Best free vector drawing software for use with Moho?

[Allibanos]

Hi all,

I’ve posted up a couple of threads already and have had some helpful advice.

As a beginner I am reading about vector and raster drawing software and it looks like vector programmes are more versatile for scalability with no loss of quality, ease of post production editing, etc. Can anyone add to this / advise on which option will be best to start with?

Also, I wanted to see if I could find a decent free programme and found Inkscape. Does anyone use this for their art?

Thank you,

Karl

[Lae82]

In production you'll probably want to use both vector and raster. Raster for layouts/storyboards/backgrounds and vector for characters and objects. Raster is best when you want the natural organic look of paint and brushes.

About vector software:
Opentoonz has some nice vector editing tools and you can export the vector art as svg by right clicking the level drawing in opentoonz file browser. Auto tracing raster to vector works great in OT. Inkscape can also auto trace jpg/png to vector. Remember you only get the vector center line information in svg files and no custom brush thickness information. Strokes needs to be fills/shapes if you want variable line width kept.

Krita can draw vectors on vector layers but you can't do fbf. What you can do is working with several vector layers and number them in a sequence. Vector fbf might be supported in future version. I haven't tried exporting svg from Krita.

Moho's vector tools are everything I need for lineart cleanup. The "connect and create" button lets you close lineart with gaps fast so they can be filled. For advance lineart with many gaps and strokes it's good to work with two layers: one layer for lineart and one for fills. Just duplicate the lineart layer and use "connect and create" to create the fills for the color layer.

For pre-production I like to use Pencil 2d nightly build. It's a fast and lightweight program that helps you get your animation ideas visualized fast. Having a good drawing tablet is a must. Vector lineart cleanup is done in Moho.

There's a storyboard script for moho that let you use raster storyboard images in a sequence. These images can then easily be traced with the tools inside of Moho.

For more tool features etc take a look at mohoscripts.com

[SuperSGL]

I would (personally) just use Moho for all vector art. Other programs can give you special effects and fills that look great but will not translate back into Moho. Depending on the type of character your creating (and how well you can draw) using a Raster program like Krita sketch out what your character will look like and when you start refining and adding details it's important to create moveable parts in separate layers. There are a few tutorials on how to set this up I'm afraid I don't have any links to add here. Found 2 at the Moho youtube site. I have CorelDraw ($400+) started in graphic design and web pages but I find there are things you can do in Moho that make life simpler that I can't do in CorelDraw. I would stick to learning vector drawing in Moho first, you can probably download a trial version to get started. Lot's of useful tutorials out there and ask anything you need at this forum I find this most invaluable source. Goodluck in your ventures.

[Allibanos]

In production you'll probably want to use both vector and raster. Raster for layouts/storyboards/backgrounds and vector for characters and objects. Raster is best when you want the natural organic look of paint and brushes.

About vector software:
Opentoonz has some nice vector editing tools and you can export the vector art as svg by right clicking the level drawing in opentoonz file browser. Auto tracing raster to vector works great in OT. Inkscape can also auto trace jpg/png to vector. Remember you only get the vector center line information in svg files and no custom brush thickness information. Strokes needs to be fills/shapes if you want variable line width kept.

Krita can draw vectors on vector layers but you can't do fbf. What you can do is working with several vector layers and number them in a sequence. Vector fbf might be supported in future version. I haven't tried exporting svg from Krita.

Moho's vector tools are everything I need for lineart cleanup. The "connect and create" button lets you close lineart with gaps fast so they can be filled. For advance lineart with many gaps and strokes it's good to work with two layers: one layer for lineart and one for fills. Just duplicate the lineart layer and use "connect and create" to create the fills for the color layer.

For pre-production I like to use Pencil 2d nightly build. It's a fast and lightweight program that helps you get your animation ideas visualized fast. Having a good drawing tablet is a must. Vector lineart cleanup is done in Moho.

There's a storyboard script for moho that let you use raster storyboard images in a sequence. These images can then easily be traced with the tools inside of Moho.

For more tool features etc take a look at mohoscripts.com

Lae82, thank you for your take on this. It’s starting to all make more sense now. Many have suggested the vector tracing option in Moho and I think that will be my initial go-to route to see how I get on once I have created images in Procreate, which, so far, seems like a top piece of drawing software.

With OT and Inkscape’s auto tracing from raster to vector feature, have you had any point count and placement issues when you have then imported the SVG file in to Moho?

I have been looking at Moho tutorials on YouTube and you are now the second person to mention mohoscripts.com, so I shall look in to this.

[Lae82]

The only issue I've had is that line thickness are too thick on lineart on svg imported to moho. But it's easy to fix and get thin lines again. Use "select all" in shapes and set new thickness in moho. You can adjust points and reduce points in moho for vector art.

Auto trace of raster to vector works best in OT and inkscape. Clip studio paints autotrace might be the best I've tried but csp costs money.

Mohos autotrace doesn't work that well in my experience but it might get updated in the future. Trial and error is the key when handling vectors. Try to find a workflow that gives the best results.

[Allibanos]

The only issue I've had is that line thickness are to thick on lineart on svg imported to moho. But it's easy to fix and get thin lines again. Use "select all" in shapes and set new thickness in moho. You can adjust points and reduce points in moho for vector art.

Auto trace of raster to vector works best in OT and inkscape. Clip studio paints auto trace might be the best I've tried but csp costs money.

Mohos autotrace doesn't work that well in my experience but it might get updated in the future. Trial and error is the key when handling vectors. Try to find a workflow that gives the best results.

Yes, I can see there will be a lot of trial and error for me throughout this whole learning process, but that’s the same with all new learnings.

[WildLud]

Auto trace of raster to vector works best in OT and inkscape. Clip studio paints autotrace might be the best I've tried but csp costs money.

Hello, I'm a beginner, with a lot of desire, and csp and Moho licence. Now i've got no excuse I'm trying to find a workflow. Do you export the converted in vector layer in svg format an then import it in Moho ? Can you describe how you process for tracing your sketches using clip studio paint and then bring them in Moho ?

Thank you and merry Christmas too all the forum members.

[slowtiger]

For tracing just import a bitmap.

[Greenlaw]

I agree with Slowtiger; if you're going to hand trace the bitmap image as vector, just do it in Moho. Moho's vector drawing tools are decent, especially in 14.1.

Moho has two ways to bring an image in for tracing:

1. View>Select Tracing Image... - This is the 'standard' method. It places the imported image faded and in the background, ready for tracing over. Easy and straightforward, but the downside is that you can't transform the image. In otherwords, you can't scale or move the image as you may desire.

2. Image Layer - Just import the image as an image layer. I prefer this method because I can transform the image and set the transparency level. I can even place it above or below my drawing layer.

Tip: If you're using Moho 14.1, place the image layer above the vector drawing layer, set the blend mode to Multiply, and dial down transparency to about 25%.

In Moho, you can manually trace with the Add Points tool or Freehand. (These tools both work better in Moho 14.1 than in any previous versions of Moho.) I also recommend adding MR Curve Tool. It's similar to Add Points in 14.1, but with advanced options.

Add Points and MR Curve are point-to-point drawing tools. In Moho 14, they work by simply clicking on the screen point-by-point to construct curves. (in earlier versions of Moho, you need to click-and-drag to draw curves using Add Points, which works well but can get tedious. If you use a mouse to draw, the new method in 14.1 is easier on the hand and wrist.) Both tools work with regular Moho points or Bezier points.

The Freehand tool is exactly as it sounds, it draws lines like using a pen or brush. and it works best if you use a pen and tablet. If you use older versions of Moho, you should disable Let Me Use My Pen As Mouse in Window Ink Settings. (This 'fix' isn't necessary if you use Moho 14.1, which works well with the option on or off.) Additional note: Blob Brush is Freehand's companion drawing tool, and it's good for freehand drawing solids.

For character art that will be deformed using Bones and Mesh Warping, you want to use Add Points or MR Curve so you can place the points exactly where they need to be for the best deformation and performance.

Freehand is suitable for artwork that will not be deformed using Bones or Mesh Warps, and for creating Frame By Frame animation. I like to use it for background art, non-deforming props, and FX or short character anims created in the Frame By Frame layer. Many beginner users will probably want to use Freehand for rigged character art, but Freehand places points arbitrarily, so the deformation quality can be poor. But if the art will only be transformed by bones and not deformed, using Freehand is fine.

Hope this helps.

[WildLud]

Thank you for these great advices. I will do this way.