The very first impressions of a newbie...

[tayete]

Well, a friend of mine lent me his laptop with his Anime Studio installation, knowing I was willing to buy some software for animation (I already own Flash). I think I have made up my mind, so I hope in a short time I'll be the happy owner of a license of AS.
I have spent 8 weekends with it making an animation I'll upload in the next few days (just when I add some noise and music, suppossedly in Flash).

And here are my advices for anyone like me who is struggling with this nice piece of software:

1.- Plan, plan and plan anything before even starting AS. A storyboard is a must, and if you can include timing, better. Size, styles and colours ought to be thought before holding your wacom or mouse.

2.- Nearly everything needs a bone. At least anything that is going to be in contact with some boned-item.

3.- So, a correct rigging will save you a lot of time. Make sure everything is fine from the start, before starting to animate.

4.- Know the importance of frame 0 at AS. This approach is different from Flash and other apps, and I must say I like it.

5.- Know the differences between the bone influence types. I lost a lot of time before I discovered them, and it simply made my life easier.

6.- Use a "top-down" approach. First animate the basics, you can later add those subtle blinks and details. But you must first get the main movements correct.

7.- If your animation starts to crawl, you either have too many layers, or too many particles.

8.- Thus, particles should be the last thing you add to your animation. If you still want to add them early (they are fantastic to watch!), just minimize the "particles count" to 2 or something like that if they are going to be 2000. That way, the system won't suffer.

9.- Learn quickly that what you draw isn't going to be seen inmediatly, if you don't "fill" and "outline" it. That isn't automatic (unless you want to). You may use "styles" which are a big help.

10.- Don't try classical animation using onion skins and painting cell by cell. AS isn't for that. You may animate using point by point movement, though. And add bones, bones, bones...they are fantastic!!!

And now some requests:

a) There should be some way to add frames between two given frames, without having to move them "by hand". Or maybe there is a way I haven't found to do that.

b) Improve the sound system. It is a must for any serious animator. Sound first, drawing second.

c) The colour system should be more friendly. I mean. I'd like to have some "eyedropper" for those colours I haven't inserted in a watch. Or maybe there is some way to do this???

Sorry for this long first post, with things you already know, but I thought newbies like me would need some basic advices.

Thanks a lot.

P.D.: Aprovecho para saludar a los españoles y a los castellanoparlantes que pululan por el foro. Ya he visto que hay unos cuantos.

[heyvern]

Wow,

Pretty insightful comments from a new user. You catch on quick!

I agree with the idea of using bones 100% (I have 218 bones in my current character project... and that's just the face and head)... but not everyone does however. There are many users of AS who pretty much do point motion only... different strokes for different folks.

All of your "feature requests" have been brought up before. Best bet is to add them to the feature request forum. Hopefully if enough of us want those features they will be added. I was told by someone at efrontier the squeaky wheel gets the oil... the features with the most support from the most people will get looked at first for possible inclusion in a future version.

Welcome to the club. Look forward to seeing your work.

-vern

[Víctor Paredes]

good advices.

welcome to the forum. siempre es agradable dar la bienvenida a nuevos hispanoparlantes.

[macguffin]

Wow,

I agree with the idea of using bones 100% (I have 218 bones in my current character project... and that's just the face and head)... but not everyone does however. There are many users of AS who pretty much do point motion only... different strokes for different folks.

-vern

vern curious to know how you keep track of your animation when you've got so many bones?

I've used messiah:project in the past, a lightwave 3d animation plugin. With that I was able to attach a symbol to for example the wrist then hide all the bones and other clutter and then animate simply by moving that symbol.

I don't think there is anything like that in AS (if I'm wrong please let me know) and was wondering how you get around animation when several nested layers and so many bones are used? Are a lot of the bones hidden controlled bones?

I've been experimenting, with fairly good results, the use of the master/slave controller layer scripts. Building the character, then copying the skeleton onto a master layer, moving it to the edge of the scene and then animating with that. The advantage being that I can move any part of my character from one layer and I can see my character more clearly.

I am soon to finalise my characters and rigging before starting a project so any advise from the 'old hands' would be welcome.

Cheers

Matt

ps Can't believe I've only just discovered such a cool app.

[heyvern]

vern curious to know how you keep track of your animation when you've got so many bones?

Ha ha haa haa!

I don't have to. The reason I have over 200 bones is so I only have to move a small handful to do all my face animation.

I plan to have the first character for sale very soon. I'm working on finishing the body rigging and the instructions.

Check here for the project info:

http://www.lostmarble.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7958

Here's a new sample:

http://www.lowrestv.com/character_rig/c ... e-rig6.mov

All head turning is done with just one bone. Facial expressions have individual control bones.

99% of ALL the face animation is controlled with bone translation... so I don't even have to switch tools that much. smiling and some eye distortion is controlled by rotation but thats it.

Basically I just turn off construction curves in the display prefs to animate (I have a non rendering layer with shapes and text for the labeled bones).

I'm loving this thing.

-vern

[macguffin]

wow that looks great I shall study your thead with great interest. Looks like there are some seriously good tips to be gained from it.

Cheers

[byanfu]

Wow, very impressive!

[Genete]

Well, a friend of mine lent me his laptop with his Anime Studio installation, knowing I was willing to buy some software for animation (I already own Flash). I think I have made up my mind, so I hope in a short time I'll be the happy owner of a license of AS.
I have spent 8 weekends with it making an animation I'll upload in the next few days (just when I add some noise and music, suppossedly in Flash).

And here are my advices for anyone like me who is struggling with this nice piece of software:

1.- Plan, plan and plan anything before even starting AS. A storyboard is a must, and if you can include timing, better. Size, styles and colours ought to be thought before holding your wacom or mouse.

2.- Nearly everything needs a bone. At least anything that is going to be in contact with some boned-item.

3.- So, a correct rigging will save you a lot of time. Make sure everything is fine from the start, before starting to animate.

4.- Know the importance of frame 0 at AS. This approach is different from Flash and other apps, and I must say I like it.

5.- Know the differences between the bone influence types. I lost a lot of time before I discovered them, and it simply made my life easier.

6.- Use a "top-down" approach. First animate the basics, you can later add those subtle blinks and details. But you must first get the main movements correct.

7.- If your animation starts to crawl, you either have too many layers, or too many particles.

8.- Thus, particles should be the last thing you add to your animation. If you still want to add them early (they are fantastic to watch!), just minimize the "particles count" to 2 or something like that if they are going to be 2000. That way, the system won't suffer.

9.- Learn quickly that what you draw isn't going to be seen inmediatly, if you don't "fill" and "outline" it. That isn't automatic (unless you want to). You may use "styles" which are a big help.

10.- Don't try classical animation using onion skins and painting cell by cell. AS isn't for that. You may animate using point by point movement, though. And add bones, bones, bones...they are fantastic!!!

And now some requests:

a) There should be some way to add frames between two given frames, without having to move them "by hand". Or maybe there is a way I haven't found to do that.

b) Improve the sound system. It is a must for any serious animator. Sound first, drawing second.

c) The colour system should be more friendly. I mean. I'd like to have some "eyedropper" for those colours I haven't inserted in a watch. Or maybe there is some way to do this???

Sorry for this long first post, with things you already know, but I thought newbies like me would need some basic advices.

Thanks a lot.

P.D.: Aprovecho para saludar a los españoles y a los castellanoparlantes que pululan por el foro. Ya he visto que hay unos cuantos.

Very good resumee of advices and feature request for being a newbie.

Regarding to the request a). Could you explain it a litle more?. Perhaps There is a way to do it. If you want to insert a new keyframe in a particular channel in a intermediate frame between two keyframes, you have only to put the cursor in the desired frame and make a click in the main window with the proper tool (translate point, transalte / rotate bones, Tranlaste layer, rotate layer and so on), or if the channel is a color, curvature or thick value do something similar.
If what you want to do is to keyframe the complete document I think you can use the "copy current frame" menu entry in Animation menu.

Bienvenido al foro compañero. Un slaudo desde Cádiz.

Rgds
Genete

[tayete]

Wow, thanks all for such a warm welcome.

HEYVERN that is simply impressive. I didn't know such things could be achieved with ASP.

GENETE: What I mean is adding "time" without having to move any keyframe. For example, if I notice some action is happening too close to another one at frame 100, I could add 10 frames so previous 101 frame would now be frame 111, with just an "insert frames" command, instead of having to move all the keyframes at 101 to the right (to be at 111).

No sé si me explico, Genete...

[Víctor Paredes]

you can rescale keyframes (in animation menu). i always use this to avoid tedious work.

[byanfu]

tayete:

I noticed that you mentioned that frame to frame animation was not all that great of a way to go with AS. I have heard other people say that as well. For limited motions such as a spin or change in perspective that would be too extreme in pose change for point animation would it work on that limited basis?

Looking forward to seeing the animation when it done.

[heyvern]

Frame to frame animation the way it is described refers to... drawing each frame of exact motion... no inbetweening.

There are other programs that aid in this type of animation. You can actually scan in drawings and do frame by frame "clean up" or drawing for total and absolute control over every single frame of the animation.

AS leans more towards key framing with computer aided inbetweening. Many animation purists consider this a type of animation "cheating" and feel it doesn't look as good. This may be true but most of us don't have the time or talent to animate that way.

However, to answer your question, yes, AS can be used in that way very well for specific things. Putting in key frames close together or using hold interpolation will simulate that frame to frame animation style.

It just doesn't have the dedicated drawing tools for doing hand drawn frame by frame animation. It can still be done though.

-vern

[DarthFurby]

Welcome aboard tayete. It's rare to see an introduction with that level of thought and care. Anime Studio is a unique program that requires a different approach to animation, but it rewards you with power, innovation, flexibility, and speed. In return, you must be willing to sacrifice working in frame by frame. This is a big one.

2d animation is an industry with a long tradition in frame by frame production, but there was once a time when people used to laugh at artists who drew on the computer. Hard to believe but true. Technology is a game changing player, but it is always met with resistance. Even 3d had to go through its rite of passage.

Vector morph is the new frame by frame. You'll find a lot of ground breaking techniques in vector morph are being pioneered on this forum. There is much to explore with bones, point motion, switch layers, actions, and scripts. It's a new frontier for 2d animation. What you're about to discover with Anime Studio is the beginning. What you're going to witness in the next 20 years are its implications.

[byanfu]

Thanks again Vern. I have a background in 3d so bones are a lot more familiar to me. See some of the excellent work here on the forum I can see the advantages of this method.

[tayete]

¡SELGIN YOU ARE THE MAN!!!

That is just what I was looking for. Well, I guess not everything can be learnt in 8 weekends...

Now, I only wish it could be made in some easier way than having to take care of the exact number to start and end. I mean, in Flash you just position the cursor at the timeline and select how many frames you want to add.

But this will make it by now.

De nuevo, muchas gracias, Selgin.