V4.0 Wishlist

Well Mathieu I realize v3.5 is just released and brand new but there is no rest for those driven to achieve excellence so here is a thread for the next versions “wish” list.

So far I have two improvements that I think would be very useful. Things that currently require “work arounds”.

(1) Pens are much like color palletes, it would be useful if pen definitions where not specific to a single project. We are constantly having to spend time, when we start a new project, setting up all our pens. In fact we created a work around by creating pre-configured projects that we just open and rename so that we don’t have to recreate our pen set ups over and over. That is also how we used to have to handle moving and sharing color pallettes, but it would be nice if Pens could be imported and exported like color pallets are now in V3.5.

(2) Frame notes in the Sound Editor this is different from Lip Sync notes. Lip Sync is only a part of sound coordination in animation. Syncing to music and effects is also important. Currently it is a major pain to do track reading work because there is no easy way to produce frame notes while scrubbing a non dialogue track. We do most track reading work in the sound editor and there is no way to make cell notes while the sound editor is open. The sound wave display in the x-sheet is not as easy to work with and we still have to add a dummy element of blank cells to produce track cell reading notes that way. If there were a way to create frame notes while scrubbing the track in the sound editor this would be very useful and a major time saver. I hate to say it but we use other software as a workaround and then have to transfer the notes into TBS which is time consuming and not a great solution.

Oh yes and if possible having unlimited user defined panel layouts instead of only 3 would be a nice improvement, OK unlimited may be too much, but certainly 3 is very limiting. There always seems to be more panel layout - workflow task combinations than can be accomodated by only 3 custom set ups.

Thanks for listening -JK

  • constant line thickness for scaled and distorted objects

    - bitmap editing

    cheers,
    rob

Hi,

- Depth of Field.
- Blur of movement.
- “bones” system.

Regards,

Thierry

Hi,

I will also add this:

- bitmap editing
- Some additional effects (particles, blur etc…)

Regards,
Thierry

yeah, it would be cool to import sound as well :slight_smile:

(the frames’ import only works with the image sequence import already, one must export the movie into the images first, qtpro can do this…)
cheers,
rob

Mathieu,
Here is another suggestion for what I believe would be a very useful improvment to the drawing tools for version 4.0.
As animators move more toward drawing directly on the computer and less on paper there is the need to laydown construction marks and foundation sketches for animating. Often times I find myself working in multiple colors so as to distinguish between my really rough sketching and my tightening up lines. I normally work in the object drawing mode when I sketch with draw top layer “off” to keep common color lines from merging. This helps with erasing while rough sketching. But it makes getting rid of those lines a real pain later in the process. Once I go back over my sketching in a different color to determine my preferred lines it would be nice to be able to delete the under lying construction sketching for clarity. If there were a “sketch” mode that could be turned on for a “pen” definition and then the ability to delete any lines drawen in a single color with that pen this would clear out those really rough sketches easily. Conceptually it is like being able to delete all strokes of a selected color in one operation like removing non-photo blue lines in printing. I currently do this by setting the alpha to totally transparent for my sketch lines color but that is a poor work around as I would like to remove these lines on a drawing by drawing basis. -JK

Toon Boom Solo has that. It’s pretty sweet not having to change layers to get rid of my blueline sketches. You just choose the color, then choose Edit/select by current color, or some such command.

I just recently built a cut-out rig that was fairly complicated and one thing I’d like to see is tools to help manage element layering. It’s a tricky thing to accomplish. Maybe come up with a tool specifically for assembled rigs to change the layering of any element in a rig, reguardless hierarchies. I tried moving the element’s Z position but that throws off the other elements. So you have to adjust their Z position, and so on. So please consider this suggestion.

I’m glad JK brought up the “sketch mode” concept. I was just thinking the other day how nice it would be if TBS would have something similar to what I already have in two other animation programs: a blue sketch pencil which can be completely erased with one click of a button after the cleaned-up drawing is inked in black. Very, very helpful and convenient!

Ron

I have a new suggestion for development consideration in the next version of TBS. It would be really useful to have Scene Notes that could be attached to each scene in the scene manager panel. We are constantly having to coordinate work to be completed or ideas related to individual scenes in production and this all has to be done outside of TBS. It would be extremely useful if we had a place to write production related notes and tie them to each scene just like element and cell notes are created and tied to elements and cells. Thanks for your consideration -JK

a very modest wish:
the current frame number in the full screen view,
could be beside the drawing element number at the bottom…
cheers,
rob

Hello,

A couple of suggestions would be:

1. Import bitmaps at their true resolution/size so that they are not resized to fit the field in the camera view

2. Having a “Stroke” Tool that allows you to add outlines to objects

Bitmap Pixel drawing tools or layers for a better feel of pencil.

Hi,

Here are some suggestions of improvements to do:

A Bone system, IK system, inverse kinematics, and a “glue” system to help us with the animation part, because the cut-out animation is a bit hard to manage and it doesn’t give the sensation of natural animation that we can simulate with the bone system.
Just to remind Toon Boom company, there are some other animation applications that have this system, such as Anime Studio.

Regards,
Chris[pre]

HELP,

I really do feel stupid, feel a stupid blond! I purchased, Studio 3.5 and now v4. but I haven’t been able to do one animation. I purchased a lot of character from Cartoons Solutions in the hope I could create something from the mess I have got myself into.

I have been attempting to do what seems a simple job like getting Toon Boom characters into the global library, but been unable to do that.

Some of you good members of this forum told me how to cut out and rig characters, now I have forgotten how to do that.

When I sow Toon Boom’s advert telling every body that v4 is easer than ever to use it raised my hopes of creating some movement from still images.

I have studied and bought everything I can afford (I am a pensioner) without any results, I seem hopeless.

Is there some basics I am missing out on?

I thought if I want back to just getting some stuff into my global library and try and work from there, I might learn something that would lead me onto the next step, but cant make it.

HOPLES

Rev Wena D. Parry



Yes, yes , let me add another voice asking for that :



TVPaint has that feature , as does Plastic Animation Paper.
Very useful .

Here is what else I would like for the next version of ToonBoom Studio :

1.) I really like that ToonBoom Studio 4.0 can import scanned images “with texture” , but I wish there was a way to keep the texture of the pencil sketch (rough animation drawing) while at the same time stripping out all the white of the image , so everything other than the pencil lines would be transparent and could be used with the light table and the Show Previous , Show Next image feature. I know that is what happens if we choose Import and Vectorize in B&W, but sometimes when importing and vectorizing in B&W mode the vectorization process is too crude , takes out too many subtleties of the pencil sketch .

2.) Speaking of Import and Vectorize , I’d like that to hold onto the settings I last used , so it doesn’t always default back to Black and White , No Filter, Threshold 70% .

3.) because of the nifty Import and Vectorize With Texture feature it would be great if we could shoot from a Video camera directly into ToonBoom Studio 4.0 , utilizing it as a more traditional pencil tester tool . Right now I can scan my pencil animation drawings, then Import and Vectorize with texture to preserve the pencil look, but it would be so much faster to be able to hook up a digital video camera via firewire and shoot directly into the program like in Digicel. (Digicel gives the option of capturing from video or importing previously scanned images. It would improve the usefulness of ToonBoom Studio 4.0 to have the same options) .

Something along the lines of the blue sketch layer.

I was wondering if it could be possible to convert a coloured line to a stroke (for example, the blue / red / green line drawn in or scanned from another source which is drawn to signify a shadow or highlight) then be prompted whether to convert this colour line to either a stroke or a sketch line?

I hope my request makes sense
thanks

Hi Patmals,

Actually, if you draw with a pen or you convert your brush to line then select that line and drop the size of the pen to 0 the line will be transformed to a stroke. I think this was added in version 4.0 but might have been even before that.

Best regards,

Ugo

Hi Ugo,

Thank you for pointing that out. Thats very useful!!

I will definately use this feature now :slight_smile:

Something else which also wonder if it is possible (it is possible in Digital Pro and the other software i am comparing with) is being able to join (connect) a line and continue to bend them together as one? (snapping two lines together then manipulating them both as one)

Thank you!

Hi,

Again this is in the software. The feature is under Tools and is named Snap to Contour. This will join the lines together (you might still want to have auto close gap on for sometime the lines are a little bit off and since it is a centerline you won’t necessarily see it but it won’t paint).

Best regards,

Ugo