Relative Size
The size relation between the props, characters and backgrounds is very important in maintaining consistency and structure throughout the project.
A production can contain many characters and props. It is not unusual for these to be created by different people. If there is no size control implemented, the characters and elements created by different artists can vary greatly. When this occurs, the characters that are placed together in a scene will be out of proportion. The animator or person doing the scene setup will then have to scale them to the correct size.
When a character or prop is scaled down, the outline will become increasingly thinner. By the time the element is scaled to its proper size, the outline may be so thin that a difference between one character's outline and the one beside it will not look very good.
Here are a few tips you can use to create a suitable size relation.
A line up consists of copying and pasting all your character designs into the same drawing and then scaling them to the correct proportion in relation to the other characters. This line up is very important and should be handed to any animator, layout and posing artist or scene setup person working on the project.
For the prop design, it is recommended that you paste one of the main character's hands or even the full body beside the prop. This enables the animator to know what size to draw the prop.
In your character design scene, it is a good idea to create a column for the character line up.The line up is usually done during the character design step. When the character builder imports the model to the breakdown scene, the size relation should be correct.
Harmony includes a field chart in its Drawing view. This tool is very useful in setting the characters' and props' heights.
It is recommended that you keep the character design and breakdown inside the 12 field size. This ensures that it fits the default camera size and the template thumbnails. If some parts were drawn too big or too far apart, you can use the Reposition All Drawings tool and reposition, scale or rotate multiple drawings from different layers all at once.
Use the Show Grid option to display a grid in the Drawing view.
Name | Button | Description | Keyboard Shortcut |
Show Grid
|
Displays the grid. |
View > Grid > Show Grid Press Ctrl + ' (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + ' (Mac OS X). |
|
Grid Outline Only | Displays the outline of the grid only. |
View > Grid > Grid Outline Only |
|
Square |
Displays a standard square grid. |
View > Grid > Square |
|
12 Field Grid |
Displays a 12-field size grid. |
View > Grid > 12 Field Grid |
|
16 Field Grid |
Displays a 16-field size grid. |
View > Grid > 16 Field Grid |
|
Underlay |
Displays the grid under the drawing elements. | View > Grid > Underlay | |
Overlay |
Displays the grid over the drawing elements. | View > Grid > Overlay |
- In the Tools toolbar from the Select drop-down menu, select the Reposition All Drawings tool. This also automatically selects every stroke in your drawing in the Drawing view.
- To deform or reposition a selection:
‣ | To reposition, click and drag your selection to a new area. |
‣ | To scale, pull or push on the top, side, bottom or corner control points. Hold down Shift to lock the selection’s ratio. |
- When you release your cursor, every drawing contained in the drawing layer you repositioned, scaled, rotated or skewed will follow the same transformation.
Harmony provides a variety of pens and brushes and also allows you to create and save your own through creating a tool preset.
It is a good idea to create and save pens with precise sizes and parameters to trace and design your models and breakdowns.