Creating Scenes with PSD Editor (New for v4.1)

You can design a scene with items in separate image layers, which you can later add 3D depth and relocate the image-converted objects in the scene for animation in Cartoon Animator.

The following steps will describe how to create a scene with several image layers in a PSD editor, and then turn it into a 2D scene with 3D depth in Cartoon Animator for animation.

ClosedStep 1: Create and Import the Scene
  1. Click the custom PSD editor button (in this case, Photoshop) on the Add-on Tool Bar, 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 custom 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 to 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 scene. In this case, a mountain landscape with several separate layers for the cloud, mountain, weeds, etc.
  3. When you are satisfied with current result, press the hot keys: Ctrl + S in the image editor to send the image to Cartoon Animator.
  4. Return to Cartoon Animator, and choose the Scene import option in the dialog.
  5. The PSD image will then be converted to a scene, synchronizing with the image editor.
    In the Scene Manager, you will find that all of your image layers are listed under the Scene group, which indicates that these image layers are now converted into separate object layers with the same names as the ones shown in the image editor.
    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: Create the Depth Effect of the Scene
  1. Click the 3D View button on the Camera Toolbar to arrange the object depth with the 3D Viewer, in order to create the parallax effect when animating the camera.
ClosedStep 3: Update the Image of the Scene
  1. Go to the image editor again. Continue to modify the image layers in the PSD project. In this case, color the scene to a look of a starry night.
    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.

  2. When you are satisfied with current result, press the hot key Ctrl + S in the PSD editor to update the image to Cartoon Animator. In the Scene Manager, you will find that all of your image layers are updated, with the same names as the ones shown in the image editor.
    ClosedNote:

    You can add this scene into the custom Scene library of Content Manager for further usage.

ClosedStep 4: Animate the Objects of the Scene
  1. To create a natural grass waving effect, select the object (Weeds in this case) and press the hot key "K" to open the Prop Key Editor.
    Alternatively, click the Prop Key Editor button on the Functional Toolbar.
  2. Drag the control points of the deform box on the object to set Deform keys in different time frames.
  3. Playback the animation project. If you are satisfied with result, you can duplicate this animated object.
  4. Finally, click the Camera Record Mode button to switch your camera to the Recording Mode in order to animate the camera with transform keys in different time frames.