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OpenToonz + MyPaint Animating In Realtime



My process is simple in OpenToonz. I always do my draft animation in raster. Over time, vector lines build up and eventually cause lag among other issues. After spending years as a raster painter it's also a comfort thing.

And as you can see, no I don't use the automatic inbetweening or morphing or whatever OT calls it. Each program has a different name. I only occasionally use rotate and translate/position. Also referred to as motion tweening.

I personally prefer frame by frame animation so I don't use the mesh, cut-out or bone animation features. If I do then it's usually for the entire animation or one scene item amongst fbf animation but it's rare. I do however like to play with those tools for fun but not for any serious projects.

I made this video because I was starting to get a lot of questions about how I animate and unfortunately this is all there is to it. I don't have any special tricks or shortcuts. I mostly just do it one drawing at a time. Ink, colour then composite. Either I composite with OpenToonz or I will take it to After Effects since I am comfortable with it unless I can't afford to sub it, then I don't bother.

I learned by doing. I didn't do any frame study like other artists but I did however buy a beginners course from Aaron Blaise which I highly recommend getting and following along. I also have been doing the 51 animation exercises. It's helped a lot. I have yet to finish them all but each attempt gets me closer to where I want to be.
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