Welcome to TVPaint Community forums !

A rank beginner from fine art and illustration to animation. My research tells me TVPaint is the best for creating artistic animations - but I am such a beginner that I don't really know even the basics. Where should I go to get the most basic of beginning instructions? For example, frames, keys, onion skinning questions: does an onion skin turn into a frame once it is drawn on? Is drawing different than painting? etc etc, Please help!
Thanks, so far, for a great product and customer support!
Kathleen

hello and welcome Kathleen !

Kathleen wrote:... Where should I go to get the most basic of beginning instructions?

you can start by reading the user manual,
this is the pdf document included in the tvpaint/Data folder, once installed.
then, just go ahead, begin to animate simple things, and the basis will come very quickly, if any hindrance is stopping you on your learning curve,
here is the place to come ! use the internal "search" engine of the forum first, and if no result, just ask, a rescue from one or another won't be long coming.

Kathleen wrote:... does an onion skin turn into a frame once it is drawn on?

not sure to get the meaning of your question,
anyway,"onion skin" is called "Light-Table" in tvpaint, (or "LT") , this feature allows the user to "preview" not only the current frame, but one (or several) frames before and/or after, all together in the same preview window, so you are drawing always in the current frame, and yes as it's drawn, it's part of the frame, the other (fore/next) displayed frames will go away as soon as you will switch off the light-table.

Kathleen wrote:... Is drawing different than painting? etc etc, Please help!

not really different, it 's just a matter of different tools, to get different rendering, etc, etc ...

Whew, thanks, ZigOtto!
The first steps of a learning curve seem to be the steepest. Thank you for getting me started.
Just learning the terminology like Onion skin being the same thing as the light table gives me the jump-start I needed - I feel like I can go forward and give this lovely program a try.
I will be back, a lot, I am sure, to this forum. Great help!
I like how you describe the way this forum is so supportive.

Kathleen

Hello Kathleen,

I'm glad you subscribe the forum to ask your questions ! Don't hesitate to ask anything else =)

and don't forget to click the "tutorials" button you'll see at the top of this page!

Also trial and error goes a long way towards getting you up to speed. Even while learning the basics, giving your self a small project to accomplish is always a good idea, even if it is just one scene. The reason for this is that there are issues that pop up, when trying to accomplish a small project, that you may not have otherwise thought of when just going through and learning the tools. Create little goals, see them achieved, and push yourself a little further with the next little goal. It will make the learning fun and likely faster.

Maybe you should get some books as well, just to get into basic concepts and the terminology. A good start would be Preston Blair, which could be read online: http://www.freetoon.com/prestonblair/intro.php

slowtiger wrote:Maybe you should get some books as well, just to get into basic concepts and the terminology. A good start would be Preston Blair, which could be read online: http://www.freetoon.com/prestonblair/intro.php

Ha! I have that book... I have been utilizing it for quite some time now. invaluable addition for my library. ~peace

artfx is spot on; give yourself little projects and you will be amazed how fast you will learn. I see this phenomenon happen at each beginning of a new class.

Paul Fierlinger wrote:artfx is spot on; give yourself little projects and you will be amazed how fast you will learn. I see this phenomenon happen at each beginning of a new class.

i've just been going back into my previous questions, and these are all big helps. Going to try to give myself projects, and take a look at that book - I love books!
Thanks everyone - I'll be back!
Kathleen

So was my tutorial on how to add a frame of any help for you to get started?
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5346&p=46910#p46910" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Paul Fierlinger wrote:So was my tutorial on how to add a frame of any help for you to get started?
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5346&p=46910#p46910" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Paul, i just got back to the forum after falling asleep( imagine - staying up too late because I am so transfixed with this stuff!) so I just went to this forum first.
going now to your answer !Kathleen

artfx wrote:Also trial and error goes a long way towards getting you up to speed. Even while learning the basics, giving your self a small project to accomplish is always a good idea, even if it is just one scene. The reason for this is that there are issues that pop up, when trying to accomplish a small project, that you may not have otherwise thought of when just going through and learning the tools. Create little goals, see them achieved, and push yourself a little further with the next little goal. It will make the learning fun and likely faster.

I'm going to try a little one - wiggly bunny ears.....if it works, I'll post it here.
thanks for the ideas!
Kathleen

Peter Wassink wrote:and don't forget to click the "tutorials" button you'll see at the top of this page!

I DID forget! The reminder is good, thanks,
Kathleen

Thanks a lot i was searching for this for very long time, actually i recently join this forum and i hope got lot of such useful information in future.