CompuServe Thread

>> Is there a way in Animator Pro to take a .GIF or what ever kind of >> image, and use it as a template. Mike, If it is just the outline that you wish to trace around then you can: 1. Load the GIF 2. Capture the GIF as a cel (Cel-Clip) 3. Clear the screen (Pic-Clear) 4. Go into the Anim cel menu (Cel-Anim cel…) 5. Turn on ONE COLOR (Options-One color) 6. Go back to the Home panel (Cel-Quit) 7. Pick a color you will not be using and paste the cel in that color. 8. Put a copy into the swap buffer (just in case!) <g> Now you can trace around the silloette of the original GIF. When you are done you can get rid of the outline (what is left of it) with the separate tool. Hope this helps, it is not the same as 3D Studio "show background" but it should do the trick. Let us know how it worked out for you. -Ralph Frantz

Ralph's reply is one way to do it. Here's another: Load the picture you want to trace over. It can be a complete image. Clip a copy of it to the Swap buffer. Click on the right frame arrow to either move to the next frame or _attempt_ to move to the next frame. (You don't have to have a 2nd frame. This step simply clears the Change buffer.) Now, paint away over the picture. You can use Scrape ink if you need to undo anything. When you've finished your tracing, select Clip Changes from the Trace menu. This will put all changes you've made in the cel buffer. Clear the screen, and then paste the cel with your changes. Another, more obscure and problematic way to do it is to turn on the Create Mask option just before you start tracing. When you're through, turn on the mask, and you can erase everything but the portions you drew (which created a mask while you were making them). There's probably also a way to do it with XOR ink, but someone else will have to come up with that. – Jack