x-sheet workflow

[hilere]

I am currently trying to understand the best way of working with the use of the exposure sheet.

Untill now I never left the clip timeline. Did all my timing in here. It works really fast and everything is possible. Have quick previeuw, to check my animations.
Downside : when I do a move, resize,... on a selection, I loose the timing, because the effect gets calculated on all images instead of the instances (maybe there's an option I don't know about). I also have no numbering on the drawings, making me to have to work with visuals only. Also doing the timing works a bit tedious when reusing material, especially when you switch order of images.

So I do understand the need of the exposure sheet. Being a classically trained animator I prefer to work with it.

The way I understand it could work is that I animate in the clip timeline, not worrying about timing. Then go to the x-sheet to time my drawings. Then do a preview to check my animation.
Downside : have to do extra steps to check my animation, compared to when working in the clip timeline.
But when I do basic timing in the clip timeline, when transfering it to the x-sheet source files, it does not recognise instances, but only images. So if I have put a drawing to repeat 4x in the clip timeline, in the x-sheet source it becomes 4 numbers. Which causes the los of oversight.

Is there a way to work directly in the exposure sheet, so the source layers are my work tool? Or maybe even better, let the x-sheet itself be the work tool.
Is there a way to have the x-sheet recognise instances?

Hope this all makes sence.
Maybe this should be in the "Feature Request" section. (I don't dare anymore, because all features I requested untill now allready existed)

[Elodie]

Downside : when I do a move, resize,... on a selection, I loose the timing, because the effect gets calculated on all images instead of the instances (maybe there's an option I don't know about)

There is a feature in the Animator panel that recompute several same instances into one instance with several expo. The button is situated in the part "Exposure" (it's a button with 2 green rectangles and a red arrow).

I also have no numbering on the drawings, making me to have to work with visuals only. Also doing the timing works a bit tedious when reusing material, especially when you switch order of images.

We are currently trying to find a solution to help animators to find their keys =)

But when I do basic timing in the clip timeline, when transfering it to the x-sheet source files, it does not recognise instances, but only images.

This problem has been already noticed, so maybe it will be soon possible to keep the instance system into the xsheet mode, instead of have x times the same image.

Is there a way to work directly in the exposure sheet, so the source layers are my work tool? Or maybe even better, let the x-sheet itself be the work tool.
Is there a way to have the x-sheet recognise instances?

I'm not sure to understand what you want. In fact, you can define a layer like a source for your Xsheet. So, in that case, each time you will add a frame in your layer, the new frame will be added in the sources of your xsheet. But you cannot draw on the xsheet and the xsheet doesn't recognize instances : each frame is a an element for the Xsheet.

Maybe this should be in the "Feature Request" section. (I don't dare anymore, because all features I requested untill now allready existed)

Hahaha
Request the xsheet recognize instances in its source can be interesting, but it can be complicated in the case you define a clip as a source.

[hilere]

There is a feature in the Animator panel that recompute several same instances into one instance with several expo. The button is situated in the part "Exposure" (it's a button with 2 green rectangles and a red arrow).

Thanks for pointing me out this button. Very usefull. But would it not be better the other way around? So you keep your instances as a standard, and have a button to compute in into frames without timing in the case this would be necessary? I assume most animators want to keep their timing information visible as instances.

[Elodie]

Sorry, but I didn't understand your request

(Or if I understood, the button already exist in the Exposure part of the Animatro panel : it's a button with two green squares and a red arrow (Expo => instance) )

[hilere]

What I mean is that timingwise automatically everything stays as it was before you move or resize (timed instances). So you do not have to use the forementioned button. This should be the standard. Then if you want it otherwise (in image every frame) have a button for that.
Hope this makes more sence...

[Paul Fierlinger]

hilere,
do you animate paperlessly, or do you scan in drawings made first on paper?

[hilere]

On TVP I'm completely paperless

[Paul Fierlinger]

In that case I don't see why you need to go to the x-sheet. If your reasoning is to color just one instance of a frame and have the colors appear on all other instances, there is a very useful plugin for this in the youngmonkey collection (Marker/Tracker).
EDIT: This plugin also numbers each drawing.

[hilere]

Paul,

I fully understand what you want to say. And in my current project it works this way, since it is a short of my own. But you have to think a bit outside the box. Sometimes you have to work on projects where you have to communicate with others. Then it is very usefull to work with x-sheet as a communication tool. Also when working on timing x-sheet is a lot faster and gives way more flexibility.

It all depends what kind of project you're on.

There's always workarounds for problems, and this is ok for as long the problem is not solved. Butr I'd rather see the problem solved than sticking to the workarounds.

[Paul Fierlinger]

I would have to disagree with the notion that working with an x-sheet is faster than with the instance timeline, but yes, I hadn't taken into account the case of working with others

[Peter Wassink]

i have to agree with Paul that the current x-sheet offers very little advantage.

i normally never use it because it is not user friendly at all, but a while ago i had a job that seemed to beg for it.
It was a long sequence consisting of irregular repeats of relatively few drawings each consisting of a couple of layers.
In short the stuff an xsheet would be perfect for.
Unfortunately the TVP xsheet is not very good, partly because of all those extra steps you mention i ended up spending more time on the sequence then i would have without it.

But maybe ask ZigOtto he seems to manage scraping some use out of the thing.

[slowtiger]

I used the Xsheet on "Paraplü" exactly the way Peter described: a small number of drawings and cycles applied again and again over time. During that experience I learned the good and the bad side of Xsheet in TVP in detail ...

1. Right now exposures and xsheet don't go well together, because an exposure counts as a new image in Xsheet.
2. Naming of drawings is limited to straight numbering within a layer.
3. Creating a hold is simple, but an empty frame must be done with an empty drawing.
4. Exposures are called tweens here, but work as expected.
5. I can't seem to select just a range of frames with the mouse - only one or all frames work. Is that a new bug? This worked in v8.

As I already wrote in detail elsewhere, the exposure system was a big step in the right direction, but for a certain style of animation, especially when repeating small snippets of animation at random intervals, the normal timeline gets cluttered because I have to add new layers for each appearance. In such cases Xsheets are much better.

[ematecki]

3. Creating a hold is simple, but an empty frame must be done with an empty drawing.

Nope, double clic the frame in xsheet view, and erase the string. An empty string means an empty image. The background will be white instead of gray.

5. I can't seem to select just a range of frames with the mouse - only one or all frames work. Is that a new bug? This worked in v8.

You have to use Shift+Left mouse drag, but I don't remember the reason, oops !

[BenEcosse]

I can't find this plugin?

[Paul Fierlinger]

Yes, his website is a maze; very hard to find your way around and in this case particularly difficult to find because Marker/Tracker is incorporated inside of a collection of plugins and it's called Toolbox:
http://www.youngmonkey.ca/hands/restaur ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EDIT: The price is not bad at all considering what you get for it: youngmonkey
ToolBox 1.5 (TVP Animation)
$40.00 US