#AA and onion skin…
15 messages in this thread
Hey everyone,
If anyone's been trying to reach me in the past few weeks I'm sorry
that I couldn't respond. My Gateway exploded a while back and my Windows was
fried.
Anyway, can AA through POCO be able to generate 'onion skinning'? Or,
as long as I'm dreaming, will Autodesk release 'Animator Onion' or something
like that?
As long as I'm asking questions, what's the scoop with 'Animator Studio'? What
does it do, I mean? I've been reading alot of hype about it on this forum but
no clue as to what it can do.
Someone help me!! I've been disconnected for two weeks, man, I'm
out-of-date!! I need data!!! MORE DATA!!!!
Thanx,
Juan
>>
Anyway, can AA through POCO be able to generate 'onion skinning'? Or,
as long as I'm dreaming, will Autodesk release 'Animator Onion' or something
like that? <<
There are numerous techniques which can simulate onionskinning in Animator Pro,
but there is no "onionskinning feature". I believe one of the NAAUG telecourses
covers the techniques. Animator Studio will have such true features in it (to
be released this Spring sometime). -dave
Juan,
I had the same question and a helpful Compuserve member sent it to me. I am
sending you a copy because I have been using this technique for two weeks and
it works really well for me. It's not true onion skinning like you can get in
ANIMO and Disney Anim Studio, but it's a far cry better than the trace feature.
Paul Frey
Our World Comics
(copy of msg follows:)
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******
Hi Paul. If you do use typical cel animation manual techniques, moving to a
computer environment is a big step. I started off by scanning my manual
animations into individuals frames of a flic. Later, using a stylus and a
tablet, I got the hang of drawing on the screen using the TRACE pulldown
functions in AniPro. These are fully explained in the manuals. They don't give
us the ability to truely onionskin (AniStudio probably will) but instead give
us the silhouette of the entire previous frame. It does not do multiple frames
though, only next and last (tween).
Depending on the type of animation you do though (Disney charatcer, Monty
Python clip art, Geometry-based Photorealistic), there are some easy tricks.
For example, if you pencil the outlines of your characters, you can work your
way through 256 colors (as the pencil colors) using Insert/-> to create frame
by frame animations (and do the coloring later).
Example: suppose I want to draw Bambi eating some food. I make the entire
palette my current gradient cluster, then select the first color in the cluster
as my pencil color. Now I draw the outlines of the first frame. My flic is
one-frame big at this point (brand new session). Now I use Insert key (which
creates a secondary frame from the first), and then use the arrow key (->) to
advance me to frame two. I select the next color in the gradient as my new
pencil color. I now draw the next frame with the full outline of the previous
frame. When I'm finished, I use Insert/-> again to create and advance the
frame. I can now see the past two outlines. I select the NEXT color in the
gradient for my pencil ink and draw again.
Depending on how many frames back you want to see, you can recycle these pencil
colors without going through 256. The one drawback to this method is that it is
sequential (you can't see "ahead") as you draw. When you've finished the
outlines, go back with SEP. tool and the key color set and erase the non-top
layer outlines easily, leaving only the top animation per frame. Then if you
like, pass through the animation once more making the outline color the same
color throughout. It is at this point that I usually convert the key color to
white (like paper) and the outline color to something just above black (like
1,1,1). Now it looks like pencil on white paper.
Backgrounds are a whole 'nuther story, but hopefully this gives you some
insight into how AniPro's current features can be used for manual animation.
-dave
Hey Paul,
Thanks for responding to my message. That tip from Dave looks like a
nightmare to execute. Then again I've done worse. I did an animation sequence
in Dr. Halo, (I've not fully recovered from that experience yet), and that was
a pain. I did it just like Dave's suggestion except that Dr. Halo was a simple
drawing package, (no frame advance, no stencils, nothing), and I used that same
'palette-incrementing' as Dave did – only on one frame, though. Enough
babbling, to sum up that would be a waste of time.
Anyway, if you guys remember me from a while ago, I mentioned that
someone at my job might be developing such a tool with multiple track
animations. I just might be able to pull it off – no promises yet – but I
think I hit gold with this one. So no more AA tricks, crappy DAS, out-dated
DA, AND NO FREAKIN' WINDOWS!!!!! I'm hoping this package will have the power
of AA with the simplicity of DA and the 'onion-skinning' of DAS wrapped-up in
one. Sounds too good to be true (hell, it probably is) but I'm determined to
get this done.
Thanks again, Paul, for the input. If you're drawing the way Dave
suggested, take my advise and don't waste your time. You'll just burn yourself
out and get fustrated with yourself and your computer. Trust me, I know…
Thanks – I'll keep everyone posted,
Juan
An animator…
>> Thanks for responding to my message. That tip from Dave looks like a
nightmare to execute.– –If you're drawing the way Dave suggested, take my
advise and don't waste your time. You'll just burn yourself out and get
fustrated with yourself and your computer. Trust me, I know… <<
Hi Juan. <g>
What it looks like and what it is are apparently very different. The technique
works like a charm and adds no significant time whatsoever. To keystrokes and
the next frame is ready for drawing with up to 256 backframes viewable at no
performance penalty. separations to clear out the frames of backframes takes
seconds using AniPro internal tools, and this too takes seconds. It's not a
nightmare. 🙂 I've been using the technique for years, having seen the
alternatives (which are also okay), and there really isn't too much of an
advantage (qualifier) depending on the type of animation you do. AStudio
promises to do some neat stuff too.
-Sam-I-Am
Hi Juan,
Although Dave's technique of using color gradient to simulate onion skinning
may seem cumbersome, it works pretty well for those of us coming from
traditional animation backgrounds. This product your friend is working on
sounds interesting. Do you have a prototype as yet? I have thought of
developing an animation package myself. But with coding all day (I develop
Computer Aided Dispatch software for Counties), animating at night and
attending school part-time it's kind of tight. But if you need some assistance
or advice on development issues, I'd be glad to help. I'd like to see an
affordable animation package that doesn't ignore the traditional art of
animation. (My expertise is in 'C', I've been developing 'C' for UNIX, DOS and
Windows for ten years).
And remember Dave shouldn't be chastised for finding tricks in the tools he
has, many have benefited from them.
Good luck,
Paul Frey
Our World Comics
Hey Paul,
I've wrote a novel here, Paul, so brace yourself. 🙂
>> Although Dave's technique of using color gradient to simulate onion skinning
may seem cumbersome, it works pretty well for those of us coming from
traditional animation backgrounds. And remember Dave shouldn't be chastised for
finding tricks in the tools he has, many have benefited from them.<<
I'm not attacking him at all! It just cheeses me off that us animators
have to resort to find these tricks and working around buggy software (no, I'm
not talking about AA). If anything it's a very useful tip.
>> This product your friend is working on sounds interesting. Do you have a
prototype as yet?<<
Well this is the scoop. About 10 months ago, I had a programmer
working on this package for 4 months. In that amount of time he managed to
make everything work to the extent of perfection. It was executed in protected
mode and it worked like a dream. You could set video modes; 8 viewing tracks
on the screen at once in real time; draw; paint tools; full-screen zooms; copy,
paste, and delete multiple tracks; animcuts; exposure sheets; real-time
multiple-track playbacks. Pretty cool, huh? This was just the 'Penciling'
functions. You may notice that I'm using my wording in the past tense. The
programmer had a history of being lazy and was given his last chance by making
this package. Well, as you can guess, he didn't finish it and he was fired.
That really pissed me off so much because he was SO close to finishing it and
then he just starting losing interest (AARRGGHH! It just makes me what to
scream!!!)
Fortunately, I have some great news, if it turns out. I've been
talking about my package to a free-lance programmer that works with us and he's
been pushing this idea of mine for some time with my boss. So it looks like
there may be some light at the end of the tunnel.
>> I have thought of developing an animation package myself. But if you need
some assistance or advice on development issues, I'd be glad to help. I'd like
to see an affordable animation package that doesn't ignore the traditional art
of animation.<<
I've put alot of thought into this package from the tools to the
floating user-interface. I want it to be so simple yet extremely powerful.
It'll just allow you to draw as naturally as possible (with a tablet, of
course. Heh, heh). If it gets going I'll send you a copy and you can check it
out and tell me what you think. I'd like to hear you opinions and advise. As
for programming, I really appreciate the offer but don't get yourself too
wrapped up in it. "Leave the programming to the programmers", that's a little
something I've learned in the video game business. I have assembler experience
and been trying to develop this, as well, but I found myself too burnt out
between doing that AND my job. So I leave it under the mercy of the
programmers.
Fheew…my fingers are killing me. Anyway, I'll keep you informed of
the situation as it comes up.
Take it easy,
Juan
Juan – If you end up getting Animator Studio, it has onion skinning. Consider
your AAPro request a wishlist item shortly to be available ("Spring 1995")!
Hey guys,
Thanks for the tip, I'll take your advise and look into the 'gradient
skinning'. Also, Animator Studio sounds very interesting. Is there any specs
on it in the forum – I'd like to look them over…
Thanks again,
Juan
AAStudio specs on the forum?
See this file – still preliminary, remember, since the product hasn't yet
shipped!
File Info for AASR1.RLS
Section: Autodesk Animator Contributor: 70421,76 Size: 9577
Submitted: 1/14/95 Type: Text Accesses: 481
Title: Autodesk Launches Autodesk Animator(R) Studio R1
Keys: AUTODESK ANIMATOR STUDIO RELEASE 1 PRESS PRODUCT
Autodesk Launches Autodesk Animator(R) Studio Release 1. The
Windows(TM) Studio for Interactive Paint, Motion, and Sound. Autodesk, Inc.
today announced Autodesk Animator(R) Studio Release 1, a Windows
3.1-based successor to Animator Pro(R). With a ground-breaking
combination of 24-bit Truecolor paint, digital sound recording/editing and
digital video support, Autodesk Animator Studio provides a complete solution
for professionals in all areas of multimedia development.
Nik,
Thanks for the tip…but one question…Why Windows? Since Autodesk
has all the video drivers from Vibrant…
Just a thought…
Thank again,
Juan
Hey Nik,
I think I answered my own question for AAS to be in Windows…I'm dying
to get my hand on it. Sounds pretty powerful!!!
Thanks again!!!
Juan
Why Windows indeed? The reason probably relates to the AAPro interface. A
number of people reported it quirky and hard to learn. (Yes, and lots of
people like it.)
There is also such a great move in the industry towards Windows, and multimedia
has better tools in the Windows environment than in the DOS environment. (I
guess)
Nik,
Thanks for the tip… I guess Windows is the 'wave of the future'!
Juan