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Regarding the anti-aliasing workarounds; perhaps we could have a separate 'sticky'-thread at on this forum (so that the tread always appears on the top) with a list of the tools that don't effect the pixel lines, like some of the functions in the FX stack and the 'pan-tool'. There are more if i'm not mistaken...

This list could then, in time, be added to the TVP manual, but in the meantime be readily be available through the forum and added to if new ways or workaround get discovered?

artfx wrote:The way I see it, that is not a TVPaint thing. That is a "limitation of working with pixels" thing. Since the days of the Amiga computer I have known that if you're going to be working with, moving, scaling and resizing pixels, doesn't matter if it's in 2D or 3D, it is ideal to work at 2X resolution and scale down for final output.

This is true , but the "ideal to work at 2x resolution and scale down for final output" should be prominently mentioned in the User Manual and the beginner video Tutorials as part of the standard workflow , so this habit is ingrained from the start.

Sewie wrote:Regarding the anti-aliasing workarounds; perhaps we could have a separate 'sticky'-thread at on this forum (so that the tread always appears on the top) with a list of the tools that don't effect the pixel lines, like some of the functions in the FX stack and the 'pan-tool'. There are more if i'm not mistaken...

This list could then, in time, be added to the TVP manual, but in the meantime be readily be available through the forum and added to if new ways or workaround get discovered?

+1

What seems to be unique in my TVPaint experience is the degree to which degradation can happen just by moving an item, without any manipulation. Just using TVPaint as intended, can really mess up your line quality and it's only here, in this forum, that I learn the workarounds, or the tools which are to be avoided for this issue. The idea of working at higher res to avoid quality loss is, as mentioned, HUGE! This should indeed be standard practice and it's what I am doing now, thanks to this discussion.

The idea of working at higher res to avoid quality loss is, as mentioned, HUGE! This should indeed be standard practice and it's what I am doing now, thanks to this discussion.

Worthy of a habit to get into in this respect is to keep two project windows going at all times; one to be zoomed into to draw on, and the other (under "View">New Zoom Window) to keep all the way zoomed out as a reference not only of space but just as importantly, the current drawing's line quality. I find it at times disconcerting when drawing 100% zoomed in that my line looks too soft, just not as crisp as I would imagine for a pen stroke that is just size 0.80. But as I glance up at the full view I remain confident that it looks just right. I don't know why this phenomenon occurs at times, but it just sems to be the nature of the beast.

The need to draw on larger than life formats and work with two project windows is impossible when one works with just one monitor and personally, I think anyone who doesn't have dual monitors just isn't using TVP to its full capacity. I know that there are people who go the opposite direction and work exclusively on small tablets so it must be possible if they like to work that way -- so perhaps it just boils down to our myriad drawing styles.

Mentioned earlier, that using the panning tool is effectively non-destructive when you only want to move an element and not rotate or resize. Just tried do that and despite selecting all on the layer, it only moves the first instance. How do I move all on the whole layer using the panning tool?

David_Fine wrote:Mentioned earlier, that using the panning tool is effectively non-destructive when you only want to move an element and not rotate or resize. Just tried do that and despite selecting all on the layer, it only moves the first instance. How do I move all on the whole layer using the panning tool?

Move the first instance with the Panning Tool. Then select all the other instances on the layer and hit Return/Enter to apply the same move to the other instances .

Excellent. Thank you. I wonder why there is a lack of consistency with this. Shouldn't selecting the timeline and doing anything make it do that to the all selected instances, like when I use the transform tool, for instance. Why is it this way sometimes and sometimes not?

Because you don't need to confirm your choice when using paning tool : you move and that's all. So, if you move an object with paning tool, then select all instances and hit enter, you'll move all instances + the 1st one again.

With transform tool, as it may affect your lines' quality, you must confirm your choice.
So you can move, select all instances and then hit enter to apply your change on the current instance and all other selected ones.

A couple of things I didn't respond to. I still did not get any info on what the AAliasing tick box is for in the cut brush as it seems to make no difference if I have Brush Smooth selected. Curiously, the manual skips over this when explaining the options, as if the AAliasing option is not there, but it is, so when to use it?

Artfx, you mention that you have been doing tutorials. Where are these? I would like to see them and then I might be able to suggest what else could be done.

Thanks!

David_Fine wrote:Artfx, you mention that you have been doing tutorials. Where are these? I would like to see them and then I might be able to suggest what else could be done.

Thanks!

I did some of the tutorials here on this site, at the tutorials link above. There is also a link to my own tutorials in my signature below.

Thanks for the link. Do you have a sample of the natural media painting tutorial? How long is the tutorial and can it be purchased separately as I don't really need the others. I only draw funny looking girls.