I'm planning on doing a super short piece using all new elements. On my last project, in which I learned the program, I just dived in without really learning any proper methodology, hence inconsistent line widths, etc.
So, really basic stuff here---
1. Is there any "proper" way to scale things in ASP? What I mean, say you have a character who is supposed to be six feet tall. Should that be a certain number of pixels in ASP?
2. Regarding line width, if you're doing traditional type animation, something like Simpsons, Family Guy, Anime, etc., is there a certain line width to use? What is too thick? What is too thin? How is this determined?
3. When you create a character, background, etc., is there a "proper" place to originate it in the workspace (coordinate-wise) to make your life easier? Should it always be 0,0?
Again, know this is REALLY basic stuff, but I blew it off first time around and now I'm curious. Thanks.
Really basic questions from someone who should know better
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
I have drawn all these styles of animaton before in AS so i have the answer for you.
The line width you use for when crearting cartoons, anime or comic is different.
For creating anime and comic animation i suggest you to use 1 for the line width.
For creating cartoon always use thick lines, a higher number like 3 or 4 but thats for cartoons like the ones in CN or Nick for example, i think for an animation like family guy you could use 2 because its not that thick.
The line width you use for when crearting cartoons, anime or comic is different.
For creating anime and comic animation i suggest you to use 1 for the line width.
For creating cartoon always use thick lines, a higher number like 3 or 4 but thats for cartoons like the ones in CN or Nick for example, i think for an animation like family guy you could use 2 because its not that thick.
All depends on your project size. If you use HDTV (1920 x 1080), you need bigger artwork than for PAL (768 x576).
1. There's no way to let some character "appear" 6 feet tall. It's all relative, meaning your character will look big in comparison to other characters and to furniture and doors.
That's why it's a good idea to design all your characters and a background at the same time, on the same level, without ever using level scaling (2). It doesn't have to be final stuff, just sketches will do. This way you'll create everything in the correct size related to everything else. After that duplicate this layer for each character and prop and do the final versions. Save this master file separately and don't do animation in it, rather import from this file into your separate scene files.
A possible way to get certain characters sizes would be to do a sketch with a door, a chair, and a table, then add height lines on the wall (like in a police mug shot). This could be used as a reference in AS.
2. Line width depends on your project dimensions, again. There's different ways to deal with it, somewhere between these two extremes:
- Line width is always the same relatively to the character. That means the lines will look much thicker in a close-up. (Example: Happy Tree Friends)
- Line width is always the same relatively to the frame. That means that a close-up character and a long shot character will have different line widths. This is the way most Anime and most 2D handdrawn features are done.
Whatever fits your style, you should define it in unscaled layers only, otherwise you'll be mislead and suffer later when you scale characters for different scenes.
3. Yes. Point of origin matters a lot: it's the pivot point layers will rotate around, an it's the point which will stay in position when you scale layers. I use to set the PoO to the ground line on which a character stands. This way it's faster to later adjust their size on different backgrounds. Same goes for vehicles, here I set the PoO in the ground line exactly under one wheel. This helps to let the vehicle rotate on uneven ground.
1. There's no way to let some character "appear" 6 feet tall. It's all relative, meaning your character will look big in comparison to other characters and to furniture and doors.
That's why it's a good idea to design all your characters and a background at the same time, on the same level, without ever using level scaling (2). It doesn't have to be final stuff, just sketches will do. This way you'll create everything in the correct size related to everything else. After that duplicate this layer for each character and prop and do the final versions. Save this master file separately and don't do animation in it, rather import from this file into your separate scene files.
A possible way to get certain characters sizes would be to do a sketch with a door, a chair, and a table, then add height lines on the wall (like in a police mug shot). This could be used as a reference in AS.
2. Line width depends on your project dimensions, again. There's different ways to deal with it, somewhere between these two extremes:
- Line width is always the same relatively to the character. That means the lines will look much thicker in a close-up. (Example: Happy Tree Friends)
- Line width is always the same relatively to the frame. That means that a close-up character and a long shot character will have different line widths. This is the way most Anime and most 2D handdrawn features are done.
Whatever fits your style, you should define it in unscaled layers only, otherwise you'll be mislead and suffer later when you scale characters for different scenes.
3. Yes. Point of origin matters a lot: it's the pivot point layers will rotate around, an it's the point which will stay in position when you scale layers. I use to set the PoO to the ground line on which a character stands. This way it's faster to later adjust their size on different backgrounds. Same goes for vehicles, here I set the PoO in the ground line exactly under one wheel. This helps to let the vehicle rotate on uneven ground.
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neeters_guy
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Great tips as usual, slowtiger!slowtiger wrote:Whatever fits your style, you should define it in unscaled layers only, otherwise you'll be mislead and suffer later when you scale characters for different scenes...
3. Yes. Point of origin matters a lot: it's the pivot point layers will rotate around, an it's the point which will stay in position when you scale layers. I use to set the PoO to the ground line on which a character stands. This way it's faster to later adjust their size on different backgrounds...