Is there a way to place a template at a different frame it was created on?
Say I have a simple template, a drawing, on frame 1.
I want to drop it on frame 1000.
As far as I can see, I am forced to drop it on frame 1, then cut it and paste it on frame 1000. Or extend the exposure and then cut the excess.
Complicated, and tricky to do in many cases.
This wasn’t possibile a while ago. Has this changed?
thank you,
Josh
hi Lily
thank you.
I’m trying to do that, but when I drag the Template from the library to the timeline, I only get to drop it in the layer column. If I try to drop it on an actual frame in the timeline, the cursor turns into a ‘forbidden’ symbol.
I tried to press&drag with every possible option key, to no avail.
So, as said, I have to drop it in the layers column (the template was created at frame 1), and then work to get it at frame 1000 (by extending exposure and then cutting the excess or by copying and special pasting).
What I really would want is to simply put it right away where I need it to be.
thanks,
Josh
Hi Lily
I understand the structure has to be the same.
Dropping a template in it’s own pre-existing structure works.
My point is I would find it useful to be able to drop a Template at a given frame regardless of the structure being there or not.
Whatever the structure, from a simple drawing to a rigged character, why can’t I drag a new Template over the Timeline and place it onto a frame and let Animate do the work of adding the layers in the left column?
As it it now new Templates can only be placed onto the Layer column, which means they automatically go to the frame they were created on (usually frame 1) and one has to then take a number of additional steps (extension of Exposure and erasing of excess, or Copy/Special paste) to bring the Template to the desired frame.
Basically I was asking if this can be avoided, but I guess the answer is no. 
thank you,
Josh
Hi Lily
I follow you completely and I see every reason for Templates to fall into place.
Still, I don’t see why it couldn’t work for situations that fall outside that scenario.
The simplest of cases: placing a single drawing, with no rigging, pegs, animation, no structure, from the LIbrary to a frame.
There are plenty of times when putting a drawing or a new character that hasn’t been on stage before at a certain point in the film could be useful.
The software can’t be expected to choose between options, but a drag+press key solution for the times when one expressly wants to do that would be nice.
Just an opinion, of course…
Thanks lots again!
ciao
Josh
Hi Lily. Thanks. Yes, true! I don’t know what I did wrong, I get easily confused.
So the single drawing works. I know I’m stubborn, but I still don’t understand why I can’t do the same with a new multi-layered template.
As said, I completely grasp the reason for it needing a structure when the same template is already on stage.
Why this can’t be done when it’s being placed for the first time still eludes me.
Sorry for being so hard-headed.
Thank you very much for taking time to check this out!
Josh
You can simply drag your template onto frame 1000. The only restriction is that the structure of the source has to be the same as the structure of the destination. So if the template has many layers in it, you have to drop it onto the same kind of layer structure. But if your template has only one drawing in it, you should be able to drop it onto any other drawing layer.
Just be aware that when you drag and drop a template, there are various kinds of paste rules that you can do. By default, it pastes the Exposure of the drawing. That means that if, in that drawing layer, you have already a drawing named drawing 1, and your template has a drawing in it named 1, then it will just replace frame 1000 with drawing 1. But if you want instead for it to copy in the drawing from the template, and give it a new drawing name, then when you drag and drop your template onto the timeline, hold down Ctrl to bring up your Paste Special options. Then select the option "Always Create Drawings."
Hope this helps.
~Lilly
So the reason that it’s giving you a forbidden symbol is because there’s something different about the structure inside the template and the structure of where you’re trying to drop it.
To double-check, right-click on the library where the template is stored and select Right to Modify. Then right-click on the template and do an Edit Template. Now from inside the template check out what the structure looks like in here. Is it different from that spot on the timeline where you were trying to drop the template?
If you’re still having trouble then attach a screenshot of the template’s timeline and the scene’s timeline where you’re trying to drag it. Upload your screenshots to a free site like Photobucket and post the links here.
~Lilly
Well usually you would be dropping onto a different frame when you want to do some kind of action template, like throwing blinks onto a character, or re-using animation. So you need to have the structure there ahead of time, and there is a reason for this. The reason is that what the software does is inside the template it saves the exposure information of the drawing layers, as well as the structure.
When you drop on the left-hand side, then it creates a new structure. You could save, if you want to, an empty structure with no drawings in it for this purpose. But usually someone would be dropping their master character on the left-hand side first as they get started.
Then when they want to add an action, like blinks, or re-used animation, they’ll drop it on top of the structure on the right-hand side.
Internally, it has saved exposure in a certain structure. If you were to try to drop onto a single frame, for example, but your source template has many layers’ worth of information, which layer’s information should be the one that it should use? In your case, you want it to create all of the layers. But what if you had some effects inside your structure? Particularly when you’re working with Animate Pro, there are some connections that can be made only in the Network view that don’t display in the Timeline, so it would not create this structure in the same way if you drag it onto the Timeline. It just becomes quite risky.
I understand why you want it to do that, but I think it’s more robust to stick with the method that we’ve implemented thus far.
~Lilly
You can drop a single drawing, no rigging, pegs, or animation, from the Library onto a frame.
I just tested this to make sure. I created a drawing. I dragged that simple frame into my library to make a template out of it. Then I created a brand new scene, and I dragged this template onto frame 40. Poof! It was added.
~Lilly
No problem and I’ll discuss it with R&D, but I think it’s probably going to end up staying the way that it is. It’s “safer” that way because it prevents you from accidentally dragging and dropping a template onto the wrong destination.
~Lilly