Styles headache - is it a bug or user error?

[crsP]

Still in the experimental phase and trying to use techniques I'm not normally used to. This time it is styles. I thought I had it figured, but I'm getting unexpected results.

1) I made a new style for the darker shade, called shade. I didn't want strokes so I unchecked those options. Using Fazeks shape creation tool, I filled in the shapes with 'auto-fill' set to on. First problem was it created strokes regardless of the fact that the stroke was unchecked. So I tried it without auto-fill on. Same result. Then I deleted all the shapes and used the official fill shape tool. Strokes were still visible.

2) I deleted all the 'shade' shapes and moved on temporarily to the eyes. I make a new style called eyes. Made a radial gradient, and an effect on the stroke also. Created the eye shapes with the shape fill tool [official]. Everything came out as expected. Phew.

3) So now I go back to my shading. Select the previously created 'shade' style. Created the the shapes by multi-selecting all vectors first with the shape fill tool, and this time the strokes weren't there, as should be. But lo and behold, the shading has a gradient, like in the eyes style! Where is this coming from?! Check out this screen grab of the render and style palette. Observe the 'effects' options - PLAIN!

This seems like a bug to me - at no point did I choose a gradient for the shade.

[Mikdog]

Ooh, styles. I stay away from them. Used them once for my Happy Land short, things went pear-shaped and got pretty confusing and weird (version 5.6 we're talking about) and found it was way easier to not even use styles.

[PARKER]

I find styles really useful when i want for example change the color of the clothe or skin of my character.

[Mozbo]

At present, I'm using the Styles to make changes to the Tutorial files as I learn the program. They are quite handy, but I too, have some problems with the line. The smallest you can make it is .25, and while I can select shapes and points and change them, I find that when I select "(none)" from the drop down, the fill will remove, but the line does some wonky things, and will still retain the style, resizing it to .25 from whatever I had before. I then have to use the "remove line" tool to get rid of it entirely...

[Uolter]

Ooh, styles. I stay away from them. Used them once for my Happy Land short, things went pear-shaped and got pretty confusing and weird (version 5.6 we're talking about) and found it was way easier to not even use styles.

I agree. I tried once too but I messed up the whole work...they're not for me but maybe do for someone else.

[Víctor Paredes]

Maybe you only need a good tutorial about styles. I was writting a reply, but maybe will be better to make a tutorial from zero. I hope to have the time to post it soon.

Anyway, styles are great when you know how to use them, so please don't be afraid about this useful feature.

[cheyne]

Styles are fantastic when drawing up a character - especially for basic stuff like skin tones, also great to save them for future character setup, i.e. FRONT view, SIDE view, 3/4 view etc.

I got confused with styles at first because I was trying to use it like existing programs (Illustrator) and seeing it as a kind of properties window. It all comes down to the tools you have selected which will affect changes and what properties you can see.

The way I do it right now is create a shape, make a style, and apply it through the "Styles" options in the advanced tab in ASPRO 7.1

I hope that's the best way, don't want to bugger up my workflow or any elses - I am still very much in early stages of learning. I should learn more of the program instead of trying to dive into scripts (MorphDials is so sexy!).

[crsP]

Thanks for the confirmation fellas - I was sure it wasn't my fault, considering I am so awesome.

I got some information from synthsin75 from the animators forum that may be of use to you also Mozbo. He explains that styles override the default, therefore, if there is a stroke by default, your style can only cover it. So if your style stroke is smaller, you will see the default stroke come through. I don't see how to turn off strokes by defaults [couldn't this be done in Moho, as far as I know?].

He's got a modified shape fill tool which allows you to create shapes with no stroke.

The gradient showing up in the shade style has to be a bug. This wasn't my first attempt at styles. Previously I had made a character and different parts on layers - ear, then head, then other ear. I made the style so I didn't have to find the right colours for the ears, eyes etc. Whilst I was creating more styles for the head, the previously coloured shapes [eyes, ears] suddenly turned to the default stroke and fill [black outline, white fill]! This cannot be useful.


selgin, I do have use for the feature, but as Mikdog and others point out, the unpredictability of it makes it dangerous in a production. If you could tell me that 'hey, you get the gradient in this other style because you forgot to press this button', or 'you have to have this option in the preferences to stop it from randomly making shapes the default colour and stroke', then I could proceed knowing that I can avoid these issues. At the moment though, it is unknown as to when and why ASP is going to mess with your shapes.

[Mozbo]

Thanks, crsP, every bit of information from other users is ALWAYS appreciated.

@Selgin: You are SO good at understanding this app, ANY tutorial you can find the time to make will be INVALUABLE for those of us learning (and probably to a lot of those who know AS), this situation being no exception.

Styles seem to be a wonderful way to quickly make changes. Like so many aspects of AS, the more I learn, the more fun it is to use.