How to make sure lock fill and object drawing don't automatically come on

[bemirry]

As I'm switching between brush tool and the fill bucket tool, unless I happen to be hitting the letter "J" over and over again whenever this happens (which I don't think I am), both object drawing and/or lock fill keep getting automatically toggled on seemingly by themselves. How do I stop them from doing this? This is extremely frustrating because I'm just trying to color in my frames with the brush and bucket tool and then when the object drawing mode comes on, I can't use the bucket tool. (why pray tell would they design this program to make it so challenging to fill in colors?)

Adobe Animate/Flash has had this problem for *years* -- people keep running into the problem of the brush tool going into object drawing mode, and then people get really frustrated with using the fill bucket tool because you can't fill inside lines that are drawn in object drawing mode. Adobe Animate will tell you when you're trying to draw in a locked layer but they won't tell you why you can't use the bucket tool in object drawn lines. I wish this would be fixed.

[_keyframer]

I can totally see why this would be frustrating but I just tested what you described and it works just fine for me. Here's what I did and please tell me if I misunderstood your process:

1. I select the Brush tool (B) and have Object Drawing mode on.

2. Draw a circle and make sure it is a closed circle.

3. I select the Bucket tool (K).

4. I click inside the circle that is an Object Drawing.

Result: my circle gets filled (with the same color I used with the Brush tool).

It should work for you.

[bemirry]

Ok, I followed the exact steps you described, and it does work exactly as you said -- so now I'm really confused, because the way I'd been fixing up my problems of not being able to fill closed loops is turning OFF object drawing mode. What I noticed was if I tried to fill in areas that were a mix of lines that were objects and not objects, the fill bucket tool wouldn't work even though there are no gaps (I think that's what's happening) -- I have a lot of frames to color in, and a lot of the times the fill bucket tool just *doesn't* fill for me, and the fix that worked for me was turning OFF object drawing mode. But then it'd toggle/turn on by itself again, and then I'd find myself failing to fill in areas with the bucket.

Mostly my question is how to make sure the object drawing mode doesn't automatically get toggled -- hard to replicate the scenario since it usually happens when I'm filling in frames for hours.

[_keyframer]

I've made the same mistake before by accidentally have OD mode on. Then I go to fill my shapes and it won't. But from experience I learned to check my art by selecting all and there's a distinct visual difference between raw vector art and vector art inside an Object Drawing.

Here's what I end up doing: Ctrl + B (Break Apart). This breaks up the Object Drawings and everything will raw vector art. Then deselect all and fill. if you have a lot of frames like this, you can use the Edit Multiple Frames feature to break apart Object Drawings across multiple frames at once.

Now, if accidentally drawing with OD mode on is happening because of inadvertent fat-fingering on the J key due to its proximity to the Bucket (K) shortcut or Brush (B), then duplicate your shortcuts and assign Object Drawing mode a totally different key in a land far far away...

[bemirry]

Hey thank you so much for these detailed tips -- I'll try these shortly and get back to you after I do another few hours of another work session.

[bemirry]

Oh yeah, where in the keyboard shortcuts menu can I find Object Drawing mode so I can change its hotkey?

[chenjil43641795]

Yes, you can set your own shortcut keys

[_keyframer · Accepted solution]

Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts...then just type in "Object Drawing" in the search field to find it

[chenjil43641795]

I just want to whine.

Adobe is so unfriendly to animators.

Many defects do not make up.

Many of the features required for animations have not yet been developed.

Three kinds of animation production process.

cartoons(Drawing is the main, very exaggerated, need to draw the function well),

animation,(Various forms and references, automatic closing line, coloring, automatic voice mouth)

anime.(Powerful library, batch processing, automatic identification of red and blue lines,Automatic sound mouth system,Automatically color, go color, replace color,layout)

None of these animation processes are implemented.

Always developing in programming.

But it turned out to be less than other languages. Animators also learn code.

Really is a very disturbing software.

is the development team full of programmers?

No animated animators?

[bemirry]

I know. Like, is there an easier way to color in each of my frames while adding shade on top of my base color but below the outlines?? Why can't I put in airbrush-looking brush strokes right in Animate? I actually have a student who does all her animation in Photoshop specifically because of the lack of airbrushing in Animate -- instead we have to use clean hard lines.

Sometimes my lines get dragged out randomly, like they turn into blobs, as I'm drawing them. Sometimes they get erased by themselves while I'm drawing (thank god for CTRL + Z, but why should I have to put up with these defects??), and also I had a student make a transformation on a character and the blonde hair kept turning black when he deselected his character.

Also... changing the FPS is so unintuitive. WHY, again pray tell, would you have an FPS indicator right near your playback options but NOT be able to change it from there? So many of my students have trouble with this and all end up animating at 24FPS because it's the default and it looks as if Animate won't let you change it. Even when I try to find the actual way to change the FPS, for now I just fumble with the cursor tool and going to the Properties tab in order to find it. I swear, EVERYBODY I've seen who tries to figure out the FPS first clicks on the one right near your playback options at the bottom of the software tries to click on the greyed out framerate and then goes "oh I can't change it." This is more asinine than it needs to be, because it's such a simple little thing but it is extremely *important* for us animators -- I usually start at 6FPS with my students because we only have an hour to work per session and sometimes we just want to make animations that could be for video game graphics.

I could go on all day about how I despise Adobe software *rolls eyes* but this is what we're stuck with. Thank you to friendly members of the community who use the program and bother to go to the forums and help out disgruntled people like me =___=

[_keyframer]

Like, is there an easier way to color in each of my frames while adding shade on top of my base color but below the outlines??

So to follow you here, you want an easy way to color separate frames containing different art, and at the same time adding some shading automatically on the top of the base color and below the outlines? I'm still not even sure what that means. Can you explain it differently?

Why can't I put in airbrush-looking brush strokes right in Animate? I actually have a student who does all her animation in Photoshop specifically because of the lack of airbrushing in Animate -- instead we have to use clean hard lines.

Animate has always been a vector based tool. You are describing raster-based paint effects (real media brushes) that exist in bitmap editing programs. Vectors are very different. The advantage with vectors is resolution free graphics.

Sometimes my lines get dragged out randomly, like they turn into blobs, as I'm drawing them. Sometimes they get erased by themselves while I'm drawing (thank god for CTRL + Z, but why should I have to put up with these defects??), and also I had a student make a transformation on a character and the blonde hair kept turning black when he deselected his character.

This sometimes happens when vectors overlap and the points become too complex for the underlining math that makes up each stroke. The Brush tool has a smoothness slider that can help and is worth playing around with. Object Drawing mode is also a tool that can help avoid this - but it doesn't happen often enough for it to be a deal breaker. As for the character and the blonde hair turning black, sometimes of you select the vector art in question and optimize/smooth it, the vector information is changed enough that the issue of them turning black won't happen.

Also... changing the FPS is so unintuitive. WHY, again pray tell, would you have an FPS indicator right near your playback options but NOT be able to change it from there? So many of my students have trouble with this and all end up animating at 24FPS because it's the default and it looks as if Animate won't let you change it...

You set the frame rate when you create a new document. It's in the document's properties. Most animation and video programs are setup this way. To change a document's frame rate after it has been created is simply Ctrl + J (Document Properties or Modify > Document from the menu. If the FPS could be changed from the timeline panel, then many would probably accidentally change it and then complain that it shouldn't be there.

I could go on all day about how I despise Adobe software *rolls eyes* but this is what we're stuck with. Thank you to friendly members of the community who use the program and bother to go to the forums and help out disgruntled people like me =___=
Venting is okay. Glad we got that out. Deep breaths.
Animate is software. It can't and will never read our minds. When we pick up a hammer, it knows not the size or style house we want to build with it. Like a hammer, Animate is just a tool. We can't expect it to intuitively understand what we want it to do for us.

[chenjil43641795]

He's talking about the basic functions of the animation. Understand a little differently.

Since 2008, animation production has been fully vector development.

This is because the world goes into the HD era

Animation Engineering to change the size of the difficulty, so very early has given up the bitmap.

So ANCC take the vector as a reason, unreasonable

[chenjil43641795]

He meant

1,Automatic coloring.

2,Style animation.(The new brush tool can actually make up for)

3,This really affects the animation very much, because it can cause the animation to the bit problem

4,It's actually a speed shift.When the animation is filmed, sometimes 1 frames 1 images, sometimes 1 frames 2 pictures or more frames to form a rhythm this and frame speed is different.

5,So we all want ANCC to be better.

[bemirry]

thanks for answering all my questions. I've just always had this habit of getting really grumpy if I have to deal with the software itself rather than just mindlessly creating things and not worrying about anything. But that's the nature of software. This is why I prefer just drawing and painting. It's usually not complicated until updates change hotkeys or something as simple as panning the view (one of the Windows 10 updates made it so I couldn't brush while zooming in in Photoshop, instead it made me pan while brush tool was selected).

[ClayUUID]

bemirry  wrote

Why can't I put in airbrush-looking brush strokes right in Animate? I actually have a student who does all her animation in Photoshop specifically because of the lack of airbrushing in Animate -- instead we have to use clean hard lines.

Uh, because Animate is a vector graphics program. Do you understand what that means?

[bemirry]

I understand what vector is.

I just find it funny that Adobe decides to give Adobe Photoshop 3D capabilities, but I don't know anyone who uses Photoshop for 3D anything. I had one student learn Photoshop for 3D printing, and I told her there are better programs to use for 3D, like Blender (not to mention it's free). It's like going to a vegan restaurant and being expected to be served steaks.

If Adobe is so into "capabilities," I'm pretty sure users would love it if Adobe Animate had more capabilities like TVPaint.

[chenjil43641795]

Agree with you, but seem to have not replied to my answer, do not know whether my answer has a problem.

Look, you said you were an American animator.

You are the process of making American animation(animation).

Those functions are useful in other processes.(For example:anime)

I feel rich and functional is a good development.

Just our more urgent function they didn't give us.

TVP,TONNZ,RETAS,ANIMO,TOON ROOM.

These professional animation software is worth reference.

Among them, there are free open-source software.

These are software that is commonly used around the world.

So I really feel bad.

So many years,

Not yet focused on animation.

I've been using flash since the age of FLASH8,

Each version update can only sigh.

[chenjil43641795]

I can't speak English, so I don't understand what you're saying.

I can demonstrate my operating procedures and I don't know if it will help you.

Do not use Group features.

Use, modify-merge objects-union.

Draw separately with brushes and pencils.

Green Line for closed graphics.

Red lines are used to draw light.

The blue line is to draw the shaded area.

When you add a new stroke or brush, merge the objects again.

Notice here that I set the merge object to Ctrl + G.

Default is no shortcut key.

This needs to be in the editing options,

setting in shortcut keys options

[bemirry]

When I tried this, I kind of ran into more trouble. Upon combining objects together with union, they all become objects I can't draw over -- I'd prefer to be able to draw/fill on top of them. I also find I prefer them to be in parts. For example, I keep the highlights of different objects each in their own zones.

There seem to be 2 different kinds of things I can select -- objects and... the other thing?

This first shot is what I prefer to see when I select my colorings/lines:

For my purposes, this is actually what I don't want to see when I select any part of my line/fills:

If I do combine--> union, then everything seems to turn into objects I can't draw nor fill on top of if I wanted to. So what I've realized is that for my purposes, I really don't want my whole selection looking like this (both the object and the other thing included when I select all my coloring work in the same frame and layer):

I may not be an expert nor know all the proper terminology, all I really want is something that works.

**Long story short though:

- go to edit -> keyboard shortcuts

- type in "object drawing"

What I decided to do was remove the hotkey for it, currently for my purposes removing the hotkey for it seems to have solved the issue of the paint bucket tool seemingly just not working if it gets mixed in with the other types of lines. I worked for a few hours having done this and making sure I have no orange-highlighted lines/fill zones when I select stuff, and everything seems to work smoothly.

Thank you guys so much for all your help.

[chenjil43641795]

My understanding is wrong.

You found a way.

That's good.

anime , processing a lot of storyboard, line draft.

Each person is responsible for a whole lens.

The entire animation is a line draft..

Finally, fill the image with color.

Many people will do the same 1 roles.

animation,The animation of your place.

is to have 1 people do roles animations.

Relative process,

More demand for good painting ability

The process is different and therefore leads to an understanding of deviations.

[_keyframer]

So Animate still works the way it always has in terms of drawing and selecting. The feature known as Object Drawing was added a short while back to allow us the option to draw shapes that overlap without having them be destructive to each other. It's a very useful feature and extends Animate's drawing capabilities.
If you don't like Object Drawing, simply don't use it. I'm not sure why you are complaining about a feature that can easily be toggled on/off. Object Drawing is an added enhancement that is optional to you as the user. I hope I didn't misunderstand your gripe. Commonly we'll see people complain about lack of features as opposed to complaints of added features.

[bemirry]

I'm mainly complaining because many people, myself and my students included (including students who've spent a lot of time with the software), often run into the problem of using the bucket tool and not understanding why it wouldn't work. We don't know that the object drawing mode is an added feature. Often solutions to our most frustrating problems are simple but while we're going through the frustration with the software, we don't know where are problems are coming from. I believe the fill bucket tool is also a common tool to use. Animate might tell you that you're trying to edit a locked layer and then unlock it for you, but at the moment it's not telling us why something won't fill with the bucket tool. Maybe it should, maybe it shouldn't *shrug* I get that it is what it is, and perhaps that's what this forum is for.

I really appreciate your help, thanks for taking all that time and effort for me.

[_keyframer]

I can sympathize with your frustration. Learning software can be tricky - especially if it's a program that has a lot of features that is trying to please the masses.

That said, this is exactly why this forum is here and our team patrols them daily. I do think Adobe could have a lot more tutorials dedictaed to the real world use cases for features like these but for now, this forum will suffice.

In the specific situation you just described where if you are trying to fill a shape in a locked layer and Animate does not warn the user that the layer is locked is something that makes me wonder what might be wrong with your version of the software - because for me and for many versions, Animate does exactly that: once I click to fill a shape in a locked layer, I get a popup warning telling me the layer in question is locked and it prompts me to keep it locked or unlock it. Not sure why you are reporting that this does not happen.

[bemirry]

Well I'm actually relieved to find how supportive and responsive the Adobe forums actually are and I'm truly grateful.

I think you might have misread, I actually meant to say that Adobe Animate DOES put up that popup that you just showed me, but it won't for the fill bucket tool (not due to locked layer but the object drawing related problem). I've seen Adobe software like Photoshop tell me that I'm trying to edit on an empty layer, or that I need to make an object rasterized and so on. My thought is simply that perhaps there should be a popup that tells me why my fill bucket tool isn't working (the answer being due to my using a mix of the object drawing and the other kind of lines that I'm making as pictured in my post with my screenshots).

[chenjil43641795]

I can understand you.

Because the animators are very difficult.

Making animations is not just about making movie clips and other sports.

But I think it's one-sided.

TVP is a bitmap software.

and is dedicated to hand-painted.

All the work, mixed together.

I don't think it's right to measure the other with 1 software.

In fact, many companies use vector software.including Disney.

In the industry, Vector software is the future trend.

As a foreigner, compared to European and American software, I like more things Japanese software.

Everyone is in charge of 1 jobs.

Writing stories,story board, sketching, painting original pictures, making animations, drawing backgrounds---------

When the work is handed down to the next 1 people, how do they understand what you think?

The reason you are not happy is no, warning message and help.

I agree with that.

Especially now, the Help manual is canceled.

html5 code,This question will suggest Easeljs site lookup,

But the resulting code ANCC is not available. Need to convert.

Such things that programmers can easily.

But the average person doesn't know what to do.

In conclusion, ANCC is a lack of humanization.

For animations,Requires at least 4 working sections.

1,Writing plot, storyboard.Draw every shot.

(America seems to have only storyboards.Japan is 5-6, different storyboards,From sketches to perfect lines)

ANCC does not have this function

2,Draw the original picture, background,

(Japan according to the story board

There are 1 departments to draw characters,

Another 1 people draw backgrounds)

ANCC lacks tools in this area

3,Animation production

According to the storyboard and the original painting,

Making animations.

ANCC lack of automated processing in this area.

automatically discovers broken lines.

Delete the specified color.

All frames perform this operation and do not have

4,Fill Color action.

ANCC does not automatically process all frames.

Repeat the operation every time.

Other software:

Some will recognize red and blue pencils, and then automatically populate.so just choose the color you want to fill.

Some software copies the manuscript to another 1 floors. Become a constituency.

As soon as you select the selection's layer, the fill gets the appropriate color

5,Special effects Processing

This feature ANCC not.

But that doesn't bother me.

In the global vector animation software,With this feature, there are not a few special effects.

Most effects are based on bitmaps.So it doesn't matter.

The problem may be lens sorting and tuning.Frame speed of range.

In fact, my idea is that a series of frames can be set to a tag.

The tag appears in a separate module.Move these tags to adjust the group connection for the timeline

Anyway, I think we should consider all the ways of animation, not single