Frequently Asked Questions

Categories of Questions


Hardware Related Questions

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: How do I set up Chroma Key?

A: Chroma Key is a hardware function. You'll have to check your hardware manuals for that. To set up Alpha Blanking, check the Alpha blanking checkbox in the Preferences dialog. You may also have to do certain hardware-related functions.

Mac A: For the Truevision card, this includes turning on NTSC or PAL mode, and turning on the card's alpha channel.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Which scanner should I use?

A: For finished art, use a flatbed or auto-feed scanner. If you use a flatbed scanner, any one will do. It's nice to have variable scan resolution. Also, glue a set of Acme pegs onto it, using rubber cement. You may have to drill holes in the cover. If you want a nice, fast bulk-load scanner, use the Fujitsu M3097-DG. Hewlett Packard ScanJet series scanners are also supported, via SCSI.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: How do I generate Super-Black or Sub-Black?

A: These are both a name for an NTSC composite signal value which is represented by a negative luminosity value. The usage of superblack is often to control matting. In the digital setting, we generally use the alpha channel. See the sections of the manual describing alpha blanking. Depending on your hardware configuration, you can use the alpha channel to (a) control mixing within the Macintosh, (b) use an alpha output line to control your studio mixer, or (c) use an encoder to translate alpha to superblack


Setup Questions

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Why doesn't my program start?

A: It just says something about a software key. This is indicative of not having the EvE unit inserted. Reinstall, and try again. If there is still a problem, call your dealer, or Linker Systems at 949-552-1904.

Q: How do I edit a large image, such as a scanner image, that won't fit into memory?

A: Use a larger memory allocation. You made need to use virtual memory.

Techniques

Platform: All OS: Mac Ver:

Q: The Paint bucket tools, and any other form of color matching seem not to recognize colors.

A: If you are running at a 16 bit depth, normal "intuitive" color matching only works with the slop of the Preferences dialog of the Options menu set to 3072 or higher.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: What is the best way to antialias all the cels?

A: See the article on high-resolution painting & scanning in the manual.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Why do anti-aliased images created in PhotoShop have a white fringe?

A: PhotoShop delivers a perfect visual image, and a perfect anti-aliased image. Unfortunately, what you need is a perfect antialiased image and an edge-biased visual image. Do the biasing yourself by painting your PhotoShop document on a background almost the same color as your image. For instance, if you're painting black text, paint it on a 99.5%-black background.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: When I move one layer over another layer, the foreground layer has a white, rather than transparent, background, obscuring my background layer. How do I correct for this?

A: Set the cel properties - effect to white transparent. For pencil testing, you can open the "Set Playback" dialog and select pencil test mode.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: If I have a character going through motions, where is the best place to put the character's registration point?

A: Depending on the type of action, between the eyes, at the heart, or at the soles of the feet.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Can I transfer an image to a matte?

A: Yes, but don't. Use the Faded Edges mode in the Set Playback dialog of the Animate menu.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: When I use a smooth Move, why does my image seem to jitter?

A: You need higher resolution in Set Playback.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Is there another way besides "Patch Lines" to close up pencil lines? After using the patching function I still have to use the pencil tool to close line breaks before I can fill an enclosed area. "Declutter" only does so much.

A: The best way to patch lines is to have the scan process do it. You may be able to find scan parameters which use enough dark to close your lines, and enough light to prevent a lot of clutter. Generally, this will be a combination of contrast and brightness controls, and may also involve black and white rejection levels.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: What is the best technique in Animation Stand to create a translucent or transparent shadow?

A: Automatic shadows: Save the art using Save area. Later, in the Current frame window, select that layer and click in the Current frame window's toolbox in the Shadow tool. You may then move and/or resize and/or squash and stretch the shadow to meet your needs.

Hand-controlled shadow: Copy the character to a new document. Repaint it entirely in shades of grey. Bring it into the exposure sheet with the GEL note.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: What is the best tool or function to use to blend shading on an object? So far I've use a flat, comic-book style "shading" by creating shaped enclosed areas in a darker color than the main object color. I want some tips on creating a more modeled effect.

A: There are a huge number of shading techniques in Animation Stand. You'll have to read through just about the whole manual to find them all. The reason that there are so many are to give you artistic freedom. The one to use is the one that looks best to you.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: I need to make a background cycle. I have a cel of about 39 fields linked together and I want to make a walking cycle in which the character moves through the cycling background. How can I do this? The character needs to be moving at different rates as well. I keep trying to move the background with the move tool and it works fine, however, when the first background ends the white negative background of the frame is exposed. I want the second background to follow it fixed at the same place.

A: You normally select which layer to move (in the Current Frame Window) by clicking on the layer number, icon, or name (depending on CFW format). If you hold the Shift key down, you can select multiple layers at the same time.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: The pantograph tool makes my character walk out of frame. It seems to only show me what is in the upper left-hand side of the editing field. Can this be remedied?

A: Remember, everything that controls a character's position in TAS controls and displays the location of the registration point. If you have not set a registration point in a document, the point used is 0,0 (the corner). You can use the registration point tool (+) to set the registration point anywhere in the document.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Some of the PICTS I import (same resolution and indexed color at 8-bits) are different sizes in the current frame window. Is there a way I can achieve consistency? I know it's probably something simple, but...

A: TAS brings everything in as pixel-for-pixel size, so if you want size to be maintained, rather than pixels, use a magnification factor appropriate.

Platform: All OS: All Ver: 3.4 and earlier

Q: I'm brining in work from Photoshop. It's antialiased, with an alpha channel, but it doesn't look right. I used COMPOSITE in the Notes field.

A: Photoshop visually antialiases the visual channel, and copies the alpha quantity into the alpha channel. For perfect alpha antialiasing, the visual channel should be aliased, and the alpha channel should have the data required to resolve the image. There's an algorithm in Animation Stand which is used to compensate for this. For lines generally darker than the background, use the Darkest Line method. For lines generally lighter than the background, continue to use COMPOSITE, or use the Lightest Line method:

1. Select the entire exposure sheet using Cmd-A.

2. Choose Change Text Fields from the Edit menu.

3. Change "COMPOSITE" to "DARKEST" (or "LIGHTEST").


Input and Misc. Questions

 

Platform: All OS: Mac Ver:

Q: Why do some files come in at the wrong bit-depth, or paint in just black or white?

A: Turn off Prescan for depth in the Preferences dialog, and override the depth.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: What is the limit on the number of files and their combined size?

SGI & Win32: There are no limits.
Macintosh:You may use 32,767 files in any one Exposure sheet, with no size limit. Any number of Exposure sheets may be linked together.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: How do I get a file into the cast list?

A: There is no need for a "cast" list in Animation Stand. Any picture can be entered into the Exposure sheet. Double-click or option click on the File field of a layer to enter a picture or Exposure sheet into that field. For sound files, shift-double-click on the File field.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Which file types can be read?

Mac: You can read PICT, RLA, TIFF, Targa, GIF, Wave (Version 3.5 and up), PICS, true Sound, and QuickTime files generated by any application. The PICT files can be in PICT I or PICT II format, and can be in any bit depth. Virtually every graphics application saves PICT and/or PICS files. You can also read Animation Stand's Exposure sheet files, and files from any source or of any type which contain "snd " sound resources.

Win32: You can read .PIC, .RLA, .TIF, .TAS, .TGA, .WAV, .BMP, .TAS, .GIF, .XSH, and .MOV files generated by any application.

SGI: Our own, plus TIFF, Targa, and virtually every UNIX format.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: When an RLA file is shipped from a Wavefront system, it doesn't work.

A: Make sure that you're not using an RLE or RLB file.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Why can't I read my 8 bit Director PICS file when at 32 bit depth?

A: Director writes them improperly. Have it write 24 bit PICS files.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Why does my file take so long to read? (More than a second)

A: There are several things that can increase the time it takes to process a file, such as items in the Notes field, higher-than-needed resolution, magnification other than 100%, offscreen and onscreen depths being different, or scanner clutter. (See the Clean function.)

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Why doesn't Animation Stand do automatic inbetweening (tweens)?

A: There's no substitute for a good artist.

Platform: All OS: Mac 7.5.5 Ver: 3.4.7

Q: Right side of fills are incorrect

A: This is a bug in QuickDraw version 7.5.5. Our version 3.4.9 patches it to work correctly.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: I'm having trouble understanding the function and purpose of the little diamond-shaped paint chips. What purpose do they serve?

A: In auto-paint, they show where auto-paint intends to paint, and in what colors. When you click the auto-paint tool, each will flow out into the document. Using other tools, these chips can be moved, edited, and deleted before auto-painting.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Is "Partial color mode" (Use HSV) a type of undo?

A: No. Use HSV is used to modify hue, saturation, value, and/or luminance, one or two values at a time, without affecting the other color components. For instance, in the HSV sub-mode, you are painting in a new hue, without affecting the existing saturation or value.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: I was looking for a curves or splines function for the polygon tool in an effort to get around the broken lines issue. This would allow me to create organic shapes to fill. Is there such a function that I missed?

A: Yes. See "Splines" in the manual.

Platform: All OS: NT 3.51 Ver: 3.4

Q: I have the wrong cursor until I move the mouse.

A: Windows bug. Upgrade to the latest version of Animation Stand for Win32.

Platform: PPC OS: Mac Ver: MM 3.4

Q: Whenever I try to open a sound file it just says CONVERT and then plays it on a white screen. Is it the wrong format I'm using? Also, how do you get sound to play with an exposure sheet? I looked over the manual and it didn't specifically say.

A: This occurs when you have an AIFF sound file. Apple's conversion utility has a bug, in that it converts the sound file not to a Mac sound file, but to an all-white movie. Use some other converter, or get the file in Mac sound format (sfil).

Platform: PPC OS: Mac Ver: MM 3.4

Q: Some movies won't save as full speed runs. When I save these to QuickTime, the computer labors to play them. It even cuts some frames off. I've given the QuickTime Movie Player up to 40 megabytes of RAM. Does full speed run make them faster? How can I save movies as FSRs? Are there a special criteria that all the files have to follow?

A: To save as full-speed run, the current frame window must be at the same depth as the main monitor, and must be no larger than the main monitor. Resolution must be Normal. For optimal QuickTime playback, when saving the money, use a Key Frame Rate of 4 to 30. You'll have to experiment to see what's best on your machine. TAS is better at playing the movies than is Movie Player.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: I get color banding.

A: Make sure your documents are at 32 bits:

For new documents:

Use Cmd-1 (Set new cel size) to set the depth to 32 bits.

For old documents:

Do the above, but also use Cmd-2 (Preferences) to turn off Prescan for depth.

Make sure the screen is set to 32 bits:

Use the control panel.

Platform: PPC OS: Mac 8.x Ver:

Q: What sound format should I save my sound in when using Adobe Premiere?

A: System 7 Sound file, type 'sfil'

Platform: 68K OS: Mac 7.1 Ver: 3.4

Q: 1) Full speed run is too slow to show a pencil test.

A: 1) Quit Animation Stand, use the Monitors control panel to set the monitor to 8-bit display (preferably grey-scale, or an all-grey palette in Animation Stand), and reenter Animation Stand. Full-speed run will then support 4 times the data rate.

Platform: All OS: All Ver:

Q: Things look fine in the current frame window, but when I play back full-screen, everything is reduced to just a portion of the screen: the top-left quarter.

A: You've asked for a current frame window of TV size, or are using art of TV size. When you play it back in a TV sized window, it looks fine. When you are playing back full screen on a large screen, you are seeing a TV sized image, plus a lot of white space. This white space is area that is resolution your monitor has, but TV does not. Don't worry; when you lay out to TV, that image will be what you're looking for.


QuickTime and Compositing Tips

Platform: Mac and Win32 OS: Mac OS 8.5.1+, Win 9X/NT Ver: 4.X

1) Animation Stand keeps a 32-bit copy of images in memory for quick compu- tations, and a second copy in screen format for quick display. At times, there is a delay when the 32-bit image is converted to screen format. You can minimize this delay by setting your screen driver to use 32 bits, or if not available, 24-bit. 32-bit is also known as "Colors+Alpha" or "Millions of colors plus". 24-bit is also known as "True colors" or "Millions of colors".

2) You can minimize QuickTime compression time by setting the output to 32-bit or "Millions+", and setting maximum possible quality.

3) Make sure your system has memory. Animation Stand performance is best at 128Mb or more of memory.

4) You can get a huge speed increase by opening the background image(s) as a paint window(s) before outputting. A shortcut to do this is to right-click in the background's name or icon in the exposure sheet.

5) Having the Current Frame Window at 32-bits can help a lot too. Before you open the exposure sheet, use Set new cel size to set the depth selection to 32 bits.



Error Messages

Platform: Intel OS: 95, 98, NT Version 3.6+
Q: After installing the upgrade, Animation Stand reports "Requires QuickTime".

A: Your current version of QuickTime needs to be upgraded, as well. First, uninstall QuickTime. Then, download and install the most recent version of QuickTime for Windows.

Platform: Nubus Mac OS: Mac Ver:

Q: When I perform certain operations, such as bend or twist, the system crashes, usually with a bomb 01, sometimes bomb 02.

A: Many cards have a problem interfacing to the NuBus. If you are using a DayStar card, system timing is critical. Cards like the TrueVision NuVista do not handle all bus timing signals properly. If you are using a TrueVision NuVista card, install it in the leftmost slot of the Mother Board. This should alleviate the problem.

Platform: 8500 OS: Mac 7.5.1 Ver: 3.3

Q: Crashes (Bomb 01) now & then

A: Upgrade to the current version.