Style question

[Ami]

Hi!

I have a question about styles & effects. This is the wanted style of my drawn animation:

So it should look like pencil, coloured pencil, felt pen, some grain and smudge and some coloured areas. So far i've animated the movement with black sketches with wacom. I'd like to know which effects, brushes, papers should I use to achieve the style wanted.
Of course it's about testing and trying different kind of combinations but as i haven't yet used colouring or effects, i'd like to get some hints where to start. I will also scan colour pencil colourings for the background but mostly i'd like to generate the feeling using tvpaint's abilities.

and to give some compliments, i really like the program! I've started different projects with scanned images (peghole registration and scancleaner work great!) and wacom-created drawings and tried some quick animatiks. Everything works after some thinking and trying and i can't wait to learn more.

Ami

[Elodie]

In fact it's really simple to make a custom brush :
-fist draw how your brush will be. For example, like this

style brsh.jpg (4.02 KiB) Viewed 25876 times

I've simply draw these brushes with the pencil tool, with different opacities.
-Then, I use the tool to create custom brushes (the "B" in the main panel) and I select the drawing that will become my brush.
-Now, I go into the Tool Panel and I set different things, like "Random the angle", reduce the opacity... And of course, I set the color mode as "Alpha stamp"

toolcustom.jpg (68.47 KiB) Viewed 25876 times

-Then, choose a paper by right clicking on the icon, situated on the top bar (I would advise Paper 09). Pay attention : the paper's icon must become yellow to be activated.
-To save the brush, just go into "Windows => Custom Panels => New tool bar". A little Tool bar will open in the interface. Just right click on it and "Grab the current tool with colors".

Your tool will be save.

You can also create animated brushes. For this, just draw your tool on several frames before all select them and use the "B" button, situated in the main panel. Then, the following steps are the same (except you can also custom the way the animation of the animated brush will appear).

I've tried two quick things. I hope it will help you :

Here is a .zip with a .tvpp file and .tvpx where you can see two frames on two layers. The frame 1 has been done with the first brush from the tool bar panel, the second frame has been done with the second tool of the tool bar.

ami.zip

(1.61 MiB) Downloaded 1062 times

[slowtiger]

I found that the tools inside TVP are convincing enough for moving stuff, but for large areas or backgrounds I often prefer scans of the real stuff. Some techniques are easy to mimick, others not, so why waste time with that?

But taste is personal, so you should at least try everything. Have a look into the "content sharing" part of this forum, there are some great custom brushes.

[Peter Wassink]

and to give some compliments, i really like the program! I've started different projects with scanned images (peghole registration and scancleaner work great!) and wacom-created drawings and tried some quick animatiks. Everything works after some thinking and trying and i can't wait to learn more.
Ami

just a small point of attention when using the scancleaner, as you really seem to like the pencil feel (like me ) make sure that the scancleaner profile is straight ( from corner to corner ) before you apply. Because the default assumes you want it very clean so its profile setting filters out all the nice subtle pencil smudges.

[Ami]

Wow!
Thanks for the comments and the tvpaint-file + brush, it's working and i'm trying to make all kinds of brushes! So great!
Ami

[Elodie]

And don't hesitate to show us your results

[Ami]

Hmm, where do I find this:

Then, I use the tool to create custom brushes (the "B" in the main panel) and I select the drawing that will become my brush.

Ami

[Elodie]

Here :

main_panel_anglais.png (63.27 KiB) Viewed 25730 times

Choose the "B" button =)

[Ami]

Hi!

Thanks for all the help in the Spring!
Here's the outcome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgVCj8W68yw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It's a commercial for Turku Music Festival, Finland.

Ami
http://www.tuhru.net/ami/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Peter Wassink]

Very nice festival trailer!
you did a great job translating your illustration style into animation.

[Paul Fierlinger]

I liked what you showed at the very beginning of your thread but I see the final outcome as a bit of a disappointment. I am assuming that you wanted to take this assignment very seriously, thus your wrist stiffened and your lines lost their initial grace and lightness -- as did the application of colors. This stiffness is also reflected in the animation itself. Your illustration, which opened this thread, gave a sense of fluidity which I expected you would carry over into the animation; you drew your character in flight and I was expecting to see non-stop motion. I particularly missed this since the entire spot is about illustrating a sense of music and what it does to our souls. What happened?

[Klaus Hoefs]

For this style, let them breathe:
more free space on the stage, some things only need to be adumbrated
not every line must be finished or being "correct" in a strong way
"wrong lines" must not been erased always
never draw with clenched hand
if you look at it, see it as a "whole" (maybe like a live jazz composition)

[Elodie]

Very nice trailer ! I really like the renderings you made to this animation, congratulation

Would it be possible to have a copy ? We will certainly update the gallery soon =)

[Ami]

Hi!

Thanks for all the comments Yes Elodie, I can send you a copy of the animation.
I think, Paul, your analysis was a little bit too much, you really can't know what went in my mind when I was doing the work and how was it compared to my previous work. The important thing was that the client loved the outcome and I was satisfied. I will learn more secrets of tvpaint in the next projects, couple of things at a time.

Cheers,
Ami

[Paul Fierlinger]

Ami, you are correct that I don't know the circumstances under which you made the spot and what demands were placed upon you by your client, but for that reason it is always a good idea to offer some of these conditions at the time you present your work for your peers to evaluate. With nothing else to go by but what I saw, I expressed my first thoughts.

I think the fact that your still drawings are so full of life and ease of drawing, whereas your animation came out looking just the opposite moved me to say what I said and to ask the question, what happened? You now hint at indeed having a story behind your animation style, which makes me even more curious.

But I also understand if you choose not to drag anything more out.

Take it easy... critiques tend to be at times rough (particularly the useful ones).