Documentation

The drawing modes

There are several drawing modes in TVPaint Animation: Color, Behind, Erase, Panto, Light, Shade, Tint, Colorize, Smooth, Grain, etc. We will study the 3 first ones : Color, Behind and Eraser, which are the most used mode with drawing tools and filling tools.

Other modes will be explained lesson 10

They are available in the popup menu located under the icons of the Tool panel (left click to access it). If required, you may assign keyboard shortcuts of your choice to the various modes (see lesson 1).



Some modes may not be used with all tools.



We will now draw a blue sky. To do this:
* Select the Freehand line icon (in the main panel).
* Select the wetbrush tool (size: 100 pixels, power: 100%, opacity: 100 %).

The square white window in the panel gives a preview of size and shape of the tool. The red «1:4» in this example indicates that the tool is four times larger than this preview.

You have already seen the Color mode (keyboard shortcut [F2]) as you have been using it since the beginning of this lesson... When you use the Color mode, your line and color are applied over the already existing image.
Wetbrush in Color mode

When you select the Behind mode (keyboard shortcut [F3]), TVPaint Animation will take into account the already existing pixels from the line as well as their level of opacity. When the option is chosen, the color is only applied to the transparent surfaces of the image.
The color is therefore not applied over the house or over the sun but is partially visible through the latter.
Floodfill in the entire image in blue using this mode.

Wetbrush in Behind mode

The task of the Erase mode (keyboard shortcut [F4]), as the name implies, is to erase the pixels of the current layer by making them transparent.
Thanks to this mode, it is possible to correct possible faults in a drawing.
Opposite, the Erase mode is used on a check background.

Airbrush in Erase mode (background=check)