Move to that extended frame and use the Duplicate Drawing command to create cell number 3 which is an exact but independent duplicate of cell number 2. So first I extend the exposure of cell number 2 for an additional frame. Having subtractive modified cell number two, I want to repeat my steps to create and modify the next cell. Sometimes you may need to also come back and use the eraser tool to cleanup the drawing. I actually used the lasso feature of the scissors tool so that I could sculpt out the part I wanted to remove. I use the scissors tool to select a part of the writing. Because writing is normally done from left to right, I want to start at the end of the writing cycle by starting on the far right. I have to decide how I want this animation to progress so that, in this case, it will look like the words are being written on the screen. Now that I have created a duplicate of cell number 1, I can begin to modify cell number 2 by using the scissors tool and/or the eraser tool to remove a small part of the drawing. This cell is cell number 2 and is unique and independent from cell number 1 even though they look identical. What that does is to take the second exposure of my first cell and create a new cell which is an exact duplicate in its place. With my first cell's exposure repeated, I move the frame slider to the second frame and use the Duplicate Drawing command. The easiest way to do this is while I have my drawing element track selected in the timeline and my red frame slider on my first cell's frame, I just use keyboard shortcut "R" to repeat the exposure. So my next step is to extend the exposure of my first cell by one additional frame. I have now completed cell number 1 of this animation.įrom now on, I don't need to do any more drawing because this entire technique is about subtracting or removing parts of the original drawing. The reason I did this is that they will be easier to edit as I begin my subtractive technique. Now I'll select everything again and flatten the two drawing objects so that they become a single layer. And while I have this pasted drawing object still selected, I'll change its color to red which gives a nice shadowed letters effect to the writing. Then I'll paste the copied drawing object right on top of the original drawing object with just a slight offset. Now that I have the writing converted, I'll select everything and copy the selected drawing object. The second time converts the text objects into drawn shapes which can be easily edited. The first time separates the text into individual letters but still as text objects. The is just for demonstration purposes and isn't significant to this technique which can be done with any drawing you create.īecause I used the text tool, I want to break this text object apart two times.
To begin our subtractive animation tutorial, I have created a cell in a drawing element using the text tool and a nice cursive style of script font. The secret is a technique called subtractive animation. It is a really effective type of animation and surprisingly easy to produce. The idea being the desire to have the words or drawing to magically appear to be drawn out as you watch the movie. Recently on the Toon Boom Studio Forums a question was asked about doing tele-strator style animation.