Alignment problems...jumping pixels!
When an animation looks 'jumpy', it's usually because the contents of each frame are not perfectly lined up with each other. You can use the Onionskin tool in Animation Shop to preview how each frame of the animation aligns with the adjacent frame. Clicking the yellow Onionskin icon will overlay a transparent copy of the next frame onto each frame.* Another reason an animation could look 'jumpy' is because more transition frames are needed to smooth out the action. Export your frames to PSP to create some new frame-layers with 'in-between' movement.
Onionskin Preview temporarily superimposes a transparent overlay of frame 1 onto frame 2; frame 2 overlays frame 3; etc, for all frames.** Zoom in to see how contents of one frame line up with the next and use the Mover tool to make small adjustments to pixel alignment that may correct the jerkiness of movement. If major adjustments are needed, you may have to export frames to Paint Shop Pro to fix!
*Clicking Onionskin icon again will turn overlay off.
**This can vary, depending on preference choices...double click Onionskin icon to view preferences.
If your jumping pixels are due to stray pixels or pixels that are the wrong color...refer back to top for list of topics!
Back to top of list
Setting preferences to import as separate frames
I have seen many tutorials out there on the web that will tell you to NEVER set your Animation Shop Preferences to "keep layers as separate frames". They will try to tell you that "merge layers into a single frame" is the ONLY box you should ever check. That is incorrect information. Jasc would never include this option if there wasn't a use for it!! You can choose EITHER preference, both are correct! It just depends on the image you are creating at the time. Sometimes our preference is to have each (1) layer in our image become a frame in our animation or, (2) in another animation we may want to change this setting back to 'merge layers'.
(1) Keep layers as separate frames is the Preference setting I use most of the time. It is my preferred setting because I can create layers and frames at the same time! This may not be suitable 100% of the time....sometimes there's a need to change back and forth! Check whether the tutorial you are working on calls for separate layers or merged layers. When the Preference settings are set to 'Keep layers as separate frames', Animation Shop will know, when opening a .psp file containing multiple layers, to keep every layer separate....each layer will then become a separate animation frame. Layer 1=Frame 1, Layer 2=Frame 2, etc.
Note: If you are using this Preference setting, but you still don't see all the layers you created in your PSP file, your file probably has some 'hidden' layers. If you close the visibility in PSP for one or more of your layers, whatever is on those layers will not appear in the image you open in Animation Shop. You will have to close the file in Animation Shop, return to PSP and edit the image file so that desired layers are ALL visible. Save and re-open in Animation Shop.
(2) Merge layers into a single frame is the Preference setting you will use when you want Animation Shop to open your file with all layers merged into a single animation frame (a single layer).
Animation Shop preferences can be found under File>Preferences>General Program Preferences. Under the Layered Files tab are the choices discussed in this paragraph. Note that these options will be found in Animation Shop Preferences ...NOT Paint Shop Pro Preferences!
Back to top of list
Background color, transparent or opaque
I receive a lot of email from people having problems with transparent backgrounds. They have followed instructions and selected transparent background using the Animation Wizard BUT when saved, the background is an opaque color!!! First let me say that I also have this problem from time to time!! I don't know why, but the following instructions just won't work for some images!! When all else fails, I send file to PSP to set transparency and start over!!
This is exactly what Jasc says to do to change background color of an animation (quoted):
Select or change the canvas color for an animation as follows:
1. Choose Animation > Animation Properties. The Animation Properties dialog box will appear.
2. Select the Canvas Color tab.
3. Use the Canvas Color tab as follows:
~ Select the "Transparent" option to have a transparent canvas color.
~ Select the "Opaque" option to have a non-transparent canvas color. The current canvas color appears in the color box. Left-click inside this color box to display the Color dialog box; right-click inside this color box to display the Recent Colors dialog box. Select the new canvas color using either of these dialog boxes.
If you have some stray pixels in your background, read this!
Changing Canvas Size - Exporting to PSP
Because not all editing tools are available in Animation Shop, the program provides a way to export an animation file back to PSP to make your changes. When you save and return to Animation Shop, the file should automatically update. An example of this is when you want to increase the canvas size because this tool is not available in Animation Shop.
You can crop an image in Animation Shop to reduce the canvas size but you cannot INCREASE the size of the canvas. This is not a problem when working with a new image, but sometimes you'll want to increase the canvas size of an existing animation because there's just not enough room to add text or something else to image. If you open an existing animation image in Paint Shop Pro instead of 'exporting' from Animation Shop, you will only be able to view one frame. If you edit that image to change canvas size or something else, you will probably overwrite the animation and lose the frames that animate the image. Consequently...you must open the existing animation in Animation Shop first and then export frames to PSP!
To change canvas size, first select all frames in your Animation Shop image. Choose File>Export Frames>to Paint Shop Pro. In PSP, you should have the same number of layers in the image as there are frames in your animation.
If you only have one layer, you forgot to select all frames first!
In Paint Shop Pro, edit the canvas size as you normally would then choose File>Exit and return to Animation Shop (this closes PSP) or Edit > Update Back to Animation Shop (which does not close PSP). This should update the animation frames to reflect your modifications. In other words, your filmstrip should now have a larger canvas size.
When I did this I ran into some problems...it didn't work the same way every time! I tried this (many times!) in both PSP 7 and PSP 8, and the canvas size would sometimes stay at the size I started with! If you run into the same thing, the workaround is to break the link between PSP and AS and save as a new file. (When a frame or frames has been exported to Paint Shop Pro, a link is established between Animation Shop and Paint Shop Pro. This link prevents you from altering the animation in Animation Shop until you break that link.)
The following steps are the only way I've been able to figure out how to edit a file when 'Update Back to Animation Shop' fails to update the change. Please write me if you have some suggestions!
In Paint Shop Pro, after increasing your canvas size, choose Edit > Update Back to Animation Shop. This may or may not update the frames with the new canvas size but it should leave the open file in Paint Shop Pro. If it updated, good! You're done. If it didn't...continue on!
In Animation Shop, select File > Export Frames > Break Link With Exported Frames.
In Paint Shop Pro, save this file in PSP7 compatible format (see File Format) and then close it. Return to Animation Shop and open the new file that has the new, larger canvas size!
Back to top of list
File format problems & error messages
The new .pspimage file format used by Paint Shop Pro (starting with version 8) is not recognized by Animation Shop v.3. If, when using Animation Shop, you try to open an image saved in this new format, you will receive an error message: "Not a valid psp image file". Therefore, when saving an image that is to be opened in Animation Shop, users of PSP 8 or 9 must change the FILE TYPE to a format that is PSP 7 compatible.
If you are using PSP version 8.01, select the OPTIONS button, then select the radio button to 'save as PSP7 compatible'.
If you have updated PSP to version 8.10 or newer ...Animation Shop has been added as a 'file type'. When you save, the SAVE AS dialog box will give you the option to change the FILE TYPE to Animation Shop (instead of saving as a Paint Shop Pro file type). In PSP X change file type to 'PSP Animation Shop' (instead of saving as 'PSP IMAGE').
Tip: I keep all images I intend to animate in a separate file folder from other graphics. All files in my 'animation' folder are 'PSP7 compatible'. Sometimes I will save 2 copies of a graphic, one in .psp format (for animation) and one in .pspimage format.
Back to top of list
Changing delay time
The Display Time controls the length of time (the delay) that each frame of your animation will remain visible. The larger the number, the longer it will display (resulting in slower movement). Using a smaller number will create faster 'movement'. Delay time is 1/100 of a second. To display a frame for a full second, the setting would be D:100.
The current display time is listed under each frame along with the frame number. Example... F:1 D:20 is frame 1 with a delay of 20/100. If you don't see these numbers on your screen, you need to change your Preferences to show frame information. Select File>Preferences>General Program Preferences. Under the Frame View tab, check the box to 'display frame numbers, delay time under animation'.
To change the Display time, select an individual frame or select all frames. From the menu, select Animation>Frame Properties and change the number in the Display Time box. Selecting just 1 frame in an animation and drastically changing the delay time can create the effect of 'stop action' or create a quick movement...like a wink!
Back to top of list
Transparency "halo"
A "halo" is created by pixels of the 'wrong' color appearing along the edges of your image. This happens often when using an image with a 'blurred' drop shadow or when original image was created with a different color background than is currently being used. When saving & optimizing your animation, try using different transparency settings to see if it gets rid of the halo. Sometimes selecting 'blending the background color of your page with the transparent pixels' is the best option (under 'Partial Transparency'). If the halo is appearing around a blurred drop shadow (or any area with graduated color between opaque pixels and transparent pixels), it is partly because the .gif file format used for animations is not well suited to graduated color. Try removing areas of graduated color from your image or using opaque drop shadows.
Back to top of list
Color oops! Stray pixels!
Sometimes, when creating a transparent background, you discover that there's some of the background color within the animated part of the image and those pixels also become transparent! The best solution to that is to always use an odd color for the background when you first create your animated image. Any color that is totally different from the animated part of the image.
Sometimes when you try to replace the background color of an image using the Color Replacer tool, you run into problems replacing the background color without also changing some of the pixels in the image. First, experiment with the tolerance setting (2nd tab in PSP7) of the Color Replacer to see if you can avoid effecting image color. Another solution is to go ahead and use the Color Replacer tool if there's only a few pixels that were erroneously changed! Then use the Paintbrush tool, size 1, to touch up the pixels, one by one! You must be very fussy when doing this!!! Any pixel changed in one frame must be changed in all other frames so that every frame matches exactly .... any stray pixels will 'blink' when animated! It helps to zoom in very close!
Use the Animation Preview button in Animation Shop to see if you have any stray pixels that bounce or blink!
Back to top of list
Jumping Shadows
Jumping or blinking drop shadows can be caused by areas of stray color or because the animated image does not blend with a transparent background very well. But what I'm talking about here are shadows that bounce and jump around with the animation in an unnatural way! This is often caused by creating a shadow using the Drop Shadow tool. If you have an animation that changes position from frame to frame, using the Drop Shadow tool just doesn't work well! You can solve the problem by removing the drop shadow completely...or you can manually create a drop shadow that will change with each frame of the animation. This type of shadow will 'stick' to your animated character or animated text in a more realistic way. Check my index of animations for a tutorial on creating an animated drop shadow.
Back to top of list
|
