CREATING AVIs

The Tapptoons Animation Studio has provision for creating Windows AVI files in either compressed or uncompressed form, with or without a soundtrack. If you have used a soundtrack in the editing stages by loading a .wav file then that soundtrack will be used to create the finished AVI unless you check the No Soundtrack check box on the AVI Builder Form.

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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 (Sadly not available with Windows 7). 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.

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To begin to build an AVI, first click on the AVI menu item on the Main Scanning and Editing Form. Click on the Create AVI sub menu and you will see this form:

There are five options provided. If you wish to make an AVI from the currently selected Dope Sheet level (which will be checked by default as shown above) then you need only click on the Continue button. There are also options to include weather effects and/or level moves or to exclude them by just using the Selected Level option.

If you have merged all the animation levels together then a label will indicate that Merged Levels are available and you can choose to make an AVI from the merged artwork.

The third option is to create an AVI from a Finished Scene, if you have created one for the current scene.

If you choose the Finished Scene option you will next go to this form:

On the left will be a list of scenes created in the current project. Not all of these scenes will have necessarily been made into Finished Scenes. When you select a scnes from the list (one at a time) then click Select the programme will tell you if there is a Finished Scene available. If there is one available you will next see this form:

This enables you to select a transition process. If you don`t select one of the above the programme will just make a straight CUT from one scene to the next. If the scene is the first of a sequence you can choose to FADE IN the scene from darkness. If so, select the Fade In button then click on the Continue button. If there are more scenes on your list you can select another (in any order you wish) from the list on the left then choose the transition you want. If you choose MIX then click the Continue button you will see that the choice of transition effect will appear on the list to the left of the Running Order Of Scenes list and the choice of scene in the list itself.

On the example shown above the sequence fades in, there is one mix then a wipe effect followed by a mix to the final scene which also fades out at the end. If you change your mind about the effects you can always remove a scene by selecting it from the Running Order Of Scenes list then clicking on the Remove button. All the scenes can be removed using the Remove All button.

When you are happy with your choice of running order and transition effects click on the Build AVI button. The programme will then process all the transition frames necessary to construct the final scene. When this is done you will be taken to the AVI Builder Form as shown below.

The current versions of the Tapptoons Animation Studio allow you to create an AVI of up to 32,725 frames using a selection of Finished Scenes. This is a running time of around 18 minutes at 30 frames per second and nearly 22 minutes at 25 frames per second. If your epic runs longer than this you will need to split it into two or more parts.

Alternatively, use a frame rate of 12 or 15 frames per second to double the running times but remember that all scenes need to run at the same frame rate and that moving backgrounds and tracks and pans look smoother at the faster speeds.

If you chose to make an AVI from the Dope Sheet Selected Level option or the Merged Levels option you would have come directly to this form:

By default the AVI Builder should be set for 24 bit 16 million colours. If you want to build an uncompressed AVI (which may well be a very big file, make sure you have got enough room on your hard drive) you can set any colour depth you want but you may get some odd colour effects!

The Output Size setting will default to the Final Image Width and Final Image Height that you have been using for your project but you can change those dimensions for an AVI if you wish. If you`ve used 640 x 480 you may well want to make an AVI at 320 x 240 and you can do this by selecting the Output Size you want.

When creating an AVI of 720 x 576 from a 768 x 576 or 720 x 540 animation image you may want to preserve the aspect ratio of the original image which otherwise would be altered in the process. To keep the original aspect ratio always click the Preserve Aspect Ratio box and the image will be reduced and/or centered within the 720 x 576 frame. This also applies to 384 x 288 originals when changing them to 720 x 576 or 352 x 288.

The Frames Per Second edit box should be showing the frame speed you have used for your project but, again, if you want to change it (at risk of any soundtrack going out of synchronisation, of course) you can do so.

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If your project has been created in widescreen 16:9 format (512 x 288 or 1024 x 576) or one of the 1.5:1 formats then you will have a choice of making the AVI in Anamorphic (squeezed) format or Letterbox format. You can also crop the 1.5:1 image to 16:9 widescreen ratio. A small area of the original image will be lost at the top and bottom of the frame.

Original 16:9 widescreen image

Letterboxed image on a 4:3 frame

Anamorphic Image squeezed to fit on a 4:3 frame

 

Anamorphic formats that use the whole of the screen are chosen in the Output Size option. If you use the default setting the AVI will be created using the project width and height settings (512 x 288 or 1024 x 576). If you choose, for example, a 4:3 Output Size of 640 x 480 or 768 x 576 the image will be squashed horizontally (as in the Anamorphic Image above) but should display correctly on a true widescreen tv which will stretch the image out again. Alternatively, if you choose the Letterbox option, the widescreen image will be centred within the 4:3 AVI image.

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If you`ve created your movie using a 4:3 format but wish to change it to widescreen 16:9 you will be able to do using the Convert To Widescreen option buttons that will appear automatically if your project has been created in 4:3 format:

An area in the centre of the project frame will be cut and pasted into the AVI frame either as a letterboxed format or stretched and squeezed to fill the frame for anamorphic presentation. It`s important to design your movie to allow for the cutting off of the upper and lower eighth of the image in this case.

This option does not appear if the project has been created in widescreen, but you will see the following options:

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The next option is the Convert To Greyscale choice. If your animation is in colour but you want to make a black and white version for special effects purposes then you can check the Convert To Greyscale check box and the AVI will be produced in monchrome. The original animation images will be left unchanged.

If you want to make a compressed AVI using the normal Windows AVI compression CODECS (Cinepak, Indeo etc) then you can check the Use Compressed Format checkbox. A dialog box will show during the build process for you to choose which CODEC you want to use. Most will be suitable but due to colour palette problems I can`t recommend the use of the RLE (Run Length Encoding) option at present.

If you are creating an AVI from a Dope Sheet Selected Level or Merged Levels then the soundtrack that will be included in the AVI will be the one you have used during the editing process. If you are making an AVI using a Finished Scene then you will need to choose a soundfile (unless you have already done so on a previous occasion) by clicking on the Add Soundfile button. You can also use this to change the existing soundfile.

If you don`t want to use any sound at all just check the No Soundtrack check box option.

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The most recent versions of the Tapptoons Animation Studio allow you to set the start and finishing frames of the AVI by entering the frame numbers in the boxes provided:

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When all settings are done left click on the Build AVI button. You will be shown a dialog box so you can choose a name for your AVI. When that is done the programme should proceed to build the AVI file.

 

 

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