[Niels]

Thanks for this very precise bug report Russ! Consider it fixed. 😉

[Niels]

OK, Susan. But you managed to find it?

Anyway, PAP4 is old! Jump on over to Animation Paper and try the alpha! Maybe you did already?

[Niels]

A few others have mentioned that too, Tengus. Thanks for letting me know. Some people actually love the vertical way of the traditional exposure sheet. But anyway, I have it on my list as an option for future versions.

[Niels]

OK, thanks Corin. Noted.

[Niels]

1. Actually we are going to have several functions work on a block of selected drawings in one go. Including adding a clone. This will come soon in one of the alpha releases.

2. You can already now either duplicate a layer, which will keep the clone structure, or select a block of drawings and copy/paste those into another layer. I guess that would do the job?

Moving things along paths is something for compositing as it is right now. But we plan to add this in a future version.

[Niels]

I think you are right Hevonen. I’ll put the solo layer function and hotkey on our todo. Thanks!

[Niels]

In case the program crashes?! I beg your pardon!! 😀 😉 Haha

Yeah, we might do an autosave at some point. Good idea either way.

Audio is what we are working on right now. Everything audio will come in Alpha 3 – which we hope to release in a few days if all goes well.

Exporting movie clips is coming too – but in one of the following alpha releases. The exact one has not been decided on yet.

Cheers,
Niels

[Niels]

Thanks for these good suggestions Hevonen!

But let me challenge them a little to make sure I understand you fully.

1) You already have a hotkey for adding a clone [‘]. Wouldn’t it be fine to just hit that key once or twice (for setting your drawing on two’s or three’s)?

2) I do think I get your point. It is good to be able to test different timing alternatives, which means you sometimes need to delete a drawing – but then you can not easily get it back if you need it again.

You suggest some kind of popup window that could hold these deleted drawings so you could just click the one you want and get it back. But you would need to be able to see them at full size then, because picking it out between more similar looking drawings in some kind of thumbnail size wouldn’t work.

I tend to think that instead of deleting a drawing, you could cut it (Ctrl X) and then have an extra layer (not visible in your drawing area view) where you paste the drawings you want to save for later. Wouldn’t that work quite well for your purpose? AP will automatically make a copied clone become an original if it is the only copy left.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Niels

[Niels]

Thanks Hevonen! A solo layer hotkey is a good idea and would be easy to do.

However, the reason for you suggesting this, if I understand you correctly, is the problem with onion skinning at the clean up stage. All visible layers are included in the backlight. We actually recently addressed that, and have made an option to only backlight current layer. This is part of Alpha 3 coming in a few days.

Would that work for you as a good solution – or would you still miss the solo layer hotkey?

Cheers,
Niels

[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.

[Niels]

OK, I see. Thanks a lot for explaining, Bryan!

[Niels]

Sure. All the coloring features will be the next big thing we do. I’m guessing it should be finished in 2 months from now.

[Niels]

Thanks Antonino. Noted.

[Niels]

Actually, the rubber eraser is the one you use for details. The rubber eraser goes down to a very fine tip. The vinyl eraser is for the broad stuff.

I know in the videos we mention there’s a larger difference between the two. But that’s an error. They are basically equal – except for the size. Sorry. 🙂

[Niels]

Hi Todd,

Of course. If pen pressure isn’t working – it’s looking awful. Not fun. No need to use more time on it before it is resolved. It will be. The reason for the alphas is this. To catch the problems and get them fixed.

So, if you want to help us, I need to know what computer/system you are using and what kind of tablet? (sorry if you already provided this elsewhere in this forum).

Thanks a lot,
Niels