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Auto paint

TVPaint's Auto Paint effect allows you to record a series of strokes and create an animation out of it.

For example, let's say you wish to animate a signature.

  • First, you have to record the stroke which corresponds to the signature: Go onto an empty animation layer, click on the Record a stroke button in the Auto Paint effect and then draw your signature on the screen.

  • When this is done, click on the Stop button or press the [Escape] key. You have now recorded the signature. A long series of keys is visible in the timeline:

  • Delete the current image on the screen (i.e. the signature).

  • Select the tool of your choice and adjust its parameters for the future stroke of the signature.

  • Stretch your animation layer so that it covers all keys of the timeline.

  • Select all its images and then apply the FX stack. When you play the project you will note that the signature is “drawn” progressively on the screen.

tip

To ensure that your stroke is carried out on the number of images of your choice, two methods are available:

  • You may stretch or contract the set of keys right after recording the stroke as indicated above.
  • You may create an layer with the number of images desired and select all images before recording the stroke.

Let's now study the Auto Paint effect in greater detail:

  • Recording the stroke generates a large number of key points on the timeline each of which stores the position of your stylus at a given moment. When the stroke is recorded, you may modify the position of the stylus on the screen for the key of your choice thanks to the numeric fields X and Y.

  • For a given key, the Draw button indicates if the stylus was in contact with the tablet or not. If it is not enabled for a given key, there will be no stroke for this key (e.g. this is the case if you lifted the stylus during recording).

  • Recording a stroke with the Auto Paint effect allows for other recordings, too : in particular the data relative to Pressure, Altitude, Azimuth and Finger wheel available on the tablet. It is also possible to choose whether this data will be restored or not when applying the FX stack by checking or unchecking the corresponding boxes.

  • The section Stroke mode offers several choices : Normal, Size, Full and Last. These are results obtained using these modes:

  • The Normal mode progressively reproduces your stroke on the screen. This is the one we have been using since the beginning of this lesson.

  • The Size modes requires adjustment of the parameter with the same name and will erase the stroke progressively in time.

  • The Last mode is a kind of Size mode parameter set to value "1", which only draws one "point" of the stroke at a time.

  • In Complete mode the complete stroke is drawn on the screen, independent of the circumstances.

  • The last is the Noise parameter: it defines a possible deviation from the original path and is used to obtain less regular curves (see opposite, the TVPaint logo is slightly distorted, as if written with a trembling hand).

The Auto Paint effect is in a way similar to the Re-apply option as the result depends on the drawing tool selected just before application of the FX stack. Here, two interesting examples :

Opposite, after recording a simple stroke in the shape of a semi-circular arch, the Auto Paint effect was applied using the TextBrush tool in Letter mode with the rotation parameter connected to the stylus direction.

The text seems to follow the defined path in time, each letter having its own rotation depending on its position on the path.