Moho Animation Forum

I really feel comfortable with drawing in Manga Studio.
I also like InkScape.

It is going to take time until I feel comfortable drawing vectors.

So, my question is (actualy, two questions):

1. Is it alright if I use imported images, instead of of vectors, in ASP?

2. Can I draw the pieces in InkScape/Manga Studio/Gimp and export as PNG and convert those drawings to a vector format that ASP can read?

I really love drawing in Manga Studio. It is like drawing on a super cool light table, with onin skins, etc... I also like the way I can paint in it.
Can I vectorize it for/inside ASP?

If not, what should be the dimmensions of a human character in PNG format, to get a good broadcast quality without using vectors?

Thanks.

use whichever tool u feel more comfortable. flash or illustrator can trace the png image to vector format and export as .EPS or Ai to use in Anime Studio.
I usually use manga studio for storyboard and do animatics in Anime Studio
GIMP for Backgrounds or digitally painted characters etc....

Vector or Raster? Personal opinion, learn both ways in AS. Use both.

The esp and ai are not as good a just drawing in AS itself. Your better off just retracing or using png's

Dale

2. PNG is a bitmap format. If you want to use vectors, you'll need to convert this PNG to vector. This can be done with Illustrator, but the quality of the results vary, and lots of information, like gradients, doesn't get converted.

AS itself doesn't have any tracing abilities. However, you always could design your character in whatever bitmap program you like, import this image to AS, and trace it by hand, using the AS tools which give you a result which is much better suited to get animated than anything imported.

1. We had someone who tried to import EPS from Inkscape to AS with no luck. It seems that Inkscape writes EPS in a way AS doesn't understand. So far, the only confirmed vector import paths are from Illustrator and Flash, both using the Illustrator 8 format.

In general, yes, you can import drawings and animate them in AS, you can even combine this with vector stuff created in AS. Remember that you'll need to separate body parts from each other, and to create an alpha channel to use the drawing without background.

The dimensions can be calculated easily. Look at the project settings in AS. A PAL project will be 576 pixels high. So if you want to have a close-up of your character's face, you'll need it to be 500 - 600 px high. The rest of the body will be scaled accordingly.

Xara Xtreme also produces good vector drawings which can be easily imported into AS. Doesn't seem to produce as many control points as Flash or Ilustrator either...