Newby questions

[David]

Howdy..brand new to Moho; love the animation; hate the drawing tools.
I’m used to Illustrator, but the time to import an .ai is so long, even for very basic shapes, I’m determined to give Moho a good workout to see if I can learn to stomach it. Been through the first few tutorials and can’t figure out:
How to turn on Onionskinning;
How to select a shape after creating it; I always get a dialog saying I’m attempting to create a new shape;
How to apply effects after the shape is created; I select the parameters, and nothing happens (Mac, 10.4);
How to make an object, like a rectangle, fold over, like a page turning or a paper folding in half.

The animation set up is brilliant, tho: bravo! Just the way it ought to work:-)
Appreciate any comments.
Thanks!
dc

[F.M.]

onionskin: click below the frame numbers to turn on.

select shape: click select point TOOL to select point or points then go to EDIT Select Connected

Apply Effects: (scale,rotate.etc) select the LAYER, select the shape or character if you have more than one in the layer, then set the frame you want the effect to occur next click(scale,rotate,etc). I hope this is what you were after.

page fold: Layer one create a rectangle(shape,character,etc) copy the chape on to a second Layer, line up both shapes so they appear as one shape, now you can apply ROTATE to one of the Layers. If you have touble with the shapes alignment move the origin.

I was trying to be as clear as I could, and I hope the above is of some use.

[David]

Thanks! Big help...

onionskin: click below the frame numbers to turn on.

Ah-Ha! So why do the previous onion layers move when you reshape the current frame?

select shape: click select point TOOL to select point or points then go to EDIT Select Connected

OK...but once selected do you always have to go through the dialog about creating a new shape and say No, to recolor the fill or outline?

Apply Effects: (scale,rotate.etc) select the LAYER, select the shape or character if you have more than one in the layer, then set the frame you want the effect to occur next click(scale,rotate,etc). I hope this is what you were after.

Can you morph effects over a few frames?

page fold: Layer one create a rectangle(shape,character,etc) copy the chape on to a second Layer, line up both shapes so they appear as one shape, now you can apply ROTATE to one of the Layers. If you have touble with the shapes alignment move the origin.

Ah! Very helpful starting point... And to keep multiple layers moving together during complex folds, I guess I’d use bones, right?

Thanks again!
dc

[7feet]

Onion skinning - if there isn't a keyframe for the particular movement you are doing (point, layer, bone, etc.) at or after the frame you have onion skinned, there's going to be interpolation going on back to the last keyframe (or the zero frame if ther are none) and the onion skin will reflect that.

Shapes - Use the Select Shape tool. That will allow you to change anything you want. Also, I find using Styles to be really handy. Create a style (you'll often use them on multiple shapes) and you can then just adjust the style properties to change the look of multiple shapes without having to select them.

Effects - Most of the layer effects (blur, transparency, etc.), shape FX (color, transparency, not sure which else) can be keyframed. Anything that can be keyframed can be changed during the course of an animation.

Folding - The way I would do it would to put all of the "pages" into a group layer, and place the origin of each layer at as close to exactly the same spot as you can, positioned right on the edge where you want it to turn. The group is so you can keep them together. The origin - well, everything related to layer motion revolves around that point, including the depth sorting. If you wanted to turn multiple "pages", as in a book, that bit can get a little tricky. The easiest thing I've found is to give each layer step type keyframes on the Z layer translation, and when you want a new page to come to the front make a very small adjustment to the z translation of that page to bring it just a bit forward.

[David]

Thanks very much, folks! I’m making real progress with this amazing app...

Maybe I should be a little more specific: I’m making sewing diagrams, almost exactly like showing how to fold paper airplanes. So, what I mean by complex folds is the problem of folding an edge, then folding the same edge again, along a different line, either cutting across the first fold, or covering it up completely. So, how do I keep the objects that represent earlier folds travelling smoothly and with no gaps along with the next objects when I alter these to represent the subsequent folds? Each fold is a separate object, either in a group or on separate layers (or both...not really clear yet on what layers and groups do), right?

Eventually, I’ll be trying to figure out things like transparency, so you can still see previously folded shapes after folding them inside, making different sides of the fabric/paper different colors, and how to make lines appear along foldlines, i.e., between objects, right before that fold gets made, but not before.

Hope that’s a clearer description of my goals... thanks again!

dc

[Lost Marble]

select shape: click select point TOOL to select point or points then go to EDIT Select Connected

OK...but once selected do you always have to go through the dialog about creating a new shape and say No, to recolor the fill or outline?

This answer is wrong. Do not use the Select Points tool to select a fill shape. One of the quirks of Moho is that the lines you draw are separate objects from the fills and outlines you see in the final output. To select a fill shape or outline, use the Select Shape tool (the first tool in the Fill tool group). Click on the fill or outline you want to modify and it will become highlighted with a checkerboard pattern. You can then change its color, line width, etc.

The reason you're getting that dialog is that you're using the Create Shape tool, and Moho thinks you're trying to create a new shape, not select an existing one.

[David]

Thanks, big help!
dc