Easy cut-out animation in OpenToonz (using the skeleton tool) - Puppet animation

[@DarrenTAnims]

*Thanks for watching.* Timecodes for skipping the video and links are in the description Want to learn more about OpenToonz? Check out my Udemy course: A complete guide to OpenToonz for traditional 2D animation: bit.ly/OpenToonzCourse

[@DarrenTAnims]

All my OpenToonz tutorials: *kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZKnf3qMn5lpjsU* For help setting up and using OpenToonz, chat with animators & developers and enter animation challenges, join my OpenToonz Discord: *discord.gg/FYy4Mg7*

[@tripeatin]

Gotta say this is the best series I have found on the internet on the subject! The universe will bless you for your kindness brother - THAT'S A DARREN T!

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thank you Puneesh. I'm glad you found this helpful. 🙂👍

[@randomdoesstuff1267]

I rarely leave comments on videos like these but holy crap the gratitude and motivation I got from watching this video _skyrocketed_ I've been super down about making puppet rigs in opentoons because all of the tutorials I watched seemed super complex, even with the knowledge I had on it (which was very little), and because of that I almost dropped it in search for a better (free) alternative that would suit me, which was kinda degrading because I really liked hiw opentoonz felt. HOWEVER, your tutorial gave me the motivation to reinstall and pick up opentoonz again, at least one last time, so thanks for that :) let's hope things go well!

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thank you for your kind comments. Puppet rigs in OpenToonz are pretty straight forward once you've learned the basics. But the problem is that most users want to animate a human-style character, so tutorials often show how to do this, which can be very complicated. And that's exactly why I focussed on the simplest puppet I could think of; a puppet with just 2 pieces. If you want a little more detail, checkout my cut-out animation playlist. This is the first video from the list. It's not an exhaustive set of videos, but has lots of ideas for setting up and using a puppet. It even has a downloadable My Little Pony puppet that I animate with. Finally, although you can build and animation with puppets in OpenToonz, they do have their limitations. It's difficult to build a single puppet to use with all of your animations. So you've got to learn to accept the limitations. But have another go and see how you get on. Good luck, Darren

[@AwkwardPain]

I like the tip about connecting one column to another instead of using the skeleton! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with in the future!

[@DarrenTAnims]

Cheers Ryan. I've a few other tips to share that I've picked up that you might find useful

[@kungpowgeek]

Thank you for this great tutorial. I can’t wait to use what I’ve just learned in my future animations. 😎

[@DarrenTAnims]

Kung Pow Geek - Great. I'd love to see what you come up with. I've got a few more pointers to share regarding cut-out, over the coming weeks.

[@soeurwulfknightserrant5569]

Thank you so much for this and all your tutorials. Many other how-tos assume too much and leave me standing. You have not forgotten that what you now take for granted is unknown to the needy viewer at all levels. My movie is easier to make now and much better too. Please keep up the OT tutes!

[@DarrenTAnims]

😊 Thank you. That's really nice to hear and is just the level I'm aiming for. Please do drop me a message when your movie is finished. Cheers. Darren

[@thatoantonio4125]

I have been looking for a video like this for days. Thank you

[@DarrenTAnims]

I'm glad it helped 😀

[@romanfootballkaminski4375]

Love your lessons, but would like to see bigger and highlighted pointer to easily see and follow where the commands are that you are activating. Thank you for your tutoring good stuff Cheers

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thank you for your feedback. I do try to go at a steady pace, but not so slowly as it gets boring. In more recent videos, I've tried to show the commands and controls that I'm clicking on, so you might find that some other videos are easier to follow. But I'll certainly keep this in mind. Thanks again Darren

[@shaneofgames3825]

Fantastic tutorial, you deserve more subscribers, thank you for making these videos

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thanks Game. I really appreciate the comment. You can help the channel by sharing my videos if you come across someone that's interested in animation. I'm having a lot of fun atm working with cut-out and putting these videos together. (I've already recorded the next couple of vids. I can't wait to get them out)

[@rreiss60]

Thank you for this educational and entertaining video.

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thanks Robert. Much appreciated

[@beckoning-chasm]

I see that in the finished video, the robot has two faces--a forward-looking face and a side-face. Are these parts of the same drawing, or was there a substitute drawing placed in the timeline? If you could point to the video detailing this, that would be great! Thank you, too, for the excellent explanations and demonstrations here.

[@DarrenTAnims]

To my regret, I didn't show this in the video. The head is a number of drawings in the same level. I simply swapped them at the edge of the turn, probably using the Q & W keys (drawing substitution).

[@beckoning-chasm]

@@DarrenTAnims Ah, cool. Thanks for the info. I do the same thing in Flash.

[@DarrenTAnims]

@@beckoning-chasm I just remembered that I used my BB8 scene in a livestream as I was creating a small version of it to show on my shelf (if you watch the livestreams you'll know what I mean by that) So if you want to see me using this rig again, you can in the stream: kzbin.infoHuQ4HHuEdSY?feature=share&t=1800 The link shows where his head moves, but you might find it useful to watch through from an earlier time.

[@monicav941]

Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!!! It is very very useful. Please keep posting

[@DarrenTAnims]

😀 Will do

[@KvaGram]

Aaaand bookmarked for refrence! I have been looking for a tool to use for cut-out animation for while. I already have the drawings I need for my characters and interactive scenery. Not animated, but I got all the different states of the parts (facial expressions, and such). Up to now, I have used a mass of layers of image keys in my video editor (Lightworks) to do the job. That's not exactly ideal, as I can't parent the parts, and can't rotate individual parts. So animation had to be VERY limited. The main limitations, where that whatever I was gonna use, it had to run on Linux, and be free, or at least affordable. After several false starts with Blender, Synfig, Unity3D*, Mine-imator, and a few other programs, I found Opentoonz. Now I just hope I can get what I need with this tool. * (Yes, really. I'm a programmer, so I tried to make my own custom software for the job. Almost worked too. Almost.) I just started looking though tutorials. All those I have seen so far, has been on setting up the ui (very useful) and how to draw (not very applicable for me). This is the first that have shown what I need to get started. I only hope this tutorial still fully applies to the current version. Uh well, guess I'm about to find out. Wish me luck!

[@DarrenTAnims]

I'm really pleased you stumbled across OpenToonz. It's a really flexible animation tool. I think I've covered most of what you'll need for cut out in the cut out playlist, not make sure you also check out my videos on the plastic tool. I've also made another 2 over the past 2 weeks that could be useful. And yes, this still works in the latest version. There's a new version coming out in a week or so that will be worth getting. It's got lots of fixes and new features. I'll be putting out a video for that when it's here. All the best for your OpenToonz journey. Let me know how you get on and if you need any help. I'll probably be able to point you to a video or 2 to help. DT

[@mylittleparody2277]

Thank you for this video

[@DarrenTAnims]

Cheers 😃

[@giocres7523]

Great tutorial! Thank you!

[@DarrenTAnims]

Cheers Gio

[@mauv_the_bluest_cat_ever]

when you drew the robot how did you make the outline of the body to stay on top of all the parts you added? and also how did you make all the parts of (for example) body be contained on one level??

[@DarrenTAnims]

I believe I used a Matte In effect to keep the pattern inside the circle. You can find this project on my Gumroad page, if you want to investigate further.

[@TeresaJacksonTbT]

Hi, Darren. Thank you so much for these tutorials! I'm using pngs making very simple animation (mimicking stop motion). Sometimes I want the image to disappear and reappear. I can make something disappear but not reappear (to create something like a blinking effect). Can you help? Thanks!

[@DarrenTAnims]

It's hard to guess what exactly you might be after, as you could be doing one of a number of things, but whatever is on the timeline will show, so if you don't want something showing that is in a column just remove it. Then when you want it showing, just re-add it to the timeline. If you want to share a screenshot on my discord, I can take a look, along with other users, so we could offer more precise advice.

[@TeresaJacksonTbT]

@@DarrenTAnims Thanks! I think I need to learn more about how columns work with the timeline. I just jumped in, and most things are going okay. I'll go back to some other videos, and if I can't figure it out, I'll come back. =)

[@TeresaJacksonTbT]

@@DarrenTAnims I got it. Thank you!

[@adfasfuiuiui1056]

Great tutorial, man.

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thanks friend

[@lovebaking2503]

this is so cute!!

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thank you. I really enjoyed making this 🙂

[@footytakeout]

Hi Darren, love the work you've been putting up, I am also learning animation but still totally new to all of this. I saw your video on Tahoma2d and it seems to be the best place for a beginner. I have a request though, Can you re-upload the cut out animation session using Tahoma 2d as the animation software?

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thank you. Which cut out session do you mean? I don't remember a cut out video for Tahoma.

[@footytakeout]

@@DarrenTAnims No, I meant can you remake the cut out Playlist you made for Opentoonz but this time using Tahoma

[@DarrenTAnims]

Ah, I see. No, probably not. The instructions would be exactly the same. I will, no doubt, make more cut out tutorials at some point, showing other techniques or just working with other puppets.

[@seeker1602]

Hello Darren, I'm truly enjoying your videos... Thanks so much for working with them. I'm signing up for your Udemy course as soon as the school year lets out (I'm a teacher). I have ONE really important question... I have terrible vision. Is there a way t make the menu font bigger? Krita has that and it's a massive relief. If not, I'll figure something out... Thanks again.

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thank you. That's a great question. The short answer is yes. The long answer is that I don't know exactly the setting, but you can change the size, colour, etc of different parts of the interface using a personal stylesheet. The look and feel of the interface can be changed like a web page, but you need to know the names of the controls, which I don't. So the end to the long answer is, probably not. I'll see if I can find that out for you.

[@DarrenTAnims]

I can't yet change the main menu's size, but I've changed the menu items beneath the main list. Go to: File > Preferences > Interface > Edit Additional Stylesheet... Then paste this into the box and press ok. QMenu::item { font-size: 24px; } Just change the number bigger or smaller to get the size that suits you.

[@drthumper2048]

Hi. Thank you for all your videos. Please do video about track tool in opentoonz

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thank you Dr. Good suggestion. I'll pop that on my list.

[@mitchellwoodin6686]

Is there a way to snap the centre point exactly to the middle of a selected circle rather than guessing the centre?

[@DarrenTAnims]

Sadly no. But there could be other solutions, depending what you're trying to do. A simple one is to add a "Guide Layer" and drop a dot on the screen for the centre, before you add the circle. They you can base all of your future points from this point.

[@mitchellwoodin6686]

@@DarrenTAnims Hey, my goal is to place the pivot point of a layer directly in the centre of a circle which would act as the pivot point of an arm for instance. Having the forearm rotate accurately is needed so you don't get artefacts from the rotation

[@DarrenTAnims]

I see. A guide layer would do that for you.

[@brutalpanic5628]

I really want to know more about rigging and basically everything else to do with this sort of animation(it will for sure help me with 2d game development), is there anywhere I can find a full guide on it using opentoonz?

[@DarrenTAnims]

No there isn't. But If you take a look at my cut-out playlist on my channel you'll see more details about how you can do it.

[@brutalpanic5628]

@@DarrenTAnims ok thank you :D

[@vikasbishnoi482]

how did you rotated robot in level strip, i didnot get it, please explain???????

[@DarrenTAnims]

Hi. If you can point to a time in the video that you're referring to, I'd be happy to explain.

[@agungwidinugroho554]

How the orange elipse look like its inside the circle? Is that clipping/masking?

[@DarrenTAnims]

Yes, I mask the orange onto the main ball issuing the Matte In effect. You can download the project from my Gumroad site, if you want to look deeper at it (link in the description)

[@agungwidinugroho554]

​@@DarrenTAnimsaah I see, thanks Darren

[@nickabreu1862]

Switching the ease setting in the animation settings to speed in or out. Will that retroactively affect tweens already created in your animation? Or only tweens you create after changing that setting?

[@DarrenTAnims]

That'll only affect the interpolation between new keys. To change the interplanetary for your current animations, you can right click on the line betterment the keys in the xsheet or using the function editor.

[@nickabreu1862]

Darren T thanks. You’re the best!

[@matthew0146]

Hi, sorry I have another question. When rotating, moving or doing anything else with a drawing, a keyfrane is automatically placed, but how do you alter drawings without effecting the first frame. For example lets say in frame 1 you have the star wars robot, but in frame 24 you want to alter that drawing of the robot or change it, how do you do that? Because with me, when i alter a drawing on the last frame, it completely changes the drawing of 1st frame as well.

[@DarrenTAnims]

You're correct. The first key that you add applies the changes from the first frame. There's good reasons for this, but that's for another time. What you want to do is to add an initial key on frame 1. Just click the key button at the bottom of the viewer (or press the Z key). Then add another on frame 23 (from your example), so that from frame 1 to 23, there's no change, then make your change on frame 24 and you'll see the change from frame 23 to 24. If you want the change to apply over the span of half a second, add the next key on frame 26 instead (12 frames later). But if you want interpolation over a number of frames like this, then you should check the default interpolation type as set in the preferences, in the animation section. You can adjust it afterwards, but setting it up at the start saves time later.

[@chriseatsgood2819]

where did you create the 12 frames for the body?

[@DarrenTAnims]

I created them in OpenToonz

[@earshoes3282]

Hi Darren, thanks the video. Is it possible to import non vector art in and use that for your puppet?

[@DarrenTAnims]

Hi. Absolutely, it is. You can import png (best) or jpg (last resort) images and use those as parts in your puppet. Just drag them into your open scene in OpenToonz and then choose to copy them into your project's folder and use those copies (import - preferred) or to use the originals from wherever you dragged them from.

[@earshoes3282]

@@DarrenTAnims thanks mate.

[@seanosuilleabhainemerald]

Very useful, watching it I realized I have adding different drawings to different levels rather than adding them to a single level and then selecting between them. I normally do my drawings in affinity designer and then drag them to a level on the xsheet. Is it possible to import multiple drawings to the same level?

[@sapnakumari-rk7vf]

In opentoonz 1.4 version animation option is not there at the top of the tool bar

[@DarrenTAnims]

It will be shown when you select a drawing in the xsheet or timeline. I'm guessing you're not on a drawing.

[@Joe-oe4lo]

does it have to be drawn in vector? also great video, really useful

[@DarrenTAnims]

No, you can use any of the 3 levels or a combination of them, or even an imported drawing. The cut out is acting on the column, not the level, so the level type doesn't matter.

[@katappamama007]

Make eyeblink animation with this process

[@DarrenTAnims]

You couldn't create an eyeblink easily this way. You're better off doing it frame by frame.

[@cyborg9099]

How did you create that head turn

[@DarrenTAnims]

That's a great question. I can't believe I didn't really cover it in this video! Basically I created a number of drawings for the head and changed the drawing in the frame, in the same way as I showed how you can change the body drawings (at 14:40). And to create the rotation effect, I just copy pasted the head shapes and then adjusted them slightly, to give the impression of rotation. I hope that helps :-)

[@marcialart8721]

What is most recommended FPS ?without using a lot of frames

[@DarrenTAnims]

The standard frame rate is 24fps. But don't forget, you can choose to show your drawings on 2s (to show for 2 frames each) or 3s, 4s, etc. But if you're definitely going to show every drawing for 2 frames, it'd be easier to set your fps to 12 and then show each drawing for 1 frame. But it all depends on the look of your animation.

[@marcialart8721]

And if I use 14fps is it fine?

[@DarrenTAnims]

@@marcialart8721 Of course. You can use any fps that suits your animation.

[@marcialart8721]

Thanks

[@PeKey-u3c]

how to make a full draw area opentoonz ? Bro

[@DarrenTAnims]

You can press the single backquote key in your keyboard (to the left of the number 1 key). Or double click on the viewer panel's header bar. Or if you right click, you'll see a full screen option. This video will help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6WsYoaPh7eem7s

[@henryscp318]

In the final animation you used every time the same ball movmend animation ?

[@DarrenTAnims]

Yes. I changed its direction to roll clockwise as it went to the right (using drawing order, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc) and then anti-clockwise when it went to the left (using drawing order, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, etc)

[@rreiss60]

Walk cycle tutorial? I know there are many of these, but I think beginners like us would benefit from your approach to the subject.

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thanks for the suggestion Robert. I'll have a think about doing this. I'm not the greatest for walk cycles, but I've seen a few. I might have a go.

[@Lookintomyeyes-vu5im]

What app are you using to do this?

[@DarrenTAnims]

Opentoonz

[@guyjuan]

How do you add a layer?

[@DarrenTAnims]

You can add a black column by selecting a column header (where the column name is) and pressing the insert key or right click on a header and choose insert above or insert below. But when you're on a drawing in the timeline and add a new level, the first drawing in that new level will be added in a new column.

[@guyjuan]

@@DarrenTAnims thank you! It worked

[@drendelous]

are you going to make a series of tutorilas united under one project?

[@DarrenTAnims]

Hi Logan. I've got a few tutorials coming up regarding cut-out, but they're not building to a single project. I tend to just put things together that appear to help for the specific tut.

[@henryscp318]

Thx

[@DarrenTAnims]

😀👍

[@kevingunarly6431]

Smoother cut-out animation?

[@DarrenTAnims]

Sorry, what's the question?

[@kevingunarly6431]

@@DarrenTAnims i mean, please do tutorial on how to smooth cut out animation

[@DarrenTAnims]

In what way does it need smoothing? The smoothness is down to the number of frames and interpolation between keys.

[@AbstruseDecapod]

WOW Man!

[@DarrenTAnims]

Cheers

[@georgeemmanual962]

nice tutorials bro ...

[@DarrenTAnims]

Thanks buddy. Hope you're finding them helpful

[@georgeemmanual962]

@@DarrenTAnimsya sure ... u r doing great man .. and i want to know can we make short film on this software ?

[@DarrenTAnims]

Absolutely you can. OpenToonz (the open source version) has been maturing over the past year or so and has gotten to a point with enough hobbyist animators using it that I'd hope to hear of some being created pretty soon. (in fact NobleFrugal Studios is working on one right now - Castle Dark) If you intended to do create your own, the only advice I'd give is to break down your project into small scenes in OT and assemble them in editing software. OT doesn't cope too well with larger scenes.

[@georgeemmanual962]

@@DarrenTAnims thank u.. for quick reply and advice .

[@jcook9201]

You didnt describe the head turning

[@DarrenTAnims]

I did. I'm away from my computer atm so can't point to the clip. The turning is just different drawings in the same level.

[@ramdani_khasyi]

good vidioooo 🖒🖒🖒🖒 Salam , I'm from Indonesiaa

[@DarrenTAnims]

Salam. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@ramdani_khasyi]

Darren T please make tutorial for beginner 😁

[@DarrenTAnims]

Hi. I've made a few beginner tutorials. There's a complete beginner one linked from the top of my channel page. Was there anything in particular you was interested in?

[@ramdani_khasyi]

Darren T yes, like how to move what has been drawn from another application, for example in MediBang paint or photoshop then put into opentoonz

[@DarrenTAnims]

Basically, if you export an image from ony of those programs, you just drag and drop it into OpenToonz. It'll create a column for it. Same goes for audio, either a wav or mp3.

[@pixelio1631]

good one but too slowe bruh still i gat waht i wantate thx for the informtion

[@DarrenTAnims]

Glad it helped

[@pixelio1631]

@@DarrenTAnims i dont know waht to do.shold i move stritght to tahoma or shod i stay on opentoonz i jest startde to animte pixle art in pupte animtion.waht you will sjaste?

[@DarrenTAnims]

@@pixelio1631 If you're comfortable using OpenToonz and it had all the features you need, then by all means stick with OpenToonz. But I've moved to use Tahoma because it had all of the features of OpenToonz, plus lots of extra big fixes and other new features. So I recommend most users try Tahoma and see if it works OK for them.

[@pixelio1631]

@@DarrenTAnims thx :)

[@haneenhammad7103]

too fast

[@DarrenTAnims]

What was too fast? The video? The instructions? Or the movement?

[@haneenhammad7103]

@@DarrenTAnims the movement . never mind I am looking to youre other videos . these ganna help me a lot