Hi all
Would some one please post some demos on use-in the TONE effect as
the pfd’s are not too clear.
Thanks Paul ???
Hi SUMMERSTOON. I definitely agree that the documentation on effects is rather vague. I hope this helps:
Pay attention to the timeline, because there’s where important things happen. All of this is done in camera mode, so you can see where everything is. This is important.
1. Create a new layer or drawing element (here it’s called Drawing). Draw your character in it. Color it and everything. It doesn’t matter if you use the brush, the pencil tool or shapes such as circles or rectangles.
2. Create a new layer (a drawing element) and rename it “Matte”. Make this new layer active by clicking on its frame. This is where you’ll create a mask that will tell the TONE effect where you want it to appear. You do this by painting the area with a thick brush. The color is irrelevant it will not show on our final result. Here I chose blue to make things clearer. You can take a half step here and first draw areas with a thin line and then fill them with the paint bucket, just so you know where you are laying down your “effect”.
3. Notice how you only have to be careful with what you do “inside” your character’s outline. You can be careless with what lays outside for the effect will only show through where the two layers intersect. (See the “No problem” writing. That won’t show in our final result).
4. After you are done “indicating” where you want your effect to appear, add the effect layer as shown in the next image (it doesn’t matter where):
5. You’ll end up with something like the next picture. The tone effect will add two elements to your timeline. The effect itself, called “Tone” by default, and a child element of the first one, called “Mask”.
6. Click and drag the “drawing” element to the “T” (or wherever it gets what I’m explaining done) of the “Tone” layer so that it becomes a child of it. It will be at the same level of the “Mask” element and probably show underneath the latter like in the next image:
7. You are almost done. Now click and drag the “Matte” element to the “M” of the mask element, so that it becomes a child of it. (See next image) It will be in the third level of hierarchy of the whole thing. Voilà, your tone is ready. Now you can play with its features by double clicking on the yellow star next to the Tone layer name (you’ll only see the directional blur if you are on render mode). Note how the “No problem” text disappeared, since it wasn’t drawn where it would intersect the character layer. You still have to draw and fill the Matte for every frame you want your tone to appear (if you’re doing frame-by-frame). That’s why cartoons like The Simpsons use it sparingly, only for night outside shots or when the characters are watching TV, where the shaded areas appear to “flicker” with the TV’s change of light intensity.
I hope this was helpful. Nice things can be achieved by using the tone effect wisely. Have a great day!
Thanks for the help
PS Nice blog very informative.
Rindolphus, thanks very much for that step by step guide!!!
I’m glad the “step by step” was helpful.
Thank you SUMMERSTOON for the comments on the blog. You are welcome to visit any time.