Overview:
- Introduction – What are vector photos?
- Checklist new options of CTA5 – Vector artwork, Free Type Deformation (FFD)
- Spring Bones
- What’s vector artwork? Vector vs Raster.
- What vector software program can be utilized to create CTA5 characters
- Advantages of vector artwork.
- Fundamental move of making a vector character.
- Studying character construct folders – RLBone human, RLBone Head, RLImage.
- Guidelines to observe when creating characters.
- Exporting SVG for CTA5
- Spring Bones
- Free Type Deformation (FFD)
- Conclusion
G’day! My title is Garry Pye and I’m the 2D Neighborhood Supervisor for Reallusion. As well as, I’ve been a content material developer for Cartoon Animators 2D Market for the previous 9 years. I wish to introduce you to the 2D animation software program Cartoon Animator 5, which delivers a brand new set of fantastic and sensible instruments that can assist you to to create skilled 2D animation sooner and simpler than ever earlier than.
Along with the skills you might be already accustomed to in Cartoon Animator, model 5 now has object Free Type Deformation (FFD), Spring Bones and most significantly, the power to create characters utilizing vector software program. Every of those new options will improve your animated initiatives in all new methods, and when combined with the highly effective instruments you already use, Cartoon Animator 5 is about to take your 2D animation to an entire new degree.
On this article, I’m going to take you on a tour of among the new instruments and options Cartoon Animator has to supply.
Vector Based mostly Character Design
Cartoon Animator 5 introduces the power to design and construct your characters as vector artwork in your favorite drawing software program, together with Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, Affinity Designer, Photopea and Inkscape.
So what’s vector artwork? In contrast to raster artwork which is made up of pixels that may blur when enlarged or zoomed, vector graphics are created from geometric shapes like factors, strains, curves and polygons, which suggests you’ll be able to enlarge them indefinitely with none lack of high quality and with none annoying feathering across the fringe of your artwork. So you’ll be able to zoom in as shut as you need to a personality and by no means fear about dropping high quality.
With a drawing pill like my XP-Pen 24 Professional, you’ll be able to nonetheless free draw your artwork, however as vectors, you’ve got the power to make instantaneous modifications to form and color, which means modifications to your design might be made spontaneously, versus working with raster photos which should be fully redrawn.
And the most effective information is, creating vector characters for Cartoon Animator 5 is simple, supplied you bear in mind a couple of vital guidelines.
As you might be creating your new vector character, you will need to be certain all of your color surroundings is RGB mode. This fashion, customers can have the possibility to alter the color of particular person components of your character like pores and skin, hair and clothes, immediately inside Cartoon Animator 5, including extra worth to your content material.
As you construct your character, bear in mind to group all of your physique components like arms, legs and torso for simple administration, and title them the identical because the corresponding physique half within the Cartoon Animator 5 character template, to be able to import your completed character straight in to CTA.
Have enjoyable drawing your most inventive concepts, simply make sure you preserve all of your components grouped collectively so you’ll be able to match them up with the character template and have them work in CTA5. Now as soon as your character is designed and all of your components are grouped accurately, it’s time to assemble your character utilizing the bones that can management motion. And the primary rule right here is ‘be certain your layers are named accurately’. You will have three important folders that make up a personality construct, and they’re RLBoneHuman: RLBoneHead: and RLImage: And it’s value taking a better have a look at these to see simply what they do.
First, the RLBoneHuman: folder accommodates all of the pivot factors for the bones of the physique and you may place these any manner you need to create your personal distinctive skeletons in your characters.
Subsequent is the RLBoneHead: folder containing the pivot factors for the person components that make up the face. These are vital as a result of they decide how the top rotates in your 360 Head motion.
And eventually we have now the RLImage: folder which accommodates all of the precise drawn components of the face and physique. Every little thing in right here must be layered within the right order so all of your characters face and physique components seem in entrance or behind one another as required.
Now you’ve got your character all drawn up, with its bone factors in place and all of your layers within the right order. It’s time to ship it in to Cartoon Animator 5 and convey it to life!
Now you will export your new character as an SVG file, which is your Scalable Vector Graphic. Make sure that your Compatibility is ready to 1.1 and your Styling Choices are set to Presentation and you may export your character.
Transfer throughout to Cartoon Animator 5 and drop your SVG file in to Stage Mode and your character will seem! Now you solely must arrange your 360 Head motion and your character is full.
In order that’s it. That’s how straightforward it’s to create your personal customized vector characters for Cartoon Animator 5. However there are a few different actually intelligent new issues Cartoon Animator 5 can do along with your characters, and I’m going to indicate you now.
Object Free Type Deformation (FFD)
New to Cartoon Animator 5 is Object Free Type Deformation (FFD). That is the power to use squash and stretch to your character to magnify motion and provides your characters the sensation of being extra versatile. And it’s very easy to use.
Upon getting animated your characters, you’ll be able to apply Free Type Deformation. In your characters Timeline, you will note a tab named FFD. Open this monitor and that is the place you will note the Free Type Deformation as it’s utilized. Choose your character and open the Free Type Deformation menu. Now you will note a bounding field surrounding your character. You’ll be able to transfer every of those factors to have an effect on the squash and stretch to your character and manually keyframe its motion, or you’ll be able to apply one of many preset deformations. You’ll be able to rotate, shift, scale and regulate the energy of the deformation to get your animation simply the way in which you need and provides your characters a extra exaggerated, cartoony efficiency.
Spring Bones
One other new function for Cartoon Animator 5 are Spring Bones. Consider Spring Bones as having the ability to robotically apply physics and gravity to your characters physique components. Prior to now, when you had a personality with lengthy flowing hair, if you utilized a movement, the hair would nonetheless stay static. You could possibly use the Deform instrument and keyframe motion, however that course of took a substantial period of time.
Not any extra.
Now, with Cartoon Animator 5’s Spring Bones, character components can transfer freely, because the Spring Bones will robotically management their motion. There is no such thing as a keyframing concerned. Nothing it’s a must to do. Simply apply the Spring Bones and watch your character transfer like by no means earlier than.
And the most effective half is, including Spring Bones is really easy! Spring Bones are going to alter the way in which your characters transfer in essentially the most superb, dynamic manner.
Together with your character open in Composer Mode, open the Bone Editor. Choose the bone pivot level you need to apply your Spring Bones to. Now add new bones ranging from this level. You are able to do this to any face or physique half. Then open the Spring Bone Editor, create a brand new group and assign the bone to that group. While you do, you will note all of the bones connect to this bone are added to the group and they’ll all change color. Now click on Preview and watch as your hair strikes naturally by itself if you transfer the characters head.
How good is that! No extra tedious keyframing. No extra unnatural, stiff motion. You’ll be able to apply Spring Bones to any face or physique half. Something that you just need to transfer naturally. Hair, clothes, tails, trunks. Flip something in to a wobbly, jelly like substance in seconds. After which management the energy of the Spring Bones bounce, pace, gravity and extra and Cartoon Animator 5 will robotically animate all of it for you.
Conclusions
So there you’ve got it. Simply among the new options and instruments of Cartoon Animator 5. Instruments which can be designed to boost your characters efficiency by way of pure, automated motion, like squash and stretch, as effectively free flowing motion with Spring Bones. Methods utilized within the conventional 12 ideas of animation, in addition to vector artwork that can give your ultimate 2D animations the next high quality output for professionals.
Cartoon Animator is already highly effective animation software program designed with each the newbie {and professional} in thoughts. With model 5 we have now added new options that can deliver your characters to life in thrilling new methods!
Comply with Garry Pye:
https://www.reallusion.com/contentstore/FeaturedDeveloper/profile/#!/GarryPye/Cartoonpercent20Animator
https://www.fb.com/garrypyeanimations
https://garrypyecreations.com/
