Martin Rose's Animation & Media Notes

TV Paint

Project Settings

Go to the Main Menu > File > New Project.

Referring to the “Project” tab, choose the following:

  • Project Size, use the pulldown menu to choose HDTV > 1080
  • Width: 1920
  • Height: 1080
  • Frame Rate: 24.000
  • Aspect Ratio: 1
  • Field: Progressive

Considering the “Project with Camera” tab:

  • TBD, these settings are for projects with camera moves. Those kinds of projects will come soon.

To Give a Project a Name/Title

You will have to save the project, Main Menu > File > Save, in order to give it a Project Name.

To Set Up Several Frames for Animation

This will work as though you have punched blank sheets of flimsy:

  • Use the Right Curser Key to advance along the Timeline.
  • Each time you advance past the last frame, hit the Backspace Key (Windows) or Delete Key (Macintosh). The action will make a blank frame.
  • You can then draw on the blank frames. You can then advance forward and back along the timeline by using the Right and Left Curser Keys.

To Double-Frame the Instances

  • Use the Edit Line, click below the a frame and hold the Shift Key at the same time. By doing so, a yellow line will activate below.
  • Go to the Animator Panel (Main Menu > Custom Panels > Animator Panel).
  • Located in the Animator Panel is the Exposure Panel. While the instances in the Timeline are selected, click on the [+1] button, “Add 1 Exposure.” Similarly, [-1] will remove frames.

To Export a Single Image for Layout Purposes in After Effects

You won’t be able to export a PSD with layers, to composite late in After Effects. Instead, you will have to export individual layers from TV Paint and then composite in After Effects. This shouldn’t be a problem though.

From the TV Paint Timeline, find the layer you intend to export. To isolate it from the others, go to the icons at the left-hand region of the layer and select the “eye-icon” which will “activate/inactivate” the layer. The eye-icon for the layer you intend to export should turn to a green button, the others should then turn to red buttons.

Now you are ready to export. Go to the Main Menu > File > Export To.

  • Select “Clip: Display.”
  • Click “Browse” and choose the location where you want the image to export to. As for a file name, give one that corresponds with the layer name in TV Paint.
  • As: use the pull-down menu to select “Single Image.”
  • Format: PNG
  • Mode: RGBA (Red, Green, Blue and Alpha)
  • Alpha: No Premultiply
  • Quality: 10 (10 for highest, 1 for lowest)
  • View: Project
  • Convert To: No Conversion (HDTV 1080)
  • Finally, referring to the check boxes at the bottom section of the Export Footage dialogue box, make sure that “Background” is de-selected.

Once you have selected the necessary settings, click the Export Button.

With After Effects, you will assemble the exported layers / PNG images in a “comp” or composition. From there, you can begin to layout and construct the scene, based on your storyboard sketches, preliminary concept artwork, and layout drawings.