flare. > This image, referred to as source image, may be a default image, a &roject dis&layed on the screen or even a file for which the access &ath must be given. > 9ou may set the Si$e, %&&set and *ngle &arameters as indicated for the lens flares discussed &reviously. > 9our image will be a&&lied as a lens flare on the current layer. This is &ossible in the various (ra/ing modes +color, behind, erase, etc., studied in lesson 0. 1 The Render order for lens flares The !ender order &o&u& menu offers the following four o&tions : " Creation0 your light artifacts are calculated and drawn by the &rogram in the order they were created +i.e. as they a&&ear in the lens%flare &o&u& menu, from to& to bottom,. " #n1ert. creation0 your light artifacts are calculated and drawn by the &rogram in the inverted order of creation +in the lens%flare &o&u& menu, from bottom to to&,. " Lens to light0 your light artifacts are calculated and drawn by the &rogram according to their offset in the direction #ens ?" #ight. > Light to lens0 your light artifacts are calculated and drawn by the &rogram according to their offset in the direction #ight ?" #ens. Ta)e the image ty&e artifacts illustrated below, for exam&le. @ased on their &osition in the Lens Flare &o&u& menu o&&osite, they were created in the following order: blue, then green, then red.
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8ere you have the effect obtained +for a&&lication in color mode, in the various cases:
#reation
$n%erted creation
Light to lens
Lens to light
1 The Lens Flare Obscuration layer #etAs assume our drawing is animated as indicated below: .hen the &lanet moves and the sun becomes visible, the Lens Flare effect becomes visible at the same time.
>>
>> In general, if an object of any )ind &asses in front of the light source, the lens flare tends to disa&&ear.
The %+scuration la"er &arameters above allow you to manage this &henomenon. > To do this, you must first define what is going to bloc) the light source. This may be an image or animation in a layer, &roject, brush, etc... + re, ost )eha1ior, *nimation Mode, osition will also be defined if necessary,. > The T"pe of obscuration to ta)e &lace when the effect is a&&lied must be indicated here: % The *lpha o&tion will bloc) the lens flare when an o&a(ue object &asses in front of the light source. % The #n1ert alpha o&tion will bloc) the lens flare when a trans&arent object &asses in front of the light source. % The !.G.) o&tion will modify the lens flare color so that it becomes identical to that of the object &assing in front of the light source. % The !.G.) 2 * o&tion functions in the same way as the !.G.) o&tion but also ta)es into account the o&acity of the &ixels in the same way as the *lpha o&tion. > .e generally obtain a Lens Flare effect when the lens of your camera is &ointed towards a very small and very bright light source.
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> This effect is used to light u& the image or se(uence of your choice as if using an exterior light source +light, &rojector*,. @y default, nothing is &resent in the list. The Lights menu may be used to create one or several lighting effects among the following categories: Spot, %mni and *m+ient. 3s soon as a lighting effect is created, you may du&licate, delete or rename it. The Lights menu dis&lays the name of the light whose &arameters are shown in the stac). If you wor) with several lights you may go from one to the other by selecting their names in the Lights menu. 8ere an overview of the different lighting ty&es:
> *m+ient lighting lights u& the scene globally in the color of your choice. Dalues under 144E will dar)en the image, values higher than 144E will brighten it.
> %mni lighting lights u& a circular area of your choice similar to a &rojector located on an axis &er&endicular to the image. The &arameters to be set are color, lighting intensity, center and radius of the circular area, as well as altitude of the virtual &rojector.
Omni '(D
Omni lighting
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> Spot lighting lights u& the image similar to a tilted &rojector. Two &osition &arameters are available for this mode, which allow you to adjust the &osition of the light source as well as its direction.
Spot '(D
Spot lighting
$or many of the &arameters described above, the settings may be made directly on the screen +donAt forget to dis&lay the H'(,. Spot and %mni lighting have a &rofile editor which wor)s similarly to that of the drawing tools +see lesson 0 for more details,.
Omni
Spot
profile
.ith the Light &o&u& menu it is &ossible to use several light sources +regardless of ty&e,, as well as to rename, duplicate or delete them. This is how our cave may be lit u& in various ways F
This Lighting effect only a&&lies to the o&a(ue &ixels of the current layer. To obtain the exam&les above it is therefore necessary to first merge the layers of our &roject.
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8ere is an exam&le : 2reate a new &roject et fill the current image with an o&a(ue blac) color. Set the bac)ground as Color in the Timeline. The bac)ground has to be white. Now &ut a TV aint *nimation ro logo in 3rase mode on this Image layer with the Text)rush tool, then change this layer to an 3nim layer with about twenty images. :a)e the Center setting move along a &ath from left to right. 9ou should get an animation similar to the one li)e the image se(uence on the left.
> The Volumetric Light effect re(uires to adjust the &osition setting of the light source and &ossibly its ath, its o/er and its Length. > 9ou can also define the light color, use a color gradient +li)e in the exam&le on the left, or even have a color that de&ends on the source image. 9ou can select one of these o&tions in the Color Source menu.
> 9ou can also define one of the various blend mode for this color through the )lend menu. The su+stitute mode is only available in this menu, erasing the source image &ixels +nearby a white o&a(ue logo on a trans&arent layer with a blac) bac)ground., > The Channel menu gives several others &ossibilities : #n1ert *lpha : #ighting comes from the image o&a(ue &ixels +see below for exam&le,. *lpha : #ighting comes from image trans&arent &ixels : thatAs whatAs ha&&ening in the exam&le above. Luminosit" 0 The more luminous a &ixel is, the more lightrays it will let go. !ed, Green, )lue 0 The more red +or green, or blue, com&onent a &ixel has, the more lightrays will go through it. In the source image on the left below, only the s)y and the green tree will emit lightrays when the +lue channel o&tion is selected. +The green tree color is &artially com&osed of blue.,
The effects of the !endering grou& 1/%11
)ource $mage
Luma channel
+lue channel
> The Shimmer section &ermits to generate interferences in the Dolumetric light : The Si$e setting is used to manage the distribution of these interferences. The *ngle and !otation ma)e these interferences &ivot and can give the feeling that the lightsource is rotating. The Variation setting accents the contrast between rays.
,ithout )himmer
,ith )himmer
The :as) section allows you to limit the lighting in a circle whose radius has to be defined.
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The !otoTracking effect is first of all a cut%out effect li)e the Chromake", Colorke" or Lumake" effect. It can also be used to animate drawings in way com&arable to those you can encounter in vector based animation softwares. 8ere is the &rinci&le of this effect : the !otoTracking use one or several closed s&lines +called @% s&lines, and allow you to change their sha&e in time, than)s to the )ey system of the $G%stac). 7nce the effect is a&&lied, the area inside or outside the s&line becomes trans&arent.
1 Two examples
This effect is very usefull when the other )eying effects are unable to cut%out a &icture or a movie se(uence &ro&erly. 7n the &icture below, we see a red s(uirrel wal)ing on red and brown leaves. 3s the leaves colors are very close to the s(uirrel color, the common )eying effects will not allow you to cut%out the s(uirrel correctly. In that case, it is advised to use the rototrac)ing effect
-riginal picture
>
.otoTrac/ing spline *pplied result
The !otoTracking allows also to draw and animate (uic)ly. The control &oints of the s&line can evolve softly from a &osition to another one. 3s a conse(uence, the sha&e of the whole s&line will evolve in time too. In the exam&le above, a dol&hin has been drawn with the rototrac)ing effect. The control &oints are colored in red and the @%s&line itself is colored in yellow. =very )ey dot can be animated in time. So it is for the whole s&line and thus the dol&hin. 8e can for exam&le move his tail to swim.
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.otoTrac/ing +-splines created for the first and the last image of the animation la!er0
8ere is the main difference between the rototrac)ing and a sim&le selection created with the main &anel tools : 7ur @%s&lines can evolve and change their sha&e in time.
#etAs now study the control &anel in detail : 8ere is the control &anel as it a&&ears when you add the !ototracking effect in the $G%stac). +see below,
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3t the to& of the &anel, the Spline &o&u& menu is used to create, rename, du&licate or delete @%s&lines. 7nce a first @%s&line is created, some new buttons and menus a&&ear. +The oint and )lending Mode menus, The effect can use several @%s&lines at the same time. The header of the menu contains the name of the @%s&line for which the o&tions are dis&layed in the &anel. =nable the Head 'p (ispla" and chec) the re1ie/ boxes of your $G%stac). 7nce the first &oint is drawn on the &roject window, new &arameters related to the &oints drawn in the screen a&&ear +position, edge, sharp,
To close the s&line that you just began to draw, you only have to clic) on the first &oint dis&layed on the screen.
Ho you remind @I-ier s&lines J .e encountered them in lesson 0 when we studied the drawing tools. @%s&lines and @I-ier s&lines are mathematically lin)ed. Try not to confuse those two )ind of s&lines : @I-ier s&lines go through their control &oints while @%s&lines donAt.
1 2anaging the opacit!
7nce the @%s&line is closed, the o&acity of the &ixel area outside the s&line becomes trans&arent after a&&lying the effect. The &ixel area inside the s&line stay the same. This being the case, the two o&acity &arameters allows you to modify the o&acity of any of those two areas. The numeric field on the to& of the control &anel allows you to set the o&acity of the &ixel area inside the @%s&line. The numeric field on the bottom of the &anel allows you to set the o&acity of the &ixel area outside the @%s&line. The in1ert button allows you to invert the effect : the area of &ixels outside the @%s&line will remain unchanged while the area of &ixels inside the @%s&line will become trans&arent.
3ormal
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1 Let8s now stud! the icons under the spline popup menu0
$rom left to right : The first icon allows you to &lace the control &oints of your @%s&line at your convenience. This icon is selected by default each time you create a new @%s&line. 9ou only have to use the left mouse button on the &roject window to lay your control &oints. 7nce a control &oint is created, the point menu dis&lays its number and its coordinates. +see below,
If you need to re%o&en a closed @%s&line, you only have to select the K again.
L icon :
This second icon allows to move a control &oint interactively on the &roject window. +donAt forget to dis&lay the 8MH,. To do this, just clic) and drag the control &oint. This may also be done by using the numeric fields and associated mini%sliders shown above. It is also &ossible to move several &oints at the same time : To do this, sim&ly use your left mouse button to draw a rectangle while &ressing the N2trlO )ey. 9ou will then be able to move at the same time all the &oints located in the rectangular area.
@y clic)ing on the little &adloc) buttons, it is &ossible to K loc) L your control &oints in s&ace so that they cannot be moved along the axis +or axes, of your choice. This enables, in &articular, avoiding untimely movement. The loc)ed &oints may be subject to animation )eys and intermediate &oints in time may be created from the loc)ed &oints. The animation )eys influence the &osition of the &oints in time and not in s&ace.
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The third icon allows to add new control &oints on the @%s&line. 7nce activated, you will note that if you drag your mouse near the @%s&line, a small cross a&&ears. +see below, It means that you can create a new control &oint.
The fourth icon allows to delete the control &oints of your @%s&line. 9ou only need to use the left mouse button on the &oint of your choice to do so. The fifth icon allows to modify the value of the edge of a &oint. To do so, you only have to select this icon and dragAn dro& a control &oint of your s&line. 9ou can also use the numerical field of the edge &arameter. +see below,
:odifying the edge &arameter for a control &oint allows to change the frontier that the @%s&line define. 3n o&acity gradient will follow the @%s&line +see below,. This is very convenient to cut a &icture more softly +as the tail of the s(uirrel below, The &ositive values create an o&acity gradient outside the @%s&line and the negatives values create o&acity gradients inside the @%s&line.
7n the o&&osite screenshot, the edge &arameters was used to cut out the tail of the s(uirrel.
7nce the edge &arameter is changed, the 8MH shows a blue s&line. The o&acity gradient is located between the yellow and the blue s&line and follow the sha&e of those two s&lines.
The sixth icon allows you to adjust the shar&ness of each &oint. +the numeric field and the associated mini%slider can re&lace the interactive 8MH, :odify the shar&ness is li)e changing the distance between the s&line and the selected control &oint. 3 value of 144 for the shar&ness &arameter will turn the s&line into a &ointed one. The @%s&line will follow the angle given by the vertex. +see below, This allows you to adjust the curvature of the @%s&line
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7n the left &icture, the shar&ness &arameter of the right%to& &oint of the s&line is set to 4. 7n the right &icture, the shar&ness &arameter of the right%to& &oint of the s&line is set to 144.
The seventh and last icon turn on the dis&lay of a control box which allows to do a lot of modifications directly on the &roject window +see below, 9ou may contract, stretch, rotate or translate the current @%s&line as a whole by using the handle of the box. +donAt forget to activate the 8MH,
Mse the NShiftO )ey with a drag action to translate the whole @%S&line
9ou could find annoying to create animation )eys for every s&line and every &oint of a s&line. +for exam&le, a five &oints s&line need almost 64 animation )eys to be created if you want to move it from a &lace to another one., ThatAs the reason why the animation ke" controllers have been added in the &anel. They are blac) encircled in the &icture o&&osite. The animation ke" controller near the spline &o&u& menu allows you to create an animation )ey for each &arameter of the s&line : &oints, o&acity, ... by using only one mouse clic). The animation ke" controller near the points &o&u& menu allows you to create an animation )ey for each &arameter of the &oint : &osition, shar&ness, edge, ... by using only one mouse clic).
1 ,or/ing with se%eral +-splines
It is &ossible to use several @%s&lines. To create a new @%s&line, &roceed in this way :
Select ,e/ )-spline in the &o&u& menu His&lay the 8MH and chec) the &review box add control &oints on the screen and close the @%s&line. set the &osition, edge and shar&ness &arameters for each &oints.
1/%1B
The last &o&u& menu of the !otoTracking effect &anel is called +lending mode.It is usefull when you manage more than one @%s&line If you use two s&lines +this is also true for more than two s&lines, : The add mode will add the o&acity of the two area of &ixels. The su+ mode will substract the o&acity of the current sha&e from the second one.
In those two last exam&les, the edge and shar&ness &arameters are ta)en into account.
#etAs ta)e a common @%s&line. The coordinates x and y of a control &oint define its &osition on the screen. Three o&tions are available in the inter&olation menu : spline, linear or pol"nomial. This affects the &ath of the control &oint in time. If you use the tool menu, its coordinates may follow the &ath of your choice. 9ou should of course use the pixel recorder, pixel tracker, etc ... which constitute an excellent way to manage the movement of control &oints in time. 7nce the effect is a&&lied, its sha&e and &arameters will go from a location to another one.
1/%1C
8ere is how it wor)s : on the image below, an unwanted floor lam& is visible. This effect will a&&ly the healing mode inside the @%s&line surrounding the floor lam&. So the floor lam& will disa&&ear. The healing source area can be recogni-ed by its uni(ue centered handle +the 8MH should be enabled,
> Note that the distance +offset, between the healing source area and the destination area of the effect +inside of the @%s&line, can be modified in time by using the animation )eys. Thoses two areas have always the same sha&e for a given image of the footage.
1/%04 The effects of the !endering grou&
Ta)e a loo) now at the video footage below : a &lane is flying slowly in the s)y, over the sea.
>>
1st image of the footage Last image of the footage
*ttached timeline .e will now examine in more detail how to su&&ress the va&or trail of the &lane. > $irstly, begin by selecting F5-stack as source se(uence of the Healing Tracker effect. > 7n the first frame of the footage, create a @%s&line surrounding the va&or trail. > Mse the animation ke" controllers on the right of the s&line menu to create a set of )eys for each &oint of your @%s&line. > 7n the last image of the footage, change the sha&e of your @%s&line in order to ma)e it surround the extended va&or trail. > Mse again the animation ke" controllers on your modified @%s&line. > :ove carrefully the healing source area by using the 8MH : the va&or trail should not be visible anymore. > If you slide along the timeline with the &review mode enabled in your $G%stac), the sha&e of your @%s&line should &rogressively change. > Then, you only have to select all the images of your layer and to a&&ly the effect.
>>
1st image of the footage (4:-stac/ pre%iew enabled last image of the footage
1/%01
It is also &ossible to su&&ress the clouds at the bottom of the footage : In order to have a good result, the healing source area needs to be an even section of the screen, without clouds.
> Some other s&ectacular renderings can be obtained if you use another &roject as source in the healing tracker effect. .ith some training, you should be able to obtain those results :
'ere is the final result < The sea has been replaced b! the clouds
The use of the edge &arameter for the &oints of your @%s&line is sometimes useful to have better results.
1/%00
enerator effect
The )ackground generator effect is used to create hori-ontal, vertical or four corner color gradients. These gradients are a&&lied to the current image as described in lesson 0. 9ou may choose any color you li)e as well as the o&acity and then have them change with time by creating animation )eys. @elow, you will find four exam&les of gradients used in Color, *dd, Tint or Su+tract mode. It is also &ossible to change the colors of clouds, &lanet, or even &lace the &lanet within a bluish atmos&here*
)ource image
)ource image
)ource image
)ource image
1/%06
> It is &ossible to wor) with one, two, three or four circles +see below,.
> 9ou can choose the way these waves will mix together. @elow you can find the modes :
*dd
Su+
Multipl"
(i1ide
Maximum
Minimum
*1erage
(i&&8rence
(istance > $inally, some settings related to color channels are also available : Glo+al &hase, !ed &hase, Green &hase, )lue &hase and *lpha &hase.
1/%0; The effects of the !endering grou&
9ou can : > adjust 9idth and Height of the generated sha&es, > mix these sha&es to the current image than)s to the Colori$e, Tint, Multipl" +,..., modes, > use a &ic)ed color, a gradient or the color from the current image, > change the com&lexity of the sha&es than)s to the %cta1e setting, > #n1ert the effect colors or change its %pacit".
-cta%e > 1
-cta%e > ?
-cta%e > 5
> The *ngle setting &ermits to adjust the angle made by the text +in relation to the hori-ontal line,, > The !otation setting can increase the *ngle value with a multi&le of 6/4, > The *lign menu allows you to change the &osition of the 8MH text handle : right, left, centered. There are still 6 tabs left : > The Font tab manage the &ixels of the text itself
> The +orders tab manage the &ixels of the borders of the text : you can adjust de thic)ness of the border,.
> The Shado/ tab can create a shadow for the text : the *ngle and (istance settings give the &osition of the shadow,.
In each tab, blur settings can be adjusted and there are three filling ty&es available : > fill with a &ic)ed color +you will be able to change its o&acity,. See the first exam&le of this &age > fill with a color gradient +you will be able to adjust its angle,.
> fill with a texture you will have to define +current image, s&are image, brush, &a&er, etc...,.
1/%0/
TDPaint 3nimation Pro can use non%occidental fonts li)e chinese, ja&anese, arabic fonts, ...
3fter this choice, your text is dis&layed on the screen. Two )ind of 8.M.H are available for this effect. The &arameters directly adjustable on the screen de&ends on the 8.M.H selected : > angle, si-e and &osition on the screen for the position H.'.( > the text itself for the text H.'.(
Several )inds of 8MH handle alignments are available by using the nine buttons below :
1/%0
9our text lines may be hori-ontally centered, left justified or right justified.
9our text lines may be vertically centered, to& or bottom justified. +here below the text was firstly rotated at C4<,
The three last buttons allow you to set the hori-ontal andQor vertical offset between the text lines. Note that the unit is the &ixel. +It is also &ossible to use negative numbers of &ixels.,
It is &ossible to set or animate each line of the whole text by using the same method than encountered in the !endering 4 simple text effect. The framed area of the $G%stac) below shows the font, &osition, border, shadow ... &arameters discussed in the &revious cha&ter. 3t the to& of the &anel, the line &o&u& menu is used to create, rename, du&licate or delete lines. The header of the menu contains the name of the line for which the o&tions are dis&layed in the &anel.
1/%0B
It is &ossible to create animation )eys for all &arameters of every line by using the control )ey located next to the line &o&u& menu. #etAs now study the animation &o&u& menu : > The roll o&tion allows you to move your text lines from the bottom to the to& of the &roject window. > The crawl o&tion allows you to move your text lines from the left to the right of the &roject window. The &rogress of those o&tions can be set by using the position &arameter. The extreme values : 4E and 144E ma)es the text lines disa&&ear from the screen. 3 value of 54E corres&onds to the initial &osition of the text lines on the the &roject window.
enerator effect
This effect dis&lays the time code of the current image in the current layer at the &osition of your choice. Three modes are available: > Current &roject mode du&licates the timeline data in number of frames or time code de&ending on the selections made +Frame or Time Code refer to lesson ;,. > Free run mode is used to define the &arameters to be ta)en into account for the entire current layer inde&endent of the timeline: 9ou must therefore s&ecify the &osition of the first frame, the number of frames &er second and the dis&lay +frame or time code in hours, minutes, seconds and frame number,. The #n1ert o&tion is used to create a count%down effect. > 'ser de&ined mode wor)s in the same way as Free run mode with the sim&le difference that all frames of the layer have inde&endently set &arameters than)s to the use of the animation )ey system. !egardless of the mode chosen, the second section of the &anel enables: > selection of the Font of your choice, > Si$e variation, > setting of osition &arameters for the current &roject, > modification of font and bac)ground Color and *lpha.
1/%0C
7&&osite, an exam&le of an a&&lication with the current frame number in blac) with a gray bac)ground.
enerator effect
The !endering 4 attern Generator effect allows to dis&lay the classical video &atterns on screen :
+ar 166
+ar @5
+ar A pluge
+ar A red
+ar )2TPE
=re! step 16
=re! step 5
=re! ramp
1/%64
To create a particles system. To modify a particles system. To use a particles system in order to add special effects to your videos or put the finishing touches to your animations.
Let's study them more closely: # $og and fountain are made of fine water droplets: they are suspended in the air and more or less opa"ue in the case of the fog% they are pro ected into the air by a source and fall back with the force of gravity in the case of the fountain. # &un and fireworks are respectively composed of helium, hydrogen and various chemical products. The latter are concentrated in a ball for the sun or e!pelled into the atmosphere in the case of fireworks. # &moke is also composed of various chemical products, generating different types of smoke. 's it is very light it is not sub ect to the force of gravity and moves with the wind. The tennis ball, however, bounces several times before coming to a standstill and the wind has little influence on it. In each case, we deal with ( particles ) in the broader sense of the word: water droplets, chemical products, tennis ball, etc. These particles move and are affected by the force of gravity, the power of wind or air resistance, etc. They may bounce or come from several places at once. The place or places where the particles come from are referred to as (emitters ). T*Paint 'nimation Pro does not only make it possible to draw such particles but also to manage their movement using the parameters described previously. This offers considerable time saving when creating animations and other special effects +drawing and animating the particles one after the other would re"uire months of work,-. .ou have understood already that it is the effect referred to as Rendering > Particles Generator which will help us succeed in this matter.
Learn by example
.ou will very "uickly notice that the particles generator is an effect which offers a wide range of options. /enerally, you need to learn how to set : 0 the parameters of the world +or universe- in which the particles will move: wind, gravity, collision, 0 The parameters of the particle emitter+s-: movement, angle, rotation, 0 The particle parameters: life span, velocity, number, opacity, The multitude of parameters is so vast that it may discourage the beginner. $or this reason and for didactic purposes, numerous pre#defined e!amples have been included in this program to help you master this powerful drawing tool. 1any users use them as a model to introduce the particles into their own creations. These pre# defined e!amples, sometimes referred to as presets, are accessible via the Bin FX menu.
23#4 The Rendering > Particles Generator effect
The Bin FX menu appears as illustrated opposite: .ou are already familiar with the functions Add, &oad and Sa'e: they are present for each effect available in T*Paint 'nimation Pro. =owever, the functions Browse and Presets are new.
5hoosing Browse opens a window that is specific to the particles generator +see below-. In the popup menu you may choose a pre#defined e!ample from the following categories: cartoon, isc, nature, o!"ects, party, pyrotechnic, sci#$i, te%t, water. +:sing the; and < buttons you may scroll from one e!ample to another.7hen you have chosen an e!ample, its name will appear in the header of the popup menu and you may observe the changes made to the particle system directly in the window.
Two bo!es may be checked in order to improve the "uality of the particle animation depending on the power of your computer: Full Quality and AAliasing. If a pre#defined e!ample is close to the result you wish to obtain for your pro ect, you may choose to set the parameters of the particles generator according to this e!ample. To do this, ust click on the Copy to FX button then close the window above. 6ow you study the e!ample in detail and modify it to your needs. 7e will come back to this process to illustrate some situations.
The names in the lower levels are sub#tabs. $or e!ample, the particles tab has two sub tabs : Current and Shape.
23#9
Two preview options are offered in the (orld tab: the Bounding !o% check bo! and the Quic) pre'iew button. # The Bounding !o% check bo! is used to display a colored rectangle around the particles present in the current pro ect window when the preview button of the $> stack is enabled. The particles going out of the pro ect which are susceptible to come back under the influence of certain factors +wind, gravity, etc.- are also framed.
'lthough this option may render the preview a bit complicated when many particles are on the screen, it is very useful to distinguish the position of low#opacity particles. # The Quic) Pre'iew button displays a window very similar to the one which allows you to choose a predefined set of particles. =ere, you cannot select a predefined e!ample and any parameter modification within your effect will have a direct impact on the animation shown to you.
23#?
This is very useful to interactively view and modify a particle animation before applying the effect to all frames of a layer. This button is present in all other tabs and sub#tabs of the particles generator effect. The Seed parameter is used to generate a random particle emission using calculation algorithms. This parameter enables changing the rendering so that two effects which would be identical elsewhere are different. &elect the pre#defined e!ample +water >water "et* and copy it to the particles generator +see left-. In this e!ample, our particles are water droplets pro ected from right to left. Dpen the "uick preview window. 7e will be able to study the influence of the various parameters available in the (orld tab on the movement of the latter.
The Gra'ity parameter is used to take the earth's gravity into consideration during particle movement. # 7hen the gravity is increased to, e.g. a value of 2@ , the water droplets will fall to the ground faster, because the distance between the emitter +water et origin- and the drop point is shorter.
# Aecreasing the value to @.B will increase the distance traveled by the droplets. The distance between the point where the droplets are emitted and the drop point is longer.
# 7hen the gravity is set to Cero, there is no gravity and the water droplets will follow a straight tra ectory.
# T*Paint 'nimation Pro offers the possibility to work with negative gravity values, which has the effect that the force of gravity may be inverted +the water droplets will then go up-. This is useful in certain cases, for e!ample, to represent metal particles drawn by a magnet.
23#B
In order for the force of gravity to have an impact on our particles, it is necessary to attribute a (eight to them. 7e will come back to this when we talk about the specific particle parameters. Let's take a look at the pre#defined e!ample +o!"ects > popcorn*: the popcorn kernels are our particles and they move vertically to the top before falling back under their own weight. The parameters Angle, Rotation and (ind strength allow you to simulate the impact the wind has on the particles +see e!amples below-, and to make them more or less move in a direction of your choice +wind with a negative value affects the particles in a direction opposite to the one you have chosen-.
Wind = 0
Wind = 100
Wind = - 200
6ote that using animation keys will allow you, if necessary, to change the direction of the wind in time as well as its strength +to avoid creating a wind that is too uniform-. The Alpha Collision menu is similar to the Source tab studied in lesson 2? when using the ,ey$ra er. 7e will not go back to the concepts Source, Pre#Beha'ior, Ani ation, Post#Beha'ior and -$$set. There is, however, a functional difference: when the Alpha Collision bo! is checked, the particles will take into consideration the shape of the image+s- selected by you as source and, in case of a collision with one of them, bounce off them. Araw a slope with an angle of appro!imately 9@E with the horiContal line on all images of a layer with 24@ images. In the particles generator, choose the pre#defined e!ample: +o!"ects > apples*, check the Alpha Collision bo! and then select FX stac) as source. To finish, apply your effect.
>
>
>
.ou will note that the apples bounce off the surface that you have ust drawnF This may be taken even further as the surface on which the particles bounce may evolve in time +for this, you have to choose an animated source-. It is even possible to modify the height of the particle bounce, as we shall see later.
23#G
8elow, you find two summary illustrations for the tra ectory of any ob ect.
23#3
The following emitters may be chosen : ' point +see pre#defined e!ample sci#$i > gala%ywarp-, a line +see pre#defined e!ample o!"ects > tetris-, a rectangle +see pre#defined e!ample nature > la'a or cartoon > eyes-, an ellipse... These are the various =:A displayed according to the chosen emitter:
Point
Line
Rectan le
!llipse
The center of the emitters is shown in green, its shape is marked by red dots. The purple handles describing the shape of circular arcs indicate the angle at which the particles are pro ected. 7e will study them in detail when discussing the . itter > Current tab. 8elow, the smoke coming from the steam engine was created using a Point type emitter.
These particle emitters are, of course, virtual. If you use the particles generator effect for animating water coming out of a fountain or tap, or smoke coming from a steam engine, you ust have to draw the fountain, tap, steam engine, It is possible to work with several emitters, placed where you want. The . itter popup menu will facilitate your task as it offers you the possibility to Create, Rena e, /elete and /uplicate emitters +note that the name of the emitter you are working on is displayed in the header of the popup menu-. :sing several emitters may be useful when, for e!ample, you wish to animate a building starting to burn: with several emitters, fire and smoke may come from several windows or chimneys with varying intensity +see below-.
23#H
'll these types of emitters have a center that you may place wherever you wish using the >, . and I coordinates +the ( I ) coordinate is used to set the depth parameter as you have already seen when studying the ,ey$ra er-. The 0ools and 1nterpolation +&inear, Spline or Polyno ial- popup menus are used to define the path to be followed by your emitter source in time. 8y clicking on the little padlock buttons, it is possible to ( lock ) your emitters in space so that they cannot be moved along the a!is +or a!es- of your choice. This enables, in particular, avoiding untimely movement. The locked points may be sub ect to animation keys and ( intermediate ) points in time may be created from the locked points. The animation keys influence the position of the points in time and not in space. The Angle option is used to point the emitter in the direction of your choice. It is also possible to turn your emitter using the animation key system. The Rotation parameter is used to manage rotations of more than 9G@E.
&ome settings, not shown above, are specific to the emitter you choose to work with. Aepending on the emitter chosen these are: length of the line, length and width of the rectangle, siCe of the two ellipse a!es. .ou will note that, once the emitter is created, two tabs appear: the Current tab and the Particles tab.
23#J
'll particles appear, move along the screen and then disappear again. The time the particles move is referred to as the &i$e span of the particles. The &i$e parameter is used to ad ust the particle life span in seconds: # it is short for fireworks : party > agic candle # it may also be long: nature > $og. The 2u !er parameter contains the number of particles emitted per second: # if re"uired, this parameter may be very high: pre#defined e!ample +sci#$i > gala%ywarp# or reduced : pre#defined e!ample +o!"ect > dice* ' decimal number enables emission of a very small number of particles. $or e!ample, a setting of @.9 generates a particle every 9 seconds, a setting of @.@2 generates a particle every 2@@ seconds. 7hen the Single bo! is checked and one particle has been emitted, no other particle will be emitted before the last particle has reached the end of its life, whether it is still on the screen or not. The pre#defined e!ample +o!"ect > gol$ shot- is ideal for testing this option. Let's assume that the &i$e span of our gol$ !all particle corresponds to the time it spends in the air +once the ball has landed, it is no longer possible to see it in the sky and it is too far away from the field of view to see it on the grass from afar-. If you check the Single bo!, a new golf ball will be shot only when the first ball has landed, independent of the fact whether the latter has left the screen on its tra ectory or not +and even re# entered it on the same tra ectory , see below-.
&hooting the second ball when the first has landed +i.e. at the end of its life ,-. The 2u !er o$ Points is only valid with the emitters line, rectangle and ellipse. It is used to distribute the areas from which the particles are emitted along the contours of the emitter you are using. 8elow, the particles of the pre#defined e!ample +party > stage lights* are used with a &ine type emitter then with an .llipse type emitter.
23#2@
&ine type emitter $rom top to bottom : Point parameter L @ or 2 Point parameter L 9 Point parameter L B
' parameter referred to as &in) to e itter is present in this tab: it is used to define whether the particles will follow an emitter or not when it moves along the path chosen by you. 2st e!ample: a steam engine was drawn on the screen. The ,ey$ra er effect was used to simulate steam engine movement from left to right. ' Pi%el trac)er was used to create a path which follows the engine's chimney. Therefore, when the train moves, an emitter following this path will always be at chimney level. In the images below, the smoke particles are linked with the emitter which is the engine's chimney set at 2@@K. The movement of the smoke is not natural.
>> In this drawing, the parameter &in) to e itter is 4BK. This time, the smoke movement is correct.
>> 4nd e!ample: the beacons below, as they are particles, are necessarily linked to their emitter: the roof of the police car. They move at the same time as the car when it is driving. The &in) to e itter is therefore 2@@ K.
23#22
The most simple are 3elocity and Si4e: any pre#defined e!ample may be used to study these two notions. The parameters (eight and Bounce are more subtle : # The (eight of a particle has an influence on its movement if the Gra'ity parameter in the (orld tab is not set to Cero: the heavier a particle, the more the force of gravity will accentuate its movement. The lighter it is, the less effect the force of gravity will have. ' (eight of Cero has the result that the particle is not sub ected to the force of gravity. If you place the pre#defined e!ample +nature > sun* in the stack and then modify the gravity parameter, you will note that this has no influence on particle movement. # The Bounce parameter is used to set the particle bounce strength +the Alpha Collision bo! of the (orld tab must be checked and a collision source chosen,-. 8elow: the Bounce of a tennis ball thrown left to right for different parameter values: HB, 2@@ and 22B +note that values over 2@@ cause unnatural bounces relative to the laws of physics,-
# The Friction parameter is set to slow the particles down. If the particles move through the air +which is most often the case-, we are dealing with air resistance. The latter is low and a parameter set at a value close to Cero will be sufficient. There are, however, other situations : let's assume that the balls are thrown at floor level. These balls will slow down and stop due to the friction of the floor. If the same balls are thrown on a lawn, they will be stopped even faster.
23#24
The pre#defined e!ample +o!"ects > dice* also provides an interesting case: by increasing the Friction parameter to 2H@, and due to the fact that the particles grow smaller in siCe during their life span, one gets the impression that the dice roll on a surface and, after a certain limit, fall into a void. # The -pacity parameter is used to set particle transparency. This is very useful, for e!ample, when you are animating soap bubbles: these wouldn't be perfectly opa"ue, # The 5otion Rando ness parameter controls the movement of imperfect particles and accentuates the realistic aspect of the particle et. It is used, for e!ample, to create an uneven fog, movement of bubbles in the air, smoke, etc. This parameter is used to avoid having to create too many animation keys which would be re"uired to render a tra ectory uneven. This parameter comes into its own with the 3ariation parameter described hereafter. The pre#defined e!ample +party > popcorn* uses this method. # The Spin parameter controls particle movement around its local a!is +the latter is defined in the 6andle popup menu of the Shape tab which will be discussed below,Its use may provide various results. 's re"uired, study the pre#defined e!amples +o!"ects > dice* and +o!"ects > tetris-. # The Align parameter, if enabled, acts on the rotation parameter and directly turns the particles according to their tra ectory. &ee below : two particle ets with and without alignment.
'll parameters studied have the parameters 3ariation and Pro$ile to their left.
The profile preset is used to vary a parameter +Si4e, 3elocity, -pacity, Bounce, etc. - during the life span of a particle. 5lick on one of the profile icons +circled in black in the e!ample opposite- to open a traditional profile window. 7e have already seen these when studying the drawing tools.
23#29
Let's take the pre#defined e!ample +pyrotechnic > s o)etrail* shown opposite. The three circled profiles below are those used in this e!ample. .ou will note that the particle behavior and profile siCe and opacity are well balanced: 0 The smoke particles are small close to the emitter source and become bigger as the smoke dissipates in the air. 0 The smoke particles are opa"ue at the beginning +yellowish# orange areas- and become transparent at the end +red#black areas-.
' parameter with the profile indicated opposite does not vary during the period the particles are displayed and remains at the value you have chosen. The 3ariation represented by the 3 button is used to render the parameter with which it is associated more or less random. M18 click on the 3 icon to enter a numeric value in this field. $or e!ample, if the particles Si4e parameter is set at B@, a 3ariation with a value of 4B means that each particle emitted will have a random siCe ranging from 4B to 3B. In the e!ample given above + isc > plu e$ury-, the variation function was used to attribute the particle Si4e, Spin and &i$e random values. 5ombined with the 5otion rando ness parameter and correctly used, the 3ariation function provides e!cellent results. It is almost impossible to tell that a computer was used to create this effectF
23#2?
The Source popup menu is used to select either a default particle +circular with an opacity level decreasing towards the edges- or an image of your choice. 7hen re"uired, the image may be a brush, animated brush or current pro ect. In the case of brushes, you may select it using the file re"uester.
The Anti#aliasing option allows you to finaliCe the general aspect of the particles. 7e have already discussed this when studying the drawing tools +lesson 4 and lesson 3-. The 6andle menu works in the same way as that encountered when studying the brush and animated brush tools. It defines the particle a!is which is the reference a!is when a spin is imposed on the particle. .ou may choose a handle located in the center of the particle +more precisely, in the center of the 67/ rectangle surrounding it- or in one of the four corners of the latter. 's a last resort, you may even place the handle manually. The 6andle is also used as a reference point when calculating collisions. $urthermore, if you need to calculate a collision, it may be wise to place the handle elsewhere than in the center of the particles in order to obtain better results +see diagrams below-.
23#2B
7hen the Source chosen is an animated brush, the Ani ation popup menu is used to set the order in which the source images appear on the screen: # The 2one option authoriCes display of the 'nim8rush's first frame only. # The -nce option is applied to each frame of the animated brush one after the other and stops at the last. # The &oop option is also applied to each frame of the animated source one after the other, but starts a new cycle each time it reaches the last frame and so on until the particle dies +see predefined e!ample: o!"ects > coin$ountain-. # The Rando and &oop option randomly selects a start frame amongst the frames making up the animated source, then repeats these source frames in order starting from the selected frame. 7hen the source footage has come to an end, it starts again +see predefined e!ample: cartoon > eyes-. # The Ping pong option is used to first repeat the animated source frames in a rising order. Dnce the last frame is attained, it repeats the frames in a descending order and so on until the end of the particle lifespan. # The Rando option is used to display the animated source frames randomly. # The Rando at start option is used to display the animated source frames randomly for each particle, and then to keep it until the end of the particle life span +see predefined e!ample: o!"ects > tetris-. # The Particle age option varies the source frame displayed according to the age of its particle. 'll animated source frames are displayed once during the particle lifespan. # 7ith the Particle direction option the animated source frame chosen depends on the direction of the source in space. ' coin thrown into the air, for e!ample, will show one side on the way up and another on the way back down to the ground. # 7ith the Generator8s direction option the animated source frame chosen depends on the angle formed between the particles generator and the horiContal plane +see above in the chapter . itters tab page 3 with e!amples line, point, rectangle or ellipse-. # 7ith the . itter direction option the animated source frame chosen depends on the angle formed between the particles emitter and the horiContal plane +see below in the chapter . itters9Current tab, page 2H-.
23#2G
The Blend popup menu is used to choose the mode to be used when drawing the particles on the screen +color, !ehind, erase, etc,-. Mefer to the predefined e!ample +nature > sun- for an e!ample of how to use the Add mode. In lesson 4 you were given a detailed description of the drawing modes available in T*Paint 'nimation Pro +the Su!stitute and 5i% modes refer to the modes encountered when using a spare image-. The Color source popup menu is used to modify the particles' color: # The Color option is used to give a tint of your choice to the particles +use the Color bo! and Alpha parameter-. 'n Alpha value of 2@@K will totally change the natural color of the particles. # The Gradient option is used to modify the color of particles emitted based on a color gradient +refer to the predefined e!amples: party > $irewor)s or isc > wor a-. # The 5ode menu contains some of the options already seen in the Ani ation menu above. =owever, these options do not apply to all consecutive elements of an animated brush, but to the colors of your particles in accordance with the color gradient chosen. The color gradients chosen to be applied to your particles will depend on the choices you make in this menu. In the e!ample +party > $irewor)scold* the particles' color covers the entire color spectrum of your particles for as long as they live. In the e!ample +party > stage lights* the particles' color is chosen randomly and kept as long as the particles live.
The Acti'e button either displays or hides the emitter named in the . itters popup menu +of course, your particle settings are retained-. This function will render your task easier when working with several emitters at the same time and a large number of particles are displayed on the screen. In order to understand the way the parameters described below work, we recommend you make full use of the Quic) pre'iew window.
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The Pre#Render parameter displays the particles on the screen after the number of seconds entered here have timed out. Let's go inside the framework of a typical set of particles +pyrotechnic > s o)etrailc-. &etting the pre#render value to 2@ seconds will ensure you do not see the outset of the flames as they will already be well developed right from the beginning of the animation. The Range parameter is used to define the emitter opening angle. The particles bundle will then be emitted within the arc defined. The Angle and Spin parameters are used to define the /irection in which the particles are e ected +see opposite-.
&ome e!amples:
Ao not confuse /irection o$ e itter and /irection o$ the !undle of particles from the emitter. In the e!ample opposite: the emitter is a straight line at an angle of ?BE +obli"ue- and the direction of particles emitted is #J@E +to bottom right- with an opening angle of 2E.
The 2ew $irst check bo!, when checked, ensures that newly emitted particles are displayed in front of the older particles. The result obtained with the predefined e!ample +te%t > titre:- is similar to this option:
'll other parameters: 2u !er, &i$e, Si4e, 3elocity, (eight, Bounce, Friction, -pacity, 5otion rando ness and Spin are the same as those encountered in the . itters > Particles > Current tab.
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=owever, in this case we are dealing with (master) controllers: they are set as a percentage and have a direct influence on all particles of the emitter at the same time. This is e!tremely practical when you wish to increase or decrease the siCe of all particles at the same time without modifying the siCe value for each type of particle emitted. This also eliminates the need for numerous calculations for each operation. The use of animation keys with the master controllers often allows you to save a great deal of time. To finish off, you may have noticed the animation key controllers ne!t to the . itters and Particles popup menus. These are used to create animation keys for all parameters of the emitter or particle named in the popup menu header at the same time.
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Create customised windows. Use the plug-ins at your disposal. Use the macro scripting language George .
Customized windows
Customized windows
It is possible to create your own customized panels and icons in !"aint #nimation "ro to adapt the inter$ace to your needs. o access the customized windows o$ !"aint #nimation "ro, clic% on the button encircled in the Tool bar below.
he customized windows are similar to those shown opposite: numerous icons are represented and each o$ them has a speci$ic $unction. &y de$ault, when you create a new customized window, the latter is empty but we will e'plain how to $ill it later on.
# newly created panel is as shown in the image opposite and will be re$erred to as Tool Bar by de$ault.
# ()& clic% in an empty area o$ a customized window will open the menu shown opposite.
he $ollowing options are a*ailable : + Grab Current tool allows you to sa*e your current tool with all its settings and connections: airbrush, penbrush, custombrush, etc ... his action creates a button in the current panel. he icon o$ this button is the one o$ the tool grabbed and it pro*ides $ast access to the pre*iously grabbed tool. ,ote that the option to grab the current tool is also accessible by simply pressing the button o$ the Tool Bin panel which is present by de$ault. + Grab the current tool with colors has the same e$$ect as the pre*ious operation e'cept that the tool is sa*ed with the # and & colors de$ined at the moment o$ grabbing. his option is also accessible *ia the button o$ the Tool Bin panel. + Add Action or series o$ actions. + Add new line of icons to be $illed. + Add vertical and/or horizontal separators between your icons -clic% with the right button on the latter to remo*e them ....
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Customized windows
Adding an action
#dding an action is done using the panel at the bottom le$t o$ this page : + Using the $irst two te't $ields you may de$ine a name and in-line help comment $or your $uture customized $unction . + he buttons and menus List, Tool and A color allow you to choose the icon corresponding to the action you will create.
2pposite you $ind the list o$ icons supplied with !"aint #nimation "ro. o create a new icon, you simply ha*e to create a brush with its image and select the Tool button.
+ he numbered lines are the actions to be carried out one a$ter the other when you clic% on the icon corresponding to your $unction.
#bo*e you $ind the e'ample o$ an action which selects all images o$ the current layer, $lips them and copies them all to a new layer.
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Customized windows
+ 5ou may call up a George automation script. + 4elect a script command -$or e'ample : !89ayer#nim, !8Circle, !8#irbrush, etc .... George "cripts and commands will be discussed $urther in this lesson.
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Customized windows
In the second sub-menu you may : + *ew tool bar -you may create an unlimited number.. + Load a new tool bar $rom its .bin $ile. + +iew the name o$ the custom windows *isible on the screen.
his last sub-menu is used to: + "ave a customized window in order to re-use it later. + %elete one o$ the customized windows that you ha*e <ust sa*ed.
I$ you sa*e the con$iguration, your custom windows sa*ed under the Bin menu will still be present when re-starting !"aint #nimation "ro. his being the case, a reset will delete these settings. (emember to e'port the custom window you need the most.
5ou may also de$ine a %eyboard shortcut $or each action created using the %eyboard shortcuts panel >
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Aach te't $ield o$ the Color ,actor$ panel describes one component -(,G,& or #lpha. and can contain a mathematical $ormula. he new *alues o$ those components will be calculated regarding the $ormulas you ha*e entered -the #lpha component indicates the opacity o$ the pi'els.. he *ariables that you can use in your $ormulas are listed in the table below -all in low case. : The varia#les $ r !alue o$ the #ed component o$ the pi'el g !alue o$ the Green component o$ the pi'el # !alue o$ the Blue component o$ the pi'el a !alue o$ the Alpha component o$ the pi'el % ' coordinate o$ the pi'el y y coordinate o$ the pi'el w :idth o$ the current pro<ect h @eight o$ the current pro<ect #nd here are listed the arithmetic operators : Arithmetic &perators ( add ) substract * multiply + di*ide '%amples $ /0 ( 3 B 1/ /0 ) C B /1 /0 + 3 B ?= /0 + 3 B C
It is possible to use parentheses , - in order to set priorities in your calculations. I$ you donDt use them, the Color ,actor$ plug-in will e*aluate the operations $rom the le$t to the right. 6or instance : /E1+3 B F /E-1+3. B G
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@ere are a $ew e'amples using the Color ,actor$ plug-in. + 9etDs begin with a classic image without any modi$ication :
+ &elow, the red and blue components o$ the landscape ha*e been in*erted : the s%y turned into orange and the road turned $rom red to blue. he green component stay unchanged.
+ he Color ,actor$ plug-in can also be used to create nice color gradients. here$ore, the $ormulas on the right panel below are more complicated.
+ &elow, simple additions ha*e been done with the red and green color channels in*erted.
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+ @ere is the last e'emple : #n opacity gradient $rom the top right to the bottom le$t o$ the image.
The Canon plug"in ,PC onlyhe Canon plug-in allows the user to retrie*e photos $rom a Canon digital camera and to put them directly into a !"aint #nimation "ro layer. his plug-in is *ery con*enient $or the animator who want wor% in stop-motion directly with the so$tware. @ere are the steps to use the Canon Plugin with !"aint #nimation "ro : + :hat is reHuired : - he Canon dri*er o$ your camera must be correctly installed in your system. -)icroso$t :indows only at this time. - 5ou should ha*e a compatible Canon camera -see the list in #ppendi'. powered and plugged to an U4& port o$ your computer. - 5ou ha*e to set your camera in pla$bac& mode. IonDt use the shooting mode as it does not allow to manage your camera *ia the computer.
@ow to ma%e it wor% : - 9aunch !"aint #nimation "ro - 2pen the +ideo Grabber panel. -It is accessible in the -indows main menu . - In the de*ice list, choose your Canon camera - i$ other de*ices are listed . - @it the settings button to access the second panel, in which you ha*e to ad<ust your grab settings. - Choose Appl$ in current La$er in the menu : so it will append the new image <ust a$ter the current one in the current layer. - :hen you thin% it loo%s $ine in the little pre*iew, hit the Grab 'nput button.
/0-0 he ad*anced $unctions o$ ! "aint #nimation "ro
- # sound should ring out as soon as the picture as been transmitted. -see pre*ious page. @ere are some use$ul tips : + o pre*iew the ne't-to-shoot image -low-res. $inder pre*iew. o*er your last grabbed $rame : - Anable the J!K button o$ the pro<ect window, - Change the !i) parameter *alue. It is a percentage o$ *isibility between the *ideo and current$rame. -see below.
It is ad*ised to use the e$$ects : Ley M ChromaLeyer to delete the colored bac%ground behind your characters. (endered M @ealing rac%er to remo*e all the small imper$ections o$ your images. 5ou can also shoot an empty bac%ground and put it as image layer behind the current animation layer. #$ter this operation, you should be able, than%s to the erase drawing mode, to remo*e all the crutches, wedges, wires ... that you used. + I$ you want to grab a picture inside an e'isting seHuence o$ images : - &egin by selecting the image that you want to change in the timeline. - Anable the displa$ with video parameter. - Change the .i) parameter *alue in order to compare the e'isting image with the camera pre*iew. - 2nce you are satis$ied, clic% on the Grab 'nput button. - he grabbed image is then replacing the selected image.
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+ o pre*iew your animation using the LightTable, set the 9ayer opacity to hal$ -or a bit less., set the pre*ious $rame color to none, and twea% the le*el sliders o$ the /, 1, 3, ...?, C pre*ious $rames to ma%e them *isible. -see below. 2$ course, you can ha*e a display with the *ideo and the 9ight able enabled simultaneously.
It is ad*ised always to close your !ideo Grabber and !ideo Canon panels be$ore Huitting the so$tware.
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2ur :a*e6orm "lug-in allows the audio*isual pro$essionals to use their classical tools. han%s to this "lug-in, it is now easy to chec% the integrity o$ a signal, manage calibration and colorimetric ad<ustments, control the *alidity o$ numerical signals, ... he popup menu alllows you either to select : + # Composite :a*e6orm monitor + # Componant :a*e6orm monitor + # !ector4cope he monitors at you disposal in this :a*e6orm "lug-in act as i$ all layers o$ the current picture where merged.
@ere are some options relati*e to the di$$erent displays at your disposal : + he !ector4cope can use two calibration sets : G? O and /NN O + he component :a*e6orm monitor can use the (,G,& or 5,U,! systems. + he composite :a*e6orm monitor can use luminance and;or chrominance signal-s.. 9etDs now e'plain the other options : + It is possible to set the lu!inosit$ o$ the display than%s to a mini-slider. + he reticule button allows to show or hide the di$$erent a'is and channels. + he appl$ button allows to copy on the current image the results obtained in the :a*e6orm "lugin panel. + I$ the transparency button is chec%ed, the blac% bac%ground will not appear when using the appl$ button.
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hose George "cripts are in $act usual #4CII te't $iles and ha*e a P.grgQ e'tension. It is possible to edit or create them with any te't editor li%e *otepad $rom .icrosoft -indows or Te)t (dit $rom )ac O" / he scripts are in theory wor%ing on the both standards "C and )acintosh, whate*er the computer was used to create them. o use one o$ the George "cripts at your disposal, <ust $ollow the steps below: open a custom panel create a new button on this panel select the action: -select a script- $or this button select a $ile with a P.grgQ e'tension in the $ile reHuester 2nce $inished, i$ you clic% on the <ust created button, the George "cript will then be launched.
#t e*ery moment, you can stop the e'ecution o$ a George "cript by using the JAscK %ey. # window, indicating on which line the e'ecution o$ the script was stopped, should popup. 2nce a George "cript has $inished its programmed tas%s, the 0ndo option o$ the !"aint #nimation "ro main panel allows to cancel all the changes it has generated.
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A#ove$ the results of the scripts$ #utton 64 Long4 Cloc74 6surface and Polystar
# $ew George "cript are more complicated and some reHuesters may appear. It is the case with the George "cript called Pol$star.grg : during its e'ecution, a $irst reHuester as%s you to speci$y how many *ertices should be drawn. I$ you apply your script on an animated layer -a$ter selecting all its $rames., a second and third reHuesters will as% you more in$ormations -see below.
6or instance : + he command tv=layerCreate allows to create a new layer. + he command tv=;ave>rushAnim sa*es the current brush on the hard dri*e. + It is possible to change the colors o$ the bin tab than%s to the tv=;etPalette command + AtcR -5ou will $ind in appendi' the complete instruction and command listings o$ the George 9anguage.. #ll !"aint commands need their own arguments and return some *alues as answer. 6or e'ample, the !-9ayerCreate command needs a name $or the layer that you want to create. his command returns some in$ormation regarding your layer: opacity, number o$ pictures, place o$ the timeline,R 4o you can reuse or modi$y them. It would be too long to enumerate here the arguments and the return *alues o$ each George command. #ll those parameters are $ully e'plained in the de*elopper %it -4IL. o$ !"aint #nimation "ro. he 4IL is a*ailable on demand at the email address: t*paintTt*paint.$r
)a%e sure to di$$erentiate George instructions -which o$ten start with a sharp : ?. and George commands $or !"aint #nimation "ro -which allways start with the tv = pre$i'.. he commands act on the so$tware itsel$ and on your current display whereas George instructions are used to write the structure o$ the program -conditionnals, calculations, loops, ....
4ince appro'imati*ely /N years, all the so$twares using the !"aint technology o$$ers a scripting language. @ere are some in$ormations regarding the compatibility between those scripting language : I$ you upgraded to !"aint #nimation "ro, your old scripts should still wor%. @owe*er, some recent commands -$or instance: TV=Add>oo7mar7s. are not a*ailable in older products using the !"aint echnology. -#ura, )irage,R.
he best way to get used to George scripts is probably to try the e'ample programs that come with !"aint #nimation "ro. 4tudy them and ma%e small alterations to them, then run them and see the e$$ects o$ your changes.
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he cloc&.grg script : Param Circle ;; !"aint should wait $or the coordinates o$ a circle be$ore running the ;; program. he user must there$ore draw a circle to start the program. Parse result command ' y r button ;; 6etches the coordinates o$ the userSs circle. if cmp-command,UCircleU.BBN tv=9arn U his program needs the coordinates o$ a circle >U e%it ;; I$ there are no coordinates $or a circle, warn the user and end the program. 'nd tBtime parse t h m s ;; 6etches the hours -h., minutes -m. and seconds -s. o$ the current time. mBmEs;CN ;; he seconds can slightly alter the minutes arm o$ the cloc%. tv=Pen r;3N ;; 4elects a pen proportional to the cloc% size. tv=Circle ' y r ;; Iraws the outline o$ the cloc%. angB3CN;/1 dBr--r;/N. ?for iBN to 3CN-ang step ang ;; 9oop to draw the /1 hour mar%ers on the cloc% VaBcos-i.+d VbBsin-i.+d tv=8ot 'Ea y-b N ?end iBh+3CN;/1 dBr;1 aBsin -i.+d bBcos -i.+d tv=Line ' y 'Ea y-b iBm+3CN;CN dBr--r;0. aBsin-i.+d bBcos-i.+d tv=Line ' y 'Ea y-b ;; Iraw in the hours
#nd below, a $ew cloc%s which were drawn with the script
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Commands 8escription
@ere are some in$ormation regarding the commands that you can $ind on the pre*ious page : &elow, each command will be $ollowed by the synta' o$ the *ariables it reHuires. 6or e'ample, to draw a straight line $rom one point to another, you must gi*e the coordinates o$ the start point then the end point. he synta' to draw such a line would be: tv=Line %1 y1 %@ y@ AB+1C he AB+1C parameter indicates that you can use either the le$t ABC or the right A1C mouse button. his is optionalW by de$ault, itSs always the le$t button that will be used. o summarize : J K !ariables inside sHuare brac%ets are optional. ; he P;Q symbol separates se*eral options o$ which only one is used. 6or instance, N;/ means either N or /. tv=Circle % y r AB+1C his command allows to draw a circle with a radius r and a center located on the pi'el with -',y. coordinates. he AB+1C parameter indicates that you can use either the le$t ABC or the right A1C mouse button. 2$ course, the circle will be drawn on the current image on the current layer. tv=8ot % y AB+1C this command allows to use the current tool -airbrush, pen, custombrush,R. on the pi'el with -',y. coordinates, in the current image on the current layer. he AB+1C parameter indicates that you can use either the le$t ABC or the right A1C mouse button. tv=9arn te%t his command displays a popup dialog bo' containing the caracter string te%t and an Po%Q button. he character string must be surrounded by Huotation mar%s. tv=Pen size his command allows to select the pen tool with its current parameters -drawing mode, opacity, power, .... and change its size.
5ou should always remember that a George 4cript will use !"aint #nimation "ro as it $inds it, i.e. with the $unctions and options that are currently set. 6or instance, i$ you want to draw a red line with a George 4cript, the script needs to be told more than <ust the line coordinates. Unless you e'plicitly tell it to use a red color, your script will go ahead and use the current color when the script is run, whate*er it may be. 4imilarly, i$ when you run the script it is in the Behind or Colorize drawing mode, you wonSt e'actly be getting the clean line you were hoping $or.
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1X. 5ou can use only one instruction or command on the same line. 6or instance, i$ you use the $ollowing line in a script : Print Dwait a littleU Pause 1N #n error message will be returned. he two lines below will not return any error messages : Print Uwait a littleU Pause 1N 3X. A*erything on a line that is a$ter a double slash ;; is ignored. hey are only comments that ha*e been put into the script to ma%e it more understandable and readable by humans. 6or instance, the line : Pause 1N ;; wait 1N seconds ma%es !"aint #nimation "ro wait during 1N seconds. @owe*er, the line : ++ Pause 1N will not pause the e'ecution o$ your script. !"aint #nimation "ro sees no di$$erence between uppercase and lowercase letters. 6or instance, TV=layercreate4 tV=LaEe<c<eAt'4 tv=LAE'<C<'AT' are all e'actly the same command.
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#s $or commands and instructions, the George language sees no di$$erence between uppercase and lowercase letters. 6or instance, .$*u!ber2 !$nu!ber2 .3*0.B(#2 .$*u.b(r are all e'actly the same *ariable. he George language use a $ew reser*ed *ariables in order to wor% correctly. 5ou can use them as you wish, but it is not ad*ised to modi$y them. hat is the case with the two *ariables Ti!e and #esult -encountered in the cloc%.grg script abo*e. which contains respecti*ely the current time and the control results o$ the last used George command.
he B operator is an assignment operator and allows to assign a gi*en *alue to the *ariable o$ your choice. 6or e'ample : )y,umber2$9ayersB?
he BB operator is an comparison operator between two *ariables, usually used during conditionnal tests. 6or e'ample : if aBB?
he comparison operator is not appropriated i$ want to %now i$ two *ariables are eHual. 6or this, you need to use the instruction cmp, as shown in the cloc&.grg script abo*e : if cmp-command,UCircleU.BBN
he instruction Parse allows to split up a character string into smaller character strings (ainbowBUred orange yellow green blue indigo *ioletU Parse (ainbow color/ color1 color3 tv=warn color/ ;; displays red tv=warn color1 ;; displays orange tv=warn color3 ;; displays yellow green blue indigo *iolet Usually, each George "cript begins with the Param instruction. It allows to choose which action will ha*e to be done by the user in order to start the script e'cecution : drawing a circle, a segment, a rectangle ... + he script line : Param ,one allows the George "cript to be e'ecuted without waiting $or an user action. + he two script lines : Param 4ingle Parse result command ' y button allows to e'ecute a George "cript a$ter a simple mouse clic% on the pro<ect window. - he character string 4 single5 will be assigned to the *ariable called co!!and i$ a point is drawn on the screen. - he point coordinates will be assigned to the *ariables ' and y. - he button selected by the user to place the point will be assigned to the *ariable called button. -/ $or ()&, N $or 9)&.. + :ith the $ollowing script lines : Param 9ine Parse result command '/ y/ '1 y1 button he George "cript will be launched only i$ a segment is drawn on the pro<ect window. - he character string 4 Line 5 will be assigned to the *ariable called co!!and i$ a line is drawn on the screen. - he coordinates o$ the points at the ends o$ the segment will be assigned to the *ariables '/ y/ and '1 y1 - see opposite . - he button selected by the user to place the point will be assigned to the *ariable called button. -/ $or ()&, N $or 9)&.. + :ith the two script lines below : Param Circle Parse result command ' y r button he George "cript will be launched only i$ a circle is drawn on the pro<ect window.
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- he character string 4 Circle 5 will be assigned to the *ariable called co!!and i$ a circle is drawn on the screen. - he coordinates o$ the circle center will be assigned to the *ariables ' and y. - he radius o$ the circle will be assigned to the *ariable r. - he button selected by the user to draw the circle will be assigned to the *ariable called button. -/ $or ()&, N $or 9)&.. + :ith the $ollowing script lines : Param (ectangle Parse result command '/ y/ '1 y1 button he George "cript will be launched only i$ a rectangle is drawn on the pro<ect window. - he character string 4 #ectangle 5 will be assigned to the *ariable called co!!and i$ a point is drawn on the screen. - he coordinates o$ the points at the ends o$ the rectangle will be assigned to the *ariables '/ y/ and '1 y1 - see opposite . - he button selected by the user to draw the rectangle will be assigned to the *ariable called button. -/ $or ()&, N $or 9)&.. + :ith the two script lines below : Param 6reehand Parse result command ' y button he George "cript will be launched only i$ a $reehand cur*e is drawn on the pro<ect window. - he character string 4 ,reehand 5 will be assigned to the *ariable called co!!and i$ a cur*e is drawn on the screen. - he button selected by the user to draw the cur*e will be assigned to the *ariable called button. -/ $or ()&, N $or 9)&..
he *ariable "ame#fTheFile recei*e the concatenation o$ D:$cartoon& n m!er and %tvp In other words, the character strings ':$cartoon and %tvp, the *ariable n m!er ha*e been <oined end to end in order to create the *ariable "ame#fTheFile% It is possible to use the Concat instruction to <oin end to end character strings and;or *ariables. he $ollowing lines ha*e the same e$$ect : ,ame2$ he6ileBnumberD.<pgD ,ame2$ he6ileBConcat-number,.<pg. I$ you need to use simple Huotation mar%s -D...D. or double Huotation mar%s -DD...DD. in your character strings, you must surround them with the other Huotation mar%s at your disposal, as shown in the e'ample below : Print D )y pre$ered animation program is U !"aint #nimation "ro U D ;; will surround the name o$ the so$tware with double Huotation mar%s. Print U )y pre$ered animation program is D !"aint #nimation "ro D U ;; will surround the name o$ the so$tware with single Huotation mar%s.
The arrays
#s in other programmation languages, George can create and use arrays with one, two or more dimensions. o create an array, you only need to add parentheses or sHuare brac%ets a$ter the name o$ a *ariable. 5ou can use either parentheses or sHuare brac%ets. 6or instance, )y#rray-i. ou )y#rrayJiK represent the same array with one dimension. )y#rray-i,<. ou )y#rrayJi,<K represent the same array with two dimensions. )y#rray-i,<,%. ou )y#rrayJi,<,%K represent the same array with three dimensions. #nd so on ... :ith the George language, it is not necessary to indicate or declare the dimension or the number o$ elements be$ore using an array. In the e'emple below, an array called color with one dimension was created. It contains $our elements : U)agentaU, UCyanU, U5ellowU and U&lac%U :e used a loop to display its content. colorJ/KBU)agentaU colorJ1KBUCyanU colorJ3KBU5ellowU colorJ=KBU&lac%U 3or iB/ To = tv=warn colorJiK 'nd // displa$s each color 6 7.agenta72 7C$an72 73ellow7 // and 7Blac&72 in a dialog bo).
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Param 4ingle Parse result command abscissa ordinate button tv=warn Test>lac7Color-abscissa,ordinate. ;; )ain part o$ the script \ ;; - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ;; 6unction ] 3unction Test>lac7Color-',y. Local r g b alpha sum tv=getpi%el ' y Parse result r g b alpha 1f alphaZMN sumBrEgEb 1f sumBBN <eturn U the pi'elDs color is blac% U 'lse <eturn U the pi'elDs color is ,2 blac% U 'nd 'lse <eturn U the pi'el is transparent U 'nd 'nd
he line : tv=warn Test>lac7Color,a#scissa4ordinateCan be replaced by the two $ollowing lines : #nswerBTest>lac7Color,a#scissa4ordinatetv=warn #nswer
/0-11
@ere is the synta' o$ the instructions relati*e to the procedures and $unctions : 3unction Mame&fThe3unction ,Varia#le14 Varia#le@4 Varia#leN4 etc ... his instruction declares the e'istence o$ a $unction or a procedure in a George 4cript. -there is no instruction called procedure . his instruction is $ollowed by the procedure or $unction name, and then by the name o$ the *ariables -$rom the main part. that are needed. 6unctions and procedures must always be located a$ter the main part o$ your script. Calling a $unction or a procedure in the main part o$ your script can be done by writing its name and the needed *ariables between brac%ets, separated by comas. Local LocalVaria#le14 LocalVaria#le@4 LocalVaria#leN4 etc ... his instruction allows to speci$y the *ariables which will be used solely inside your $unction or procedure. <eturn <esult his instruction allows to speci$y the result o$ your $unction and to ma%e it a*ailable in the main part o$ the script. It could be a character string, a numerical *alue, a boolean *alue, etc ... In the main part o$ your script, it is possible to sa*e it into a *ariable, and a$ter to re-use it. his instruction is optional. I$ you donDt use it, you ha*e created a procedure instead o$ a $unction. 'nd his instruction is needed to $inish your $unction or procedure. he $unctions and procedures written in George language can be recursi*e. In other words, a $unction can call itsel$. It allows to create more sophisticated scripts. 6or instance, drawing a $ractal cur*e can be done than%s to a recursi*e script -see below.
/0-13
"lease read the (nitiali)ation File section in the appendi' o$ this user-manual i$ you want to change the root directory o$ !"aint #nimation "ro. wo e'amples o$ libraries are a*ailables in the directory : C:/program files/TVPaint Animation Pro/George/(ncl 'e Applications/TVPaint Animation Pro/George/(ncl 'e $or .icrosoft -indows. $or Apple O" /.
hey are called Basic.grg and Advanced.grg and are related to character strings management. o ma%e them a*ailable in the George 4cripts gi*en with the so$tware, you only need to add the $ollowing lines at the end o$ those scripts : ? 1nclude Uinclude;basic.grgU ? 1nclude Uinclude;ad*anced.grgU
Adding arguments
5ou can add arguments to the e'ecution o$ !" #nimation "ro. hese arguments are : - images -<ust write the path and $ile name., - scripts -synta': scriptB"ath#nd6ile,ame.grg., - commandes george -synta': cmdBGeorgeCommand.. 6or e'ample : !" #nimation.e'e U)yImageU UscriptB)y4cript"ath#nd,ame.grgU UcmdB)yGeorgeCommandU
/0-1= he ad*anced $unctions o$ ! "aint #nimation "ro
Appendix
The video cards compatible with TVPaint Animation Pro. The digital camera working with the Canon Plug-in. The George commands and instructions. The export file formats. The available ke board shorcuts. The initiali!ation file. The technical support and "esources.
Video Input
Possibilit to displa the current video in the pro+ect window
Leitch
Velocit -
dps
/hould be added in the next updates of TVPaint Animation Pro
Leitch
Velocit '.
!P"
PA" PV" 'oll wood
Matrox
.igi/uite .igi/uite 01 .igi/uite .TV
avi
Newte#
VT*T VT234 VT254
rtv
!V
compatible with 6'C, 7589
rtv
$!M
:eb Cam .igital Camera
( Available
( Not available
The hardware native file formats% if the are available% are used b TVPaint Animation Pro and our video card during the video import and$or export process.
A-3
Appendix
The digital camera working with the Canon Plug-in (PC onl )
The di)ital camera wor#in) with the *anon Plu)+in ,P* onl-.
Please find below the list of theoricall supported models regarding the canon /.; we used for this plugin (PC onl at this time)
Power/hot A7<% Power/hot A3<% Power/hot A5<% Power/hot A9<% Power/hot A=<% Power/hot A><% Power/hot A>?% Power/hot A@<% Power/hot A@?% Power/hot A8? Power/hot A7<<% Power/hot A3<<% Power/hot A5<<% Power/hot A57<% Power/hot A9<<% Power/hot A?7<% Power/hot A?3< Power/hot /7<% Power/hot /3<% Power/hot /5<% Power/hot /9<% Power/hot /9?% Power/hot /?<% Power/hot /=<% Power/hot />< Power/hot /7<<% ,AB .,G,TA0% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ Power/hot /77<% ,AB .,G,TA0 3<<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ v Power/hot /3<<% ,AB .,G,TA0 3<<a% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ v3 Power/hot /35<% ,AB .,G,TA0 53<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ v5 Power/hot /5<<% ,AB .,G,TA0 5<<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ 5<< Power/hot /55<% ,AB .,G,TA0 5<<a% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ 55< Power/hot /.7<<% ,AB .,G,TA0 5<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ ,, Power/hot /9<<% ,AB .,G,TA0 9<<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ 9<< Power/hot /.7<% ,AB .,G,TA0 0% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ i Power/hot /.77<% ,AB .,G,TA0 5<a% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ ,,s Power/hot /97<% ,AB .,G,TA0 9?<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ 95< Power/hot /?<<% ,AB .,G,TA0 ?<<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ ?<< Power/hot /.3<% ,AB .,G,TA0 03 % .,G,TA0 ,AC/ i? Power/hot /.3<<% ,AB .,G,TA0 9<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ 5< Power/hot /.5<<% ,AB .,G,TA0 ?<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ 9< Power/hot /.9<<% ,AB .,G,TA0 ??% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ ?< Power/hot /.?<<% ,AB .,G,TA0 =<<% .,G,TA0 ,AC/ ><< Power/hot G7% Power/hot G3% Power/hot G5% Power/hot G?% Power/hot G= Power/hot Pro8< ,/ Power/hot /7 ,/% Power/hot /3 ,/ Power/hot Pro7
The /O" class of digital cameras are not supported at this time.
Appendix
A-5
A-9
Appendix
Appendix
A-?
The main characteristics of the export formats & /xport Animation Ima)e or Ima)e 2ile format 1 as sin)le file se'uence TVP (AC" F,") .,P AV, G,# -C,C;T,F1 #0, P*G PCA /C*"A/T1" P/. TGA GPG *olors 3 bits 1 456 colors une couleur transparente 4& bits 76 888 476 colors "ave Opacit"ave *ompression La-ers Other options
HFP
in TVPaint -
A-=
Appendix
Appendix
A->
A-@
Appendix
Appendix
A-8
A-7<
Appendix
ctrl page up J ctrl shift page up J page down J shift page down J ctrl page down J ctrl shift page down mmb J shift mmb J ctrl mmb J ctrl shift mmb J
Appendix
A-77
,t is possible to edit this file with an text editor like *otepad from Ficrosoft :indows 'ere is the content of the file TVPaint Animation Pro.ini % b default & 2/TA"TCP4 0astEConfigJ 'omedirJC&ZProgram #ilesZTVPaint .eveloppementZTVPaint Animation Pro GeorgedirJC&ZProgram #ilesZTVPaint .eveloppementZTVPaint Animation ProZGeorgeZ TempJ.&ZtempZTVPAPZ locfileJfrench.tvpaint.loc languageJfrench
,t is possible to add comments after each line of this file. Bou onl need to add the caracter e Q f before writing it. #or instance & languageJenglish Q we will use the english language.
'ere are the options that ou can add and$or modif in this file & 'ome.ir This option indicates the director containing the executable file of the software : C:\Program Files\TVPaint Develo ement\TVPaint Animation Pro\ in Ficrosoft :indows operating s stem George.ir This option indicates the director containing the George /cript b default & C:\Program Files\TVPaint Develo ement\TVPaint Animation Pro\!eorge\ in Ficrosoft :indows operating s stem. Temp This option indicates the director containing the temporar files of TVPaint Animation Pro. Although% ou have chosen this director during the install process of the software% ou can change it here or ou can use the Preren"es Panel in the #dit main menu. 0astEConfig This option allows to know the last configuration file that ou have used with TVPaint Animation Pro. *osubtablet This option allows to fix calibration problems that are sometimes encountered with old models of graphic tablet. (it awaits the value < or 7).
A-73
Appendix
Gauge
suppress the progress bar during the rendering calculations. disla s the progress bar during the rendering calculations.
:hen ou use the softawre% some panels such as progress bar% export panels% etc ... use to popup at the center of the screen b default. (or at the center of our first screen if ou have a dual screen configuration). This option allows ou to choose where ou want them to appear. #or instance% if ou want those panels to appear at the bottom of our screen% ou can use those settings & Po ( % & Po ) % * +&& "eD#ile*ame 0etWs suppose that ou have entered the line Re,FileName % )es .1ach time ou will have to select a file% it will make the softtware to remember the path of the last saved file. 0etWs suppose that ou have entered the line Re,FileName % No .This time% the software will not remember the path of the last saved file when using a reDuester. .irect.raw is a .irectA librar which allows to manage calculations and 3. graphics rendering. ,t allows to use the hardware acceleration of the graphic cards in order to displa datas in real time. .draw1mulation6nl 6n a few graphic cards% all the .irect.raw functions are not supported. ,n this case% it is necessar to unactivate the use of .irect.raw b writing the line & Ddraw#m$lation-nly % ' (The line Ddraw#m$lation-nly % & have the reverse effect) ..raw"gba6nl H default% the .irect.raw functions works with BCVA chanels. ,f ou want them to work with "VHA chanels% add the line & DdrawRg.a-nly % ' The line DdrawRg.a-nly % & gives the same result as the default setting. 0anguage This option allows to select the user interface language & The line lang$age % /ren"0 will make ou use the french interface The line lang$age % englis0 will make ou use the english interface 0ocfile This option indicates the name of the file containing the translations of the user interface & lo"/ile % /ren"0.tv aint.lo" for the french interface lo"/ile % tv aint.lo" for the english interface
Appendix
A-75
A-79
Appendix
TVPAINT !/V/LOPP/M/NT >oute de Maran)e 5843? Mai=ieres les Met= 2>AN*/ Phone 1 @AA ,?.A38 78A 5B3 2ax 1 @AA ,?.A38 78A 5BB /mail 1 tvpaintCtvpaint fr
TVPaint .eveloppement is located at Fai!ieres 0es Fet!% 7< km awa s from Fet!. Transporation means for meeting us are &
Planes 1 Fet! $ *anc 0orraine Airport - 9< ;m http&$$www.met!-nanc -lorraine.aeroport.fr$ 0uxembourg #indel Aiport - ?? ;m http&$$www.luxair.lu$fr$airport$ Trains 1 Fet! "ailwa /tation Hooking $ ,nformation /*C# & Phone & M55 (<)@ 83.5?.5?.5? http&$$www.sncf.com Met= Taxi 1 Phone & M55 (<)5 @>.?=.87.83 *ar 1 Autoroute A57% 1xit n5? #or a custom itinar & http&$$www.viamichelin.com
Appendix
A-7?