As some readers of my Cartooning In Toon Boom blog may feel more comfortable asking questions here in the forums as opposed to asking them thru comments directly on the blog, I have created this thread and also linked back to it from the blog. I publish the articles on the blog as a reference and learning resource to help others gain increased value and success in their usage of Toon Boom Studio. Please feel free to ask questions, or make suggestions or comments or even to help answer questions here or on the blog itself. Thanks -JK
I write blog articles and tutorials in the Cartoon In Toon Boom blog usually based on what I perceive as the most frequently asked questions or the concepts that seem to need more clarification. I also try to focus articles on new features which will benefit from some additional introduction, like my most recent group of articles on Photo Cut-outs. But I am always open to requests and or suggestions for articles or tutorials that readers would like to see. So if you have an area that you want to learn more about or some techniques you want to have clarified, please post your requests here and I’ll take them into consideration for upcoming blog articles or tutorials. -JK
I received an e-mail comment on the most recent article about Tumbnail Planning Technique. The writer said:
It is always great feed back to learn that someone found some new and useful information in one of my articles/tutorials. I’ll do my best to keep them coming. -JK
I have written a number of TBS oriented tutorials in the Cartooning in Toon Boom blog and I plan to continue writing more. But it seems like a good idea rather than me always deciding what would be an interesting tutorial, that it makes sense to ask for requests from the community. It could be a request to see ways to use a particular feature or it could be requests to see more on cut out character design rigging and animating or it could be requests to learn more about planning animations and working out timing or just more general tips and tricks tutorials.
I’m currently working on a new series on drawing for animation that I’ll soon begin posting in the Craft of Making Cartoons blog but I would love to get some comments and feedback here on types of tutorials you would like to see coming soon in the Cartooning in Toon Boom blog. -JK
Looking forward to your next installment of tut’s. You make a good point about trying to figure out what people want to see/learn. I’ve been trying to think of ideas lately as well for some short examples & lessons. Maybe demonstrating a color transformation, or showing some camera moves.
Something I can say I’d like to get a better grip on are masks & clipping effects. I’d love to see a clear explanation & example of them in action. Hopefully people will rattle off some more ideas for future tutorials.
My next Cartooning in Toon Boom tutorial is going to introduce the topic of smears, distortion and elongated inbetweens as implemented using TBS. I can’t specifically promise when it will be posted but it’s in the works. I’ll be highlighting several new features in TBS version 4. -JK
Some exciting news for international users of TBS. A fellow cartoonist from Spain has requested and been granted permission to translate and publish Spanish language versions of my blog articles and tutorials. We will provide linkages between the versions on the CTB blog. I know that there was interest in doing a French language translation although I haven’t seen the results of that yet. I am very open to discussing translations of the blog articles and tutorials as long as the translator follows our guidelines for translation and publishing, so if anyone is interested in doing a language translation you can e-mail to me directly or thru PM here at the forums to begin the discussion and to possibly gain permission. -JK
I just re-formatted the Cartooning In Toon Boom blog to make it easier to read. I hope that you find the changes beneficial. -JK
Nice reformat, JK!
And thanks again for such a great resource (and the TB wiki, too!)
I want to apologize about the long delay that I’m having in posting additional tutorial articles in the Cartoon In Toon Boom blog. I’ve been swamp with projects and my spare time, such that it is, has been taken up with a personal web comic project that I have been wanting to launch. So please bare with me. If you have any specific TBS questions just e-mail them to me or post them here and I’ll do my best to respond. I will eventually get back to posting more tutorial articles when time permits. -JK
Just a quick update: I continue to be very busy and therefore have not had time to create additional articles or tutorials in the Cartooning In Toon Boom blog. But as I have just updated to TBS V4.5, I am going to be coming up to speed on the enhancements and will be getting back to posting on the blog soon. I’ve had some time to think of new directions for tutorial articles so I hope to provide some new interesting and useful ones soon. -JK
I’m pleased to announce a new tutorial that I just posted in the Cartooning in Toon Boom blog. This latest tutorial is focused on using keyframes and tweening effectively. It uses the classical bouncing ball animation exercise as it basis, but don’t be put off by the simplicity of the exercise. I think this is a great way to explore using keyframing technique that is easy to follow and very useful as a learning approach. I hope that you will enjoy the tutorial and that it will add to your TBS skill set. -JK
KEYFRAMING THE BOUNCING BALL
For those who follow the Cartooning in Toon Boom blog, here are some “gee wiz” statistics. So far this year there have been 94,000 page views. Each page is a single tutorial or article. I’m sure many of those are repeat views but none the less I’m very pleased at how many people are gaining benefit from the blog articles/tutorials.
Don’t hesitate to leave comments here or on the blog and I’m always looking for suggestions and tutorial requests. I’m also particularly interested in hearing feedback on my latest tutorial which included 5 interactive slide shows to show the steps in the process. It is always nice to hear about what methods of communicating are effective and also when something falls short. Improvement is driven from reacting to input so don’t be bashful. -JK
There is a new series of tutorial articles being added to the Cartooning in Toon Boom blog beginning today. This series has been created for all TBS users whether new users or more experienced users who are interested in learning how to work with cut-out characters.
This series starts out with today’s posting BUILDING A CUT-OUT CHARACTER IN TOON BOOM and will be followed by “Rigging a Cut-Out Character in Toon Boom” and “Animating a Cut-Out Character in Toon Boom” which will be posted later this week. Then next week, I will post a fourth part in the series on tweaking and fine tuning our cut-out animation from part 3. (it doesn’t have a title yet) These are really detailed step by step tutorials and I hope you all find them very helpful. As always I’m available and glad to respond to any questions right here in the forums or in the discussion area of the Cartooning in Toon Boom WIKI or on the blog itself.-JK
Yesterday I posted an announcement about a new tutorial series that I am publishing in the Cartooning in Toon Boom blog about building, rigging and animating a cut-out character in Toon Boom Studio.
I published BUILDING A CUT-OUT CHARACTER IN TOON BOOM yesterday and today I published the next part of the series RIGGING A CUT-OUT CHARACTER IN TOON BOOM with more to come. -JK
I just published the third part in the new series about building, rigging and animating a cut-out character. You should find this series very informative. For those new to the subject or even TBS there is a significant amount of instructional material in these 3 tutorials and it is all step by step. For those more experienced, it may be more review than new but there may be a fresh idea or approach you will pick up too.
ANIMATING A CUT-OUT CHARACTER IN TOON BOOM
As a side bit of news, for those who have patiently been waiting for part 3 of the earlier series Animating Cut-Out Characters, that long overdue tutorial conclusion will be published in a few days. Thanks for being so patient. -JK
Happy Easter to all.
In case the bunny didn’t leave you any goodies in a basket, I have a present for you anyway. I just published ANIMATING CUT-OUT CHARACTERS - PART 3 which is that most elusive, long awaited, continuation of the Der Der walking animation tutorial. So I hope you enjoy it and find it informative. -JK
I just published a new tutorial on the Cartooning in Toon Boom blog. It is the first in a new Fundamentals series. It covers such basics as:
Importing a sequence of images into an image element
Importing a sequence of images into a drawing element
Using the set exposure command to adjust and tweak your animation sequence timing
Cutting apart imported images for animating
Keyframe animating your cut-apart images
There is hopefully something in there for all levels of users. I hope you enjoy it and learn some new tricks too.-JK
TOON BOOM FUNDAMENTALS - THE BASICS PART 1
I just published the second installment in my new fundamentals series. If you are new to Toon Boom Studio or if your are getting into animation and really want to start off on the right foot. I hope you will read and enjoy this latest article. I also guarantee current Toon Boom veteran users will walk away with a new perspective or two after reading this article.
Things covered:
Drawing View and Camera View, why they each exists and why they aren’t even close to being the same things.
The relationships between cells and cell display settings and how all that involves key framing.
The multi-plane animation camera stand from the physical world to the Toon Boom world.
And even some real insights into setting pivot points and what can effect your using of those pivot points in your animating.
Enjoy -JK
TOON BOOM FUNDAMENTALS - THE BASICS PART 2
BUG PUDDING is officially on-line. It’s my new web comic strip and hopefully you will find it entertaining. Plus as always, I’ll share behind the scenes stuff so that it’s almost educational too. There will be a new comic posted every Tuesday and Thursday. Enjoy -JK