update scanned images

[AnimationDog]

Hi,

I am importing scanned images into TvPaint. Ideally, I would like to update specific images and retain the timing of the sequence. With a webcam it is possible in TVPaint to be on a frame and capture a new image to replace/update. I would like to be able to do the same by scanning or importing an updated drawing. Is that possible in TVPaint?

I can do it easily in my old Animo software and a scanner. But would like to be able to do the same in TvPaint.

Thanks,
Jason

[D.T. Nethery]

With a webcam is it possible in TVPaint to be on a frame and capture a new image to replace/update.

Yes, if you are capturing images with a webcam it is possible to do that , as long as the webcam position (and lights) on the downshooter do not change and the peg bar position doesn't change.

(*Worst case scenario: if for some reason the webcam position or peg bar position was shifted, you could use the "Mix" (aka Onionskin) function in the Video Input panel to reposition the lmage from the live video feed of the webcam to nudge it to align as close as possible to the previously captured image and if you're careful you won't have a perceptible -- or a just barely perceptible -- bump where you're inserting the new image. But as long as you keep your webcam , lights, and peg bar locked down on your downshooter, you should have no problem with inserting new images to replace previously captured images.)

Let's say you have captured a sequence of 23 drawings , ON TWOS: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 , 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45 . To capture the drawings like this, we have set the Video Input to Append , Length = 2 , which means each time you click on Grab Input it will capture the drawing on the downshooter and expose it on the TVPaint timeline for 2 frames. (by the way, if all the drawings are not ON TWOS, if you have some drawings exposed ON ONES within that group of drawings, just switch Append, Length = 1 whenever you are capturing those drawings that should be ON ONES, or if you have some drawings ON THREES or ON FOURS , change the Append, Length = 3 or = 4 )

Video Input ON TWOS.jpg (38.83 KiB) Viewed 874 times

click on image to see it larger

Now , let's say you play it back and you realize you need to make fixes on drawings 17 , 19, and 33 . Back to the drawing board, make your fixes on 17, 19, 33 , then place drawing 17 on the downshooter , advance to frame 17 on the TVPaint timeline and change the Video Input setting to Apply In = Current Image .

Screen Shot 2024-08-05 at 11.03.42 PM.jpg (24.77 KiB) Viewed 923 times

Capture drawing 17 by clicking Grab Input. (you can also assign function Grab Input to a keyboard shortcut in the shortcuts preferences). This will replace the previously captured image at 17. Now advance to frame 19 and repeat the same procedure . Then advance to frame 33 and repeat. You have now replaced the three previously captured drawings 17, 19, and 33 with your new 17, 19, and 23. As long as the position of your webcam , lights , and peg bar on the downshooter has not changed since you had previously captured the sequence of drawings, you will have seamlessly replaced the old images with the new images.

NOTE: there is currently a bug in TVPaint Video Input when you capture your first drawing , even if Video Input is set to Append = 2 (frames) it will only expose the first captured image to be exposed for 1 frame. Thereafter it will properly capture each image and expose it for 2 frames on the timeline. This bug is annoying and hopefully will be fixed by the developers. The workaround is when you capture the first drawing you will have a single frame exposed on the timeline. Drag that instance handle to expose it for two frames . Then capture your next drawing . It will now be correctly captured and exposed for two frames. And so forth ...

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I would like to be able to do the same by scanning or importing an updated drawing. Is that possible in TVPaint?

Yes.

Again, let's say you have scanned a sequence of drawings: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 , 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45 . You have imported those scans into TVPaint and run the Scan Clean FX and the Peg Holes Registration functions on the scans. (You only need to run Peg Holes Reg. if your drawings were scanned off-pegs through an ADF scanner. ) Now, you watch the playback and realize you want to make a change to drawing 7 and drawing 21. Back to the drawing board: make your changes on drawing 7 and 21. Re-scan drawing 7 and 21 (needless to say: re-scan these drawings with the exact same scanner settings as you used previously when you scanned this sequence of drawings. When you re-import drawing 7 and 21 into TVPaint import them in as a Layer in the existing Project , not as a New Project. Now drag the new 7 so it is positioned at frame 7 over top of the old 7 , and drag the new 21 so it is positioned at frame 21 over top of the old drawing 21. (see screenshot below).

Then you select new 7 , click and drag it down on top of the old 7 . As you release it you will get a pop-up menu. From the pop-up menu select 'Copy & Overwrite Here' . Do the same for new drawing 21. After you have done this you will have replaced the old 7 and old 21 with the newly imported 7 and 21. Then you can just delete the new layer that is overtop of your existing layer.



Let me know if you have any questions about this procedure. Somewhere I have tutorials i made for my students (who were still using scanned drawings at that time) which show how to do this step-by-step with illustrations (and a few video demos showing the procedure). I used to deal with scanning , importing, and processing (Scan Clean and Reg. Peg Holes) in TVPaint frequently. Not so much anymore ,but would be glad to share what I know if you need further assistance.


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EDIT: In another topic I mentioned the problem with the ICA scanning option still not working after all these years, but was informed by TVPaint that the ICA scanning option is now removed from TVPaint 12 , and because TVPaint 11 will likely not be officially supported for much longer it would seem that the issue will never be fixed, so what I wrote below is irrelevant. The only method for scanning drawings to TVPaint is to use a scanner software like VueScan or Epson Scan Pro (for Epson scanners) to scan the drawings , then load the scans into TVPaint. I don't know if this applies to TVPaint on Windows using TWAIN scanner driver or if this is only for MacOS that uses ICA scanner driver. If you're on Windows a scanner might work with TWAIN to scan directly to TVPaint (?) .

Also, I should mention that in theory you should be able to scan directly from your scanner to append the scans to the Current Layer , but that function has been broken in the MacOS version of TVPaint for a long time now and apparently there is no way to fix it. ( I don't know if it is fixable on MacOS (?). It doesn't seem to be a priority. I think it is a combination of changes that Apple made to how MacOS interacts with scanner drivers and also no real urgency on the part of the TVPaint Development Team to find a solution for the problem. It's on their "To-Do list" I suppose, but I don't think it is high priority to fix it. Maybe scanning directly into TVPaint from a scanner still work on Windows with TWAIN ? If you are on Windows, try it. What I do on MacOS is scan all my drawings using VueScan, then batch import the scans into TVPaint as an image sequence. That works fine. These days because I don't really do too much animation with pencil on paper drawings that need to be scanned it's not a major concern for me , but it's nice to know I could still do it if I want to animate on paper. I've been thinking I'd like to try animating on paper again. I used to deal with scanning a lot more when I was teaching and we had the students start off by learning to animate traditionally on paper, before they went on to animating paperlessly. The school where I teach now doesn't require the students to animate on paper at all, so scanning drawings isn't something that I deal with on a day to day basis anymore.




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[AnimationDog]

Thank you very much for all the info.

The scanning doesn’t work in windows as well. I don’t mind scanning in vuescan and then importing from a file. It would be a nice addition if I could select an instance in the timeline and have the imported image overwrite that frame. However, your suggested work around will get me by.

I am trying to move back to paper. I spend too much time at the computer right now. : )

[D.T. Nethery]

Thank you very much for all the info.

The scanning doesn’t work in windows as well. I don’t mind scanning in vuescan and then importing from a file. It would be a nice addition if I could select an instance in the timeline and have the imported image overwrite that frame. However, your suggested work around will get me by.

I agree that would be an excellent new feature.

As it is now , we can Copy an image from outside TVPaint , then from Edit Menu > Clipboard we can paste the image from clipboard to TVPaint, but it pastes the image to a New Layer. We need option of Paste & Replace Image on Current Layer.

I am trying to move back to paper. I spend too much time at the computer right now. : )

You and me both, brother.