The repeat images function

Introduction

As we have previously seen, Exposure Cells reflect the contents of an Instance's Head Cell.

There is, however, one exception to this rule. TVPaint's Repeat Images feature lets you use content from previous Instances in an Instance's Exposures.

Here is a an example of this function in use so you can grasp what it does. Our project has 4 Instances. The last one of those has 4 Exposure Cells. We have turned the Repeat Image mode on the first Exposure and set it to repeat the 2 previous images in a loop cycle. Consequently, the Instance's Exposures will now display the contents of frames 3 and 4 alternatively:

Activation and settings

This Repeat Images mode and options can be found in the Timeline's contextual menu:

info

The Repeat Images submenu will be greyed out if you right-clicked on an Instance's Head Cell (since image repetition can't be applied to those). Make sure to right-click on an Instance's Exposure Cell if you want to use this feature.

Through this menu, you will be able to:

• Set the Repeat Images Value, which means setting the number of previous images to be repeated for the duration of the current Instance's Exposures. The number of images to be repeated will then be displayed at the bottom left of the chosen Exposure:

  
  

Those images then form a sequence you can control the repetition mode of through additional options described below.

• Reset the repetition settings.

• Choose a repetition mode for the chosen images:

  • Loop: the image sequence will be repeated following a normal repetition cycle.
  • Ping-Pong: the image sequence will be repeated in a back and forth fashion.
  • Random: the sequence images will be displayed randomly for the duration of the Instance's Exposures.

Creating a Line Boil effect

The Repeat Images feature is very useful when trying to create Line Boil effects.

In the example below, we are setting it to use all of the Exposures' previous instances for repetition (the Repeat Image Value is 5 frames). The sequence is also set to be repeated following a loop pattern, which gives us a convicing Line Boil effect without having to draw many frames to get there: