shadows and highlights

[walter koessler]

Hello,

I just bought Anime Studio Pro a couple of days ago and I love it! I have tried out other (and far more expensive)
software before but this one is really what I was looking for.
I have built and rigged my first characters in no time. One of the things I haven´t found out yet is:
How do I do body-shadows and -highlights to give more volume to my characters?

The shadow option in the layer-settings doesn´t really work for me since it puts the shadows all around each shape.
So I would rather work with a handmade shadow-/highlight-mask but don´t know how to make it move with the animation.

Would anybody know an economical way to do this? Is there a helpful script maybe? And - is there a script for
making your own keyboard shortcuts, that would be wonderful.???......
Please tell me - thank you very much in advance!

[heyvern]

There is a fill effect (in the style palette when a shape is selected) that I use called "Shading" or something like that.

It basically puts any type of color "inside" the shape for doing shadows or shading.

It isn't a perfect solution but it does work in a pinch. You have the option for using two effects on a shape fill. I often put in both a highlight and shadow using the shading effect.

Another effect that can work in some cases is "Halo". This one however does not have directionality. It is basically an internal "glow" or soft edge color. Both of these effects have an option for blurring the effect.

-vern

[walter koessler]

Many thanks Vern,

I´ll try that out right away!
Best wishes
Walter