Creating a Drop Shadow

The Shadow effect converts the drawing layer it is connected to into a dark, blurry matte. You can control the type and amount of blur, as well as the colour of the shadow.

On its own, simply connecting a drawing or group to this effect will only convert your drawing to a shadow, which might not be useful. However, it is possible to make both the original character and its shadow version appear in your scene, and have the shadow version transformed and distorted to appear as a drop shadow. You can accomplish this by doing one of the following:

  • Cloning the layers or group. You can then add the effect to the clone, and add a peg on top of the clone to transform it.
  • Adding the layers or group to a symbol, then putting two instances of that symbol in your scene. You can then add the effect to one of the instances, and add a peg on top to transform it.
TIP When creating a drop shadow against a floor, you can obtain a more realistic effect by using a Quadmap to transform the shadow instead of a Peg. A Quadmap is similar to a peg, except that it allows you to apply perspective effect to the drawings underneath it—see Quadmap Layer.
  1. In the Timeline view, select all the layers making your character's rig. If your character is under a master peg, selecting the master peg will also work.

  1. Make sure your character's rig is in a group. If it is not, right-click on your selection, then select Group Selection.

  1. With your character selected in the Timeline view, create a Clone of your character by doing one of the following:
  • Right click on your selection, then select Clone Selected Layers: Drawings and Timing.
  • From the Top menu, select Edit > Clone: Drawings and Timing.

NOTE Contrary to a duplicate, a cloned layer always has the same timing and exposure as its origin layer, even if its origin layer is changed later. Hence, you can make changes to your character's animation, and your cloned character's animation will automatically update with these changes.

  1. Add a Shadow effect to your group by doing one of the following.
  • In the Timeline view's layers toolbar, click on Add Layers and select Effects > Shadow.
  • Right-click on your selection, then select Insert > Effects > Shadow.

  1. In the Timeline view, select the root layer of your character's clone.
  1. Create a parent peg for your clone by doing one of the following:
  • From the Timeline View layers toolbar, click the Add Peg button.
  • Press Ctrl + P (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ + P (macOS).

  1. In the Timeline view, select your clone's parent peg.
  1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Transform tool.
  1. In the Camera view, scale and skew your clone so that it looks like a drop-shadow.