In the “Hand-drawn animation” course, we introduced the basic functions of animating.

 

This page will introduce useful tools when animating frame by frame.

 

Batch specify cels and create them all at once

If you want to specify cels at the same interval in a batch, you can efficiently do so with the following method.

 

1. Select frame 1 in the [Timeline] palette.

 

2. Select [Animation] menu-> [Edit track]-> [Batch specify cels].

 

3. Set the following items in the [Batch specify cels] dialog box that appears.

<Specify cel>

・[Start number]: 1

・[End number]: 12

・[Number of frames]: 2

Note: In this example, the playback time is 24 frames and a cel is assigned to 2 frames, so we specify to frame 12(24/2.)

 

4. Clicking [OK] will specify a blank cel for every second frame in the timeline.

 

(5) Select [Animation] menu → [Edit track] → [Create all supported cels].

 

Eleven cels from cel 1 to cel 12 will be created in the animation folder.

 

This is convenient when creating a long animation, because it saves you the trouble of creating animation cels one by one.

 

Rename cels

If you add or delete cels, the cel names will not be in the order they are played.

This is not a major problem; however, you can rename the cels and organize them easier if you find it confusing.

 

Select [Animation] menu > [Edit track] > [Rename in order of timeline]:

 

Cels in the [Timeline] palette will be renamed in the order they are played.

 

Use multiple layers as a single cel

By specifying layer folders as cels, animation cels can be divided into layers.

You can use this to leave the line drawings while inking on another layer, or divide the layer into separate parts.

 

1. On the [Layer] palette, select a layer specified as a cel.

 

2 Select [Layer] menu→[Create folder and insert layer].

 

A layer folder with the same name as the selected layer will be created, containing the selected layer.

 

All layers stored in the “1” layer folder are designated as cel “1” in the [Timeline] palette.

 

3. Click [New Raster Layer] on the [Layer] palette to create a fill layer in the “1” layer folder.

 

Two layers, “Line drawing” and “Fill” can be used as one cel.

 

Note:

The [New Animation Cel] command creates a cel with the same settings as the currently selected cel.

If you edit cel “1” in the folder where the “Line drawing” and “Fill” layers are stored, and then create a subsequent animation cel, it will be created with the same structure.

 

This is useful when you want all cels to have “Line drawing” and “Fill” layers.