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Hi TV Paint forum members!
I'm somewhat new to TV Paint. So all I would like to know is... how do you apply a background which you have already painted onto a new layer - under the main figure/ character which is also on another layer - WITHOUT having to see the background THROUGH the main figure. I have made a screen shot to help show my dilemma! I used water colour to apply colour onto the main figure. Greatly appreciate any suggestions! Thank you!!!

You need to create a mask in the shape of your character and give the mask a solid color of your choice. We usually use the same color the frame it was painted on has -- most likely it will be the default color of an empty frame (white?).

Paul Fierlinger wrote:You need to create a mask in the shape of your character and give the mask a solid color of your choice. We usually use the same color the frame it was painted on has -- most likely it will be the default color of an empty frame (white?).

What Paul means is that you have to create an additional layer with a solid color filling in the same shape of your character

@vettpolmer : You should download the last update of TVPaint

Hi guys!
Thank you for your replies! So I have taken your advice to create an additional layer under the 'colour' layer. I have used the 'flood fill' bucket tool to fill in the empty space within the outline of my figure solid white... and yes, you cannot see through the grey coloured figure anymore. However I have only applied this for one frame, and my question is - do I need to do this for every single frame? The figure is constantly moving so would I have to fill it in with a solid white (on the additional layer) for every frame the figure moves? or is there a short cut?

Thank you again for your responses!
- Sabina

vettpolmer wrote:
Thank you for your replies! So I have taken your advice to create an additional layer under the 'colour' layer. I have used the 'flood fill' bucket tool to fill in the empty space within the outline of my figure solid white... and yes, you cannot see through the grey coloured figure anymore.

However I have only applied this for one frame, and my question is - do I need to do this for every single frame? The figure is constantly moving so would I have to fill it in with a solid white (on the additional layer) for every frame the figure moves? or is there a short cut?

Assuming that you have all the drawings of the character as line art on a separate layer I would suggest you proceed like this:

1.) Create a new blank layer underneath your line art layer .

2.) Select the new blank layer . Use the Tool called Filled Rectangle from the Main Tool Panel . Set Filled Rectangle to Behind , "Fill Inside", Source = Above
Color should be set to white .

3.) Use Filled Rectangle/Fill Inside to enclose the entire character within the rectangle shape you draw around the character (see red bounding box in screen capture above) , which will fill in the boundaries of the character with opaque white (on the separate layer below the line art) .
(This shows the opaque white fill layer with the line art layer hidden)


4.) Select all the remaining drawings on the layer and hit Enter/Return to apply the same Fill Inside effect to all the drawings.

Now all your drawings should have an opaque white fill layer underneath the line art. This is more or less "automatic" filling , but in some cases if you have any gaps (broken lines) or areas where the shape of the character changes radically you may have to adjust the fill settings. Also , any enclosed area will be filled , so for example , the area between an arm and the body may be filled in with opaque white , when in fact that should be an open space between the arm and the body. Any time this happens just erase that area by setting the Flood Fill tool (paintbucket) to Erase mode and click on the area you want to clear.


5.) create another blank layer placed between the line art layer (top) and filled white layer (bottom). Then , proceed to color the character on this new layer with the semi-transparent color washes (markers/watercolor) that you have indicated on your original screen capture image uploaded in your first post above. The opaque white layer underneath will prevent the background from showing through the transparent colors.



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Or instead just use the script "Figure Fill" by Svengali: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5690&hilit=figure+fill

Or the upgraded version of the same script by Lucas: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5690&hilit=figure+ ... =30#p60547

This will do exactly what you need in just one click.

Thank you guys heaps for your replies. I has taken me a bit of time to get back. I tried to follow the detailed instructions but unfortunately when it came to Filled Rectangle part, I noticed that I do not even have the option on the right panel "Fill Inside" with a tick box. So every time I proceed, all I get is just a white box under my outlined drawing - and not the white filling inside the outlined drawing... could it be because I have an order version of TV Paint (TV Paint 10 Pro)?
Appreciate any comments! Thank you!!!

Of course, whenever you buy any software (I presume you have bought TVPaint) it is best to first upgrade because you can never tell how old the CD disk was when you bought it. Who did you buy it from BTW?

vettpolmer wrote:Thank you guys heaps for your replies. I has taken me a bit of time to get back. I tried to follow the detailed instructions but unfortunately when it came to Filled Rectangle part, I noticed that I do not even have the option on the right panel "Fill Inside" with a tick box. So every time I proceed, all I get is just a white box under my outlined drawing - and not the white filling inside the outlined drawing... could it be because I have an order version of TV Paint (TV Paint 10 Pro)?
Appreciate any comments! Thank you!!!

Which version do you have ? TVPaint 9.5 ? (Fill Inside function wasn't part of TVP 9.5) If you've already got a version of TVPaint 10 just go to the Help Menu > Check For Updates . Then follow the directions to download and install the update to TVPaint 10.5 so you have the "Fill Inside" option.

You can create a white fill layer under your line art by just using the regular Flood Fill tool. Create a new blank layer under your line art layer . Fill it with white . Then change the Flood Fill tool to ERASE mode and the source to "Above" . Now click anywhere outside the character line area and it should erase all the white , except what is contained inside the character lines . Then continue to add the color on another layer as described in step #5 in my previous post above.

See this post : viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7849&start=15#p69390" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


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