IMPORTING BITMAPS & AVI FRAMES

Sometimes it may be useful to be able to import bitmaps created in other programmes into your animation project. The facility provided in the Tapptoons Animation Studio enables you to import bitmaps or frames of an AVI file into a selected animation level on the dopesheet.

This opens the possibility also of creating a finished scene using the programme and then importing that finished scene on to a chosen level of a new scene of project. If the avi background has been kept pure white (and avoiding any compression which may well compromise a background colour, JPEGs in particular) then any level could be used and the avi merged with any new animation on the other levels. This means you have perhaps up to a hundred different levels as a possibility. Far more than you`re likely ever to actually need.

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.

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.

 

To import an image or AVI left-click on the frame of the dope sheet where you want the first image to be. This will bring up the Dope Sheet Edit Form and you can then choose which function you require. To import bitmaps check the

Import Bitmap Images button and for an AVI check the Import AVI Frames button. Then left-click the DoIt! button and you will see one of the following forms:

This one for importing bitmaps.

 

 

This slightly more complicated version for an AVI import.

 

In either case the top button will bring up a dialogue box that that enables you to choose the bitmaps or the AVI file that you want to use. You can add several sets of bitmaps from different directories to the list before clicking the Import BMP Images button but you can only import one AVI file at a time.

 

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The following applies only to the Tapptoons Animation Studio version 5.0.0.1 onwards:

The Tapptoons Animation Studio uses pure white as a transparency colour. If any of the imported bitmaps contain pixels of the purest white then they will be seen by the programme as being transparent and any image on a lower cel level (or the background if the imported image is one layer above the background layer) will be visible through the white pixels of the imported image.

If you wish to avoid this the pixels can be altered to a slightly "off-white" colour using the White Pixel Detection On setting in the Options menu.

You can switch this option on or off as you wish but you will be asked if you require it when you first begin importing.

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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.

From version 3.2.0.1 of the Tapptoons Animation Studio AVIs can be imported using DirectShow which is a part of the DirectX system or by using the old Video For Windows routines. With Windows 98/98SE/Me DirectX is the default setting but you can alter this to the Video For Windows frame grabbing system if you have any problems with the DirectX methods. This is listed under the Options menu.

Options are available to input the images in reverse order and to flip the images Horizontally, Vertically or Both at the same time. Just check the boxes provided.

If you`re importing an AVI the total number of frames in the avi file will be shown when you`ve chosen the file you require. You can import them all (up to about 3000 frames) or import a selected range of frames by inputing the numbers in the boxes marked AVI Import Start Frame and AVI Import Finish Frame.

Use the scrollbar at the bottom of the form to locate a particular AVI frame you want to start or finish with.

When you`ve chosen your files, left-click on the next button down which will then import the frames into your project directory, showing them on the form as it does so. When the programme has done that you need to left-click the Done button to insert the frame numbers onto the dope sheet. Unlike previous versions of the Tapptoons Linetester and the original release of the Tapptoons Animation Studio, the programme doesn`t keep the original bitmap filenames or numbers because they`re often too long to fit on the Dope Sheet. Now the imported files take the prefix currently in use by whatever level you insert the files into and follow the last used number, just as if you had started to add scans or video captures to a project.

When you`ve clicked on the Done button the newly imported frames are there on your Dope Sheet and if you want to insert the same images again to follow the original import, click on the Dope Sheet where you want them to start and return to the Import Images Form and you`ll see that the Done button now has a caption reading Repeat Insert. If you left-click this button, without clicking any others, the same range of images will be inserted onto the Dope Sheet. Alternatively, you can choose the frames from the Add Cels From File facility from the Dope Sheet Edit Form.

The imported frames will be stretched to fit your chosen Final Image Width and Height.

 

 

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