[hevonen]

Hi,

1. I’d like the option to have empty frames in xsheet
I tried to move single frame to start later in time and well, it seems to be impossible. In my experience it’s common to use single frames or clips of few frames here and there for stuff that’s easier to keep separate for a while. I can work around with it by just not drawing at the first frame, but this makes the xsheet messy and harder to read (I wouldn’t have stack of empty papers before I have one I’ve drawn on, to make a poor analogy).

I like xsheets more than linear NLE style timeline when animating so thanks for choosing that!

2. I’d like to group related layers to be flattened at output
Regarding later compositing stage it would be useful to have layer groups which would be flattened to a single layer at output (eg, to flatten character to one layer when it is animated on separate layers for reuse). I see you have OpenEXR output coming so this might fit multilayer OpenEXR files well.

Off-topic, but since the drawings seem to be resolution-independent are they based on pixels with some extras, vectors or distance fields like Mischief? If vectors, you might consider vector exports to have compatibility with such packages and if distance fields, it might be useful to add tools to adjust/edit linework after drawing (like thickness). And if pixels with some extras it might be useful to reveal those extras to compositor via OpenEXR (same with dfields).

This software is very good already and I like the focus on actual animation part instead of look part, thanks!

[Niels]

Thanks for your very good points Hevonen!

1. Yeah, you need to be in Add Clones mode, which is the default mode. Then you just drag downwards to create the “empty” part – which is clones of the blank drawing. I know this is not what you are asking. I do get it – and you have a good point. I will think about it.

2. Grouping layers is something we already have on our todo. Yes, you will be able to export in OpenEXR format as soon as we get it done. We haven’t worked out the details on that yet, but utilising the capabilities of OpenEXR (layers, etc) would of course be preferred.

Yes, exporting in some common vector format is something we are looking into. Also using our internal data structure for more advanced features in future releases – like nudging and otherwise adjusting existing lines. But it will be in an Animation Paper kind of way. 🙂 Keeping it quick and easy and “analogue” in feel.