Making sheet for people working in another software Topic is solved

[Janet Perlman]

Hello TVPaint friends,
I want to generate xsheets for scenes that I can give to people working in another software. I see that this topic has been covered before but I don't see a good solution. I see reference to a plugin from Young Monkey which might be helpful, but I can't find it anywhere. I will be exporting one file for each new image, and so the sheet is all that is needed. Is there any way other than making up an excel sheet and filling it in manually? I work with both TVP 10 and 11. I see the sheet capabilities in 10, but they are hard to decipher, and I don't see a way to export the sheet. Anyone have a clever idea? Perhaps a good sheet template? Thanks.

[slowtiger]

I don't know any solution, just a real kludge: screenshot the X-sheet and print it?

[Janet Perlman]

I thought of that too. I'd have to take multiple screen shots and then paste them together, and it would be horizontal. Not sure people will like working with that. To write into an excel sheet is such an annoying task, and it will be easy to make mistakes.

[D.T. Nethery]

As I understand it you're exporting all the drawings as an image sequence , then your collaborators will load the image sequence into their software and they need a guide (exposure sheet) of how to expose the drawings properly in their software , right ?

EDIT: never mind . I tried that CSV export option to test it . It doesn't respect the exposure of the instances . I had a scene partially exposed ON 1's , partially ON 2's , but it shows every image on the Excel sheet as a single frame , it doesn't show where one image may be held longer than a single frame , so it's of no use for what you need.

The description from the user manual sounds like it is intended to do something else , but it doesn't work for me. " Each image has a name and a number sequel (do not change them !). Combined with the .CSV file, now you are able to know in which order those images does appear, exactly like a traditional xsheet." . But I didn't get those results.

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https://www.tvpaint.com/doc/tvp11/index ... cts-export

* .CSV format :
This format is really useful for people working on several software and who quickly need an xsheet.

The .CSV format generates a .CSV file (readable with Open Office or Microsoft Excel) and an image folder. Those images are in fact the first image of each instance (the instance meaning is explained lesson 6), from each layer. Each image has a name and a number sequel (do not change them !). Combined with the .CSV file, now you are able to know in which order those images does appear, exactly like a traditional xsheet.

Not ideal, but it's readable and you don't have to copy over the information and enter it by hand into an Excel spread sheet or make screen grabs and paste them together.

.

[Janet Perlman]

Thank you, D.T. I will check that out. Not ideal, but better than typing out each name.

[Animationriver]

try it pannel "TIMESHEET"
for TVPaint 11.08

[Janet Perlman]

Thank you! If it only works with version 11, I will have to wait until after January 3, when I will have access to that version. I look forward to trying it!

[Elodie]

The timesheet script is already included in version 11.0.8, it is not necessary to use the script posted by animationriver.

[Janet Perlman]

Can the plug in be installed with version 10?

[Elodie]

I don't think so.

[Janet Perlman]

Hi Elodie, I cannot find any reference to a timesheet. Where do I find it? We have version 11, and you are mentioning version 11.0.8. Is the problem that we need to update the software? And Animationriver, I downloaded the script, but I have no idea how to install it. Also, using version 11, so maybe need to update. Thanks.

[Elodie]

and you are mentioning version 11.0.8. Is the problem that we need to update the software?

Yes !

[D.T. Nethery]

I realize this tool was developed specifically for Japanese workflow , but how easy would it be to modify the timesheet (exposure sheet) script to make it replicate the arrangement of a "Western" style x-sheet ?

Could we have a version that has:

1.) Continuous frame count running down the left side starting at 1:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
etc.

OR if the frame count is shown advancing "ON 2's" please start it at frame 1 and advance
like this:

1
|
3
|
5
|
7
|
9
|
11
|
etc.

2.) please have the spacing of the columns be slightly wider , and the order of the columns (layers) reading from left - to - right , so for example , in the Timeline if I have six layers like this:

OL (overlay)
Anim-A
Anim-B
Anim-C
Anim-D
BG (background)

the timesheet/x-sheet will show them in this order, reading from left-to-right:

OL - A - B - C - D - BG

As it is now the ordering of the layers on the TVPaint timesheet is the opposite order, reading from right- to - left . I'm really not sure why that would be the case ? In software used by many Japanese studios in the past (such as RETAS or TOONZ ) the X-sheets are shown with the same layout as a standard Western X-sheet, with layers ordered from left-to-right. For example, here is the RETAS X-sheet , which as the continuous frame count at the left starting from frame 1 , and has the layers ordered from left-to-right: A - B - C- D :



And indeed in some ways the TVPaint timesheet seems intended to replicate the layout of the RETAS X-sheet ... but why is the ordering of the layers on the TVPaint timesheet reversed from the way the layers are ordered on timeline when the timesheet is rendered ? It's confusing (to me).

Also, the overall layout of the timesheet seems cramped and not cleanly rendered for maximum readability. The font size used for "Dialog" and "Camera" is too large and those words are crammed into a space that is too small to contain them. Dialog could be abbreviated to "Dial." and Camera could be abbreviated to "Cam." The font size used to label the animation columns is also too large for the space allowed.

3.) For my purposes it would be better to see the sheet rendered with the actual drawing numbers placed frame by frame the columns rather than the X's which denote how many frames a drawing is exposed . (see below) However, I realize this may not be a simple thing to do without some major re-writing of the script , so at the least if a version could be written which shows the layers arranged from left-to-right that would be appreciated.

[click to view larger]

The cramped spacing of the sheet gets worse if the number of layers increases , as in the following example with 10 layers : Overlay (OL) - A - B - C- D - E- F- G - H - Background (BG).

[click to view larger]

On a standard Western exposure sheet , an "X" on a frame usually denotes a blank layer or blank frame. So , let's say I have an animation layer that starts at frame 1 , but it is blank for 6 frames before the character starts to enter the scene at frame 13 :

on the timesheet/x-sheet there will be an X at frame 1 - extended through - frame -6 then at frame 7 the drawing numbers start , reflecting the actual timing of the animation:

X
|
|
|
|
|
7
|
9
|
11
|
13
|
15
|
17
|
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
|
27
|
29
|
31
|
etc.

(it would render the numbers on the sheet to show the exposure of drawings 'ON 1's" as continuous frame count , as above with section 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 , and drawings exposed "ON 2's" (or held for longer ) would have a vertical line extending from the number until the next drawing number , as shown above with section 7, 9 , 11, 13 , 15, 17 , and 25 , 27, 29, 31 . )

But if this is not possible to render the sheet showing the actual drawing numbers, then the X's method currently employed would be usable for me, if the layers read from left-to-right and the layout of the columns are slightly wider and the font sizes not so large , to enhance the readability of the sheet. Also I would prefer a continuous frame count starting at frame 1.

-----

EDIT: I've gone back to review Thierry's earlier post about how to use it and find that I skipped over some important parts , which is resulting in my not getting the results expected . Here are two important steps :

1.) Instances must be named and KEYS assigned an Image Mark color .

2.) after completing the INBETWEENS the inbetween frames must also be assigned an Image Mark color .

I'll elaborate in a later post.

.

[Janet Perlman]

Thanks so much, D.T. Are these excel files? Do you fill them in by hand? Or is this a way to export an sheet directly from a scene?

[D.T. Nethery]

Thanks so much, D.T. Are these excel files? Do you fill them in by hand? Or is this a way to export an sheet directly from a scene?

This is not an Excel file, it's a generated file in TVPaint , which can be exported as an Image file for printing or printed directly from File Menu > Print.

It's not filled out by hand , it's automatically generated .

.