Creating G3 Free Bone Characters with PSD Editor (New for v4.1)

By working with an image editor, you can turn any PSD images into a G3 Free Bone character in Cartoon Animator. The converted character can then be animated with the custom bone structure for key frame motions.

The following steps will describe how to create a G3 free bone character with a PSD editor, and then bring it into Cartoon Animator for animation.

ClosedStep 1: Create and Import the Character
  1. Click the custom PSD editor button (in this case, Photoshop) on the toolbar, and choose either of the import options in the following dialog.
    • New Object: This option will invoke the custom PSD editor with a blank new file.
    • Open File: This option will open the file browser for you to choose an existing PSD file and then load it into the PSD editor.
    Alternatively, execute the Create >> Launch PSD Editor command from the Main Menu.
    ClosedNote:
    • If you want to create a sync relationship with Cartoon Animator, you have to click the Open File option in this dialog.
    • Alternatively, you can drag the PSD file to the working area of Cartoon Animator. If you want to continue editing the PSD file, you can launch it in an image editor.
  2. By clicking the New Object button, the PSD editor will be automatically launched with a new file tab named Default. You can start to design the character (in this case, a tree).
  3. When you are satisfied with current result, press the hot keys: Ctrl + S in the PSD editor to send the image to Cartoon Animator.
    ClosedNote:

    Please make sure that you Rasterize the image layer before saving the project in order for the effects applied by your image editor to be flatten onto the layer. Otherwise, the effects will be ignored in Cartoon Animator.

  4. Return to Cartoon Animator, and click the Bone Actor button in the dialog.
  5. The PSD image will then be converted to a free bone character, synchronizing with the image editor.
    You can find this new character item under the G3 Actor group in the Scene Manager.
    ClosedNote:

    The PSD Sync icon indicates that this object is currently synced to its PSD project in the image editor. Please refer to the Managing Multiple Projects in PSD Editor section for more information.

ClosedStep 2: Update the Image of the Character
  1. Go to the image editor again and add some leaves and paint the tree trunk in white.
  2. When you are satisfied with current result, press the hot keys: Ctrl + S in the PSD editor to update the image to Cartoon Animator. All changes will be directly updated.
    ClosedNote:

    You can add this character into the custom Character library of Content Manager for further usage.

ClosedStep 3: Rig and Animate the Character
  1. To animate the character, select it and click the Composer button on the Functional Toolbar to customize a bone structure for the character.
  2. You will be prompted with a message that the character will be disconnected with its PSD editing project in the image editor. Click OK.
    ClosedNote:

    After the bone rigging is done, you can launch this character to the PSD editor and edit the character image again.

  3. In the Composer mode, click the Bone Editor button on the Functional Toolbar to open the Bone Editor panel.
  4. Click the Add Bone button to add new bones to the character. You may have to move the initial node (the red point) to an ideal position on the image in order to bind the bones to the image.
  5. Click the Back Stage button to go back to the Stage mode.
  6. Select the character and press the hot key "K" to open the 2D Motion Key Editor panel. Drag to animate the character and set motion keys in different time frames.
    ClosedNote:

    You can control the character with IK and FK chains.

  7. Playback to view the character animation.