Anime Studio Debut 6 Users Manual

7/30/2019 Anime Studio Debut 6 Users Manual

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Anime StudioUsers Manual

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Anime Studio

Debut 6

Users Manual


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ContentsWelcome 1

Introduction 2Demo Limitations 2Whats New: New Features in Anime Studio 6 2

User Interace2Scripting 3Tool Improvements 3Audio and Video 4Animation 4Lip Sync 4Morph Targets 5Import and Export 5Motion Tracking 5Rendering 5

License 6Anime Studio License Agreement 6

Anime Studio Tutorials 10

Drawing 11Tutorial 21: Welding 11

How to Weld Points 11Why to Weld Points 14Examples o Good Welding 15

Examples o Bad Welding 17Tutorial 22: Drawing Shapes with Holes 19

Reminder o Fill Rules 20Creating Holes 20

Tutorial 23: Hidden Edges 22Start With a Sample File 22Hidden Edges 22Finishing Touches 24

Tutorial 24: Shape Ordering 24Start With a Sample File 25Raising and Lowering Shapes 25Selecting Hidden Shapes27

Tutorial 26: Layer Masking 29

Start With a Sample File 29Another Example - Simplied Modeling 32Another Example - Transition Eect 32

Bones 34Tutorial 31: Bone Binding 34

Start With a Sample File 34Automatic Binding 34Manual Binding 38

Layer Binding 40Go Back to Automatic Mode 41

Tutorial 32: Bone Constraints 42Start With a Sample File 42Angle Constraints 42Control Bones 45


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Bone Locking 47Tutorial 33: Bone Dynamics 49

Start With a Sample File 49Adjusting Spring Parameters 51

Tutorial 34: Character Setup 53Start With a Sample File 53Split Apart the Character 54Add Bones 55Adjust Bone Infuence 59Put the Character Back Together 60

Images 63Tutorial 41: Image Layers 63

Alpha Channels 63

Start With a Sample File 63Tutorial 42: Image Warping 66

Start With a Sample File 66Using Image Warping 67

Tutorial 44: Image Textures 69Start With a Sample File 69Paint the Textures 69Import Textures 73

Use Masking or Clean Edges 74Animation 77

Tutorial 51: Automatic Lip-Sync 77Start With a Sample File 78

Tutorial 52: Phoneme Lip-Sync 79Start With a Sample File 79

Tutorial 55: Cycling 81Start With a Sample File 81Conclusion 83

Eects 84Tutorial 66: Shadow Tricks 84

Start With a Sample File 84Basic Layer Shadow 84Layer Glow 85Layer Outline 86

Tutorial 67: Camera and Depth Eects 87Start With a Sample File 88Creating Depth 88Animating Camera Movement 89

Tutorial 69: Moon and Clouds Eect 91Examine a Finished Animation 91How Its Done 92

Using Anime Studio 94Layer Types 95

Vector Layers 96Image Layers 96Bone Layers 97

Switch Layers 99Audio Layers 100

Tool Groups 102Tool Overview 102Draw Tools 103

Select Points103


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Translate Points 105

Scale Points 108

Rotate Points 108

Add Point 109Freehand 111Draw Shape 113Insert Text 114Scatter Brush115Delete Edge 116

Curvature 116Fill Tools 116

Color Picking 117Select Shape 117Create Shape 118Paint Bucket 119Delete Shape 122Eyedropper122Line Width 123Hide Edge 123Complex Fill Shapes 124Compound Fills 126A Trick: Using Two Fills Instead o One 127

Bone Tools 129Using skeletons to manipulate drawings 129Select Bone 129

Translate Bone 130

Scale Bone 131

Rotate Bone 131

Add Bone 132Reparent Bone 132Bone Strength 133

Manipulate Bones 134Bind Layer 134Bind Points 135Oset Bone 135

Layer Tools 136

Translate Layer 136Scale Layer 137

Rotate Layer Z 138

Set Origin 138

Switch Layer 139Video Tracking 140

Camera Tools 147

Track Camera 148

Zoom Camera148

Roll Camera 148

Workspace Tools 149


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Pan Workspace 149Zoom Workspace 149

User Interace 150Anime Studio Menus 151

File Menu 151New 151Open 151Open Recent 151Close 151Save151Save As 151Project Settings 152Import 153

Preview 155Exporting Movies 156

Export Animation 156Exporting Flash 157Quit 160

Edit Menu 160Undo 160Redo 161

Cut, Copy, Paste 161Clear 161Select All 161Select None161Select Inverse 161Select Connected 161

Preerences 161Draw Menu 163

Insert Text 163Peak 164Smooth 164Raise Shape 164Lower Shape 164Raise to Front 164Lower to Back 164Reset Points 164Reset All Points 164

Bone Menu 165Release Points 165

Flexi-Bind Points 165Release Layer 165Flexi-Bind Layer 165Hide Controlled Bones 165Track Bone to Video 166Reset Bone166Reset All Bones 166

Animation Menu 166

Allow Frame Skipping 166Clear Animation From Layer 167Clear Animation From Document 167Reset All Layer Channels 167Set Layer Start Time 167Select All Keyrames167


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Rescale Keyrames 167Copy Current Frame 169Blend Morphs 170Track Layer to Video 171Mute Audio 171Restart Audio Track 171Audio Level 171

View Menu 171Reset 171Enable Grid 172Grid Settings 172Show Output Only 172

Window Menu 172

Tools 172Layers 172Timeline 172Style 172Actions 172

Help Menu 173Help 173Open Content Library 173

Online Tutorials 173Welcome Screen 173Register Your Product 173About Anime Studio 173About Scripts 173Buy Content 173

Check For Updates 174Anime Studio Windows 175

Layers Window 175Overview 175The Layer List 175Layer Toolbar 177Layer Settings177

Style Window 188Fill 189Stroke 192Color Swatches 194Other 194Advanced Options 194

Timeline Window 195Overview 195Controlling Time 197Playing a Partial Segment 198Animation Channels 198Working with Keyrames 201Sequencer 202

Appendix 207Anime Studio Shortcuts 207

Product Comparison 208Vector Drawing Features 208Vector Modiers 208


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Fill Features 209Fill Modiers 209Bone Features 209Layer Features 209Layer Modiers 210Layer Types 210Camera Features 210Workspace Features 210Timeline Features 211Action Features 211Style Features 211Preerences 211Project Settings 211

Content 212Scripts 212View 212Import 213Export Formats 213

Technical Support: Where to Go When YouNeed Help 215

Online Manual 215

Anime Studio on the Web 215Anime Studio Discussion Forum 215Email Support 215

Acknowledgements 216Artist Acknowledgements 216

Keyboard Shortcuts 218

Common Shortcuts 218Working with Vector Layers 219Working with Fill Tools 219Working with Bone Tools 219Working with the Timeline Window 219

Mouse Shortcuts 220Workspace Navigation220Timeline Scrubbing 220Numeric Fields and Angle Knobs 220

Anime Studios Main Window 221Overview 221Toolbar 222Status Bar 223

Playback Buttons 223


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Welcome


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Introduction

Introduction

Anime Studio is a complete animation system or creating 2D animeand cartoons This document is the users manual, containing useul

inormation to get you started, as well as a detailed reerence to all oAnime Studios eatures

I youre just getting started using Anime Studio, the best place to beginis with theAnime Studio Tutorials on page 10 This section will give youa quick overview o how Anime Studio works, and what you can do withit Even i youve used Anime Studio in the past, you might want to givethe tutorials a quick read to see whats changed in this version

I youve been using Anime Studio or a while now, and you want more

inormation on some specic eature or interace element, choose thesection that interests you rom the table o contents The Using AnimeStudio section describes how to perorm the basic tasks o working inAnime Studio, while Interace Reerence goes into detail about whatevery menu item and button in Anime Studio is used or

Finally, i youre having a problem that just isnt answered in thisdocument, please see Technical Support: Where to Go When You NeedHelp on page 215 We want to do everything we can to make using AnimeStudio a un and productive experience

Demo Limitations

I you havent purchased a copy o Anime Studio, then the program willbe running in demo mode While in demo mode, Anime Studio still

allows you access to all eatures o the program Anything you can do inthe ull version you can do in the demo Also, any les you create withthe demo version o Anime Studio will still work ne i you purchase theull version

The demo version has just three limitations: First, you can only run the

demo version o Anime Studio or 30 days Second, you cannot importany external le ormats including images and movies Third, you cannotexport your animations to other ormats (QuickTime, AVI, Flash, etc)

To purchase Anime Studio, click here

Whats New: New Features inAnime Studio 6

The ollowing is not a comprehensive list o new eatures, but it coversmost o the major changes in version 6 that might be o interest toexperienced Anime Studio users

User Interface

New presets or document resolution Debut is limited to 788x768

New UI colors

Dockable windows, and resizable while docked

Tool consolidation

Add checkbox to doc window to turn on/o Construction Curves
http://my.smithmicro.com/win/graphics.htmlhttp://my.smithmicro.com/win/graphics.htmlhttp://my.smithmicro.com/win/graphics.html


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Introduction

Space bar pans canvas

No more separation between deault and current color style

Mini Style window (with an option to switch to advanced mode)

Layer properties pop up is in layers on each layer Dialogs remember where they were placed and open in the same

location

Hot keys and menu items to Hide a shape, and Show All shapes Allhidden shapes are shown upon opening a le

New deault color palette

When picking a color rom the palette, preserve the existing alpha

value

New library

Reorder Multiple Layers

Translate multiple layers

Copy and paste bones across layers

Improved quality or on-canvas image layers Better Alpha blending

Animated layer eects must now be turned on manually

Animatable shape eects on styles palette

Scripting

Upgraded to Lua 51

Script writers need to use ipairs() unction

Exposed some more unctions to scripting

Tool Improvements

New Scatter Brush

Eye Dropper tool- now picks ll and stroke o o any object on anylayer

Some ll eects (gradient and image texture) can now be placedprecisely on a shape using the Select Shape tool

Color png brush support

Maximum brush width increased to 256

A more hand-drawn line eect , accessible through the layers tabor scripts

Improvements to Gradient ll eect: Dragging sliders, setup multiplecolors to create complex gradients Gradients are animated now

Some ll and line eects can display on-canvas, such as Gradient,images textures and shaded

Image Texture ll eect conorms better to bone warping and layer


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Introduction

transorms

Removed obsolete ll and line eects

Audio and Video

Anime Studio Debut: Sequencer with 2 Audio Tracks, 1 Video Track

Anime Studio Pro: Sequencer with Multiple Audio Tracks andMultiple Video Tracks

Audio Panning

HD Video Import; HD Video Export in Anime Studio Pro Only

Video support improved: Footage is reinterpreted during import,and audio is imported

Movies may be opened directly in Anime Studio, with properdimensions, duration, and rame rate Good or doing tracking rightaway, or or working on a video composite project

Video Features Tracking, allowing you to track bones (base, tip, orboth)

Animation

Non-Linear Animation

Scale keyrames: Select keys, Alt+Click and drag on timeline torescale

Timeline channels only show when they are actually used

Right-drag in the time ruler to edit timing osets

Onion skins need to be manually enabled - helps avoid doing itaccidentally

In timeline, minimize how much it automatically scrolls to thecurrent rame

Timeline buttons to navigate to previous/next keyrame

Deault interpolation is now set in the main Preerences dialog

Preerence to show all animation channels consolidated into one

Animated layer eects must now be turned on manually

When rendering the current rame, saving as PNG saves an alphachannel

Lip Sync

Integrated LipSync

AST production sync lib in Pro Only

Debut version uses amplitude only

PapaGayo can still be used as always


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Introduction

Morph Targets

Pro can be used to create morph targets

Debut can use and blend morph targets, but has no setup tools

Import and Export

Upload to Youtube

Improved Illustrator import --Now the paths are parsed muchbetter and match what is in illustrator

Fixed a problem with darkened (or lightened) transparent edges on

PNG les

Motion Tracking

Debut can track 3 points

Pro can track unlimited points

Rendering 2D Screen Space Ambient Occlusion

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License

License

Anime Studio License AgreementEnd User License Agreement (EULA) and Limited Warranty PLEASE READTHIS EULA CAREFULLY BEFORE OPENING ANY COMPUTER READABLEMEDIA PACKAGE(S) BY OPENING ANY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIAPACKAGE(S), YOU AGREE TO BECOME BOUND BY THE TERMS ANDCONDITIONS OF THIS EULA

1 Grant o License The enclosed computer program (The Sotware)is licensed, not sold, to you by SmithMicro, Inc (SmithMicro) or

use only under the terms and conditions o this EULA, and SmithMicroreserves any rights not expressly granted to you You own the compactdisk on which the Sotware is recorded or xed, but the Sotwareis owned by Lost Marble, Inc & SmithMicro and is protected by thecopyright laws o the United States and international copyright treatyprovisions

The copyright restrictions o this EULA extend to any urther updates,sotware patches, or bug xes made available to you by SmithMicro,whether distributed on foppy disk, compact disk, or in an electronic

ormat via download, BBS, orum, tp, e-mail, etc You may use onecopy o Anime Studio 6 on a single computer at a time To use theSotware means that the Sotware is either loaded in the temporarymemory (ie, RAM) o a computer, or installed on the permanentmemory o a computer (ie, hard disk, compact disk, etc)

The Sotware is protected by the copyright laws o the United States

You may also make one copy o the Sotware in machine readable ormsolely or backup purposes As an express condition o this EULA, youmust reproduce on the backup copy the SmithMicro copyright notice inthe ollowing ormat:(C) 2004-2009 SmithMicro Inc

2 Restrictions The Sotware contains trade secrets in its human readable

orm and, to protect them, YOU MAY NOT REVERSE ENGINEER,DECOMPILE, DISASSEMBLE, OR OTHERWISE REDUCE THE SOFTWARETO ANY HUMAN READABLE FORM YOU MAY NOT MODIFY, ADAPT,TRANSLATE, RENT, LEASE, LOAN, RESELL FOR PROFIT, OR CREATEDERIVATIVE WORKS BASED UPON THE SOFTWARE OR ANY PARTTHEREOF

3 Termination This EULA will terminate immediately without notice romSmithMicro or judicial resolution i you ail to comply with any provisiono this EULA Upon such termination you must destroy the Sotware,

all accompanying written materials and all copies thereo You mayalso terminate this EULA at any time by destroying this Sotware, allaccompanying written materials and all copies thereo

4 Export Law Assurances This Sotware is subject to restrictions andcontrols imposed by the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Control Law,Export Trade Control Ordinance, and any other related regulations(reerred together as Regulations hereater) You acknowledge andagree that neither the Sotware nor any direct product thereo is beingor will be shipped, transerred or re-exported, directly or indirectly,into any country prohibited by the Regulations, or will be used or anypurpose prohibited by the Regulations

5 Limited Warranty and Disclaimer, Limitation o Remedies andDamages YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE SOFTWARE MAY NOTSATISFY ALL YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR BE FREE FROM DEFECTS

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License

SmithMicro WARRANTS THE MEDIA ON WHICH THE SOFTWAREIS RECORDED TO BE FREE FROM DEFECTS IN MATERIALS ANDWORKMANSHIP UNDER NORMAL USE FOR 90 DAYS FROM PURCHASE,BUT THE SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING WRITTEN MATERIALSARE LICENSED AS IS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS

(INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY ORFITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE) ARE DISCLAIMED AS TO THESOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING WRITTEN MATERIALS AND LIMITEDTO 90 DAYS AS TO THE MEDIA YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR BREACHOF WARRANTY WILL BE THE REPLACEMENT OF THE MEDIA OR REFUNDOF THE PURCHASE PRICE THE ABOVE WARRANTIES ARE EXCLUSIVEAND IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,AND SmithMicro EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL OTHER WARRANTIES,INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESSFOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT NO ORALOR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY SmithMicro, ITSEMPLOYEES, DISTRIBUTORS, DEALERS, OR AGENTS SHALL INCREASETHE SCOPE OF THE ABOVE WARRANTIES OR CREATE ANY NEWWARRANTIES IN NO EVENT WILL SmithMicro OR ITS DEVELOPERS,DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE TO YOUFOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES(INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFIT, BUSINESSINTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE),WHETHER FORESEEABLE OR UNFORESEEABLE, ARISING OUT OF

THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR ACCOMPANYINGWRITTEN MATERIALS, REGARDLESS OF THE BASIS OF THE CLAIMAUTHORIZED SmithMicro REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OFTHE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES

The above limitations will not apply in case o personal injury only where

and to the extent that applicable law requires such liability Becausesome jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation o impliedwarranties or liabilities or consequential or incidental damages, theabove limitations may not apply to you

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Content means all les and data included with or part o the Programincluding but not limited to: - Included les in all proprietary Program leormats (MOHO, ANME and any subsequent/compressed ormats)

Included images (including but not limited to materials, texture andtransparency maps)

Included documentation

Included scripts

Restricted Content extracted or exported rom the Program remainsRestricted Content except as expressly permitted by this agreement

B Third-party content included with Program and Documentation iscopyrighted and owned by the original content creators

C The Company claims ull ownership and copyright rights to allCompany-created Restricted Content and all derivatives o these leswhich are not expressly permitted by this agreement

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License

authorized within this EULA and/or the contents o the Companysocial written consent

E You may copyright and distribute rendered still or animated imagesderived rom the Restricted Content without restriction or royalty toCompany provided you do not violate other clauses o this agreement

F I you purchased a Site License, you may distribute the RestrictedContent between all computers containing valid copies o the Program,other Company products, and/or other sotware able to processRestricted Content

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7 US Government Restricted Rights The Program and TheDocumentation are provided with restricted rights The use, duplication,or disclosure by the United States Government is subject to restrictionsas set orth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) o the Rights in Technical Data andComputer Sotware Clause at DFARS 252227-7013 or subparagraph(c)(1) and (2) o the Commercial Computer Sotware Restricted Rightsat 48 CFR 52227-19, as applicable The Contractor/Manuacturer isSmithMicro Inc

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10 Copyright & Trademark Notice SmithMicro Inc, and Anime Studio

Anime Studio 9


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License

6 , are trademarks o SmithMicro Inc Lost Marble, Inc, Moho 6 , aretrademarks o Lost Marble, Inc All other product names mentioned inthe Program, the Documentation, or other documentation are usedor identication purposes only and may be trademarks or registeredtrademarks o their respective companies Registered and unregistered

trademarks used herein are the exclusive property o their respectiveowners

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Anime StudioTutorials

In this section, we will walk you through various aspects o usingAnime Studio This is the perect place to start i youve never usedAnime Studio beore Even i youre an experienced Anime Studio user,this version o Anime Studio has some big changes, so we recommendreading through the tutorials again

The best way to get started is to read all the tutorials in the Basicssection in order Each o these tutorials builds on skills learned in theearlier ones, and one-by-one will get you up to speed with AnimeStudios basic drawing and animation techniques Once yourecomortable working in Anime Studio, then you can move on to theother tutorial sections You dont have to read them all (although thatprobably wouldnt hurt), but choose the ones that address the specictechniques you want to learn about

Finally, all o the Anime Studio les created or used by the tutorials

have been installed along with Anime Studio itsel You can nd them bygoing to the Anime Studio program older, and looking or the Tutorialssub-older I youre having trouble with a tutorial, try opening thecorresponding Anime Studio le to see what it should look like

Once youve nished the tutorials, you should be comortable enough tocontinue on your own However, the tutorials wont teach you how touse every eature o Anime Studio - the rest o this manual is a reerencethat covers Anime Studios eatures in detail, and is recommendedreading to be able to use the ull power o Anime Studio

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Drawing

Tutorial 21: Welding

As you learned in the Quick Start tutorials, Anime Studio eatures anAuto Weld eature that automatically welds shapes and segmentstogether when your cursor reaches a point that you can weld toHowever, there are cases where you may want to manually weld pointstogether

When drawing in Anime Studios vector layers, the concept o weldingpoints is very important These tutorials will show you examples o how(and why) points can be welded, and will go on to show you someexamples o good and bad welds you can do in Anime Studio

When you weld two points together in Anime Studio, Anime Studioreally is combining those two points into one There are a couplereasons to do this: First, welding the two endpoints o a curve togethercreates a closed curve Second, i two shapes join up at a particularpoint, and you want them to remain joined during an animation, thenwelding those points together will guarantee that those two shapes willremain joined

How to Weld Points

There are two ways to weld points in Anime Studio: manually andautomatically To manually weld two points together with the TranslatePoints tool, rst uncheck the Auto-weld option or the tool

Translate Points

Auto-weld option unchecked.

Drag one point on top o the other and press the spacebar Heres anexample o this method Although you cant see the keyboard in the

example, keep in mind that the spacebar was pressed at the momentwhen the two points overlap Ater welding, notice how the two pointsmove as one

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Welding Example 1. (SWF File)

Before spacebar is pressed (left). After spacebar is pressed (right).

The second method o welding is automatic For automatic welding towork, be sure that the Auto-weld checkbox is turned on in the tool

options area when the Translate Points tool is active:

Make sure Auto-weld is on.

Using this method, when you drag a curve endpoint on top o anotherpoint , the point turns green when it can be welded automatically Let goo the mouse to automatically weld the points together

Heres an example o automatic welding In this case, the spacebar wasnot pressed to initiate the weld - as soon as the mouse is released, thetwo overlapping points are automatically welded together



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to the middle o a curve segment This can be done with either theautomatic or manual welding methods Heres an example:


Welding to a curve segment.

Why to Weld Points

OK, so that covers welding points, but why do you want to weld pointsagain? Well, the main reason is to create llable shapes In order to ll ashape with color, that shape needs to be completely closed This is onlypossible i you weld some points together The ollowing shape cannotbe lled with color because it is not closed:

A non-closed shape.

By welding the two endpoints together, we can create a closed shapethat can then be lled:

Anime StudioU M l

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A closed shape that can be lled.

Examples of Good Welding

Lets look at some examples o good welding choices First, theollowing two points could be welded to create a single, continuouscurve:

Joining two curves.

The next case shows the classic case o welding a curve closed to createa llable shape:


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Closing a curve.

Next, we show a shape made up o several curves Notice that a closed,llable shape does not need to be made up o a single curve The shapebelow, ater welding, is made up o three curve segments, but is stillclosed and can be lled with color:

Joining multiple curves into a single closed shape.

The welded and lled shape.


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Finally, the example below shows two circles lined up side-by-side Thetwo side points o the circles have been welded together so that whenthey move around during an animation they remain joined I thosepoints were not welded, moving them in sync like this would require alot o extra work

Joined circles (SWF File).

Examples of Bad Welding

Typically, when you weld together two points, one o them should bea curve endpoint This isnt always true, but most oten it is I you ndyoursel welding together two points and neither is an endpoint, take amoment to think whether the weld is appropriate Heres an example oa bad choice o welding Suppose you had the ollowing two shapes and

you were considering welding the pairs o circled points:

Before welding the marked points.

Although Anime Studio will let you perorm those welds, it isnt really agood idea What you would end up creating is a shape with lots o littleholes in it Along the section o curves that you welded together arelittle bubbles that make it impossible to ll the two main shapes:


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Cut the redundant curve away.

Then, weld the newly-created endpoints onto the lower shape With thisapproach you dont end up with a double curve all welded together Theresulting shape is much cleaner and easier to work with:

Weld the new endpoints.

Tutorial 22: Drawing Shapes withHoles

Drawing shapes with holes is very easy in Anime Studio, but many newusers dont realize that this can be done Theres really no trick at all -just ollow the basic rules or creating a ll


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Reminder of Fill Rules

Create Shape

As a reminder, lets consider the rules or creating a ll shape: A ll mustbe composed o closed curves that dene the border o the shape So, asan example, below is a valid ll shape

A basic ll shape.

Creating Holes

So a ll shape is dened by the curves on its border I we want to createa hole, then all we need to do is create curves that outline the shapeo the desired hole(s) Below weve added some extra curves beorecreating a ll shape:

New curves added.

Create Shape

Once youve set up curves to dene the shape o the hole, all you needto do is select the outline and the hole(s) using the Create Shape tool


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Notice that Anime Studio automatically identies the inner curves asborders o holes in the shape Theres nothing in particular you have todo, just draw the holes and Anime Studio will know what to do withthem When youve selected all the correct points, press the spacebar tonalize the shape

Selected points for lling.

Finally, here is the resulting shape (The Line Width tool was used tonarrow the width o the outline at the corner points)

The nished shape.

Heres another example o a shape with a hole:

Another shape with a hole.


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Tutorial 23: Hidden Edges

When drawing more complex objects like aces, you will oten run intosituations where you want an outline to only gopartwayaround ashape Theres an easy way to accomplish this in Anime Studio

Start With a Sample File

For this tutorial, well start with a project le thats almost nishedIts named Tutorial 23 and its located in the Tutorials/2 - Drawsubolder within the main Anime Studio older Open this le in AnimeStudio and you should see something like this:

Starting point for this tutorial.

Hidden Edges

The drawing were working with could be the beginning o a charactersace In this ace, the nose and ear are separate shapes rom the mainhead outline The general shape looks OK, but where the separate partsjoin up we dont want to have lines separating them To x this, activate

the Hide Edge tool

Hide Edge

There are two edges we want to eliminate rom this drawing Click onthese two edges as shown below I you dont see an immediate result,try dragging the mouse across the lines in question to make sure you hitthem


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Finishing Touches

I you hide the edges o a thicker line, youll oten end up with abruptends to the outline You can see this below:

Blocky curve ends.

Line Width

A nice way to nish o these endpoints is to use the Line Width toolWith this tool, click on the endpoints to set their width to 0 You can also

click and drag to adjust the width o any other points you choose Atercleaning up the endpoints, you should get a result like this:

Tapered endpoints.

Tutorial 24: Shape Ordering

In an Anime Studio vector layer, shapes are ordered rom back to ront

This ordering determines which shapes will appear in ront o or behindothers This tutorial will show you how to work with shape ordering


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Selected shape highlighted.

To raise the shape, press the Up arrow key on your keyboard Notice thatthe red shape has now moved one step up in the layer order, above thegreen shape:

Raised shape.

Right now, press the enter key to de-select all objects in the layer Thered shape will switch back to normal to indicate that it is not selected:


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De-select the shape.

Next, use the Select Shape tool and click on the blue shape to selectit

Select Shape tool.

Press the Down-arrow key twice to lower the blue shape below the redshape, and then below the green shape:

Lowered blue shape.

You can also raise a shape to the top (above all others in that layer) orlower it to the bottom (behind all others in that layer) Select the greenshape and hold down the Shift key while pressing the Up-arrow keyWith a single key press, the green shape moves all the way to the top othe layers shape order

Selecting Hidden Shapes

I you now press the enter key, the green shape will be de-selectedNotice that at this point the yellow circle is behind the green shape, andcant be seen You can still see the curves that make up the yellow circle,but the shape itsel, being behind the green shape, is not visible:


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Hidden yellow circle.

Now we want to bring the yellow circle back to the ront Using theSelect Shape tool, click on the yellow circle, even though its hidden

Select Shape tool.

As you may have expected, the green shape gets selected because it isin ront:

Selected green shape.

Now comes the trick or selecting shapes lower in the ordering Holddown the Ctrl key while pressing the down-arrow key This tells AnimeStudio to pick the next deeper shape in the layer ordering at the samepoint you just clicked The yellow circle will now be selected It will bekind o aint to remind you that it is actually behind other shapes in thelayer:


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Selected yellow circle.

Finally, hold down the Shift key while pressing the up-arrow to bringthe yellow circle all the way to the top o the layer ordering, making itully visible once again:

Raised yellow circle.

Tutorial 26: Layer Masking

This tutorial is more o a show & tell than a hands-on creation o ananimation We will demonstrate some examples o a powerul eature oAnime Studio - layer masking Layer masking can be used or all kinds oeects such as shadows, compositing, depth eects, transitions, and tosimpliy certain modeling and animation tasks


For this tutorial, well start with a project le thats almost nished Itsnamed Tutorial 26 and its located in the Tutorials/2 - Drawing


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In the editing view, youll notice that the wall and spotlights havedisappeared rom view This is because the masking mode we just sethides all objects in the group - weve got a bit more work to do:

Everything in the group is hidden

The next step is to dene which parts we actually want to see Double-click the Wall layer to bring up the Layer Settings dialog In theMasking tab, set the Layer masking value to + Add to mask asshown below and click OK:

Mask setting for the Wall layer.

What weve done is tell Anime Studio to add the contents o the Wall

layer to the visible region o all objects in the group No other layers inthe same group will be allowed to draw outside this visible region (themask) I you temporarily turn o the Background layer, youll seethat there is an actual hole in the wall Because the wall acts as a mask,the spotlights cannot draw themselves in this area Youre welcome torender out the entire animation as a QuickTime movie to see the ull,animated eect


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The wall acting as a mask.

Another Example - Simplied Modeling

Now open the le Tutorial 26_2 Take a look at the masking groupin this project (in this case, the masking unction is already turned on)In this example, the eyes are used as a mask, and the eyelids are orced

to render themselves only inside the eyes This makes it much easier toconstruct and animate the eyelids, without having to worry about themspreading outside the eye region - with a mask layer, they cant

Another Example - Transition EffectFinally, open the le Tutorial 26_3 This project uses a mask layerto cause a text object to ade into existence Play back the animation,or export it as a QuickTime movie, then play back the movie In thisexample, a variation o the masking eature is used: the mask itseldoesnt have to be visible In this case, the mask is a rectangle thatgradually exposes the text, but we dont really want to see the rectangleTo use an invisible mask, the Mask layer uses the + Add to mask, butkeep invisible option in the Masking tab


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Bones

Tutorial 31: Bone Binding

The purpose o bones in Anime Studio is to provide high-level objectsthat are easy to manipulate in place o moving around lots o individualpoints In order or bones to do their job, vector control points and otherobjects must rst be bound to the bones There are three ways to bindobjects to bones: automatic binding, manual binding, and layer bindingThis tutorial will show you the dierence between the three


For this tutorial, well start with a project le that contains someartwork to get started with Its named Tutorial 31 and its located inthe Tutorials/3 - Bones subolder within the main Anime Studio olderOpen this le in Anime Studio, and you should see something like this:


Automatic Binding

The most common method o binding objects to bones is also theeasiest - automatic bone binding Whenever you draw new artwork inAnime Studio (or import image les as image layers), those objects areset up or automatic bone binding All you need to do is add the bones

In the Layers window, click the New Layer button, and select Bonerom the popup menu


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Create a new Bone layer.

Double-click the new bone layer to bring up the Layer Settings dialogName the new layer Arm Bones and click OK Finally, drag the Armvector layer upward to move it into the bone layer:

Arm layer placed inside a bone layer.

Make sure the bone layer is selected, then activate the Add Bone tool

Add Bone

In the main editing view, create two bones: the rst one starting at theshoulder and ending at the elbow, and the second starting where therst let o and ending in the hand And thats all it takes or automaticbone binding

Create two new bones.


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U th M i l t B t l t t i th b d D bl li k th b l t b i th L S tti di l G t


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Use the Manipulate Bones tool to try moving the bones aroundThe arm will move with the bones automatically, since it was, well,automatically bound to them

Manipulate Bones

Test moving the bones.

This arm setup works pretty well as it is, but lets try to rene it a bit

Double-click the bone layer to bring up the Layer Settings dialog Go tothe Bones tab, set the binding mode to Region binding, and click OK:

Turn on region binding.

Flexible binding (the deault or new bone layers) uses a method obone binding where every bone has some infuence over every point ina vector layer The arther away a point is rom a bone, the less infuence

that bone has over the point However, you can still experience somerubbery movement where a moving arm can cause a toe to twitch alittle bit

With region binding, on the other hand, every bone has a cuto radius,outside o which it will not aect the movement o vector points Thiscan be used or cleaner movement, but requires a little extra setup Nowthat region binding is in eect, activate the Bone Strength tool


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Bone Strength

Around each bone you will see its region o infuence Vector points arecontrolled by the bone(s) whose regions overlap them I a vector pointis not within any region o infuence, it will move with the closest boneUsing the Bone Strength tool, click and drag on each o the bones toresize its region o infuence The idea is to make the regions just largeenough to contain the body part that the bone is meant to control:

Resized regions of inuence.

Dont worry about the parts o the orearm that are outside the orearmbones region o infuence - they will just move with the closest bone,which is in act the orearm

Use the Manipulate Bones tool again to try moving the arm Themovement should be a little cleaner than it was with fexible binding


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Manipulate Bones

Manual Binding

Manually binding points to bones is a process that exists mostly orcompatibility with older versions o Anime Studio Automatic binding,combined with bone regions o infuence is the easiest way to work with

bones in Anime Studio However, there may be some times where youwant more control over exactly which bones control which points

To manually bind the arm points to bones, rst select the Arm vectorlayer

Arm Vector Layer

Then, use the Select Bone tool to select the upper arm bone:

Select Bone

Select the upper arm.

Next, activate the Bind Points tool


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that are bound to it also get selected - in this case no points are bound


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Bind Points

Drag a rectangle around all the points in the arm to select them Pressthe spacebar to bind the selected points to the selected bone:

Bind all points to the upper arm.

With the Bind Points tool still active, hold down the Alt key and click onthe lower arm bone to select it When you select the lower arm bone,notice that no points are selected When you select a bone, the points

that are bound to it also get selected in this case, no points are boundto the lower arm bone

Next, drag a selection rectangle around the points in the lower part othe arm, as shown below Press the spacebar to bind the selected pointsto the selected bone:

Select the lower arm bones.

Youre done - you have manually bound points to both bones in the armNow test it out with the Manipulate Bones tool


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Manipulate Bones

Go Back to Automatic Mode

Lets undo all o this extra binding and go back to automatic mode Withthe Bind Layer tool, click on some empty space in the editing view -this tells Anime Studio to not bind the layer to any bone

Bind Layer

Next, select the Edit > Select All menu command to select all thevector points Finally, choose the Bone > Flexi-Bind Points menucommand to fexibly bind the points, as they were at the very beginning

Use the Manipulate Bones tool i you wish to conrm that the points areautomatically bound again

The arm under bone control.


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subolder within the main Anime Studio older Open this le in Anime


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The nal result. (SWF File)

Tutorial 32: Bone Constraints

This tutorial demonstrates Anime Studios bone constraint eaturesBone constraints allow you to dene limits on the way bones can move,simpliying your animation work When used careully, bone constraintscan let the bone structures do some o the work or you


For this tutorial, well start with a project le thats almost nishedIts named Tutorial 32 and its located in the Tutorials/3 - Bones

pStudio, and you should see something like this:


This le contains two skeleton layers that have no constraints set upWere going to add constraints to these skeletons to show how useulthey can be

Angle ConstraintsThe rst type o bone constraint is angle limits By limiting the anglethat a bone can rotate, you can prevent arms and legs rom bendingbackwards Make sure the Arm layer is selected, and then use theSelect Bone tool to select the bone in the Arm as shown below:


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Select Bone

Select the Arm bone.

When the Select Bone tool is active, the Bone Constraints popup box willbe available in the tool options area o the main Anime Studio window

Click the Bone Constraints popup to open it, and adjust the settings asshown below Specically, turn on the Angle constraints checkbox, andset the min/max angle elds to -10 and 100


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Finally, use the Manipulate Bones tool again to move the orearmNotice that now the muscles in the upper arm move automatically - thisis what the Angle Control Bone does - it tells other bones to moveautomatically when it moves

Manipulate Bones

Upper Arm bones move automatically.


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Bone Locking


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The third category o bone constraint is bone locking When you lock abone, youre telling Anime Studio that you dont want it to move AnimeStudio will try to keep the bone still by moving its parents as necessaryto keep the bone in place This isnt always possible (depending on what

else is happening in the animation), but it is still an extremely useuleature

Select the Frank w/Skeleton layer in the project

Bone locking is oten used to keep a characters eet rom movingaround on the ground To do this, Anime Studio needs to move thecharacters legs automatically Thus, it helps to use angle constraints tokeep the knees rom bending backwards Use the Select Bone tool toselect Franks let shin bone as shown:

Select the left shin.

Now set up angle constraints or this bone The minimum angle shouldbe -10, and the maximum should be 120:

Angle constraints for left shin.

Now select the right shin, and set its angle constraints to -120 and 10


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Angle constraints for right shin.

OK, the legs are prepared Set the time to rame 24 Use the TranslateBone tool to drag Franks spine bone around a small distance

Translate Bone

Notice that his eet move around and dont stay in place

Choose the Select Bone tool again Go back to rame 0 and select thelet oot bone:

Select the left foot.

In the tool options area, turn on the Lock bone checkbox or thisbone Next, select the right oot bone and turn on Lock bone or it aswell

Lock both foot bones.

Now that the eet are locked, go back to rame 24, and use theTranslate Bone tool again to drag Franks spine around


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Play back the animation to see what were starting with The entirestructure will tilt side to side and bounce up and down, remaining rigidthe whole time Only the vertical bone in the center o the skeleton isanimated - all the others move with it because they are its descendantsRewind the animation to rame 0 when youve seen enough

Use the Select Bone tool to select the top-let bone in the structure asshown below:

Select Bone

Select this bone.

In the tool options area at the top o the main Anime Studio window,click the Bone constraints popup box to open it In the popup box,turn on the Bone dynamics check box This tells Anime Studio to movethe selected bone automatically according to the spring simulation


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Turn on bone dynamics.

Select seven more bones (two in each o the arms), and turn onbone dynamics or each one Heres a tip: you can leave the Boneconstraints popup box open the whole time, just click on each bone inturn, then turn on bone dynamics or each one I the Bone constraintspopup box covers up some o the bones, you can pan the editing viewby dragging with the right mouse button to expose the hidden bones Atthis point, you should have turned on bone dynamics or every bone inthe structure except the vertical center bone

All eight leg bones set

Play back the animation to see the dierence Now as the structuretilts side to side, the arms will bounce around in response to themovement o the center bone

Adjusting Spring Parameters

So that shows the basics o how to use bone dynamics Now lets

take a look at how you can make adjustments to the bouncinesso the springs Select the top-let bone again, and re-open the Boneconstraints popup box Below the Bone dynamics checkbox are threeparameters that allow you to ne-tune the eect Set the Torque orceto 4, Spring orce to 2, and Damping orce to 2, as shown below Select


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within the main Anime Studio older Open this le in Anime Studio, andyou should see something like this:


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There are six vector layers in this project, containing the body parts orthis character Although all the artwork could be drawn in one vectorlayer, it is oten easier to draw a character in multiple layers, arrangingthe body parts rom back to ront, as shown below:


Split Apart the Character

In order to make bone setup easier, the rst thing to do is split apart thecharacter Choose the Edit > Select All menu command All the pointsin the right arm (your right, his let) should be selected Activate theTranslate Points tool and drag the mouse to move the arm o to theside and up a bit:

Translate Points


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New bone layer.

Using the Add Bone tool, add two bones going up through the torso,starting with the bottom one:

Add Bone

Next, add two bones to each arm, starting at the shoulder and goingdown - the shoulder bone should be parented to the upper torso bone

Two new bones.

Use the Select Bone tool to select the lower torso bone Then, select theAdd Bone tool and add three bones to one leg, starting at the hip andmoving down through the oot Repeat the process or the other leg Thehip bones should be parented to the lower torso bone



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Leg bones added.

Use the Select Bone tool to select the upper torso bone, and then usethe Add Bone tool to add one bone to the head

Head bone added.

Select the upper torso bone with the Select Bone tool Then use the AddBone tool to add two bones to one o the arms Repeat the process orthe other arm This gure shows all the bones in place:



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All the bones added.

And this next gure shows the parenting o all the bones The parentingarrows point rom child bone to parent bone, and can be seen byactivating the Reparent Bone tool:

Reparent Bone

All the bones added.

At this point, eel ree to try using the Manipulate Bones tool to seehow the bone system works so ar The body parts should mostly movehow you would expect, but not totally cleanly - the next step is to cleanup the bones infuence


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Try using the Manipulate Bones tool again to test the bone setup Thecharacter should move much more cleanly now - when moving an arm,or example only that arm should move and you should see no extra


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Initial regions of inuence.

Using the Bone Strength tool, click and drag on each bone in turn toadjust its region o infuence The correct adjustment or a region oinfuence it generally to surround the points along that section o boneThe most important regions are at the joints - the knees and elbowsand such Those are the areas where the regions o two bones overlap,and points will bend under the control o both bones For parts like this

characters head, the region o infuence isnt very important - sincetheres just one bone, the points outside the region o infuence willstill move with that bone Heres how you should adjust the regions oinfuence (dont worry about matching this exactly, just try to get kind oclose):Adjusted regions o infuence

or example, only that arm should move, and you should see no extramovement in other body parts

Manipulate Bones

Put the Character Back Together

The nal step is to reassemble the character Activate the Offset Bonetool

Offset Bone

Click and drag on the top bone o each body part to move that part


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Images Start With a Sample FileFor this tutorial, well start with a project le thats almost nished


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Tutorial 41: Image Layers

This tutorial introduces another type o layer in Anime Studio: ImageLayers Image layers are a way o including artwork created in otherprograms in a Anime Studio project Any application that can produceimage les can be used with Anime Studio: photo editors, 3D modelingprograms, natural media painting programs, the list goes on

An image layer in Anime Studio contains a single image le that canbe used as a background, or combined with a bone layer to build acharacter Although theyre called Image layers, an Image layer canalso make use o a movie le as its source Image layers and vector

layers can be mixed and matched in the same project

Alpha Channels

Youll notice that the images used in this tutorial do not appearrectangular This is because they make use o an alpha channel to marksome parts o the image as transparent We recommend using PNGimages with Anime Studio because they support ull alpha channel

transparency Youll need to use an image editing program (like AdobePhotoshop) to create images with transparency

, p jIts named Tutorial 41 and its located in the Tutorials/4 - Imagessubolder within the main Anime Studio older Open this le in AnimeStudio, expand the Hula Girl layer in the Layers window, and youshould see something like this:


This project is almost complete as it is The only thing thats missing isthe dancers let hand Add the hand as ollows:

First, click on the layer named L Arm (we want the new layer to bejust above the let arm) Next, click the new layer button in the Layerswindow to create a new layer


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Bind Layer

Bind the image layer to the forearm.

Youre done! To see the animation in action, press the Play buttonO course, we skipped over the process o building and animating theskeleton, but the basics o working with skeletons were covered inprevious tutorials - all o that inormation applies when using bones withimage layers


Tutorial 42: Image Warping

This tutorial demonstrates Anime Studios image warping eature Thiseature allows you to use a skeleton to distort an image In this way, youcan animate photographs, hand-drawn artwork, or anything you can getinto an image le in a fexible way


For this tutorial, well start with a project le thats almost nishedIts named Tutorial 42 and its located in the Tutorials/4 - Images


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o texture details onto the animals body parts Its very important thatthe texture be on a layer o its own I youre using Photoshop, the layerarrangement would look something like this:


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Rendered animal

Then, start up your avorite image editing program (we recommendAdobe Photoshop) and create a new document the same size as theAnime Studio project (320x240 in this case) Paste the copied image intothe new document

Create a new layer in your image editing program and paint some kind

Layers in Photoshop.

You can paint whatever details you want Heres an example osomething you might paint in your image editor Dont worry aboutpainting outside the lines:


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Back legs texture. back_tex.png Body texture. body_tex.png


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Import Textures

Back in Anime Studio, create a new Image layer, and select back_texpng as the source image Place the layer inside the bone group, just


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Front legs texture. front_tex.png

Youre done working with the image editor - its time to bring thetextures back into Anime Studio

Note: I youre having trouble creating the image textures, we haveprovided some les or you to examine Look at the le Tutorial 44Texturepsd, located in the Tutorials/4 - Images subolder within themain Anime Studio older - this is the Photoshop le Also, look at theles back_texpng, body_texpng, and ront_texpng, which arethe nished texture les

png as the source image Place the layer inside the bone group, justabove the Back Legs layer

Create another image layer or body_texpng and place it just above

the Body layerAnd nally, create a third image layer or ront_texpng and placeit just above the Front Legs layer Heres how the new image layersshould be arranged:

Three new image layers.

At this point, the textures are nished and in place, but they are a littlemessy, and go outside the bounds o the actual body parts:


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Textures applied in Anime Studio.

Use Masking for Clean Edges

The nal step is to clean up the texture edges using layer maskingDouble-click the Skeleton layer in the Layers window to bring up theLayer Settings dialog Go to the Masking tab, and set the group mask toHide all:

Turn masking on for the group.

Next, double-click the Back Legs vector layer to bring up the LayerProperties dialog or that layer Go to the Masking tab, and set themasking mode to + Clear the mask, then add this layer to it:


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lowest layer (the closed mouth), and when the audio is loudest, AnimeStudio uses the highest layer (the wide open mouth) In between, AnimeStudio switches on the in between mouths Play back the animation tosee and hear the result In general, because automatic lip-sync is basedon the actual sound in the audio le it is important to use an audio le

based on phonemes, it requires you to break down the words o dialoginto their basic sound elements There are sotware programs out therethat can help you do this - the one that we recommend or using withAnime Studio is the ree program Papagayo
http://my.smithmicro.com/mac/anime/content.htmlhttp://my.smithmicro.com/mac/anime/content.html


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on the actual sound in the audio le, it is important to use an audio lewithout background noise or music


Tutorial 52: Phoneme Lip-Sync

This tutorial covers another method o animating lip-sync With thismethod, the lip-sync is based onphonemes Phonemes are the basicbuilding block sounds that make up words When you do lip-sync


For this tutorial, well start with a project le thats almost nished Itsnamed Tutorial 52 and its located in the Tutorials/5 - Animationsubolder within the main Anime Studio older Open this le in AnimeStudio, expand the Head layer in the Layers window, and you shouldsee something like this:


This project is almost complete The only thing apparently missing isthe animation or the characters mouth Play back the animation The

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mouth is there (its a switch layer), but no animation data has yet beenassigned to it, so it doesnt move

Double-click the Mouth layer When the Layer Settings dialog opens,click the Switch tab:

that will control this switch layer In the le dialog that appears, selectthe le vistadat located in the Tutorials/5 - Animation subolderwithin the main Anime Studio older

The vistadat le was created using a program called Papagayo


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Layer settings for the mouth.

Click the Select audio sync source button to select the switch data le

Papagayo is a tool designed to help you synchronize animation to audiotracks This particular le is based on an example le included withPapagayo, and is an animation o a mouth speaking, Hasta la vista,baby For more inormation, see the Papagayo documentation

The Mouth layer contains all the mouth shapes needed to speak anyphrase You can examine the Mouth layer to see the sub-layers itcontains Each sub-layer is named ater a dierent phoneme You canuse any set o phonemes you choose - the ones in this mouth are basedon the same deault set used by Papagayo, which is a good place toget started To make the mouth speak a dierent phrase, just create adierent animation data le in Papagayo, and select it into the mouth

layer as we just did or the vistadat exampleTo hear the sound along with the animation, choose the File > Import> Audio command rom Anime Studios menu and select the vistawavle located in the Tutorials/5 - Animation older Now, when you playback the animation in Anime Studio you will hear the audio that goeswith the lip-sync Also, i you export the animation as a QuickTime or AVImovie, the audio will be included in the movie le

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subolder within the main Anime Studio older In the timeline, you cansee that the top layer, Red Blinker, has two keyrames in the LayerVisibility channel The layer becomes invisible at rame 36, and visibleagain at rame 48 This is also shown by the red background in thetimeline during the layers invisible period:


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Tutorial 55: Cycling

It is possible in Anime Studio to automatically cycle a section oanimation, repeating it over and over as many times as you wishCycling is a special type o keyrame interpolation, and this tutorial willshow you how to set it up


For this tutorial, well start with a project le thats almost nished Itsnamed Tutorial 55 and its located in the Tutorials/5 - Animation

timeline during the layer s invisible period:


You can play back the animation to see whats going on Basically, thered light starts o turned on, then it shuts o or a while and nallyturns back on

Using cycling, you can make the light blink over and over Right-clickon the second keyrame (the one at rame 48), and in the popup menuthat appears, select Cycle Youre telling Anime Studio that ater thiskeyrame, you want the animation to cycle back to an earlier point in theanimation A dialog will appear asking you the specics o the cyclingEnter the values shown below:

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Lets try adjusting the cycle duration In the Timeline window, hold downthe Ctrl key while you click and drag on the second keyrame (the onethat cycles) As you drag the mouse side-to-side, youll see that the cycleduration changes, as the arrow that points back rom the cycling keygets longer and shorter Adjust the cycle duration so that the keyrame


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Cycle settings.

When you click OK in the cycle dialog, the timeline will update to showthe cycle There are three changes you will see: First, the keyrame inquestion will change to a let-pointing arrow to indicate that it cyclesbackwards Second, a long red arrow will point back to the point in thetimeline that the visibility channel is cycling back to Third, later in the

timeline you will see other sections with red backgrounds to indicatethat the layer is invisible during those periods:

Cycling reected in the timeline.

You can play back the animation again to see the result The RedBlinker layer will fash on and o multiple times, even though youdidnt add any more keyrames - the Layer Visibility channel is justcycling back and repeating a section o animation over and over again

gets longer and shorter Adjust the cycle duration so that the keyramecycles back to rame 24:

Adjusted cycle duration.

I you play back the animation now, youll see that the light blinks morequickly now, since the cycle duration is shorter

Finally, to break a cycle, all you have to do is add another keyrame whenyou want the cycle to end Set the current rame to 102, right click inthe Layer Visibility channel, and select Add Keyrame rom the popupmenu that appears The new keyrame will appear, and at that point thecycling will end Play back the animation to conrm this


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Eects

T t i l 6 6 Sh d T i k


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Tutorial 66: Shadow Tricks

This tutorial shows you how the layer shadow options can be used tocreate visual eects other than shadows Glows and outlines are thetwo possibilities well look at


For this tutorial, well start with a project le thats almost nishedIts named Tutorial 66 and its located in the Tutorials/6 - Eectssubolder within the main Anime Studio older Render this le to see

what it looks like to start with:


Basic Layer Shadow

Beore we try any tricks, lets take a look at a basic layer shadowDouble-click the only layer in this le, Layer 1, to bring up the LayerSettings dialog Go to the Shadows tab, and leaving all the othersettings alone, turn on the Shadow on checkbox Click OK to dismissthe dialog

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Default shadow settings.

Try rendering the scene again, just to be sure that you have an ideawhat a regular layer shadow looks like in Anime Studio:

Layer shadow.

Layer Glow

Now well change the shadow settings to create a glow eect Double-click Layer 1 again to bring up the Layer Settings dialog Change theLayer Shadow settings to match the values below:


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For this tutorial, well start with a project le thats almost nishedIts named Tutorial 67 and its located in the Tutorials/6 - Eectssubolder within the main Anime Studio older Open this le in Anime

d d h ld h l k h

grouped When you move the camera around, it aects allthe layers ina project In the tool options area at the top o the main Anime Studiowindow, click the Reset button to reset the camera

Creating Depth


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Studio, and you should see something like this:


This le contains a ew layers o simple scenery that we will move thecamera across To do this, select the Track Camera tool and drag themouse around in the main editing area

Track Camera

Notice how all the layers move together, even though they arent

Creating Depth

Now well introduce some depth into the scene Activate the TranslateLayer tool and select the layer called Right Hill

Translate Layer

In the tool options area at the top o the main Anime Studio window,

change the Z value to -1 and press Enter Below you can see where toset the Z value or the layer

Setting a layer s Z value.

Now select the Let Hill layer, and set its Z value to -2 Finally, selectSky, and set its Z value to -20 When youre nished, your scene

should look similar to the ollowing gure

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When youve seen enough, select the View > Reset menu command togo back to the deault camera view

Animating Camera Movement


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Right Hill, Left Hill, and Sky layers moved on the Z plane.

Try dragging the Track Camera tool around again and notice thedierence Its like driving in a car - nearby objects go by quickly, whiledistant objects seem to move slowly In the tool options area at the topo the main Anime Studio window, click the Reset button to reset thecamera

Track Camera

Now well try animating the camera Make sure the current rame is setto 0, and select the Track Camera tool

Track Camera

Drag to the let in the main editing area until you set up a view thatlooks about like this:


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The trick is to control which moon is visible at which point in time inthe nal exported movie To do this, we use layer masking Try double-clicking each o the layers in turn to bring up the Layer Settings dialog- then, go to the Masking tab Youll nd that the Sky group hasmasking turned on - by deault, all objects are invisible The Moonlayer is set to be immune to masking while the Cloud layer adds to


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The nal result.

Notice that the moon appears sharp until the cloud moves in ront o itThen, the parts o the moon obscured by the cloud become blurry Thiseect is easy to achieve using layer masking

How Its Done

There are two parts to this eect First, there are actually two moons

in the animation: The Moon layer is the regular, sharp version othe moon you see in Anime Studios editing view Two layers up is theBlurry Moon layer - this is a duplicate o the Moon layer, with somelayer blur applied

layer is set to be immune to masking, while the Cloud layer adds tothe layer mask

The result o these mask settings is that rst the Moon layer is drawn- this is the regular, sharp moon - and is not aected by any maskingNext, the Cloud layer is drawn on top o that When the cloud movesin ront o the moon, it covers up the moon Finally, the Blurry Moonlayer is drawn on top o the cloud Because o the mask, the blurrymoon only appears on top o the cloud, it is not visible outside o thecloud object Even though the blurry moon is in ront o the clouds, theeect looks like the moon shining rom behind the clouds

Heres another example o the same technique In this case, we see a

character who appears to be blurred by the smoke passing in ront ohim The exact same blurring and masking trick is used as in the case othe moon:


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Using AnimeStudio


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Using Anime Studio

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Layer Types

Drawings in Anime Studio are vector-based Vector drawings aredierent rom pixel-based images (like a photograph) in that they uselines and curves to represent a picture rather than a grid o colored

background scenery, a character, or a title Some layers can even containother layers, so a more complex object, such as a character, mightcontain separate layers or each arm and leg Anime Studio currentlysupports the ollowing types o layers:

Vector Layers are used to hold vector-based artwork These are


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lines and curves to represent a picture, rather than a grid o coloredpixels This dierence makes a lot o things easy in Anime Studio that

would be dicult or impossible to do with a pixel-based imageFirst o all, since an Anime Studio drawing is represented as a buncho curves, you can reshape the curves at any time, without ever losingprecision Also, Anime Studio projects are relatively small, even orcomplex animations - this means Anime Studio doesnt require muchmemory even when working on a long movie Vectors also have benetswhen it comes to animation By moving just a ew points, you cantotally change the shape o an object over time

Youre not restricted to vector artwork, though - Anime Studio also hasImage Layers Using this type o layer, you can work with regular imageswithin an Anime Studio project So, Anime Studio is not strictly vector-based, but you will probably still use mostly vector layers, as imagelayers are not as fexible when it comes to animation

O course, most standard image and movie ormats are not vector-based, so when youre done working on a Anime Studio project, it mustbe rendered to create a traditional pixel-based image During therendering process, Anime Studio can apply various eects to the objects,

such as shading and blurringAnime Studio is designed in such a way that projects are split intolayers You can have many, many layers in a Anime Studio project,each representing a dierent element in a scene or animation, such as

the main type o layer you will use to create drawings See VectorLayers on page 96 or more inormation

Image Layers can be used to bring in images rom otherapplications Image les created in 3D programs or photo editingapplications can be used in Anime Studio with Image Layers SeeImage Layers on page 96 or more inormation

Bone Layers contain skeletons that are used to control theartwork in your vector and image layers You manipulate skeletonsas i they were puppets by bending arms and legs to make acharacter moveSee Bone Layers on page 97 or more inormation

Switch Layers are just like Bone layers, except they will onlydisplay one o their sub-layers at a time Switch layers are anexcellent way to perorm lip-sync animation Which sub-layer getsdisplayed is controlled by a switch data le You can create thisdata le by hand, or better yet, use a lip-syncing program likePapagayo See Switch Layers on page 99 or more inormation

Audio Layers allow you to add a sound le to your projectWhen adding an audio layer you will be prompted to select anaudio le

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Vector Layers

Vector layers are the most common layer in Anime Studio projectsArtwork that you create in Anime Studio is always contained in a vectorlayer Tools are available or drawing and editing curves, setting up llsand outlines, and connecting your drawings to bones

are advantages in treating all objects the same: rst, you never have toworry about what type o object youre working with - the answer isalways the same: a set o points and curves The other advantage is thatany operation you can perorm on hand-drawn curves can be perormedon text, or a circle, or whatever

The other eature o Anime Studios drawing mode that is dierent rom


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and outlines, and connecting your drawings to bones

Vector Layers

The tools available or working with vector layers essentially makeup a 2D drawing program You can draw lines and curves, re-shapeexisting curves, and manipulate objects in various ways There are acouple ways that Anime Studio diers rom other drawing programsFirst, everything you draw in Anime Studio is a set o points and curvesIn many programs, when you draw a circle, you get a circle object, or

you may type some text to create a text object In Anime Studio, onceyouve created the circle or the text, theres no dierence betweenthem whatsoever - theyre both collections o curves One happens tobe in the shape o a circle, and the other in the shape o some There

The other eature o Anime Studio s drawing mode that is dierent rommany other drawing programs is the concept o welding In Anime

Studio, two points can be welded together into a single point In act,any number o points can be welded together When points are weldedtogether, moving one o them moves them all, along with any curvesthat pass through that point This is particularly useul when you startto animate objects For example, i you want to move a characters nose,then welding it to the ace might not be a bad idea That way, howeveryou distort the nose or the ace, theyll always stay connected

Image LayersImage layers are a way o importing artwork into Anime Studio thatwas created in other programs Any program that can produce imageles can be used together with Anime Studio this way For example, apainting program, photo editor, or 3D modeling program can produceimages that can be used in an Anime Studio image layer You cant editthe pixels o one o these images in Anime Studio, but you can move,resize and rotate image layers, and attach them to skeletons or morecomplex animation

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However, bone layers have an additional eature: In a bone layer, youcan set up a skeleton that can be used to manipulate your artwork Askeleton is exactly what it sounds like - an internal structure that canmove the outer, visible portion o your artwork


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Image Layers

The best image ormat to use with Anime Studio is PNG PNG les havehigh quality, good compression, and support ull alpha channels ortransparency eects Although PNG is the preerred ormat or use withAnime Studio, you can also use JPEG, BMP, Targa, or GIF images

Image layers can also be used to bring external movies into AnimeStudio Instead o selecting a still image, select a movie le whencreating a new image layer Anime Studio can import QuickTime(Windows and Mac OS) or AVI (Windows only) movies as image layersWhen importing a movie le, Anime Studio will use the movies alphachannel (i present) to composite the movie with other elements in thescene

Bone LayersBone layers are similar to Group layers - they can both group togethermultiple sub-layers that can then be manipulated as a single object

Bone Layers

Setting up bones is sort o a pre-animation phase You dont drawshapes in Bone layers, you set up controls that will help you animatelater on The purpose o setting up bones is exactly what you mightthink: creating a rigid skeleton inside your drawing Later on, duringanimation, when you want to move an object, bones make the job easyBy moving a single bone in the arm o a character, or example, thewhole arm will move with it Around the elbow, the drawing o the armwill bend and stay smooth (as long as the bones were set up well withthe Bone editing tools)

Bones by themselves dont really do much o anything: you can movethem around, but theyre invisible in the nal Anime Studio output Toreally make use o bones, they need to be attached to objects in otherlayers This process is covered in Bones on page 34, and also Bone

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Tools on page 129

When you create a skeleton out o a group o bones, the bones have ahierarchical relationship Each bone has a single parent (or maybe noparent at all, in which case its called a root bone), and each bone mayhave multiple children The relationship between parent and children isthat when a parent bone is moved, all o its children move with it When

When you use bones with a vector layer, you need to consider how thebones and curve control points will interact When a bone moves, itmoves the points around it as well Each bone has a region o infuence(which you can adjust) Points move mostly with the bone whose regiono infuence they all within, although other bones can still have an eecton them Below is a picture o some points and bones Notice the region i f d h b h d i h h


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that when a parent bone is moved, all o its children move with it Whena child bone is moved however, its parent remains unchanged

Below is a picture o a skeleton created in Anime Studio Red arrowshave been added that point rom each bone to its parent (the spine hasno parent and is reerred to as the root o the skeleton) Note that thecurrently selected bone is highlighted in red, and its parent (i it has one)is highlighted in blue, as shown below

A skeleton

Documents

Anime Studio Debut 6 Users Manual