Moho Forum

OK, here we go for another basic question :

Is there a way to pre-define my own projects settings (ie PAL / layers sorted by depth / 12 fps / etc), without ASP's standards coming back everytime I create a new sequence ?

I should perhaps have put this in "Scripts", but can you script ASP projects settings ?

Under the "File" menu you will find an option for "Project Settings". Set them up as you would like and then press the "Save as Defaults" button.

Paul.

Thanks!
(I am not only a newbie, but also blind at times)

You can also change the startup file, saving all your settings and includes - I have a 4:3 safe frame guide I use with HD - because its in the startup file, it comes in every time I have a new scene. You can also have stock pallets and other includes too.

If you are working on a single project or long series, this feature can be invaluable.

Worth experimenting with.

Have fun.


Rhoel

Thanks Rhoel! I am definitely gonna use the blank/preset startup file advice... what exactly do you mean by "stock pallets" though -- layers ? (again, I am not too familiar with ASP yet, so I might be missing an obvious tool or function)

cableon wrote:hat exactly do you mean by "stock pallets" though

Palletes = Styles in Anime Studio.

Here is an example:
If you have a film with two dog characters called Ben and Son, you might have fur colours called Ben_bodyfur_main and Son_bodyfur_main.

Unfortunately you cannot link to or import an external colour pallete, but you can keep the fill styles loaded in the Styles so each time you start a film, the fur colours (and eye colours, dog tags and collars, inside mouth, teeth etc), are available. This means the colours will be the same across the entire series.

The other optio nfor doing this is to import the character layer:
You import a rigged character by using file/open/import/Anime Studio Object ... If your character is in a grouped layer, you can select the Ben layer, and import just that character: IF you want both, you import them separately.

This import layer technique is used on TV series where the character is pre-defined and rigged in a front walk layer, side walks layers etc. Just import the one you want. Takes time for the animator/s to build the different poses but over a 26 episode series, the time savings can be large.

BTW:
The safe Area guide I use is kept online here. Feel free to use and abuse it. I recently tested this guide at UHDTV resolutions (7680 * 4320 * 60fps) and it still works fine.

To use it, import it into a image layer and in layer settings, make it immune to camera moves - this allows you to put the camera anywhere and the guide stays glued to the camera. In one studio I worked at, every animator/compositor HAD to use a 16:9-4:3 safe guide. simply because the scene failures due to poor 4:3 safety was costing us too much in failed edits. If they forgot, there was all hell to pay.

If you use the guide for 2K and 4K (the Digital Cinema System specifications), you will need to modify it as they use 1:1.85 and HDTV uses 16:9. 2K/4K also supports 2:39 which is really cool - proper movie aspect ratio. But somehow, I doubt you need to worry about DCS/DCI specs yet.

Just be happy AS Pro can output at full cinema resolution.

Rhoel

Here is a trick that works on Mac, I haven't tested on windows yet.

Create a file with a named shape... like... Bobs_shirt. Make it a bright unusual fill color (for demonstration purposes).

Create a filled vector shape and apply the Bobs_shirt style to it. Copy that vector shape (not the style, copy the whole shape).

Close that file and open or create another file and paste the shape. The Bobs_shirt style doesn't exist so it is probably just filled with the default color like white (sometimes it fills with black for me)

BUT if you CREATE a new style called Bobs_shirt in this new file the pasted shape will immediately pick up that named style.

This seems like an utterly useless trick at first. The reason I mention this as a "tip" is that when you import a file the named styles get "renamed". Even if you import a file with "Bobs_shirt" style into another file with "Bobs_shirt", it won't use the same "Bobs_shirt" style in the open file because the imported styles were renamed with both the file name and the layer name.

By copying and pasting from one file to another you KEEP the proper style names. The style name is not "renamed" when you paste the shape or shapes. The shapes work as they were in the original. Otherwise, like I do all the time, you have to use a text editor and search and replace to consilidate a bazillion versions of "Bobs_Freaking_Shirt" style.

I used this technique once to copy and paste a whole bunch of stuff. I already had all the named shapes in one file but needed a different version of vector layers of another file. If I had imported I would have had duplicate styles used on many different layers. So I just copied each vector shape from one file and pasted into the new file. Much faster than what I did before and all the shapes used the same named styles.

-vern

OFF TOPIC but

Mad as a hatter Rhoel wrote:I recently tested this guide at UHDTV resolutions (7680 * 4320 * 60fps) and it still works fine.

I just did the same 7680 * 4320 * 60fps UHDTV test on Blender


.................... I think I've melted the processor.

Oh those whacky guys at NHK development.


For those of you venturing into HDTV, 2K and 4K, the results from As are good, just be careful about sharp pointy fills with a large outline - the line point is not too clean. Otherwise, the results are great.

Don't worry about UHDTV - I'm not, the system won't be deliverable for another 20 years. By then, I'll have hung up my hat and pegged it by then.

2k and 4k are now here so read up on it. its 1:85 ratio so HDTV will be cropped from that. Worth considering if you are developing a high-end project or commercial.

Is anyone else playing in HD and other Hi-ref formats - if people are, perhaps it is worth asking Mike to add a topic for it here - there are format specific issues which would support it.

Rhoel