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Friday, May 29, 2009

Toon Boom Fundamentals - The Basics Part 2

This is the second in a series on the fundamentals of animation and using Toon Boom Studio. If you have not previously read Toon Boom Fundamentals - The Basics Part 1 you can do that now or after you read this installment. In part 2 you will be introduced to some fundamental concepts of animating and animation production. You will learn about the major work areas in Toon Boom Studio and get a better understanding for why they exist and why they are separated. You will also get some very enlightening insight into the make-up of the animation stand and how analogous Toon Boom is to photographic animation production. I've discussed this previously in other articles but I expect some "light bulbs" of creativity will turn on for many people after you read this latest presentation. We are covering a lot of material in part 2 so be sure to take advantage of the navigation features of the slide shows and flip back and forth as you read and follow the material presented.





If you followed the presentation in that first slide show, you should now begin to appreciate the different purposes of Drawing View (your drawing board) and Camera View (your multi-plane animation camera stand). Those concepts will take on even greater significance as you read through this next slide show presentation. Even if you consider yourself a Toon Boom veteran, there should be some "slap your forehead" moments of understanding coming your way.



I hope that by following that slide show you are beginning to understand the direct analogy between how Toon Boom works and how real world photographic animation used to be done before computers replaced the physical art work and animation camera stand. You should now be making the connections between physical cells and "cells" created in Toon Boom. And you should be beginning to understand that key framing is just controlling how a cell is displayed (photographed) and it doesn't alter the cell itself but rather just changes how the cell is positioned and oriented with respect to the "camera". Key framing is just Toon Boom's method of adjusting and setting specific knobs and dials for controlling it's own multi-plane animation stand. When you are key frame animating, you are making cell display adjustments to be used when a specific frame of your "film" is being "photographed". Anyone slapping their forehead yet?

There have been plenty of concepts introduced in the second installment of Toon Boom Fundamentals. You should now have a new level of appreciation for the purpose of Drawing View and the totally different purpose of Camera View. You should also begin to have a whole new point of reference when you are thinking about the use of key framing when you are putting together a movie. We will continue to explore and expand on these and other concepts in the next installment, part 3 .

You might want to go back and re-read some of the prior articles in the Learning Track listing. Armed with the new ideas you just got from this article, they may be even more informative than when you originally read them.

For those interested, the two background prop drawings of the tree and the log were created in SketchBook Pro 2010 . In fact the drawing of Myron was also created in SketchBook Pro. It is a great complementary drawing program for cartoon making in Toon Boom Studio. I hope you enjoyed this article and learned some new things too.

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9 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Whew! I am in loss for words as to how much I appreciated this chapter! This is what should be the first pages in any user manual for Toon Boom Studio! I can also see that it is made by experienced animators - but being so experienced, they might have forgotten how these two concepts (especially the one concerning Camera Videw) is creating a huge pitfall for those of us who know nothing about that!

If there is one detail I would have added, it would have been to point out where in TBS one changes between the two views as I at least found it a bit obscure.

But that is a minor detail. Amazing work! Like to have a wind machine blowing away the fog I have been walking in lately! :)

I just have to go and fecth my Visa card to add a small donation! The least what it is worth!

May 29, 2009 at 3:11 PM  
Blogger Jerry Keslensky said...

Much appreciated feedback. My goal is to educate, inform, and inspire. I try hard to provide the best content possible. I'm learning every day how to improve my presentation of complex information. Hearing from someone like yourself, that they got significant value from what I presented is the best reward I could ever want. And ultimately each person's future success is also my own success.

Thanks,

May 29, 2009 at 3:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting so much information.

James M.

June 1, 2009 at 11:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you

June 16, 2009 at 2:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your tutorials are really well done. I especially like the analogy you make between old fashion camera animation and computer 2D animation.

January 18, 2010 at 7:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I use to work in a darkened room with stacks of cells and an Oxberry animation stand many moons ago. Your site is very well done.

April 23, 2010 at 11:51 PM  
Blogger Jerry Keslensky said...

Thanks, I am glad you are finding it informative. I try to do my best to explain the usage of the tools provided in the software and to explore methods of communicating complex information. Like many areas in our society the historical context is so important and yet so often forgotten or just plain unknown which makes learning far more difficult.

April 24, 2010 at 6:15 AM  
Blogger Astronut said...

Thank you for the very helpful information. I am just now learning TBS 5.

September 23, 2011 at 3:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics, although 2D computer graphics are still used for stylistic, low bandwidth, and faster real-time renderings. Sometimes the target of the animation is the computer itself, but sometimes the target is another medium, such as film.


Alex Frisch

April 25, 2013 at 4:42 AM  

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