TV Paint Light?

[oliveuk]

I work for a .... very big company, and every artist has the full top of the line Adobe package, even 3d animators like me who never use After effect.

[Elodie]

Okay.

I personally only trusts prices from Adobe's website. I think you're not aware of how many a full adobe license does cost =)

[Paul Fierlinger]

Now I'm getting curious about your persistence; which features would you consider important for a Lite version?

[oliveuk]

hehe I don't think big companies buy Adobe softwares through the Adobe website. I am pretty sure Adobe send its reps directly to them

I am a 3d animator so I only use Digital Animation software to rough out my thumbnails and timing before jumping into Maya so the only thing I need is the award winning TV Paint toolbar and the Brush engine. I have no interest in all the Post Production tools, Xsheet, FX, blending options ...

http://www.tvpaint.com/v2/content/artic ... arison.php

Come on, how many people really need all that stuff? I don't even understand two third of it!

Here is the only thing I am interested in doing in TV Paint
http://www.olivier-ladeuix.com/blog/200 ... vpaint-fx/

This is probably the wrong example since I did use a Drop Shadow FX but I don't really need it. The Timecode is very important though and being able to move stuff around "ala" Flash would be very nice.

At the end of the day, here are the only tools I need in TV Paint

http://www.olivier-ladeuix.com/blog/200 ... t-toolbar/

Basically it s exactly like Pencil2d or PAP but, again, with TV Paint award winning Timeline and Brush engine

[oliveuk]

well.... I just found that great example of what I need when planning my 3d animation

Great example by ex Disney Animator and now Dreamworks supervisor Jason Ryan. People addicted to animation tradeshow know him for his dedication to sell the crappy Digicel software and .... he is very good at it. Very very good.

http://www.flipbookpro.com/movies/mayab ... STRMED.mov

More videos

http://www.digicelinc.com/3D/3danimationJR2.htm

[D.T. Nethery]

well.... I just found that great example of what I need when planning my 3d animation

Great example by ex Disney Animator and now Dreamworks supervisor Jason Ryan. People addicted to animation tradeshow know him for his dedication to sell the crappy Digicel software and .... he is very good at it. Very very good.

http://www.flipbookpro.com/movies/mayab ... STRMED.mov

More videos

http://www.digicelinc.com/3D/3danimationJR2.htm

But if that's all you need then why not just use Digicel or better , just use the free Pencil software ? However, as you have discovered the drawing tools in Pencil and Digicel Flipbook are no where near as elegant and sensitive as TVP drawing tools. There is no comparison. If you want the professional quality drawing tools get TVP .

You can do everything that Jason demonstrates with Digicel Flipbook in TVP Animation . Just set up one of the TVP Rooms to a very simple layout . Very clean, uncluttered. Only use the tools you need in a single floating toolbar. (all other toolbars docked , but are accessible instantly by simply moving your cursor to the extreme right or extreme left of the screen , or bring up the timeline by moving the cursor down to the bottom edge of screen) .

TVP_Simple_View.jpg (70.62 KiB) Viewed 40482 times

[D.T. Nethery]

Hi, OliveUK-

For some reason I can't post a reply on the other thread (re: TVP 8.6) , but I wanted to make a suggestion for how you are arranging your toolbars in TVP .
(re: your screenshots comparing Pencil to TVP) .

On a tablet PC especially the collapsed (docked) mode of the toolbars and timeline becomes very important to save space.

click to view larger

TVP_Simple_View.jpg (62.88 KiB) Viewed 40469 times

[ZigOtto]

For some reason I can't post a reply on the other thread (re: TVP 8.6) , ...

idem here, when trying to reply, I was automatically logout ...

... when you work on a Tablet PC, which is the most wonderful concept, every single pixel is needed due to the usually small resolution (1024x768) ... Personally I don't care about the Docking toolbars since I only need my own single floating toolbar.

hi Olive,
there's something I don't understand here ...
if, as tablecPC user, the room (working space) is so essential for you,
why do you keep the left-side bin EMPTY and OPEN (locked) in tvpa ???
close it, or remove it definitively (via preferences), and you will get plenty of useful extra-space
for your project preview.
as for the timeline panel, you can unlock it,
or un-dock it, resize it, and toggle its visibility with a hotkey ( "0" key by default),
or (for tabletPC users) with a custom button (interface: toggle layer panel) .

[oliveuk]

the screenshot I used was from a fresh demo version of TVPaint 9 and I haven't used TV Paint for few years so I am not sure how to retract the left part of the interface. Regarding the bottom one..... well that is the only way to be able to work with TV Paint. How do you want to be able to fully use the Timeline without having it expanded?! I need to be able to see my cells and the exposure and be able to copy and paste cells so going from retracted timeline to expanded is not workable.

I know it is possible to do everything that Digicel does in TVPaint, I am very well aware of that but you are forgetting something ... the "Light" version of TV Paint is 475 euros when Digicel light is selling for 120 euros and that's not even counting that students AND graduates from my school get an other discount, hence my request to get a really "light version" of TV Paint with a really "light price" too.

digice.jpg (19.3 KiB) Viewed 40421 times

[oliveuk]

ah and thanks I managed to maximize the workspace. Ideally I would also a Light version of TV Paint that gets rid of the area I painted in red but anyway, at the end of the day TV Paint is way to expensive for 3d animators and 2d animation enthusiasts so a stripped down version of TV Paint at a more affordable price would be very welcomed. PAP is the wrong example, I would put their failure down to lack/bad marketing but look at Digicel. They have been selling crappy softwares for years and are still in business despite a complete neglect of their customers. They offer 4 versions for different budget.

[D.T. Nethery]

How do you want to be able to fully use the Timeline without having it expanded?! I need to be able to see my cells and the exposure and be able to copy and paste cells so going from retracted timeline to expanded is not workable.

As Zig mentioned, you can set a hotkey to toggle the Timeline on and off or just do as I suggested and set it to the collapsed view , then whenever you need to see the timeline to work on your exposures you simply move the cursor down to the bottom to have the timeline pop-up .

The other thing to remember is with the 4 different customizable "Rooms" in TVP Pro is that you can jump back and forth between the rooms , but the project will be the same project . So in your Sketching/Animating room it can be the minimalist view with just the drawing area and a few of your most often used pencils , but then another room can have the expanded timeline and other toolbars displayed (un-docked). You can just jump back and forth between the rooms as needed.

I'm working on a Cintiq with an extra monitor at home, so I have my toolbars distributed to the extra monitor , but when I'm on the go I am using TVP on my Macbook with the small size 4" x 6" Intous 3 so I have the screen real estate on the Macbook screen optimized by having the Rooms set up as I describe above.

My son has a Modbook (13" screen tablet Mac) and he has the demo of TVP on the Modbook. (he's saving up to buy TVP ) . The set up I'm describing works fine on the Modbook.

[Peter Wassink]

... I am very well aware of that but you are forgetting something ... the "Light" version of TV Paint is 475 euros when Digicel light is selling for 120 euros and that's not even counting that students AND graduates from my school get an other discount, hence my request to get a really "light version" of TV Paint with a really "light price" too.

"not even counting..." , but if you do...
TVP offers a larger student discount of 225 EUR (=47%)
so for students the choice comes down to $60 for a crappy software (your words) or EUR 250 for a full license of TVP9.5 Standard edition.

[oliveuk]

hehe I am well aware of the TV Paint Student discount for student but unfortunately I am not a student anymore.

The TV Paint student license is even more interesting if you find 4 other students but because of the lack/bad marketing of TV Paint, I wasn't able to attract enough people to the Good Side and all my friend instead bought Digicel light. Having Jason Ryan and Eric Goldberg as sales person for Digicel is undeniably the strength of the Digi. guys amongst 3d and 2d animators .....

So..... I am still waiting for TV Paint lite.

Thanks for your input guys.

[oliveuk]

There is one thing I should also mention. Pretty much all my friends who own a Tablet PC use Sketchbook Pro to do simple Sketches.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN3l7OTcEjI[/youtube]

Sketchbook Pro has become the reference for sketching on Tablet PC but everytime someone tells me about it, I have to tell them to try TV Paint instead. Thanks to its amazing Brush engine, TV Paint, I found, is much better for sketching than the simplistic Sketchbook pro so this would also be a new market for TV Paint "lite". TV Paint should not only be for Independent animation directors but also for Animation/Concept art enthusiasts.

[Paul Fierlinger]

I have to tell them to try TV Paint instead. Thanks to its amazing Brush engine, TV Paint, I found, is much better for sketching than the simplistic Sketchbook pro so this would also be a new market for TV Paint "lite".

Now I can see your point. This makes a strong argument to consider a TVP light-lite if it's to be this light.