Add point in point animation (and some more)

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ponysmasher
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Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by ponysmasher »

I haven't been very active here lately (too much work), but I have been working with AS and made some scripts to improve my workflow. Here's some of them:

Say I have a point animation like so:
Image

And I realize I really need a point here (this happens all the time when I animate water or other organic things):
Image

Well if I just add a point I get this:
Image

Well with my "Add animated point" tool:
Image

You can add a point (or several) at any time in the animation and it will figure out where it's supposed to go in previous and later frames:
Image
Now, as always when you add points in AS your shape may change a bit if you add it on a curve, but that's just how it is.

I have also modified the Translate points tool:
Image
With the following additions:
Image

- "Select keyed" does what it says, selects the points that have keyframes on the current frame.
- "Key all", sets a keyframe on all points in the layer at the current frame.
- "Change all keys relatively". If you move a point when this box is checked that point will move the same amount on all keyframes. It's for changing the shape of a mesh that has already been animated:
Image

- "Change all actions relatively" does the same as above but in all actions of the layer. I usually create new characters by modifying old ones and all my mouths and eyelids are saved as actions, so if for example I want a character to have a larger chin I use this mode to change all mouths equally.
Before:
Image
After (giggity):
Image

But what if I need to change the curvature of the points in all actions? Well I have modified the Curvature tool for that, but it's kind of limited at the moment. It will only change the curvature on frame 1 of every action. It works for me, but I plan to improve it further.

And the last script for today is a modification of the Translate layer tool where I've added the "Change all keys relatively" option. Previously if I needed to move a layer that had been animated I would put it in a group layer and move that around. This is a bit simpler/quicker.

Here are the scripts, they go in the scripts/tool folder of Anime Studio Pro's main folder:
Please note that the scripts starting with "lm" will replace the original tools so make back ups of the original files if you want to be able to go back without re-installing.
addanimpoint.zip
lm_translate_points_mod.zip
lm_curvature_mod.zip
lm_translate_layer_mod.zip
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Víctor Paredes
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by Víctor Paredes »

This is fantastic! Thank you very much!
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rocky53204
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by rocky53204 »

You truly are amazing! Thank you, the scripts will be quite helpful for me.
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Víctor Paredes
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by Víctor Paredes »

It's even cooler than I thought! It's really really awesome.
This scripts really should be in the software by default. Any chance to have it for bones and other layer channels?
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Víctor Paredes
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by Víctor Paredes »

This scripts are so fun. In a couple minutes I transformed my gif
ImageImage
A great thing about this is that if, after modify the character, there is a problem on a specific keyframe, you can fix it with the translate point tool, unchecking "change all keys relatively".
Just fantastic.
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sbtamu
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by sbtamu »

Doesn't seem to work on AS7.
Sorry for bad animation

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ponysmasher
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by ponysmasher »

selgin wrote:It's even cooler than I thought! It's really really awesome.
This scripts really should be in the software by default. Any chance to have it for bones and other layer channels?
I do have a "Change all keys" mode in my Manipulate bones tool. It's a combination of the bone tools where you hold down ALT to translate, CTRL to rotate and SHIFT to scale: ds_manipulate_bones
I guess it could be added to most tools. I haven't added it to the curvature tool yet because the whole curve thing in AS is really complicated (for me at least).
sbtamu wrote:Doesn't seem to work on AS7.
Which one? All of them? I don't have AS7 installed at the moment so I can't check it out right now.
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by sbtamu »

I have 7.2
I will try again and make sure I did not install it wrong.
Sorry for bad animation

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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by sbtamu »

My bad, it is working. I forgot to remove the Lm icon and it moved to the other tools and I was using it instead of your icon, D'OH.

Thanks for the script!!!
Sorry for bad animation

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Víctor Paredes
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by Víctor Paredes »

ponysmasher wrote:
selgin wrote:It's even cooler than I thought! It's really really awesome.
This scripts really should be in the software by default. Any chance to have it for bones and other layer channels?
I do have a "Change all keys" mode in my Manipulate bones tool. It's a combination of the bone tools where you hold down ALT to translate, CTRL to rotate and SHIFT to scale: ds_manipulate_bones
I guess it could be added to most tools. I haven't added it to the curvature tool yet because the whole curve thing in AS is really complicated (for me at least).
You are awesome. Thanks.
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ponysmasher
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by ponysmasher »

Here's another script by the way; Action buttons: ds_actionbuttons.zip
Image

Buttons for inserting actions since lipsyncing with actions can get really tedious when you have to right-click in the actions list all the time.
I added the "Sort names" (alphabetically) option since I always use the same names for the mouths but I don't always create them in the same order. Now they're always in the same place.
I still use blend morphs when I need more subtlety in the mouth movements but when I don't, this tool is a huge time saver.

One slightly annoying thing though; it doesn't always update when you select different layers so you may have to select another tool and then go back to this to force it to update.

Oh, and clicking on the screen with this tool will select the the closest layer, just like using ALT+RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON (except this won't expand all the layers).
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Víctor Paredes
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by Víctor Paredes »

ponysmasher wrote:Here's another script by the way; Action buttons: ds_actionbuttons.zip
I was wondering what was that "act" tool you have. It looks very interesting, I'm gonna check it back in home. Thanks.
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jonbo
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by jonbo »

You did it again Pony, a whole bunch of tool mods that's going to take me days to get my head around. Thanks though, I needed the challenge. :)
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capricorn33
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by capricorn33 »

Yesssss!!! Very, very, VERY cool! This one goes right into my toolbox. Thanks ponysmasher! :D
capricorn ( - just call me "cap")
children's tv pro, character animator
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capricorn33
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Re: Add point in point animation (and some more)

Post by capricorn33 »

Hm.. seems to be some UI problems in AS8 ?

Anyone else missing the select menu and some other controls in the addanimpoint-tool.....?

The only one that shows up in my menu bar is the "sharp corners" check box. Nothing else.
capricorn ( - just call me "cap")
children's tv pro, character animator
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