Changing opacity on individual frames?

[Cloakndagger]

Sorry, no. I've learned everything I know from trial and error and the conversations on these forums. There are many threads around here on how to use the KeyFramer. What you want to do is quite simple -- maybe the simplest of functions of the KeyFramer. You place your cursor at the biginning of your fade and set the opacity to zero (or 10, as I do)an create a key by pressing the letter C (for Create). Then you go to the frame where you want the fade to end and, set the value of opacity to 100% and you will see you have create a key frame bar. Highlight tose frames and hit Apply Stack at the very bottom of the FX panel. Your fade will render. If you need the fade to be shorter or longer, just grab the white handle at the end of the bar and stretch it.

I appreciate it, Paul. I tinkered around with it and following your instructions was able to get it to work. One question though: What's the point of defining key frames if you apply the effect by highlighting the desired frames? I was experimenting and only highlighted half the "keyframe bar" worth of frames, hit "apply fx stack" and it only did it to that half. What's the point of defining keyframes, then?

[Paul Fierlinger]

I was experimenting and only highlighted half the "keyframe bar" worth of frames, hit "apply fx stack" and it only did it to that half. What's the point of defining keyframes, then?

You both pose and answer a question in a single short question; I must not ne understanding you. If you didn't select any frames, KeyFramer would have nothing to do. If you selected all the frames, Keyframer would render a mile long timeline but only the frames above the keyframe bar would show a change -- all the other frames would remain the same but you'd have to wait for the computer to figure that out. So the only thing between these two extremes is to select only those frames that you want changed.

[Cloakndagger]

I'm not understanding why I have to hit the "C" button to tell the computer "hey, this is a keyframe", if I'm manually running my mouse over the frames I want, highlighting them, then hitting "apply fx stack"

[slowtiger]

Because usually these FX change over time. The common case is that you want some FX with values that are different in this frame from the values in that frame. Because TVP can't read minds, creating a key is its way to tell that "this is a value which I should render". If you create only one key, those values will be applied to the whole selection of frames. You will notice that after you've created the first, key, ever other key will be created automatically when you are in a different frame and change the values.

[Paul Fierlinger]

Because there are more complex things to be done between those two simple keyframes. This is why I told you that what you are doing here is the simplest of things to be done in KeyFramer. There are cases in which one needs to punch in many keys along that bar.

[Cloakndagger]

Hmm, ok. I really appreciate the help Paul, you helped me finish my animation.

[Paul Fierlinger]

So let's see it now!

[Cloakndagger]

Sure. I wanted to upload it here with some questions about how to be more efficient in my methodology, but I suppose I should just show you the thing first. First try animating, took me a while.

http://ge.tt/#!/9QslB39/v/0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Paul Fierlinger]

It looks traced. What tablet and computer are you using? A tablet PC?

[Cloakndagger]

Traced? No, I did this all manually. The character is mine, the concept is mine, the drawing is mine.

I'm using a Cintiq 21UX and this small clip took me 3 months of my spare time to make. If it looks traced that's because I spent countless hours making it look right. This is all freehanded.

[idragosani]

Very nicely done! I don't think it's looks rotoscoped.

[Paul Fierlinger]

Oh no; I never meant rotoscoped! By traced I meant that it looks as if it's been traced from some other source. Whether that's how it was done or not, it is how it appears to me. Now Cln'Dgr explains that he has spent many hours with this and that might be, because I miss seeing knowledgeable strokes of a draftsman who understands how components of a figure work together. Instead what I see is a person who has spent too much time outlining the character's shapes as if they were silhouettes.

[Cloakndagger]

Thanks, I appreciate the compliment. I don't know what rotoscoped means, but I'll google it.

[idragosani]

Oh you mean traced from existing animation or similar, rather than constructed and drawn?

[Cloakndagger]

Ah, rotoscoped, okay. Certainly not that.

I achieved the realistic look to the movements by studying youtube videos of a sweep-kick and a butterfly twist, and a ton of jumping around in front of my mirror scaring my cats with my invisible dagger swipes. I don't think they knew I was doing it for a noble cause but sacrifices must be made!