Match last frame, last toon, with 1st frame, new toon?

[mooncaine]

For various reasons explained elsewhere in this forum, I must limit my animation work in any given ASP file to about 30-40 seconds.

What are the key things I need to know to make sure that the last frame of file 1 matches the first frame of file 2? I don't seem to be able to paste keyframes from one file to the next [mainly because ASP only opens 1 file at at time], so I figure my starting point should be:

1. In File1.anme, make a keyframe on the last frame for every single stinking thing in the scene [is there a quick way to do that?]

2. save file 1 with a new name, using Save As, as File2.anme, open it, and delete everything but that last keyframe. Move that keyframe to frame.... zero? or frame 1?

I'm puzzled how best to proceed here.

[mooncaine]

so how is it done? anyone?

[Genete]

For various reasons explained elsewhere in this forum, I must limit my animation work in any given ASP file to about 30-40 seconds.

What are the key things I need to know to make sure that the last frame of file 1 matches the first frame of file 2? I don't seem to be able to paste keyframes from one file to the next [mainly because ASP only opens 1 file at at time], so I figure my starting point should be:

1. In File1.anme, make a keyframe on the last frame for every single stinking thing in the scene [is there a quick way to do that?]

2. save file 1 with a new name, using Save As, as File2.anme, open it, and delete everything but that last keyframe. Move that keyframe to frame.... zero? or frame 1?

I'm puzzled how best to proceed here.

There is a menu tool that copy current frame to any other frame.
Procedure:
0) Save your file (backup)
1)Place the cursor at the frame you want to copy from
2)Menu->Animation->Copy current Frame...
3) Select entire document and select frame 0 or 1 depending on what you need. Press OK.
4) Delete all the keyframes except the just copied.
5) Save the file with the new name (scene 2)

You're done.
-G

[mooncaine]

That's great news! Thanks, Genete!

[mooncaine]

Now that I'm doing this, I realize one tiny prob still crops up... and I should ask, in case it's already in there and I don't know:

After I open the previous scene, and use Copy Current Frame, I still have a lot of extraneous animation to delete. The only way I see to do it is highlight every layer, in the Layers palette, and delete keyframes.

But there's this big, tempting menu item called "Clear Animation From Layer" that could do all of that in one click.... but it would also wipe out the Copy Current Frame thing I just did to make my first and last frames match between ASP files.

So what's the most efficient way to handle this? I need frame 0 to look like frame 789 in file 2, and in file 3, I need frame 0 to look like frame 760, etc. Is there a quicker way than selecting everything and deleting each piece's keyframes?

[jahnocli]

If you copy current frame, then clear all animation from document, can you still paste from whatever passes for the clipboard in AS?

[Genete]

If you copy the wanted keyframes to the frame 0 then the Clear Animation from Document menu command would not affect to frame 0. Frame 0 is not part of the animation...
But first backup your files
-G

[mooncaine]

Ah, so frame 0 is left untouched. Thanks!

But you feel I should back up my file before doing this? Not a bad idea. Thanks for that, too.

[mooncaine]

In practice, I find it's not that simple… I hope I am learning as I go. It seems every render has something new and different that didn't copy from one file to the next. Wow, there are a lot of details to keep track of.

[mooncaine]

I'm gradually learning to track down mistaken keyframes and not to repeat those mistakes.

I'm moving from one file to the next, every 33 seconds or so, by using Save As, etc., as detailed above, but I've learned not to let any keyframes remain from the previous copy. Any keyframe hanging out in space beyond my "last" frame in a file can cause something to be out of place, not matching the first frame of the next.

It's finally becoming more fun, though!

[mooncaine]

I see part of the problem with batch rendering is that the batch renderer is not applying the same options to each file in the list. Only the first one was rendering with NTSC safe colors enabled, for example.

I must highlight each file I dropped into the batch, and change each file's options. Seems like a bug; why would a batch renderer be designed like that? Maybe it's not a bug. It sure was a surprise.

[mooncaine]

One must keep a sharp eye on the screen when using "Copy Current Frame…". The last frame must be copied to frame 1, not 0, or the animation is destroyed on the last frame, too.

edit: I mean *destroyed*. In a freshly loaded file, I tried copying to frame 1, then copying frame 1 to frame 0. That ruined frame 1.

OK, so I tried from a fresh file again, and copied last frame to frame 1. Then I copied last frame to frame 2, as well. So far, so good.

I copied frame 1 to frame 0. That destroyed frame 1. Ah, but I have a 'backup' on frame 2. I copied that. Frame 2 was destroyed.

Best to use this on a copy. Be sure you never save a file you used Copy Current Frame… with, to be safe.

[mooncaine]

Of course, that means I can't use Clear Animation from Document anymore, since that clears everything but frame 0, and copying to frame 0 won't work.