tapptoonshelpfile

Welcome to the Tapptoons Animation Studio programme helpfile.

Most of the information applies to the previous versions of the programme as well but some new features have been added with the updates including the facility to use Firewire, USB or WDM digital cameras for capturing single frames.

Hopefully you will find the Animation Studio easy to use without needing to resort too often to these helpfiles but a few things are worth mentioning before you start out scanning and editing your work.

There are now special tutorial pages to demonstrate the various parts of the programme.

Tutorial page 1

Creating Moving Backgrounds CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 2

Creating Movement of Selected Animation Levels CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 3

Creating Semi-Transparent Levels for Ghost and Dissolve effects CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 4

Drawing Animation - A Bouncing Ball excercise CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 5

Creating Tracks and Pans CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 6

Importing Bitmaps and AVI Files CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 7

Creating Snow and Rain Effects CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 8

Basic Scanning and Editing CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 9

Creating AVIs CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 10

Using Bitmap Compression CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 11

Gradient Fills CLICK HERE

Tutorial page 12

Replacing Selected Colours CLICK HERE

Tutorial Page 13

Changing the Brightness and Colour Balance of Images CLICK HERE

Tutorial Page 14

Rotation and Reduction of Images CLICK HERE

TRADITIONAL ANIMATION CONVENTIONS

Before starting to use the Animation Studio software it might be as well to review the methods used by animators to guide themselves and those they work with regarding layouts and instructions for camerawork/scanning/effects.

When animators begin working on a scene they are given a storyboard, a dopesheet and a layout to guide them as to where characters or objects are to be located within a scene and positions of the same at various significant points within a scene according to the script/storyboard. A layout drawing would resemble this:

The above black rectangle represents a 12" field using 12-field animation paper. This is roughly the same as the international A4 paper size so an A4 flatbed scanner is ideal for scanning animation drawings.

An A3 scanner will be needed for scanning 15" field paper.

The black rectangle drawn on the animation paper indicates the height and width limits for the action and should be used after your preview scan to select the scanning area you will be using to create your project. The red rectangle represents a close-up area. If you need to scan an area smaller than the full 12 field size it may be as well to increase the scanning resolution to around 288 pixels per inch. 144 or thereabouts is fine for the large field sizes when the animation is destined to be seen on tv or on computer monitors. The Animation Studio automatically re-sizes the scanned drawings to fit on the final image width & height that you will be setting up when you begin your project. It`s important to remember also that the height to width ratio of the scanned area needs to match that of the final image width & height. If you`ve chosen a final image size of 768 x 576 or 640 x 480 then the image ratio is 4:3 and the scanned area needs to be 4:3 ratio, too (most scanner software indicates the size selected by the user, from which they can calculate the ratio) unless you want to deliberately distort the final image, of course.

Decide what you are going to need as an end product. If the final destination of your movie is videotape or DVD then you will need to use a frame rate that suits your local tv standards. The frame rate in frames per second (fps) is set using the Play Speed menu.....

In the USA and other parts of the world that use the NTSC tv system the normal frame rate is 30 frames per second. Therefore it`s best to use 30 frames per second as the frame rate for your animation work. (You could use 15 frames per second while you build the project then duplicate all the frames when completed and then alter the project frame rate to 30. However, if you plan to use moving backgrounds they will look better if the frame rate is 30 frames per second.)

In Europe and many other parts of the world the normal PAL or SECAM standard tv system works at 25 frames per second. In this case you would be advised to set the project frame rate to 25. Again, if you plan to use moving backgrounds they will look better if the frame rate is 25 frames per second.

If the animation project is not destined for tv display then you can use any of the frame rate settings you like.

To achieve the best results from the Animation Studio it`s wise to carry out the various stages in an ordered fashion.

1. Create images from scans, drawings or video captures

2. Edit the animation levels

3. Merge levels for linetesting

4. Add colour, rotation effects or resizing effects to levels

5. Add level moves if required

6. Create moving or still backgrounds (You can create a background first if you need to match the animation to the background)

7. Add weather effects if required (snow and rain)

8. Combine animation levels with moving or static background

(Add transparency effects if required)

9. Add tracks and pans

10. Create Final Scene

11. Create finished AVI from completed scenes

THE FILE SYSTEM

When you first begin a project you will be asked to input a Project Name. This will be used to create the Project Directory. Once this is done you will be immediately asked to input the first Scene Name which will then be used to create a Scene Directory as a sub-directory with that name within the Project Directory. Further directories will be created according to which processes you use. Any Level Moves or Weather Effects added to selected levels will be stored in a Level Directory within the Scene Directory. Each of the ten animation levels can have its own Level Directory to store the modified images. The original scans and captures are kept within the Scene Directory in case you wish to revert back to the originals. If you create a merged sequence from the various levels the images will be stored in a Merged Levels directory. If you add Weather Effects to the merged levels another directory called MergedFX will store those. If you need to use High Resolution bitmaps for tracking shots they will have their own set of directories: HiResImages and HiResBackUps. Backgrounds also need their own space for storage of moving background images and combine background images.

Most of these you won`t need to know about as they work in the background storing the work but they do add up to a lot of hard drive space so you need to keep an eye on how much you are using if space is limited. The amount of hard drive space used can be reduced by turning off the scan and import back-up function. The menu item below appears on the Main Scanning and Editing Form:

However, if this function is off, you will not be able to revert back to the original scans or drawings after changes have been made.

Be careful also not to delete anything that might be required by the project as important data is kept in text files for many of the programme`s functions.

The Scene Directories need to be kept within the Project Directory. They can`t be moved to other Projects.

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The Tapptoons Animation Studio can use up a lot of system resources, particularly when using High Resolution bitmaps and it may be that your system sometimes may fail to cope with the demands. It`s a good idea to close the programme down periodically and save the data created to that point then restart the programme or even reboot the computer to free up resources. The amount of system resources will depend on the amount of RAM your machine carries and the maximum size of the Windows Swap File which will be dependent on the amount of space available on the drive designated to carry the Windows Swap File. With Windows 98/Me you can choose which drive carries the Windows Swap File by going to My Computer>Control Panel>System>Performance>Virtual Memory and use the "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings" to select the drive you want to use.

Windows XP seems to be much better at handling system resources and particularly when dealing with very large bitmaps. Situations that will cause a crash on Windows 98/98SE/Millenium may well be no problem with Windows XP.

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Animation needs to be organised! At least that`s what we all set out to achieve. The most important things is to have a good, readable Dope Sheet. `Dope` in the sense of information, of course, as below:

The on-screen Dope Sheet.

The column on the extreme right represents the bottom level drawing and the default prefix given to the drawings scanned into this column is `A` but it can be set by the user to any prefix they wish but it may be best to keep it to single letters because the columns aren`t very wide. Moving right to left there are ten columns or levels altogether.The bottom level could be a character`s body, the next it`s head, then eyes, mouth, arms etc.

If you plan to use a flatbed scanner or another TWAIN-based imaging device you will first need to select the TWAIN source you want to use by left-clicking the Scan Source menu on the Main Editing and Scanning Form. This will bring up the following window for you to choose the device you want to use:

If you want to use a flatbed scanner you will probably need to rotate the finished scan to get the image the correct way round. If you are using a digital camera with a TWAIN interface then you will probably NOT want to rotate the captured image.

You can make your choice using the check boxes shown above. These are situated at the top left of the Main Scanning and Editing Form.

The first scanning or shooting operation always defaults to the bottom level so, for your initial set of scans, you needn`t click on the Dope Sheet. To begin scanning or shooting in a particular level at a particular frame it is necessary to click in the column and row where you wish the first scan of your sequence to be placed. This will bring up the Dope Sheet Edit or `What Would you Like To Do With This Frame?` form.

Click on `Start Scanning From This Point` and you will be returned to the main form. Clicking on the `Create Images` button

will then bring up the Choose Image Source form:

You can choose between a flatbed scanner, drawing, Analogue Video for Windows Video Camera or a Digital Video Camera using a Firewire, USB or WDM (Windows Driver Model) interface (most webcams seem to use USB connections).

Left-clicking on `Continue` will bring up the Scanning Details Form which will show you the settings you have chosen for this batch of images. If you don`t like what you see you can left-click the `Cancel` button and change the settings to those you want. There is a checkbox option that will give you a chance to escape from the continuous scanning process. If this is checked the programme will continue to scan drawings up to the number you have put in the `Total scans` box on the main screen. If you`re not sure how many scans you want to do or are worried that you may make mistakes in setting up the process, leave the box unchecked and a dialogue box will come up before each scan, giving you a opportunity to escape the loop. It`s only one extra click for `Yes` or `No` but, if you can live without the option, it does speed up the batch scanning. When you are happy with the settings click the `Continue` button.

If you chose `Flatbed Scanner` the TWAIN scanner interface using the software that came with your scanner should come up and the scans will be automatically placed on the Dope Sheet, beginning at the location you have chosen.

If you have selected the Firewire, USB or WDM Digital Camera option there will be extra details on the Scanning Details Form including a choice of Digital Video formats:

The DV Format is usually 720 pixels wide but NTSC format (USA, Canada, Japan and much of South America) is 480 lines high and the PAL version (used in Europe, Australia and many other parts of the World) is 576 lines high. Choose whichever suits your local TV standards. If the final product is to be converted to DVD then the same format applies.

If you chose `Analogue Video Capture` as your image source then this version of the Scanning Details Form will show:

You will need to select which Video For Windows capture driver you want to use from the list it displays. There may only be one on offer as shown above in which case your choice is made for you and all you need to do is click on the `Continue` button.......

It`s necessary to left-click the `Camera` menu item first followed by the submenu item 'Connect Camera To Driver'

When using an analogue Video for Windows capture card you also have the option of capturing directly to an AVI file. If you choose this option you will be asked to enter a filename for the AVI and also given the option of using video compression. The images will NOT be entered onto the linetester Dope Sheet. This option is only for use if you don`t want to edit your animation within the Tapptoons Linetester.

Capture direct to an AVI is not available when using the Firewire,USB or WDM Digital Camera option.

If you have selected the Firewire,USB or WDM Digital Camera option you will need to choose which device you want from the list that will appear on the right hand side. If the VFW (Video for Windows) drivers are also displayed it`s not advisable to use these in this case. Choose only the non-VFW items.

If you have a suitable capture card installed on your machine, the Camera Frame Grab Form will show. The image should update automatically every few seconds with the VFW option but the Firewire, USB or WDM Digital Camera option uses a continuously updating Overlay image.

Left-clicking the `Grab Frame` button will capture the frames, number them as with the scannning process and put the numbers onto the Dope Sheet. When you have finished a run of frames, left-click the `Close` button to re-enable the editing and playback functions. Camera grabs can be made in colour or in black and white mode which creates a 'line art' form of black and white image from the video camera signal. There is a threshold setting on the menu bar which can be used to lighten or darken the image to get the best result possible. Grabbing drawn images using a camera doesn`t give the best results. Flatbed scanners are much better but you may be able to get acceptable results if you use a rostrum camera setup with carefully adjusted lighting to evenly illuminate the drawings. A period of trial and error will probably be necessary.

From version 3.1.0.3 of the Tapptoons Animation Studio there is an audible signal every time you capture a frame (if your soundcard is switched on, of course). This can be turned off if you find it annoying but it is a good indication that the process has worked. The Beep menu is as below

Also introduced at the same time is an Automatic Grab system that can be set using the Auto Timer Menu shown below

This will grab a frame at the specified interval until you click on Auto Timer Stop or close the Close Window menu item.

The camera grab facility can, of course, be used to create puppet films and, if the bottom level is used for the camera action, drawn levels can be added on top and merged together. Titles can be added using the text tool of the drawing section.

The Tapptoons Animation Studio has provision for drawing animation directly into the project. For this you would choose the Drawing option on the Choose Image Source form.

There are options to control the Line Colour and Fill Colour, tools include Filled Rectangle, Ellipse, Frame Rectangle, and Rounded Rectangle, with facilities to add blur, graduated fills and text. Every time you choose a new colour to use as a fill it is added to the on-screen palette (which can be hidden if it covers an area you wish to work on). For easy changes of colour fill, simply by clicking on the required colour.

*** If you want to fill an area with a colour remember to left-click the Colour Fill toolbar option first if you`ve been using another tool beforehand or if it`s your first task after opening the Draw Frames Form.

Navigation of the frames is done by either using the scrollbar at the bottom of the screen or the Next Frame or Previous Frame buttons at the top of the form. There is an undo button and the user can revert to the original scan if required. When drawing animation there is the option to use Onion Skins, a term used in computer animation to describe the facility which enables you to see the previous frame of animation in a semi-transparent form whilst you draw the next frame. The options are to see the previous, following or both animation frames. As of version 1.9.0.38 of the Animation Studio you can also choose the option to view one of the other animation levels and either the previous animation frame or the next animation frame on the level you are drawing whilst you draw or modify the current frame.

Sometimes there are gaps in the lines of scans and these need to be filled in if the colour spills out into surrounding areas of the image. To fill in the gaps there is a Fill Gaps menu choice which will bring up the Fill Gaps Form. normal resolution scans are presented a double their normal size, high resolution bitmaps are presented same-size. If you fins that an area of a frame is difficult to fill due its small size there is also a menu button that magnifies the image, making it easier to hit the right spot with the cursor. If you need to erase a line of a scan or drawing (useful for removing also any dust marks picked up by the scanner) there is an Erase menu item which allows you to do this. And if you`ve erased something you then decide you wnat back at a later date there is a Alter Image > Original Scan menu item which takes you back to the original scan image without any added colour or other changes.

From version 2.0.1.3 of the programme there is also a facility to alter the colour balance of an image either for a single chosen frame or a range of images on the Dope Sheet. the Alter Image > Colours menu option takes you to this feature.

Should you decide that you wish to change the colour of a particular object or part of a character`s clothing or body part there is a facility to swap the original colour for a new one and a choice of replacing that colour either within just a single level of animation or throughout all the levels of a scene. This procedure can be found on the Dope Sheet Edit Form after left-clicking on the Dope Sheet on a frame that contains the colour you wish to change.

To add text to an image the Draw Frames Form had a special form of its own with options for font, text colour, drop shadow and dropshadow colour. The text provision is rather simple but can be used to build up a sequence in which the text can move about the screen and grow and shrink in size as required.

After your first batch of scans the Dope Sheet details will be automatically saved to disc but you can left-click on the `Save Dope Sheet` menu button at any point if you wish.

The `Load Dope Sheet` menu button is used when you reload a project you have previously worked on and saved.

A NOTE ABOUT SCANNERS

The programme should work just fine with most TWAIN based scanners but this can`t be guaranteed. Make sure that your scanner, if it is new, is working properly with the software supplied with it. If you have yet to buy a flatbed scanner it would be wise to keep in mind that some scanners take an infuriatingly long time to scan anything! If possible, check before buying that it doesn`t have a long warm-up time between scans. I believe that some scanners have a `quick scan` feature which avoids this drawback but some are stuck with long warm-ups primarily to get the illumination devices up to the required colour temperature for colour scans and this is not necessary when you`re scanning using the Line Art setting forscanning drawings. It`s best to always use the Line Art setting with the Tapptoons software. The scans are always saved in 24bit colour format even if scanned using the Line Art setting. If you own or can find an Epson Perfection 1670 A4 scanner then I`m fairly sure you won`t have this warm-up problem because that`s the one I`ve been using lately, it`s fast and reliable. Hopefully, more recent Epson models have kept the same working approach.

A NOTE ABOUT VIDEO CAMERAS

At present I can`t give a list of capture cards that the Animation Studio will work with satisfactorily. For early testing purposes I used an analogue Videologic Captivator PCI card (which utilises a Brooktree chipset) and this worked very well but this card is no longer available.

If you have an old Brooktree Bt848 card that doesn`t work with your present system due to driver problems, have a look at this website with updated WDM drivers...CLICK HERE

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Recent tests with the Pinnacle PCTV Rave PCI capture card worked fine using its own WDM drivers and the Firewire/USB/WDM settings.

The original version of the Miro DC10plus card (which uses Motion-JPEG compression) also works with the Tapptoons Animation Studio but maybe not the more recent version using the Pinnacle v8 or v9 software. I am unable to test all the available capture cards and so I can`t guarantee that all MJPEG cards will work..

The Creative Webcam Pro has Video For Windows drivers supplied with its software package and DOES work with the Tapptoons Animation Studio version 3.0.0.1 and upwards. I know, because I`ve used it.

Firewire or USB Digital Cameras should work well with the new Tapptoons Animation Studio (version 3.0.0.1 onwards). I`ve used it with a Sony digital 8 camera and the digital drivers that come with the Creative Webcam Pro.

DIGITAL STILLS CAMERAS

Some digital stills cameras, notably previous Fuji models, were able to function as web-cams when connected to a PC using the USB cable. This made it possible to use them for capturing high quality frames directly into the Animation Studio programme.

Unfortunately this facility doesn`t seem to exist with more recent models but this needn`t stop you using a stills camera to capture animation frames. Provided you fit a large memory card in the camera you should be able to capture a large number of shots. Up to 101 images at 1600x1200 pixels or 497 images at 640x480 using a 64MB memory card in a Fuji A360 camera.

When you`ve filled up the available memory you can download the images into a folder on your computer and then import them into the Tapptoons Animation Studio programme using the Import Images facility. Once the images are safely imported you can then erase the images from the camera`s memory card and shoot some more.

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The following is a step by step introductory guide to using the software.

After installing the software double-clicking the TapptoonsAnimationStudio4701.exe file icon or selecting the .exe from the start menu will present you with the first set of choices as shown below:

To start your first Tapptoons project you only need to click on the `New Project` button and you will be presented with the next form.

It is necessary for the software to create a unique folder for each project. This form prompts you to choose a drive letter and/or directory name and a project folder name in the lower edit box.

Having chosen your project names,click on the `Continue` button and you will see the next options screen:

This screen asks you to decide the final screen size of your animation. The default is always to the smaller standard frame size used by computer video i.e. 384 pixels x 288 pixels for European PAL standard or the NTSC 320 pixels x 240 pixels size used in North & South America and Japan. Line standards for television vary throughout the world for various political and technical reasons but the actual image dimensions split broadly into two camps: 625 or 525 lines of vertical definition. Not all the lines are used for for picture information so that in North America`s NTSC system the actual working size can be 640 (horizontal definition) x 480 lines (vertical definition) and for European and Australasian PAL systems you can use 720 x 540 (or 768 x 576 if PAL DVD is the ultimate destination for your animation project). If you choose one or the other for your initial project the programme will default to whichever you have chosen the next time you start up the programme.

As NTSC does not lend itself easily to a 16:9 format the option of widescreen production has been left as 960 x 540 or 1024 x 576. This can be converted to anamorphic or letterboxed 720 x 480 or 640 x 480 resolutions at the avi building stage.

Introduced with the 2004 update of the Animation Studio are four new screen resolutions. A widescreen High Definition TV choice at 1920 x 1080 16:9 format and three choices of 1.5:1 format to make it easier for those using digital still cameras to capture frames in what used to be the standard 35mm stills format.

All bitmaps used with the Tapptoons Animation Studio are 24bit full colour format. It is important, however, that all scans should be made using the LINE ART setting of the flatbed scanner, to ensure pure white backgrounds for transparency purposes when merging levels. The line colour itself can be altered later and, once set, all future scans for a particular scene will be converted to the chosen line colour.

Clicking the `Continue` button will bring you the Main Scanning and Editing Form:

On this screen you may need to select the scanner you wish to use by clicking the menu item `Scan Source` which gives you:

This screen, which will contain the name of your own scanner TWAIN source and any other TWAIN-based imaging device.

Normally Windows would select the scanner installed on your system without you needing to select it manually but it`s necessary sometimes to have this facility. Some video cameras made for web-cam use can also use a TWAIN interface.

Tapptoons is a 32-bit programme so select a 32-bit option if a choice is offered, click the name to hi-lite it in blue and click `Select` and you will be back to the main screen.

Some Webcams come with TWAIN drivers, too, as shown above with the Creative Webcam Pro. You may well be able to use those to capture images.

A complete video picture is presented to the tv viewers`eyes 25 times per second (30 with the NTSC system). At the cinema you will see 24 individual frames per second. Animation rarely needs so many drawings per second and 12 is plenty for the average tv cartoon each drawing appearing for two frames of film (although panning backgrounds look better at 24 or 25 (or 30!) drawings per second, one drawing for each frame of film or tv frame).

Sometimes it`s necessary to mix these rates so the scanner can be set to fill in 2, 3 or 4 dope sheet `cells` with a single scanned image. The playback speed can be set to 24 or 25 frames per second and the `frame repeat` option set to `Doubles` if you`re working on a 12 drawings per second basis.

First Click on the `Play Speed` menu button:

Click on the `12 fps` option button,then click `Continue`:

Then click on the `Scan Rate` menu button:

Click on the `Doubles` option, then click `Continue`:

Count the number of drawings you need to scan and enter a number in the edit-box shown above (a default of 1 is normal but you can enter any number you require up to 9,999!) You have the option to make the programme show a confirmation box before each scan asking if you wish to cancel the process if you find that you have set a wrong number for the total scans or set the wrong prefix for the scan. There is a check box on the Scanning Details form:

If you check the `Don`t Show scan cancel message box` then the Message Box doesn`t show, however, the programme will want to scan the number of images in the `Total Scans` label on the above form and won`t let you interrupt it. The only way to stop the cycle is to press Escape and you may be left with a blank frame (which you can replace by usinf the Scan A Replacement function). So it`s best to prepare in advance and count up those drawings or leave the box unchecked. The reason for this option is that the whole scanning process is much quicker and far less tedious in left-clicking terms if the scanner automatically moves on to the next scan. If you have a lot of drawings to do the repetitive nature on multiple mouse clicks can become a bit of a chore. On finishing the scanning operation the total number of scans will be shown in the `Total Scans` label.

If you`re using an A4 scanner the images you scan will be orientated in portrait format and will probably need to be rotated 90 degrees clockwise or anticlockwise, depending on which side of the scanner you have attached the animation pegbar. The `Rotate Images` check-box is ticked by default. If the images need to be rotated in the opposite direction to the default setting then click on the `Check to Rotate Image Clockwise` check-box to the right of the `Rotate` box.

Put the first of your drawings on the scanner surface and click the `Create Images` button.

If all is well and your scanner is installed properly the scanner`s own TWAIN software interface should be presented to your monitor screen,with scanning options. For a full 12-field (roughly A4 size) drawing choose a resolution of 144 pixels per inch and scan in LINE ART mode. This ensures a good clean black and white image. For tv there`s no real need to scan at a higher resolution unless you need to scan a smaller area of the drawing (For example, a 6 field scan could be done at 288 pixels, resulting in the same definition of detail ) or if you wish to create Tracks and Pans within a scene in which case you will also need to check the Use High Resolution Scans checkbox. A preview scan is usually available to allow you to set the brightness and select an area of the drawing to scan. It`s best to have a layout drawing of the animation scene for the first preview scan with a frame indicating the `camera` area required (see the above section Traditional Animation Conventions for info on this subject ).

The scanner will scan the drawing, rotate the image if required, save it to the hard drive and enter the image number into the first dopesheet `cell`, then present you with the scanner interface again for the next scan. Most software will preserve the resolution, selected area and brightness settings for the next scan but NOT ALL WILL. If the scanner defaults to different settings you will have to reset them to match all your scans together or accept the defaults for every scan you do. The important thing is that all the scans are the same for the series of drawings.

In between scans you will see an image presented on the Main Scanning and Editing Form. It will always be the image scanned before the current scan (i.e.always a bit behind ) but it`s nothing to be concerned about. The scans will all be done in the correct order and entered into the Dope Sheet likewise.

The above screenshot shows the mainform of the Animation Studio using all the ten `levels`. The prefixes above the dopesheet levels can be changed from their defaults of A to K if desired. It may be best to keep to just using a single letter for a prefix as the columns are not very wide.

When you have scanned in all of your drawings you can look at the resulting animation by clicking on `Play Selected Level`. The level is selected by clicking in the `Select Level` button above the appropriate dope sheet column. To stop the playback or to examine the animation frame by frame click on the `Pause` button and a scroll bar will appear beneath the playback image. Click `Stop Play` to end the playback.

As of version 2.0.1.1 of the Tapptoons Animation Studio special `Playback` bitmaps are generated when working at an image size of 640x480 or larger to improve the playback of the animation on slower computers. These bitmaps will not be used in the production of final work but should enable computers to play back the animation at the correct speeds. If you want to play back the full size images there is a menu option on the Main Scanning and Editing Form which enables you to switch the option on or off.

These small bitmaps are compressed as JPEGs when the programme is closed down and decompressed when you start up your project next time. Should you decide to delete these bitmaps to save hard drive space you can restore them at a later date using the menu option `Restore Playback Bitmaps`. The bitmaps are stored in several folders marked `Line Test`. (Be carefull not to delete any other folders or bitmaps that you might need for your project!)

If you still find that your machine has trouble running the animation at the correct speed you can always try the Skip Frame option also on the Playback menu

This means that the replay will advance two frames at each frame change. It can be switched off by clicking on the same menu option again. When set there is a tick mark against the menu option.

On the Main Scanning and Editing Form you can set the playback to begin at a frame you choose by selecting Play From Chosen Frame on the Playback menu. This is useful if you want to study a section from a long scene. When not selected the playback will begin with frame number one on the Dope Sheet.

If the final image resolution is more than 512 pixels wide and the Reduced BMP Play option has not been chosen, the playback will occur on a seperate panel which comes up automatically when you click on Play Selected Level or Play Merged Levels. It`s necessary to click on the `Stop` button to regain access to the other programme controls again or to restart normal playback.

To examine the Dope Sheet contents on a frame by frame basis, click on the dope sheet number you wish to see first and use the `Next Frame` and `Previous Frame` buttons on the Dope Sheet Edit Form:

The image you have chosen is shown in the form window. To look at the animation frame by frame, use the Previous Frame and Next Frame buttons below the image to advance or reverse the selection up & down the dope sheet sequence.

This form also gives you the editing options. Frames can be deleted, duplicated, replace, renamed (use with care! If the playback features can`t find a certain cell the programme may crash) Images already scanned can be selected from the file list by selecting `Add Cel From Scan File` selecting the images from the list the presented to you:

and imported into the dope sheet, flipped horizontally or vertically, imported in normal or reverse order. Bitmaps created in other programmes can be imported into the Animation Studio and will be re-sized to the chosen format and converted to 24 bit colour, if necessary.

Copies of scans already done are shown in the list on the righthand side of the form. You can insert any of these into the dopesheet location you have chosen by selecting the frame (or a selection of frames) with the left mouse button.

You can scan a replacement image if you aren`t happy with the one you find in a given Dope Sheet location. Click on the Scan A Replacement checkbox on the Dope Sheet Edit Form then click DoIt and you will see the form below

If you want to replace a sequence of scans you must select them in the box on the right of the form then click on the Defined Range... button. If you just wish to replace a single scan then simply click Continue.

If you have another level of animation to scan,click in the Dope Sheet cell where you wish the first scan of the sequence to be inserted and click on the `Start Scanning From This Point` button,then click on `Do it!`

Count the number of drawings you wish to scan and enter the number into the box shown above, then click the `Create Images` button and follow the process as before with the first level. When all the scans are done you can preview the animation on either level by selecting the `Select Level` buttons above the Dope Sheet column required. Both levels can be combined and viewed together by clicking on the `Merge Animation Levels` menu button:

An on-screen message will tell you when the levels have been merged, and then click on the `Play Merged Animation` button:

The merged levels images are saved in the `Merged Levels`directory in the Project Directory you created at the beginning of the project. You only need to merged them again if you change the contents of the Dope Sheet through editing or scanning in new drawings onto the same or new levels.

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MERGING LEVELS - HOW IT WORKS

The first image above could be either the first level or a background, for this example we will say it is on the bottom level or level A. The second image to the right will be on the second animation level, that is to say it is above the first image. The second image features a pure white background. White is the default transparent colour when using the Tapptoons Animation Studio. The image below shows the result when you click on the LevelAction>Merge Levels menu choice.

As long as they have pure white background colour all of the ten levels of animation can be merged together this way.

An alternative way of merging levels together is used when a certain degree of transparency is required. This can be used for lighting effects, ghostly effects or when the degree of transparency needs to change over the course of a scene. The image on the left below is a gradient lighting effect which will be on the level above the second image. This will be processed to be semi-transparent using the Create Transparent Levels feature in the Scene Menu on the Main Scanning and Editing Page. The result is shown in the right hand image below.

For further information about semi-transparent levels CLICK HERE

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Images from previous projects or sequences can be loaded into your current project.

If you want to build a particularly complicated scene that requires more than the basic ten levels of animation you can create your first ten levels in one scene, merge the levels together then re-import the merged bitmaps on to ONE level of a New Scene and then add a further NINE levels to the animation. If that is still not enough levels you can repeat the process by merging the new set of levels together a importing the merged bitmaps produced into yet another New Scene.

Take into account that the image ratio should be the same for both image sources. If you left-click on the main form Dope Sheet where you want to place an imported image you will get the `What Would You Like to Do...` form and at the bottom of the list is the `Import Bitmap Images` choice. Click this and then click the `Do It!` button and you will get this form:

Left-click the top button which will have a caption 'Choose AVI file' or 'Choose BMP File' depending on which option you have chosen from the Dope Sheet Edit Form. This will bring up a file import dialogue for you to choose the bitmaps or AVI files you want. You can select one file or selected a series by left-clicking and dragging the mouse cursor down the list. When you`ve chosen your files click on the next button down and the files will be listed in the right hand window. If, when importing bitmaps, you want to select more from another directory you can do so by repeating the process and the extra files will be added to bottom of the first batch. If you make a mistake you can clear the right hand window by clicking on `Clear List`. AVI files can only be imported one at a time. When you`ve made your choices click `Done` and the bitmaps will be imported into the project and their numbers entered into the main form Dope Sheet.

From version 1.14.0.43 of the Tapptoons Animation Studio (Sept 3rd 2002 onwards) it is possible to import JPEG, WMF, EMF and ICON images as well as normal bitmaps but it isn`t usually possible to make compressed formats like JPEGs transparent to enable these images to be merged with other levels of animation, therefore, only import JPEGs if you are putting them on the lowest animation level and only if you don`t intend to use a background with the animation scene.

The same restriction applies to AVI files that have been compressed. Uncompressed AVIs with a pure white background will be transparent when imported onto Dope Sheet levels but compressed AVIs will not be. Again, use them only on the lowest Dope Sheet levels.

Imported AVI frames can have their original frame number or their new Dope Sheet cel number printed in the top left corner of the imported image if you find it useful. This can be done by choosing the desired option from the Options menu tab. the size of the printed text can be chosen using the Text Size menu option.

If you decide the last Dope Sheet editing action was a mistake, click on the Undo menu button :

This gives you the option of undoing the last action or reverting to the original Dope Sheet since the last save. From version 3.3.0.3 the Tapptoons Animation Studio saves up to 50 steps of undo after which it reverts to zero and starts saving again. Previous versions of the programme could only undo back by one step.

ADDING COLOUR TO THE SCANS

If you find that colour spills out of the areas you intended to colour there is also a menu choice called `Fill Gaps` which enables you to fill in the gaps in the drawings which occur when the scanner doesn`t quite manage to pick up the pencil line. Try to make the drawn lines you use nice and bold then you shouldn`t have much need for filling in. Unwanted spots and speckles on the scanned images can be removed using the `Erase` menu choice.

Once again it is important to point out that for best results it is necessary to scan in LINE ART mode.

Select the first Dope Sheet cell of the column and choose `Modify Current Frame` and you will be presented with this form:

Click on the `Choose Colour` button to bring up the colour dialog.

Choose your colour and click in the area of the image you wish to fill. If you don`t like the result click on `Undo Fill` and choose another shade. If there`s a colour already on an image that you want to use again click on`Pick Colour From Image`and the next click will fill an area with that colour. To move to the next frame of the sequence & level click on `Next Frame` and the next frame on the Dope Sheet will show. Any colours that you have used so far will be showing below the image as a pallette from which you can choose a colour for further use by left-clicking it. Should you decide you want to change a frame you can return to it by clickin `Previous Frame` as many times as is necessary to reach the image you want.

When you`ve coloured in all your levels you can merge the levels together and play them back together. (The usual warnings apply that the playback speed may not be accurate) Make sure you select the highest level of the set using the `Select Level` radio buttons above the Dope Sheet so that all the levels will be merged. The transparent colour of each level is set to pure white (RGB 255,255,255) which is another good reason to use only the LINE ART setting on your scanner so that you won`t end up with a background colour on the scans that is other than pure white. When you`ve selected the level just click on the `Merge Levels` button and wait until the messagebox tells you it`s finished merging, then click on `Play Merged Levels` and after a few moments whirring & clicking a playback of sorts should show. This will be adequate to see that the levels have been properly merged together. Good playback at the proper speed will probably require that you transfer the frames to the AVI builder section as described below.

The levels can be played back seperately using the `Play Current Level`, selected as before by clicking on the dope sheet column required.

REDUCING THE SIZE OF INDIVIDUAL IMAGES

If you want an object or character to recede into the distance from close-up to the 'camera' then it`s best to draw the object to almost fill the frame and then reduce that image down. If only one drawing is required you can scan it into the programme and make multiple copies of it using the Duplicate Frame(s) with New Numbers facility on the Dope Sheet Editing Form. Click the image on the Dope Sheet, select the Duplicate Frame(s) with New Numbers button and enter the number of frames required into the How Many Frames? box, then click on the Do It! button.

The duplicates will be made and numbered in sequence following on from the last number and prefix used in the selected Dope Sheet column.

Select the second of the sequence of drawings on the Dope Sheet then select Modify Current Frame on the Dope Sheet Edit Form, the click on the Do It! button. This will take you to the Draw Frames Form and your first choice of frame will be displayed there. Go to the Reduce menu item and select the 95% option on the menu list.

The programme will then reduce the image to 95% of its former size. Click on the Next Frame button on the tool bar to bring up the next image, return to the Reduce menu and choose the 90% option. Repeat this sequence of events until you`ve done the 5% copy then playback the sequence. Your object or character should recede smoothly into the distance and almost disappear. You can set any percentage between 1% and 99% using the Custom menu option to get the precise speed that you want.

ROTATING INDIVIDUAL IMAGES

If you simply need to flip an image upside down or make a back-to-front mirror image this can be achieved from the Main Scanning and Editing Form through the Image menu which has both these choices. You can also select the image you want on the Dope Sheet and click on Flip Image on the Dope Sheet Editing Form which will bring up a new form offering you the options of changing a single image or a whole series of images from the current Dope Sheet level.

Rotating images is probably best left until after the images have been coloured but BEFORE other processes such as Level Moves or adding Weather Effects (unless you want to make the snow and rain swirl around, of course!) Characters or objects on the images also need to be kept well within the frame.

If you want to rotate images at angle other than 180 degrees then finer control is offered from the Draw Frames Form which is accessed via the Dope Sheet Edit Form and selecting the Modify Current Frame option then clicking the Do It! button.

From the Draw Frames Form menu bar select Rotate and one of the options in the sub-menu as shown below....

The submenu is arranged to rotate images in 30 degree steps with a 10 degree and 350 degree `cushioning` option at the bottom of the list. Using the scroll bar below the current image displayed you can move through the current Dope Sheet level making your way down or up the rotate menu list to achieve a smooth rotation within a sequence. The rotation is always counter-clockwise. If you change your mind about rotating a image just click the Undo button on the Toolbar.

To choose a specific angle of rotation choose the Custom option on the Rotate menu list and this will bring up the small form below.

The Spin Edit box can be used to choose any angle between 1 and 359 degrees of counter-clockwise rotation. Then click on the Continue button and the image will be rotated.

The seperate levels of animation can be moved relative to one another by using the Create a Level Move menu option on the Level Action menu Main Scanning and Editing Form.

The same basic form and facilties are used to create moving backgrounds and to combine them with the action. first you will need to create a background. The Background Specifications Form will pop up if you select the Background...create menu option from the top of the Main Scanning Form. This form provides a shortcut method of choosing either a continuously moving horizontal or vertical background shape or a non-moving background of various shapes and sizes. Note that there are restrictions on the sizes of these backgrounds. Normal resolution backgrounds can be up to 4x the final image height or width but High Resolution backgrounds (used if panning or tracking shots will be required) are restricted in size to a maximum of 2x the width or 2x height of the final image width or height depending on the Final Image Height and Width chosen for the project.

Click on Continue when you have chosen the size and shape of your background and you will be take to the Draw Frames Form previously seen for drawing animation frames.

Bitmaps can be loaded into this form. If you have chosen to build a continuous background of 4x the width of your final image the bitmap load dialog will show four times and the bitmaps lined up together on the screen. Likewise, 4x vertical bitmaps will be shown running down the screen at the left. If you wish to scan drawings onto the background layout the scanner will run through a cycle of 4 scans and line them up on the screen. The background should be saved to the scene`s Backgrounds folder which will have been created automatically. To edit the background it is necessary, if the background is a continuous type, to exit this form then click on Backgrounds...Edit on the Main Form menu. Then you will be returned to the Draw Frames Form and can load the background again, this time it will be full size and you will need to scroll left and right or up and down to access the areas you wish to work on. When you`ve completed the background to your satisfaction, save it to file and it will become the Current Background. Then Exit the Draw Frames Form. To create a moving background with its other elements you need to choose Backgrounds...Combine from the Main Form menu.

The Tapptoons Animation Studio has a facility to add snow and rain effects ether to individual levels or merged levels. The Snow and Rain Effects form builds up a weather effects sequence on a solid colour background. A lot of hard drive space may be required for this. The rain and snow effects begin gradually and build up to either a light, moderate or heavy snowfall or rainfall (or both) as you require. when you have built the sequence you can choose the start and finish points of the effects and choose which level(s) to combine the effects with, using the background colour as the transparent colour.

Ghost effects and fade-in and fade-out effects for superimposed titles can be created with the Create Semi-Tranparent Object form which is reached via the Main Form Scene.....Create Transparent Levels menu item.

Thumbnail images of the chosen current Dope Sheet row (if none is chosen number one will be the default) are displayed across the top of the form and the levels that a required to be transparent are chosen by left-clicking the images. Shown below, the lowest level and level two have been chosen. This means that the background will be solid and all levels above level two (if there are any images on these levels) will be solid, the two chosen levels are set to 50% transparency. The effect can be previewed using the button marked, not surprisingly, Preview and, if the effect is not as desired there is a Reset button. To fade an image object in and out it is necessary to select the start and finish frames for the effect using the frames scrollbar.

1. First select the levels you wish to be transparent.

2. Select a transparency level. Zero makes the image invisible, 16 is 50% transparency and 32 is opaque. Preview the effect if you wish.

3. To fade an object in, set the start frame, set the transparency level at zero then click on Frame Set.

4. Click on the arrow at the far right of the frame scrollbar to advance the frame by 1. Set the next transparency level, up or down as required, then click again on Frame Set

5. Repeat these actions until you reach the frame and transparency level on which you want to finish. This will set the level for the rest of the sequence or to the next frame on which you choose to recommence the transparency changes.

6. When you`ve chosen your settings click on Create Finished Scene and the programme will create a new Finished Scene, replacing any previous ones.

One of the final stages for production with the Tapptoons Animation Studio will be to introduce camera tracks and pans into the scene. To avoid getting very rough edges to your drawings any scenes that require camera tracks must be created using High Resolution bitmaps. This option has to be taken right at the start of the scene before any scans or drawings have been done. Video camera grabs are not really suitable for high resolution work because of the line structure of the video image. Moving in closer to a video grab will just begin to look very pixelated. That said, it`s your movie you are making so do as you like!

To start the process you need to click on the frame where you want the track in or out to begin. To create a track and pan for a selected level use the Level Action - Track and Pan menu option on the Main Editing Form form.

To create a Track and Pan for a Finished Scene go to the Main Form > Scene menu and select Create Track And Pan Moves......

and you will get this form:

Four scrollbars control the choice of current frame, the horizontal movement, vertical movement and in or out frame size.

1. Select a frame to start your camera move on.

2. If the framing is okay, click Set start Frame if it`s not as you want it, use the scrollbars to move the blue frame in or out, west or east, north or south until it`s how you want it to be then click on Set Start Frame.

3. Move the frame scroll bar along to the frame on which you wish the track and/or pan to end. Then move the blue frame to the position you require and click on the same button which now carries the label Set Stop Frame.

4. If all the other elements of your current scene are completed you can check the Create Finished Scene checkbox. If you want the background to blur as the camera moves in, check the Blur Background checkbox.

5. Click on Create Sequence and the programme will create the images required. If you have created one or more Semi-Transparent layers for the scene you will be prompted to choose if they should be included when producing a Finished Scene. If you click "YES" when prompted the transparent layers will be used with the track and pan settings, along with any moving or static background which is currently designated as the Current Background.

ADDING SOUND

There is a fairly basic facility to add a soundtrack to a project to acertain the accuracy of lip-sync dialogue. Load a .wav sound file by click on the `Sound' menu button on the Main Editing and Scanning Form (top right corner) then click the 'Load WAV File' option and you will see a file load window to locate your chosen sound file. You may have to add or subtract a few frames here and there from the beginning of the sequence to sync it all up when played back but it should be near enough to be useful. The track always will start with the click on the `Play selected Level` or `Play Merged Level` buttons so it will be the Dope Sheet you need to alter.

If you find the playback of the sound track is annoying you can mute the track using the Play Without Sound option.

Version 1.1.0.39 of the Tapptoons Animation Studio was the first version to include sound recording facilities.

These are reached via the Sound menu choice 'Record WAV File' and will bring up the Wave Recording Form.

You can only record sound files using the PCM Wave format. There is no provision for compressing sound files but there is a choice of stereo or mono, 8 or 16 bit quality and frequency setting. The default recording length (in frames) is taken from the length of the scene you are currently editing but it can be altered using the Spin Edit Box in the top right hand corner. You must, of course, have a soundcard fitted to your computer or on-board sound facilities.

Click on the Record button to begin the recording, choose or enter a file name in the Save As dialog box that will show first. The process will run to the required length or until you click the Stop button. At the end of the recording a panel of playback buttons will show for you to play back your recording.

When you have finished your recording and click on the Exit button and a Message Dialog will ask if you wish to make the recording the soundtrack of the current scene.

CREATING AVIs FROM THE PROJECT

The Tapptoons Animation Studio uses the Video For Windows libraries within the Windows operating system to create AVI files. This means that there is a 2GB size limit to video files. For this reason it is essential to use video compression when creating the AVI files of your completed scenes or completed movie if it is to run more than one or two minutes!

For the highest quality and smallest files I recommend the Indeo Iv5 codec. The programme will offer you a choice of codecs when you build your AVI file. Many codecs are supplied with the Windows operating system.

When creating a feature-length movie you will probably need to assemble the finished scenes or sequences created in Tapptoons by using a third party video editing programme that can encode the final movie in MPEG2 or an MPEG4 format for transfer to DVD or BluRay discs. Corel`s Ulead VideoStudio, Pinnacle Studio or Sony Vegas software should all be able to use your Tapptoons files.

When you have finished your editing you will find a menu choice on the main screen of the Animation Studio with the label AVI. If you left click the AVI menu button you will be presented with this screen:

You can choose to create an AVI from any selected level in your project or from the Merged Levels or from a list of Finished Scenes if you have created any for your project.

At this point you can decide if you want to use anti-aliasing to smooth out the images. Select a level of processing from the Anti-Alias Level menu option. You may need to experiment with the levels to find the one you like.

There are also options to include weather effects and/or level moves or to exclude them by just using the Selected Level option.

You select one option from the screen.Click on Continue.

If you have chosen to create an AVI from Finished Scenes you will go to the Finished Scene Editing Form to choose which scenes to include.

After choosing the scenes you want to use left click on the Build AVI button and the transitions will be processed (followed by any Anti-Aliasing if required) before moving to the AVI Builder Form.

If you are making an AVI from a single selected level or from Merged Levels and you are using the Anti-Aliasing option the programme will process the images first before moving on to the next stage with the AVI Builder Form below:

If your project is using 16:9 widescreen or 1.5:1 ratio the AVI Builder Form version below will show:

The bitmaps to be made into an AVI will appear in the listbox on the left of the form. There are options available to choose the colour depth of an uncompressed avi. 1 bit, 2 colour, 4 bit 16 colours, 8 bit 256 colours and 24 bit full colour options are available. Settings other than 24bit may produce unwanted colour effects but do reduce the size of the finished AVI. They are not suitable at all if there are any bitmaps with gradient fills of any kind included in the animation. All colour can be removed by using the Convert to Greyscale option and widescreen animation can be rendered either as an anamorphic image or centred within a frame as a letterboxed image.

From version 1.10.0.39 of the Tapptoons Animation Studio you can add soundtracks to the AVIs of individual scenes. The default track will be the one you may have used for editing purposes but you can choose a different .wav file using the Add Soundfile button provided(only uncompressed PCM wave files are supported). If you want to exclude the soundtrack just check the No Soundtrack check box.

At present the programme will not mix and assemble the tracks from a sequence of seperate scenes into one track to make an combined AVI of Finished Scenes but a seperate track can be added that will run the full length of a sequence.

For a more detailed helpfile on building AVIs CLICK HERE

CREATING A NEW SCENE

When you`re ready to move on to a new scene you can create one by clicking on the Scene....Create New Scene menu button:

You will be prompted to enter a new scene name. It`s important to keep the same running speed and screen shape so you won`t be offered any options to change those settings. Remember to use the Frames Per Scan menu setting to set the frames per scan mode.

You can choose to create your new scene using High Resolution bitmaps if you think you will need to include any track and pan moves. This would be chosen when you create your first animation images for the new scene the option presented to you on the Scanning Details form.

If you need to return to a previously created scene there is a menu option for that as well:

DELETING A SCENE

If you want to get rid of a scene and all its bitmaps, open the scene in the programme and use the Scene>Delete Current Scene menu option.

The Choose Scene Form should now show itself and you have a choice to make

If you want to delete the current scene and then close the programme, just click on the Close Programme button. If you want to open another scene (if there are any others on the list) then select the scene you want to open on the list with the left mouse button and then click the Continue button. If you want to delete the current scene and start a new one, check the Create a New Scene check box, then click the Continue button. If you have changed your mind about deleting the current scene, just click the Cancel button.

EDITING A SEQUENCE OF FINISHED SCENES

From version 1.13.0.42 of the Tapptoons Animation Studio there is a new feature which enables you to make a final edit on a sequence of Finished Scenes. These scenes must have already been constructed within the Project and a Final Running Order established. Any fades and mixes added to the sequence will be included in this process during which you can duplicate frames or delete them to fine tune your animation. All the scenes are loaded into the Bottom Level of the Dope Sheet and the process begins by clicking on the Edit Finished Movie menu item:

The edited movie can be viewed using the Play Selected Level button. When you have finished your editing use the Create AVI menu item to make the finished AVI. The Dope Sheet from this process is not saved on exit.

If you`re happy with your animation project you can save the dopesheet by clicking on `Save Dopesheet`. On exiting the programme click on the `Exit` button on the Main Scanning and Editing Form and click on `Save Settings` when prompted by the Data Save form. When you next startup the Tapptoons Animation Studio programme and get this screen:

To open a previously created Project left-click the Project you require on the list then left-click the Continue button. To find a Project not displayed in the list left-click on the File menu item and a dialogue box will open and you can choose the directory of the Project then click OK:

then click `Continue` on the next form and the chosen project will be loaded.

The chosen project`s dope sheet and all its settings will be reloaded. You can then add new scans to your project and edit the dopesheet as required.

I will be adding to this helpfile on a regular basis.

This version has been updated on the 15th August 2006.

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