I am using a raster type program, Corel Painter, to sketches basic objects.
My lines are many so I zoom in to do clean up. The lines become darker than I wont and they are taken on a vector appearance. I wont to keep the shade as close to what I am going for and keep the lines softer.
I was wondering if the vector folks here might have some ideas.
Personally, I prefer sketching on paper, scanning the sketches and loading them into whichever program I use for clean-up.
This may seem like a crutch but although I animate in Flash a lot at the moment, doing the longer or more difficult scenes rough on paper first, then getting them approved and rebuilding them clean in Flash generally gets me better results.
Also, I don't have to break up the entire structure of the Flash scene to make fundamental acting changes the director might require. Since correcting purely technical errors is easier for me to do in Flash than on paper the system works quite nicely for me. I'm more intuitive on paper and more exact digitally.
If I can not get some happy results, I think I will work with scanning in sketches. I am constantly fussing with the brush controls, hoping to one day find that sweet spot.
Thanks for the advice.
I think nothing beats sketching on paper. Not even a cintiq® set. It just feels different, smells different. It’s definitely the best way to sketch. But sometimes for various reasons it is more convenient for us to drawn on the computer. Photoshop is a good option. You can get a good sketch by using a Wacom pen, for example. You do your 1st rough sketch on the bottom layer than on an upper layer you can refine your sketch. And if you need a clear clean up, well just add another layer. Sky is the limit.
Of course this is not a very good method for animation.
I’ve been using Toonboom in several animation works and I use the same method. Layer over layer the details are refined until I get what I want. Now, I believe Wontobe is not a been fan of vector look (I can’t say I am, either) but depending on the kind of look you are trying to get the Toonboom tool brush allows you to achieve an expressive, rough sketch look. Please see what I mean…
What's Up? blog
My blog
carpediem, that is an excellent two second clip. I am going to find a limit, maybe in the amount of time I spend on what I am doing. Then just move on to something new. I think I am fussing to much on details that are of no importance at this stage.
have you tried selecting the outline then feathering it
Thanks, I will work with your suggestion this week. I also think I need to bump up the pixel count. I am at 72 now so I have been thinking of pushing it to up to 150. When I post it to the web it will be pushed back down to 72, to keep the file size down.
I don´t know if I understud quite well your question, but I´ll try to give you some solutions.
1. You can sketch at paper with a blue or red pencil, then you can redraw the sketch with black pencil or ink it, you don´t need to erase the red/blue pencil until you scan it, then you can erase the red or blue channel in your software and just keep the black lines, it can keep your "not vector" appeareance.
2. If you want to draw with your tablet, you can draw with 50% transparency, then your lines get darker, and you can rise the levels (the white) to thin the lines and clear the sketchy lines, you maybe have to retouch your lines a bit. You can do the levels thing with a scanned draw too.
Hope to help :)
If u are an administrator please unlock me :(
Thank you P4blo, I will put your comments to work. Drawing with the tablet is getting easer but I am still have to fuss with the pen settings.