Moho Animation Forum

UPDATE: Wrote a script that does this, see this thread.

I just thought of a solution to a problem I've been having for a long time and thought I would share.

Here's an arm from one of my old projects:


I usually make my arms like that because when the arm bends I want this overlapping thing going on:


The problem with this are these gaps that pop up between the different fills:


They're not really visible unless you do close ups, unfortunately I do a lot of close ups.

The reason you get these gaps is because lines in Anime Studio end like this:


Instead of like this:


What you can do to get rid of the gaps is to make a circle and fill it with the same color as your outline:


Then make a cross in it (for accuracy):


Place it dead center over a point where a gap appears and make it the same size as your outline in that position:


Bind the circle to the same bone as the point it's over and:


Yaay!

I tried doing it at the end of these lines as well for a smoother look:


Maybe this is really basic stuff but I haven't been reading these forums as much lately and just now thought of this technique despite using Anime Studio for years...

Those gaps have always bugged me too. I have been dealing with it by adding extra points in the hidden line and moving the points around until the gaps disappear, but it requires adjustment when the bones move.

Your technique will eliminate a lot of extra work. (provided i don't change my lineweights around all the time!) Thanks for posting.

Thanks.

Simple and ingenious solution to a problem that It was broken my head. Thanks

Uhm... But this tecnique adds lots of points and lines, making the file bigger.
The more points and lines you put on, the more you have to wait to render the scene.
In ASP 5.6 the render was very fast, in ASD 6.2 it is SOOOO slow, I think there are some advanced curve calculation method that slows the rendering.

ponysmasher wrote:I just thought of a solution to a problem I've been having for a long time and thought I would share.

Nice work around. But wouldn't it be nice if AS Pro had the option a style for line end points? They could be flat & rounded, or sizeable circles, squares, fades, brush terminated, arrowheads, etc.

Fantastic solution!!!

I was doing something similar with a circular brush to create "end caps". Unfortunately brush images render a bit "pixely". Rough edges. This is a COOL technique.

I was just thinking this could be "scripted" to some degree. For example, you would select the points, run the script, and it would draw and center the circles at those points. You could do this in "one shot" for the whole character by selecting all the "gap points" and running a menu script or tool button. It could even select the shape of the points to determine the stroke width and draw the circles to the right diameter.

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As for adding "too many points" and slowing down AS... it's only 4 (or 6 with the cross points) added for each gap. This is not even worth mentioning as any kind of performance issue. It won't have any hit on render times whatsoever or have any noticeable effect on performance in AS. The only time point count has an effect is with complex Text Tool usage, or AI imports.

I didn't notice a render speed hit with AS 6. But.... I kind of got a new computer the same time I started using v6 so the render times were 10 times faster for anyway.

I did notice the v7 on a mac I borrowed had two render bars above the render processing... I had no clue what they were...

If you have issues with render times... AS 7 has multiprocessor rendering support now!!!! Freaking AWESOME! Wicked fast renders for those with multiple processors. No more launching multiple instances of AS for rendering with each processor.

-vern

heyvern wrote:
I was just thinking this could be "scripted" to some degree. For example, you would select the points, run the script, and it would draw and center the circles at those points. You could do this in "one shot" for the whole character by selecting all the "gap points" and running a menu script or tool button. It could even select the shape of the points to determine the stroke width and draw the circles to the right diameter.

Which would be easier:

1) A new line tool which automatically placed circles on endpoints
2) An endpoint modification tool which placed circles on endpoints
3) a point tool which placed a circle on each selected point

The circle would either copy the style on the point / line it was modifying or would use the current style.

I don't know if you've seen Onionskin's take on using simple strokes in more powerful ways:

viewtopic.php?t=15816&highlight=

It would seem his technique combined with the automagic circles could make certain styles of animation much easier to produce.

Okay, got my wacom to work in it, now I cannot have an image layer to show at all!

This seems a little buggy under Windows, but I like it, when it works

D

Creating a brush with a circle would give you a line with round ends.
I tried it once.

PARKER wrote:Creating a brush with a circle would give you a line with round ends.
I tried it once.

Have you been able to do it having a smooth circle like a vector circle, that is without getting jagged edges on the cirlce?

rogermate wrote:

PARKER wrote:Creating a brush with a circle would give you a line with round ends.
I tried it once.

Have you been able to do it having a smooth circle like a vector circle, that is without getting jagged edges on the cirlce?

Unffortunetly it gets jagged.

Neat practical solution there, the process might get old really quickly. but it definitely covers the bald patch, thanks.

On the subject of lines, what's the story with the new freehand tool ?
Does it work any better? It is an indispensable tool that could totally do with some sprucing. fingers crossed on this

Oh Rogermate, I like option 2 in your list,----

me -I just made this one up. "Always option for an option." Eh?

.