Dil Life

Anime Studio Pro 7 - Creating a Character for Animation - Tutorial 03 - 0

Crishani | 11:25 AM | Cartoons

16. In the name field that opens call the colour Hair and click
in the Fill Colour Box (circled).

17. In the Colour Picker window select a suitable colour for

your characters hair and click OK.

18. Now do the same for the outline colour. I make the outline
a darker shade of the fill colour but you might decide on a
different style.

19. Just below the Outline Colour Picker is the Line Width
entry box. A value of between 2 and 4 is normally about right I
find.

20. Now we need to create another Vector Layer for any hair
that covers the face. As it’s above the face this layer will need to
be dragged above the head layer if it’s not there already.

TO BE Continue ......

Anime Studio Pro 7 - Creating a Character for Animation - Tutorial 02 - 0

Crishani | 3:22 AM | Cartoons

11. If you have Anime Studio Pro click on the
Style Box and select New.

In the name field that opens call the colour something like Skin
or Head and click in the Fill Colour Box (circled).
If you have Anime Studio Debut you won’t have the option of
saving styles so just click on the Fill Colour Box and continue...

12 .In the Colour Picker window select a suitable colour for

your characters skin tone and click OK.

Now do the same for the outline colour. I usually make the
outline a darker shade of the fill colour.
You can also press the spacebar on your computer keyboard to
apply a style to a selected shape
You should now have something like this.

13. Now do the same for the hair. Create a new Vector Layer,
double click it and name it Hair Back. Trace the outline of the
hair that would be at the back of the head. Drag this layer below
the Head Layer as the hair needs to be behind the head.

Note: If you find it difficult to trace the hair with the head layer
showing you can make a layer invisible by clicking on it’s little
eyes.

If you want to make your shapes perfectly symmetrical create
one half, select it with the Select Points Tool, copy it with the
Copy command from the Edit drop down menu at the top of the

screen and then paste it via the same Edit menu and while still
selected, again at the top of the work area, click on the Flip
Points Horizontally Tool (circled). You can then just join the
two centre points together by dropping one onto the other to
create your perfectly symmetrical whole shape.
You will notice I also have Lasso Mode checked. This enables
me to freely select (lasso) points and not have to drag a box
around them.

14. Don’t forget to name your shape.
Use the Select Shape Tool to select your shape and in the
Style Palette type Hair Back into the name shape field.

15. As you did before with the skin colour for the head shape

click on the Style Box and select New.

TO BE Continue ......

Anime Studio Pro 7 - Creating a Character for Animation - 0

Crishani | 1:37 PM | Cartoons

When you first open Anime Studio Pro you should see a layout like that shown below. In the centre of the

screen is the main work area with a default character visible called Thorn. On the left is the Tools Palette,

along the bottom is the Timeline and on the right are the Style Palette and Layers Palette. At the top of the

screen are the Main Menu Bar and just below it is the Tool Options Bar. The latter will open and offer extra

options when tools are picked from the Tools Palette.

Anime Studio Pro is so intuitive that you’ve probably already found the Manipulate Bones Tool in

the Bone section of the Tool Palette and had a go at moving the limbs of the character around. Feel free, of

course, to experiment some more but don’t spend too long as we need to get on with creating our character.

Close Anime Studio and either get out some paper and pencils or open up your favourite drawing software.

1. Create a sketch of your character either drawn on paper or

in your favourite software. I designed this Flea for a film I’m

working on. Your character will probably be quite different.

Draw your character, as I have, in a fairly neutral pose as this

will make it a lot easier once you come to trace it in Anime

Studio. After all, you will pose it nicely later when you come to

animate it.

Are you happy with your character?

Let’s begin the tracing process now.

2. We need to create a new project to start

from so go to the File Menu at the top left of

the workspace and choose New from the Drop

Down Menu that opens. The new clean

project should look like the one on the Left.

Before you do anything Save your project by

going to the File Menu / Save and browse to a

suitable folder on your computer. Name your

project My_Character or something else

suitable.

3.Import your sketch to an Image Layer as described below.

Note: If you sketched your design on paper you will need to

either scan it into your computer or photograph it with a digital

camera and get it into your computer that way

Make sure you are on frame 0 in the Timeline. All character

construction takes place on this frame. Click on the New Layer

icon at the top of the Layers Palette and choose Image. Browse

to where you saved your sketch on your computer and import it.

4. In the Layer Palette on the left of the work area use the

Scale Layer Button to scale your character to fill the work area.

5. Create a Bone Layer and name it Front by double clicking

on it. Our character layers need to be created inside this bone

layer in order for the character to be posed and animated later.

You can drag layers inside a bone layer at any time by the way.

6. Create a Vector Layer and drag it onto the Bone Layer by

placing your cursor over the Vector Layer, pressing and holding

the Left Mouse Button and dragging. When the Bone Layer

turns red release your mouse button and the Vector Layer

should now appear under the Bone Layer as shown right.

Note: You can check your Vector Layer is under the Bone

Layer by clicking on the little arrow ( circled ) to expand and

contract the bone layer.

Rename the layer to Head by double clicking on it.

7. Click on your Head Layer to make it active and using the

Add Point Tool trace the outline of your characters head

starting from the top centre. Leave the cheek area ( as shown in

the picture below ) as later we need to place the mouth on a

separate layer so it can be animated independently.

Note: To use the Add Point Tool left mouse click to create a

point and, keeping the mouse button pressed, move around your

head and release the mouse button. Click over the point just

created to weld to it and then repeat this process of click drag

click drag around the outline of your head.

8. Your head should look something like this. You want to use

just enough points to create a nice shape that closely matches

your sketch.

Note: If you need to sharpen curves at a point select the point

then ctrl+P on the keyboard. To smooth again ctrl+M.

CMD+P and CMD+M on a Mac.

9. The shape should automatically be filled on completion. If

not then you need to make your vector outline a shape by using

the Select Points Tool in the Tools / Draw Palette to

select your shape then clicking on the Create Shape Tool

Your shape is unlikely to be filled with the correct colour so you

need to change the fill to the colour of your choice.

10. Firstly let’s name our shape so that it can be selected easily

if it becomes hidden beneath other shapes.

If the Style Window isn’t open go to the Window drop down

menu at the top of the screen and open it.

Click on the Advanced box at the lower left of the Style

Window to reveal the advanced options. Note that there are a

few more options available in the Pro version of the software

than there are in Anime Studio Debut. More about that later.

Use the Select Shape Tool to select your shape if it’s not

already then in the Style Palette type Head into the name shape

field that opens. It’s then possible to select your shape at any

time by selecting it in the Shapes drop down list in the Style

Palette if it’s not easily accessible with the Select Shape Tool.

Thank you ... TO BE Continue ......

A History of Human Art and Body Painting 0

Crishani | 10:55 AM | Arts

If the impulse to create art is a defining sign of humanity, the body may well have been the first canvas. Alongside paintings on cave walls visited by early people over 30,000 years ago, we find handprints, ochre deposits, and ornaments. And because the dead were often buried with valuable possessions and provisions for the afterlife, ancient burials reveal that people have been tattooing, piercing, painting, and shaping their bodies for millennia.

All of the major forms of body art known today appear in the ancient world, and there is no evidence indicating a single place of origin for particular techniques. Like people today, ancient peoples used body art to express identification with certain people and distinction from others. Through body art, members of a group could define the ideal person and highlight differences between individuals and groups. In the past, as today, body art may have been a way of communicating ideas about the afterlife and about the place of the individual in the universe.

A variety of objects demonstrate the use of body art in ancient times including an Egyptian fish-shaped make-up palette from 3650 BC to 3300 BC; a painted Greek vase from the fifth century BC depicting tattooed Thracian women; a ceramic spout bottle depicting the pierced face of a Moche warrior of Peru from AD 100-700; and ceramics of painted Nayarit women from 300 BC to 300 AD.

As people from one culture encounter people from another, the diversity of body art can be a source of inspiration, admiration, and imitation. Yet since body art can so clearly signal cultural differences, it can also be a way for people from one culture to ostracize others.

Body art links the individual to a social group as an insider, by asserting a shared body art language. Or it distinguishes outsiders, by proclaiming a separate identity. This concept is explored in Identities, which includes exhibits on tattooing in Japan, New Zealand, the Marquesan Islands, and the contemporary U.S, as well as African and Western piercing.

Body art practices can change rapidly, reflecting larger shifts in society. Tattooing virtually disappeared in Polynesia, partly due to Western influence, but it is now being revived as an assertion of ethnic identity. Western body art, including everything from piercing to shoe styles, also indicates a person's social identity.

In a complex and diverse society, when certain types of body art are shunned by some, they can become signs of rebellion for others. But as unfashionable body art practices become the norm, they lose their power to define group membership and instead express individual choices and life experiences.

Body Painting

Body painting can transform a person into a spirit, a work of art, another gender or even a map of a sacred place. It can emphasize visual appeal, express allegiance or provide a protective and empowering coating. Protective body paints often feature in initiation rituals, weddings and funerals -- all occasions of transition and of spiritual danger. People everywhere adorn the living, and some also treat the dead, with body paint. To make body paint, pigments composed of plant extracts or mineral clays and powders can be mixed with vegetable oil or animal fat. Throughout history, the substances used for body paint have been important trade items. Ochre, camwood, cinnebar, and kaolin were traded throughout Asia, Africa and Europe.

Henna, used as a temporary skin dye, was widely traded in the Muslim world along with patterns and designs used to apply it. Commercially manufactured body paints, now available in a wider palette, may be adopted for their visual appeal but they rarely take on the symbolic significance of natural paints and dyes.