Okay, here’s my blog post about my experience with TVPaint 12, written in a casual, personal style, and using basic HTML tags for formatting:
So, I finally got around to messing with TVPaint 12. I’ve used older versions before, but this one… man, it’s got some cool new stuff. I’m no pro animator, just a hobbyist, but I like to doodle and make little animated shorts.
Getting Started
First thing I did was download the demo. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about before committing. Installation was pretty straightforward, just followed the on-screen prompts. Nothing crazy there.
Once I opened it up, the interface looked kinda familiar, but also different. There were some new icons and menus that I didn’t recognize. I spent a good few minutes just clicking around, opening and closing panels, trying to get my bearings.
Playing Around
- Drawing Tools: The brushes felt really nice. Smooth, responsive. I messed around with the pressure sensitivity on my tablet, and it worked like a charm. Way better than some other drawing programs I’ve tried.
- Animation Timeline: This is where the magic happens. I started sketching out a simple bouncing ball animation. Creating new frames, setting keyframes… it all felt pretty intuitive.
- Coloring: TVPaint has a bunch of color palettes and tools. I’m still getting the hang of the color mixing and shading options, but it seems pretty powerful.
- New Feature Explore: TVPaint 12 has a new feature that is like a better version of Photoshop’s content-aware fill. I used it to do some background.
My Little Project
I decided to make a short animation of a cat chasing a laser pointer. Nothing fancy, just a few seconds long. I started by sketching out the key poses – the cat crouched, leaping, pouncing. Then I filled in the in-between frames, trying to make the movement look smooth and natural. It took a while, but it was fun!
I used different layers for the cat, the background, and the laser pointer. That made it easier to edit things separately. I also played around with the onion skinning feature, which lets you see the previous and next frames as faint outlines. Super helpful for getting the timing right.
Wrapping Up
After a few hours of tinkering, I had a rough animation. It wasn’t perfect, but it was mine! I exported it as a short video file and watched it loop a few times. Pretty satisfying, I gotta say.
Overall, my first impression of TVPaint 12 is pretty positive. It’s a powerful tool with a lot of features, but it’s also surprisingly user-friendly. I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface, though. There’s so much more to explore! I’m definitely going to keep playing around with it and see what else I can create.