[Niels]

I’m glad it did, Mike! Thank you very much for letting me/us know!

Best,
Niels

[Niels]

Thanks for you nice words and comments!

Yes, that’s a bug that unfortunately got introduced in Alpha 6. We are on it and plan to issue a quick update – because that thing is annoying! 😉

All future alpha and beta updates will be free. But when we reach the final, it will be $79 USD as a one time fee (no subscription). You will also be able to download a free trial that works fully for 14 days.

Manipulating raster layers (reference layers) are not decided yet. Our original plan was to only import raster into reference layers and then have the user refine those imported drawings on a normal layer on top. That’s why they are called reference layers. During animation you will normally redraw (refine) your drawings a few times anyway, right?

We do already have a clever stabilisation built in working at all times already. It is quite subtle though, but powerful. We are considering additional smoothing on top, but that’s undecided at the moment.

Perspective grids are on our todo list for future updates.

Best,
Niels

[Niels]

Exactly. But we also have to have the tools we really need, so it’s a matter of prioritising and integrating it right so it feels natural, keep everything simple and uncluttered and not take away any focus.

[Niels]

Hi Clinton,

Thanks a lot for this suggestion. I really like it. We would then have to have some kind of automatic check and update within AP, if the files on the drive are updated from elsewhere. That would be great. I’ll take a note of this!

For now: If you make your input files smaller (like using jpg compressed format or reducing resolution) they will take up less memory and make your .ap file quicker to save/load.

Best,
Niels

[Niels]

OK, thanks.

Can you explain in more detail what exactly you mean?

I just discovered a bug that makes AP not draw any lines until you release your stroke (lift up your pen) – then the line is drawn. Is that what happens to you?

Or is is just slow in general?

One general advice is to not work 4K. But work in 2K and then scale up to 4K when finished. This sounds awful I know, but because of AP’s line engine there will be no difference – except for the responsiveness for you. 😉 You see, AP re-renders all your lines in full 4K, which means no degradation or blurring of any kind.

Anyway, if you were able to work fine in 4K on earlier versions, there’s probably something giving you the current problems. Let me know more, if possible. Thank you!

Best,
Niels

[Niels]

Sure. We’ll see what needs to go into AP first and what will make sense in the longer run. Thanks Sam.

[Niels]

Yeah, I have thought the same. Thanks for mentioning it Sam! Noted.

[Niels]

Hi Hendri,

I’m glad you ask! Because it is not supposed to do that. Normally you input your activation key the first time, and then AP just starts up, skipping that part completely, every time. Even when you get your next alpha or beta version it will know your activation key.

So why it asks you every time I am puzzled about. I’ll ask my programmer and get back to you.

Cheers,
Niels

[Niels]

OK, that is very helpful Julien! Good information, so we can get the problem fixed properly! Thank you both, Julien and Josh!

[Niels]

Thanks a lot, Sam. Yeah, you should try animating it it! 😉 Best wishes.

[Niels]

OK, great, Win10, got it 🙂

1) I think you might be talking about the area in the x-sheet that’s called “annotations”. In there you can scribble notes, draw charts or arcs or arrows or whatever. Also plan dialogue by writing out phonemes or letters. Mark key drawings and breakdowns, etc, etc… Just notes, like they did in the old analogue days too.

2) When you import an image or a sequence of images (video or animation), it automatically comes in as a reference layer. You can not draw on it or copy it to a normal layer. The only thing you can is copy/paste reference frames around, drag out clones, etc – everything regarding timing. What you import is bitmap (aka raster) images. You can draw “on top” a reference layer, by just adding a normal layer on top and draw there. When you draw inside AP you are able to rotate and not least scale your drawings or parts of drawings without loosing any information or getting any degradation or blurring.

3) Normally you would be back in draw mode when you get on to a normal layer – you might have been in some mode or had some tool selected since it didn’t happen for you. Or it could be a bug. Please keep and eye on this behaviour if it happens again. Thank you!

[Niels]

Yeah, thought about it, but things change and get reprioritised internally all the time, so that would maybe be more confusing and frustrating for people. And I don’t mind at all if things come up several times from people like you – then I know it is probably important if multiple people feel the same.

[Niels]

You are right. It can get quite tricky to hit the right area with a small selection. This is on our list already.

[Niels]

Oh, that’s valuable information! Thanks Leon!

Are you on PC? What Windows version?

[Niels]

OK, thank you. I’ll try to provoke it here too.