Perspectives and Counters

Library templates are very useful for saving your animation assets for future re-use. But here are a couple of useful examples of other ways to use your library templates as aids in doing your animation work.

The first template is a frames counter. I can't keep track of how many times I would have wanted to have the current frame number displayed while I was watching a playback test. The playback viewer has a time code counter but I often see a problem and want to isolate the frame or frames where that problem exists. It also is useful in isolating sound to action sync problems. So I created a "counter" template. Now it isn't a sophisticated device, but rather a sequence of cells in an element where each cell is numbered to match the frame it occupies. For my purposes I found that 300 was a good number of frames that more often than not fit any sequence I wanted to test. Now it took a little time to create and number 300 cells but it's a one time task and you save it as a global library template and then your counter is available for any future project use. You will see it in action in a minute.

Another area in which I always find myself wanting some help is with my drawing perspective. I use to just make some guide marks in a scratch element. Then I decided that I was doing this quite frequently and so I started making and saving perspective grids as global library templates. Now whenever I need a perspective reference I can just pull out the template and put it in a reference element in any project.



Below are some samples of templates I use for perspective references in my drawing.


This template is a two point perspective reference with a below center horizon line which is great for a viewpoint looking up from ground level or "worm's eye" view.



This perspective grid template has the horizon line above the middle and is useful for a more elevated view reference.


This is a three point perspective grid template.


This perspective template is a neutral or eye level two point grid and I use this one quite often as you will see in the animation work below.



This is the timeline I'm using for this example project. I've created an element named "counter" for my frames counter template and placed it above the other elements to superimpose the frame count. If I don't want this frame count to be included in the final render all I need to do is un-check its timeline track label. I also have an element included named "perspective" which I'm using for my two point eye level perspective grid template. It is one cell with its exposure extended for the desired time I want the reference visible. Again when I don't want this included in the render I just un-check the perspective element's timeline track label. I put it at the bottom of the list so it is behind my drawings. I normally work on sketching in drawing view with the field guide grid turned off when I'm using a perspective grid because it makes things less cluttered. I can always toggle the field guide on and off if I need to check a field size.



I'm working here in drawing view with the field grid toggled "off " and the auto-light table turned "on" so that my perspective grid is visible below where I am sketching. It really makes it easier to draw solid and maintain proper perspective with this visual aid. The color of the perspective grid is a personal choice and is easy to change. Notice that the frame number is also visible. That's a nice bonus when using the counter template.


I'm doing a "take" where the character's head is turning so having a perspective reference is really a must.


I'm just roughing in the basic forms and using the grid as my 3D reference.



After I finish roughing out all the cells for this action I can begin to clean up using my ink color.










Below is a 72 frame test render of the "take" action I just completed. I rendered the test with the perspective grid and the frames counter. And you can see that they are both useful aids in making this animation. I can stop the playback at anytime and isolate the frame or frames where I don't like the action. And I can single frame through the playback and know exactly where I am in the sequence down to the frame. Time codes are nice but I also like to see frame numbers on my tests. A couple of creative aids made easy to re-use and apply with global library templates. I hope this inspires you to create your own as well as possibly some other animation aids that you find useful.

It’s Elemental – Part 1

All animation is created by rendering a series of pictures in a sequence and displaying those pictures at a sufficient rate of speed so as to generate the phenomena called “persistence of vision”. One of a cartoon animator’s goals is to optically blend sequential images together to create the visual effect of continuous motion.

Pictures are composed of multiple picture elements

The individual pictures themselves can consist of a single visual element or a combination of many visual elements. In most animations, the pictures in the sequence, also referred to as the frames in the sequence, are constructed as compositions of many layered picture elements.


Traditionally, these picture elements are arranged in an overlapping layered stack lying flat under a photographic camera.

Each picture element traditionally was created individually on a clear transparent plastic sheet called a cell. The stacking order of the cells creates the visual effect of depth by allowing some picture elements to overlap other picture elements producing perspective in a 2D picture. In order to position each picture element’s cell relative to the other elements of that composite picture, there is the need for some means of element registration. And so each cell was pre-punched with several holes that could be aligned on a registration peg bar.

It is totally logical therefore that 2D software applications like Flash or Toon Boom Studio use the concept of “layers” to compose frames. Layers are just a way of describing a stacking or overlapping order. In Toon Boom layers are called elements. (more about the different kinds of element types later)

Going from the physical world to the virtual world

So as we make the transition from the physical world of hand drawn and photographed animation to the Toon Boom Studio virtual world of computer rendered animation, we need to carry forward virtual versions of many of the same tools that were used to produce photographic animations. In Toon Boom Studio, our picture elements or cells become our drawing elements or image elements, etc. as represented by the columns in the TBS exposure sheet.


By the way, the TBS exposure sheet itself is a virtual evolution of a similar picture organizational document used in traditional animation. Each element (layer) on the exposure sheet represents a specific level in the composite stacking order of each frame. And the individual picture elements that are contained in each individual exposure sheet element are in fact called cells. So reading across horizontally in the exposure sheet, we can view the stack of cells that makes up a single frame, and their relative positions correspond to their overlapping from the top to the bottom of the composite stack of cells. The top of the stack is to the reader’s far left and the bottom of the stack is to the reader’s far right in the TBS exposure sheet.

Planning layouts with field guides

With the TBS exposure sheet, we can describe which cells belong to which elements and we can show how those elements will be ordered in the composite stack for each frame. What about the relative positioning of elements in a frame? One way which evolved from traditional hand drawn animation production for determining relative positioning of picture elements in a frame is a device call a field guide or field grid.

Traditionally this field guide is a transparent sheet printed with a series of concentric rectangles displayed at increments of one-inch in width conforming to the standard 4:3 screen aspect ratio. Also indicated on this grid are the four horizontal plane directional reference points; North, South East and West. The function of the field guide is to provide a standard coordinate system so as to specify the area that the camera will be set up to render. It is also a vital aid to the animator in laying out a scene, working out the final composition of shots and in specifying any camera moves. In TBS the use of a simulated field guide means that if you have your hand drawn art scanned into the computer you will always be able to line up your artwork in Drawing View exactly the same way as you designed it on your drawing board. Essentially in animation, the viewable area under the camera can be expressed in terms of fields of view based on the optical distance from the camera to the art work. The closer the camera is positioned to the art work the smaller its field of view. Of course in the virtual world of TBS, we have no real way to create optical distance, so we can simulate it by scaling the size of our art work. The closer to the camera the larger we scale up our art work and the farther from the camera the smaller we scale down our art work. Scaling is therefore used to create the illusion of optical distance.

That’s all for this installment, more next time in It's Elemental - Part 2