How to manage a project?

[Nellyaa]

Hi TVP forum!
I have a few questions and hope you can help!
So I have an animatic + storyboard and want to turn it into a film with TVP.
How is the best way to do it?

Currently I'm a little overwhelmed by the documentation on this.
My best guess is, making a new clip/scene for every shot in the "Project" tab. Is this correct? What's the difference between clip and scene? How should I manage them?
It would be great if I could export my shots individually and all in one, but am unsure about how to go about all this.

I am a beginner with TVP here, so bear with my dumb questions, I just want to make it right from the beginning. 0:)

Kind regards,
Nellyaa

[Paul Fierlinger]

You are asking about the organization of a live action film shoot because that is where our terminology comes from and, more importantly, this is also applicable to the management of an animated film.

Scenes are places where the current action is happening, for instance in the kitchen. That is where all the cameras, lights, actors and personnel move to for the day, or week or however long the kitchen scene will take to shoot.

But in our case, Clips are what "Takes" are in live action films. These are the incremental shots the camera crew takes when working on a scene. Each time an actor fumbles her lines, there's a call "Cut!" and another Take has to be started using the next consecutive number, which doesn't apply to us because we use an eraser.

But the numbering system will be needed by the film editor, which does apply to us, so we use the vernacular of the film editor and call each shot, or take made on the scene a "Clip". This is because in digital production we have done away with cameras, so we dropped the word shot and went directly to the expression "Clip".

It is useful for us to understand this when drawing storyboards (and storyboards are often made for live action films as well) because we need to follow many of the basic rules of film making that have evolved over many decades to make sure an audience does not get confused when watching a film.

I went into this detailed description of the vernacular only so that I could work my way to this point: Learn the basics of film editing before you start your first film. There are many books and courses on the subject so this is where you must start without excuses. TVP's Project Tab has been designed around this time-tested concept of managing a film shoot so if you don't like to read books, look it up online but you simply can't get started without having acquired this basic knowledge of film making.

[Nellyaa]

Thank you for having taken the time to write such a long explanation!
So indeed I should manage my project with the thought shot/take = clip. Thank you!

I cannot seem to find the option to export the whole project and not just individual clips. Is this only a professional version feature? If so, that's disappointing. I can see why the standard version wouldn't have such things as the CTG layer, but exporting your film as a whole should really be standard feature. Please correct me if I am wrong and just too dense to find this - again, I am new to TVP.

Kind regards,
Nellyaa

P.S.: If you have great book recommendations, I'm always in to learn more! Feel free to drop me some titles you think are great.

[hellofilms]

You can always export the animation in image sequences or moviefile.
File>Export to...
( still using v 10. 5 , will upgrade soon )

/ Mattias

[Paul Fierlinger]

If you export from the project tab you should be able to see all the individual scenes and clips when you scrub the cursor under the image of the Export Panel.

But I do not recommend going this route. If you are serious about starting a film, you should get another software referred to as an NLE (Non Linear Editing). There are many to choose from which cost under $ 100. Theoretically you can assemble an entire film inside of TVP but in short time this will become unwieldy because your computer will become strained for memory and things will rapidly start slowing down for you.

I can't recommend any books about film making for you because I started over fifty years ago and had to learn everything by hanging out in beer pubs with film makers and picking their brains. I hope someone else will jump in here.

[schwarzgrau]

I can see why the standard version wouldn't have such things as the CTG layer, but exporting your film as a whole should really be standard feature. Please correct me if I am wrong and just too dense to find this - again, I am new to TVP.

+1 I never understood this restriction.

[Paul Fierlinger]

I've never been aware of it till now. My only guess would be that this feature could be called designed for professionals because theoretically you could create an entire short film such as a TV spot within the TVP Project system and deliver to a client directly from TVPaint -- though personally I would consider that a non professional approach. The Project tab is useful in many ways as a learning tool to the assembly of a film though the sound editing system is extremely cumbersome for professional use.

But just now it occurs to me that there are professional storyboarders who use TVP (Mads Juul comes to mind first) and as far as I know, he delivers his work directly from the Project Tab without using an NLE... so yes, his work as a professional would be impossible if he had to use a non professional version of TVP.

[schwarzgrau]

The problem with the missing project export is that you can't make an animatic in TVPaint in the standard version. Of course you can make one, cause you got scenes and clips, but since you can't export it as one file you would need too much time to export clip by clip and reassamble it somewhere else.

[Paul Fierlinger]

Ironically, what you describe is exactly how I, as a professional work; assemble my animatics elsewhere. It must be a tough call to decide what should be left out to keep the professional versions attractive. For many years TVP did not have these restrictions because there was just one TVP. Then students and other novices began to ask for a lite, starter version that would be cheaper without all the bells and whistles. So I imagine the real purpose is to leave out certain features that make an upgrade attractive to all whether professionals use them or not.

[schwarzgrau]

Yea, that's the reason I upgraded to Pro. But it still feels strange that you can make an animatic and export it, you just need a lot more time.

[Nellyaa]

The problem with the missing project export is that you can't make an animatic in TVPaint in the standard version. Of course you can make one, cause you got scenes and clips, but since you can't export it as one file you would need too much time to export clip by clip and reassamble it somewhere else.

This is probably something I will need to do now (when I want to manage my film in clips/scenes), since it didn't come to my mind that the standard version could possibly miss such a feature.
Since my animation will only be a couple of scenes (about half a minute long) it's going to be do-able, still a bummer however.

Thanks everybody for your help!

[Elodie]

Yea, that's the reason I upgraded to Pro. But it still feels strange that you can make an animatic and export it, you just need a lot more time.

If TVPaint Standard had not been able to manage the storyboard engine, files made with the Professional Edition would not had been compatible with the Standard Edition.