Using Onion Skinning - MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX-USING DIRECTOR MX Use Manual

Using onion skinning

Onion skinning derives its name from a technique used by conventional animators, who would
draw on thin "onion skin" paper so that they could see through it to one or more of the previous
images in the animation.
With onion skinning in Director, you can create or edit animated sequences of cast members in
the Paint window using other cast members as a reference. Reference images appear dimmed in
the background. When you work in the Paint window, you can view not only the current cast
member that you're painting but also one or more cast members that are blended into the image.
You can use onion skinning to do the following:
•
To trace over an image or create a series of images all in register (aligned) with a
particular image.
•
To see previous images in the sequence, and use those images as a reference while you are
drawing new ones.
•
To create a series of images based on another parallel animation. The series of images serves as
the background while you paint a series of foreground images.
Onion skinning uses registration points to align the current cast member with the previous ones
you selected. Be careful not to move registration points for cast members after onion skinning. If
you do, the cast members might not line up the way you want. See "Changing registration points"
on page 219.
You must have created some cast members to use onion skinning.
To activate onion skinning:
Open the Paint window, and select View > Onion Skin. The Onion Skin toolbar appears.
1
Toggle Onion Skinning
Preceding Cast Member
Click the Toggle Onion Skinning button at the far left of the toolbar to enable onion skinning.
2
To define the number of preceding or following cast members to display:
Open the Paint window, and select View > Onion Skin. The Onion Skin toolbar appears.
1
If necessary, click the Toggle Onion Skinning button on the Onion Skin toolbar to activate
2
onion skinning.
Specify the number of preceding or following cast members you want to display.
3
•
To specify the number of preceding cast members to display, enter a number in the Preceding
Cast Members text box.
234 Chapter 7
Following Cast Member