[Niels]

No worries. If you register again, using the same email, you will get the exact same activation key. So then you have it again.

Also, if you change computers, Animation Paper will let you run on the new one using the same activation key. You can change computers all you want, but the old installs will eventually stop working. So it’s pretty free and easy.

Your account on this website that you use when posting on this forum, is a separate thing and not related at all to your Animation Paper license.

The .ap files you may produce is simply .ap files. No “ownership” or anything. They are fully interchangeable – also between Windows, Mac and Linux versions and even with the iPad and Android versions, when we get them done eventually.

I hope this clears matters up a little. Otherwise let me know 😉

Thanks,
Niels

[Niels]

Hi Michayla, this could sound like a problem we have seen for a few people on older onboard graphics hardware. You don’t get lines when you draw – you get very blocky “garbage” instead? If this is the case, we might have a workaround for you. Please email me, and I will get back to you with further instructions. My email address is the one you got your activation key from.

Best,
Niels

[Niels]

Hi Michayla,

Thanks for writing! It’s not clear to me where you are in the process. I need more information to help. You don’t need to get to any menu to start animating, you can just draw and add frames using the + icon.

But maybe you didn’t download and install the program yet? Please let me know what you did so far. 😉

Thanks,
Niels

[Niels]

Thanks a lot for both your initial thoughts and for your comments after giving it a bit more time. Of course interesting for me to listen to. Thanks for your kind words too!

And I can confirm, that our coloring features will be great – parts of it a bit like Toonz. I’m looking forward to being able to reveal more on this 😉

Thanks again Kim!

Best,
Niels

[Niels]

Thanks a lot Andrew. Much appreciated. We thought we were ready, but our internal tests found a few bugs, so we had to fix those too. Almost there…

[Niels]

You said: “I found the problem! I downloaded the cartoon on my external hard drive. And it works very well ! Thank you for all your attention to my problem. Bye. thanks again”

I’m confused 😀 But what’s important is that you got it to work. Thanks for letting me know. Good luck and happy animating!

Enjoy,
Niels

[Niels]

Your reply translated: “Good morning. That’s the problem. No window opens when I open the software
How to do.”

OK, I see. That is really odd. I have never heard of this problem before.

A few questions trying to shed light on the situation:

1) What I don’t understand is how you managed to click the link to register and receive your activation key without any window opening in the first place?

2) What OS are you using? Windows? Which version?

3) How much memory do your system have?

4) Have you tried to install Animation Paper again? Have you restarted your computer after installation?

Sorry for all the questions. I hope we can solve this problem. 🙂

Thanks,
Niels

[Niels]

You enter the key in the only window that opens when you launch Animation Paper. It’s not on the website. It’s the same window that you must have had open the first time you ran Animation Paper, because you must have clicked the link that is in the same window to register for the activation key.

So in short: Just click your Animation Paper icon. A window opens. That’s it.

Yes, you can’t export or do anything else before you have entered the activation key. It is usually super simple. I have never heard of this problem before. Let me know if the window doesn’t open (for some weird reason).

Thanks,
Niels

[Niels]

Hi Serge,

I hope it’s OK I answer in English?

Here’s your question again in English (translated by Google): “I don’t know where to enter my activation key No window opens when opening the software. I can’t export my cartoon either. Can you help me ? Thanks”

I don’t understand. If you already have your activation key, that means that you must have run Animation Paper and had the small activation key window open (because you must have clicked the link in that small window to register for the activation key in the first place).

You say you can’t export your cartoon. That says to me that you already did do some drawing in Animation Paper? You can only do that if you entered your activation key in the small window. Which is great. The small activation key window does not show up again if you already entered your activation key once. Then you are all set.

So, I’m guessing you are fine regarding the activation key. So your problem really is to export your animation? Just do this:

Go to the menu File > Export > Movie Clip… Then choose mp4 for most general usage (or gif or mov) – and set other options if needed. That’s it really.

Let me know if this was of any help. Otherwise, I will love to help you, please get back to me with more info on what exactly happens when you try to do what you want to do.

Thanks,
Niels

[Niels]

Hi Clarisse! Thanks for asking! I hope it’s OK that I answer in English?

You asked: “Hello, I would like to know how to copy, paste a layer and then draw on the new layers without it drawing on all the layers. Thanks”

Maybe it’s the translation (Google) – but I don’t think you mean “layer” – you mean “drawing” or “frame”, right?

In Animation Paper, you can easily make a drawing “hold”, by just dragging down on it in the X-Sheet. Then you will see a number of “clones” after the original drawing. These will automatically update if you draw on them or the original.

You can brake the link by hitting O on a clone (Making the clone an original). Then you can continue drawing without the previous drawing being updated.

If you Clear a clone (hit * on it), you will break the link too, and make it an original blank drawing.

You can also do copy/paste, by using Ctrl C and Ctrl V on the thumbnails (drawings) in the X-Sheet.

But instead of copying and modifying your previous drawing, I would recommend adding a new blank and then use the light table (onion skin), to draw the new drawing, referencing the previous one. But it’s up to you of course and up to what is best according to the project and style.

Anyway, good luck with it! Let me know if you need me to go into more detail or if you have other great questions!

Thanks,
Niels

 

[Niels]

Hi Mike, thanks for sharing this good idea! These things must always be weighed up against the more clutter/complexity it produces – even though this might be a very simple and efficient way of planning lip-sync. I will definitely think deeper about it! Thank you!

Playing devils advocate: How would it work for you, if you just quickly drew simplified mouth shapes in the annotations column? It would be the same, if I’m not mistaken – even though your way might be slightly faster. But depending on the character design, the generic mouth shapes you are suggesting, could be fairly far from your actual characters mouth look, so you would run the risk of it being not precise enough and slightly confusing. I may we wrong of course. And you probably already tried this and came up with your idea.

Let me know what you think? I love to think about these things! It’s great. 🙂

Best,
Niels

 

 

[Niels]

Paint will come in the first free update after the official 5.0 release. So, all coloring and paint features will be in 5.1.

[Niels]

Hi Malcolm, thanks for your comments and question.

What I aim for with Animation Paper, when designing it, is to have it be very close to traditional analogue animation in the way you as an animator think and work. However, in the way you would do it cleverly today with modern digital features and conveniences.

Normal workflow in Animation Paper is to do rough animation, clean up and inking all digitally within Animation Paper. It is totally possible to import scanned or photographed backgrounds or animation, but doing the final clean up in Animation Paper is recommended before coloring.

In the current pre-release (Alpha 7), there are no coloring or paint features implemented just yet. These are of course planned and on our todo at a very high priority.

Let me know if you want me to go into more detail or if you have additional questions.

Best,
Niels

[Niels]

Thanks for your insight Qian!

[Niels]

I just tried following the link quickly, and must admit it is kind of confusing. I can’t find it either. I remember it was a little tricky to get to the right place, but it’s there somewhere. If all fails, I guess you can write the developer. I’m sorry I can’t help you any better right now.