Moho Forum

seeing the line as we draw. and drawing the line on one frame then skip a few frame then draw a new line. tween the lines like flash.

yes this is a great idea. is there a way to do this? if not, is it possible to make this a priority?

Hi guys,

If you use switch layers, this is possible.

2 drawings on different layers with matching points will 'tween' well if drawn in the same direction, etc

Shame the hide edge isn't keyframable... then you could draw your line, hide all the edges and drop a keyframe. Advance a few frames and un-hide the next edge, drop a keyframe, etc... When the animation played, it would look like the line was being drawn...

But alas it's not...

Could be done with switch layers tho (I think)... draw your line, drop it into a switch layer, then duplicate however many of times you needed, and go through each of the layers and hide/un-hide edges as needed...


EDIT:
I just tried this, and alas, it doesn't tween, probably because the points are still stationary... make your line edges close enough together and you may get something that looks like it, but doen't come out the way I expected it to...

http://www.wizaerd.com/hold/LineDrawing.anme

Do you mean that something like this is not possible in AS?



Hide edge might not be animatable, but Line Width surely is, and it has a similar effect.

Could you use this to animate a pencil writing? How'd you create it?

Are we talking about the outline line width or the line width tool? I've use the line width tool to make points smaller in width, although I've not yet discovered how to control the actual width amount...

that looks nice but seems like it's a single line that you are adjusting width of.

i would like to be able to draw a single line, then skip a few frames and draw a new line and have the software in-be'tween the lines.

as of now, as far as i know, you draw a line then skip several frames and move the existing points of that line on the next keyframe to make it tween. it's extremely laborious . it would be much easier to draw a new line to tween the frames.

TweenMaker does an okay job with this but the mac version still needs work. Anime Studio has much better motion. It's more fluid and less rigid. it would be nice to adapt this feature to the software.

Are you talking about a shape tween? Not sure if I understand but if you want to draw a line in one frame, adjust it in another frame and then have AS interpolate the points between this can be done.

yes i am aware that what you are suggesting can be done.

what i am suggesting is drawing a line. then skip several frames ahead and draw a completly different line on a blank frame, on the same layer. then, AS would tween between these two lines.

this in turn would eliminate the labor of having adjust the many points on a line curve. instead an animator would simply make a line stroke with his pen or mouse. and the frames between the two keyframes would be tweened.

wizaerd wrote:Could you use this to animate a pencil writing?

Yes, and it's a brilliant use of the feature! I'd never considered that possibility before. Thanks Rasheed!

wizaerd wrote:How'd you create it?

Are we talking about the outline line width or the line width tool? I've use the line width tool to make points smaller in width, although I've not yet discovered how to control the actual width amount...

Line Width tool. Drag right to make the line at pre-selected points wider, left for thinner. If no points are selected, this tool can also select individual points. The Line Width tool cannot select multiple points directly, but there is a drop-down selector for existing named point groups. Width entry box for watching width interactively or typing exact widths.

Regards, Myles.

i am aware of this too. regardless, you are still adjusting individual points...however now you are changing their width.

say for example you are animating a person running. and the animation begins with the forearm. currently using AS, an animator would draw a line and continue to manipulate that single line throughout the animation. and let's say hypothetically that line has four points from start to end. each keyframe involves moving these 4 points each keyframe.

what i am suggesting is the possibilty to make a new keyframe by simply drawing a new line with a single stroke, one stroke, with a wacom pen instead of adjusting 4 points of a line each time you want to make a keyframe. this would eliminate the additional labor. in this case four times the labor.

So, first you draw a line. Go to another frame (the line is still there) and draw a new line on that frame. Now there are two lines. In this step you can move the points of the old line exactly over the new points, then you can delete the new line.

It would be easy to write a script for this. The main problem is to decide which point belongs to which, specially if the two lines has different number of points.

Let's say you select some points on the same line. With a "resampling" tool, you can change the number of points on the curve. That's a good idea and I will think how to make it.

do you mean something like this?

i have tweenmaker as well but this is using plain old switch layers

http://geocities.com/patmals/samples/hmm.swf

?

maybe im going crazy, or i am so basic..sorry guys if thats so plain boring and so obvious..i might be reading into his request differently..

Line Width tool. Drag right to make the line at pre-selected points wider, left for thinner. If no points are selected, this tool can also select individual points. The Line Width tool cannot select multiple points directly, but there is a drop-down selector for existing named point groups. Width entry box for watching width interactively or typing exact widths.

Another great useful tip I picked up here tonite. I didn't even think of dragging the cursor to adjust the line width, I merely clicked a point...

Feeling a bit stupid now, gonna re-open the manual....