2 questions:
Is there a place I can see the percentage I have scaled something (ex: 29%)
Is it possible to scale --example: a character, throughout several panels within the scn?
Currently I am hand scaling the character and it would save a lot of time to have a way to repeat this actions automatically to the specific layers I need scaled.
You can precisely and consistently control the percentage of scaling in the Tools Properties panel (when the Selection tool is active). But if you scale by dragging the bounding box, the numerical controls will not reflect your resizing percentages.
To resize/scale one character over multiple panels within a scene all at once, it’s a little bit trickier. Here’s are two different methods that work for me:
------------------Method #1 – Using the “First Frame” tool------------------
*Example: if the layer you’re transforming in panel #1 is called: CHARACTERS, then make sure that same layer is named CHARACTERS in every panel in the scene.
If there is any break in this pattern, the transformation will NOT work.
If the names are not already consistent, rename them individually. (Note: Layer names are case-sensitive, so if the name isn’t EXACTLY typed the same, this will not work.) To rename quickly and accurately, type and copy the layer name, and then double-click each layer tab and press CTRL-V or “Paste” to paste the name.
--------------------------Method #2-------------------------
FIRST, isolate your character onto its own layer throughout the scene. There should be nothing else on that layer other than the character you’re trying to resize.
Make sure your character layer in all of the panels has exactly the same name.
For example: if the layer you’re transforming in panel #1 is called: CHARACTERS, then make sure that same layer is named CHARACTERS in every panel in the scene.
If there is any break in this pattern, the transformation will NOT work.
If the names are not already consistent, rename them individually. (Note: Layer names are case-sensitive, so if the name isn’t EXACTLY typed the same, this will not work.) To rename quickly and accurately, type and copy the layer name, and then double-click each layer tab and press CTRL-V or “Paste” to paste the name.
Make sure the SELECTION tool (black arrow) is active. Use the SELECTION TOOL to SELECT the first panel of the group by clicking or tapping on the thumbnail view below the drawing window
Press CONTROL and SHIFT at the same time and HOLD
(COMMAND+Shift on Mac)
While you’re still holding down CONTROL and SHIFT(or COMMAND+Shift on Mac) Click or tap on the last panel in the series . If you cannot see the last panel in your panel view, switch to Overview workspace [View>Overview Workspace]. Make sure all those panels are now highlighted which indicates that they’re all selected (Sometimes the multi-selection just doesn’t work. so if those panels are not all highlighted, repeat steps 2 through 4).
Now that you can see that all appropriate panels are selected, you must let go of the CONTROL and SHIFT keys now
Use the SELECTION TOOL to lasso around ALL the visible artwork. Now all of the artwork will look selected, and it will have a large bounding box around all the artwork.
Use the SELECTION TOOL to resize the artwork. To scale, hold the SHIFT key down, and drag the bounding box inward or outward, depending on whether you are shrinking or enlarging. Or you can use the numerical controls in the Tools Properties panel.
If you need to MOVE the artwork after resizing, use the SELECTION tool to drag the artwork to its new position (use the numerical controls in the Tools Properties panel).
To finish, click on a blank area of the screen to de-select all artwork. Or you can press the ESCAPE key to deselect all the artwork.
That’s it! It actually goes a lot quicker than it looks on paper. Once you done it a few times this can all be done in a few seconds. It just takes a lot of words to explain.
Try this out on some test panels using simple layer names til you get the hang of it. Good luck! --Sherm
@ramblindawg, Thank you so much for the Spread Layer Motion tip!!! I was kind of hating on SB Pro until I found this. Thanks so much!
I got a bit confused on your first set of instructions. I figured it out, but I just want to clarify for anyone else who may have gotten confused…there is not a “First Frame Layer Transform” tool. As long as the thing you want to animate is the same named layer in each of the panels, the Spread Layer Motion will work. Say you have 6 panels in your scene with a ball you want to animate on a layer titled “Ball”. In the Timeline, hold Ctrl Shift and then select all 6 panels you want to be animated. Click the little “Animate” running guy next to the “Ball” name on the “Ball” layer. Now all of your “Ball” layers on all panels are animatable. Click on the first panel. Set a keyframe at the beginning of the panel on the “Ball” layer, go to the last frame of that same panel, use the Transform tool to move your ball. Because the Animate mode is active on the layer, a new keyframe will automatically be added to that layer on the timeline. With panel 1 selected, you can go to Layer\Spread Layer Motion… and then choose to spread it across all the panels in the scene or a specified number. This spreads the motion between the two keyframes on your first panel evenly across all your panels.
Thanks to Spread Layer Motion, you could also animate a bouncing ball. As long as all the layers across all panels are called “Ball”, you can draw different pictures in each panel on the layers to get some squash and stretch happening etc. This is also the way you can get a walk cycle going across multiple panels.
One more note, you can go to Windows\Toolbars\Layer and then right click to customize the toolbar. You can get a button on the toolbar for Spread Layer Motion or Copy Layer End Position From Start. I didn’t see the need to use this button for spreading the layer motion, but it does seem helpful for other cases.