I’m just getting started in Toon Boom Studio and I’m trying to get the hang of how things are done in it.
Is there a single key I can press that will take my current drawing, duplicate it and put it on the next frame? It seems like this would be absolutely essential for creating quick frame by frame animations.
I tried the Duplicate Drawing command and it just creates a new name for the current drawing on top of the existing one. I don’t understand the point. I feel like I’m really missing something here. Thanks in advance.
EDIT: Ok I understand drawings are saved in the “Drawing Folder”. My next question would be is this folder just “behind the scenes” or is there a way to look at what drawings are in it?
From what I can see, the quickest way to get what I want is to mouse select the drawing in the exposure sheet, Control-C, select the next drawing or down arrow, then control-shift-v. It would nice to have that assigned to one key, a macro I suppose.
If you want literally the same drawing in several cells then you can simply set the exposure. There are several shortcuts for that.
Right click on the timeline and look at the set exposure/ exposure commands to see what they do.
If you want a new drawing that you can manipulate separate from the first then you will need to copy and paste it to the next cell. And consequently give it a new name. This is basically traditional style animation where new drawings are on each cell.
f you create a drawing then turn it into a puppet you could reuse your drawings then use keyframes to animate them.
The tuorials are wonderful if you have time to do them.
You can look thru and select any cell for the currently selected frame for a specific element by using the slider on the Cells Panel.
In the timeline select an element track, then go to your desired frame and using the slider on the Cells Panel and the preview provided select your desired cell. This replaces the currently assigned cell for that frame if one existed. If you want to assign a blank new cell to that frame just pull the slider all the way to your extreme left. The Cells Panel gives visual access to all the cells of an element even when they are not currently assigned to any frame.
As to the duplication of a cell in the time line or the exposure sheet. It is a two step process. Step 1: extend the exposure of the cell you wish to duplicate so that it now is exposed for two frames in sequence. Step 2 select the second frame of the exposure sequence and use the Duplicate Drawing command. You now will have two unique cells that are identical and you can modify this new cell to continue animating. -JK
Dunkman - I only wanted to duplicate the previous frame, and yes, I need to do the tutorials. I have (digital) animating experience, this software seems to use more traditional terminology.
JK - Thanks, the cells panel is exactly what I was looking for, again a new term here. I understand the duplication technique you described, for my purposes its much faster to just copy / paste because I’m only interested in the previous drawing, this means I’d have to move that slider across every time.
Thanks for the replies you guys, I’m liking this community, very helpful.
You may have confused the discussion about the Cells Panel and the discussion about duplicating a drawing in a previous frame.
Step: 1 Select the element and frame where you have a drawn cell that you want to duplicate (this can be done either in the time line or the exposure sheet) press the keyboard short cut R to repeat the selected cell/frame combination one additional frame. Then press the key board short cut S to advance the frame selector by one frame. (this now positions you on the frame you want for your duplicate cell)
Step 2: right click to open the context menu and select the Duplicate Drawing command. That’ s all there is to it. (most TBS users create a short cut key for the Duplicate Drawing command such as the F6 key) so this second step is actually just press the F6 key and you’re done.
So in summary it’s three key strokes R followed by S followed by F6.
The Cells Panel is not involved in this process. The main usage of the Cells Panel is for cell swapping which is very useful for lip sync work etc. -JK
Ah nice, I understand completely, 3 keys is not bad, again thanks very much for the help.
Just a quick note -
I have experience with Flash and 3D packages like Blender, Maya, Lightwave etc…
I’m working with an artist on an Anime project and I’m evaluating software more geared toward the type of work we’ll be doing. I’m liking what I see so far from Toon Boom. I’m starting to figure it out but it is a bit different. Haven’t figured out how layers work yet exactly but I’m picking away at it.
Wait, so can i do that control shift and v thing in the trial version?
Everything is the same in the trial version except for the watermark and the ability to use files in a purchased version of the software.