Rough Animation
The first step to complete a traditional paperless animation is the rough construction, which is the skeleton of your animation. You would usually start with the main action. For example, to animate a walk cycle, you will start with the torso motion and the legs. Head, arms and clothes will be added later during the secondary animation.
For a satisfactory animation, complete the main action before adding all the details. If you start animating all the details right away, you will lose a lot of time if you have to make corrections. Your animation will often look too rigid.
How to animate
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1.
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Press Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + U (Mac OS X) to open the Preferences dialog box. |
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2.
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Select the Exposure Sheet tab. |
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3.
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Select the Use Current Frame as Drawing Name option. When this preference is enabled, drawings will be named like the frame they are created on (frame number). |
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4.
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In the Tools toolbar, select the Brush tool or press Alt + B. |
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5.
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In the Colour view, select a colour for the brush. It is a good idea to choose a light colour for your rough animation. This will help you in the task that follows, the clean up process. |
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6.
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In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell where the first drawing will appear. |
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7.
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In the Camera or Drawing view, draw the first key drawing. |
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8.
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With your first cell still selected, do one of the following to mark your drawing as a key drawing. This will help you stay organized. |
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In the Mark Drawing toolbar, click the Mark Selected Drawings as Key button. |
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In the Xsheet view, select Drawings > Mark Drawing As > Key Drawing. |
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In the Timeline view, select Drawings > Mark Drawing As > Key Drawing. |
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9.
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In the Tools toolbar, click the Onion Skin button. The Onion Skin feature displays your previous and next drawings as visual references to help you draw your new pose. |
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10.
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In the Timeline view, click and drag the blue onion skin markers to extend the number of previous and next visible drawings. |
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11.
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In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select the cell where your next key drawing will appear. |
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12.
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In the Camera or Drawing view, draw your second key drawing. |
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13.
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In the Xsheet or Timeline view, identify the drawing as a key drawing. |
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14.
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In the Xsheet view, select a cell between the two key drawings. |
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15.
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From the Timeline View toolbar, click to create an empty drawing or press Alt + Shift + R. |
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In the Xsheet view, right-click and select Drawings > Create Empty Drawing or press Alt + Shift + R. |
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16.
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In the Camera or Drawing view, draw your new pose. |
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17.
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If necessary, in the Xsheet or Timeline view, identify the new drawing as a key, breakdown or in-between drawing using the Mark Drawing toolbar. |
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18.
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In the Timeline or Xsheet view, select a new cell and repeat the previous steps for each new drawing. |
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19.
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In the Timeline view, disable the layers you do not want to show during playback by disabling the check box. |
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20.
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In the Playback toolbar, click the Loop button if you want the playback to loop. |
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21.
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In the Playback toolbar, click the Play button to start the animation. |