DUDE! You changed my life with this video man... I used Toon Boom for years so I never knew this function on Animate... Just though Adobe didnt care enough. Thanks for the very clear tutorials!
Happy to hear it was clear and helpful! I do enjoy Toon Boom, and I believe Adobe started caring more about this software after Flash was no longer necessary on the web. Which is why they rebranded it as Animate. It's good to see further development of this to attempt to make it useful for 2D vector-based animation.
question! when you make a stroke, it shows those many little lines outlining what the stroke will look like, do you know how to change that? i find it really annoying and hard to draw with...
I believe you are talking about the lines that appear with the Paint Brush Tool when you start to click and drag to draw. These are intended to show where the brush is drawn and the orientation of the brush stroke. They are perpendicular to the direction of the path (or stroke) as it is being drawn and will be applied but will not show what the final brush looks like when drawn. You can see this in action as you draw if you draw out the brush stroke slowly and then change the direction you will see the most recent lines change direction a bit. Yes, they can be annoying, especially if you are attempting to be precise. My only suggestion is to zoom into the canvas, but the lines will still be displayed when you are drawing.
Can you please explain how to get the 'STYLE' option in brush properties? i don't have them in there and there is no way to choose from the custom brushes in the library.
The Style drop down is the stroke for the Paint Brush or Pencil Tool only. If you have added these two different tools to the default tool box, when you select one of these two tools you will see the Style options appear in the properties panel. There is no Style options for the Classic Brush tool nor the Fluid Brush tool. I hope that helps.
Thank you so much for making this video but i have one question When I overlap in the same stroke it creates a gap in the middle of the lines (not sure how to explain it well) is there a way to fix it?
That’s an interesting issue. I’m not sure I’ve seen that. I tried to replicate what you might be seeing, but I didn’t see anything that was similar to what you are seeing. If you are using the Paint Brush perhaps smoothing is enabled. If so maybe change the smoothing under paint brush options. The paint brush draws in a vector, and would usually connect the curves where they overlap. Let me know if that helps, or if you moved on from that.
Hey there! I'm looking to share my custom brushes with the rest of my team. Could you guide me on how to export the brush file or let me know where these brushes are saved? Thanks a bunch!
Hi @BabyChokoRabbit, while you can merely add the brush stroke to an Animate Document, save the document, and then share it with everyone, I'm assuming you are looking for an easier solution though, or you may want to share a lot of brushes that everyone will have access to. If that's the case, I would suggest using the Creative Cloud Library. If you create a custom brush and draw it on the stage (in a *scene* or a *symbol* ) and select the stoke using the *Selection* tool, then open the *CC Libraries* panel (Window > CC Libraries). With the stroke still selected, click the plus sign at the bottom of the CC Libraries panel. A menu will give you options based on what you have selected to save in the library. With the stoke selected, you should see that you can save the stroke color, the brush, or the entire animation, or all. You can then rename it, create a folder for the vector brushes, and then share that folder directly from animate, or from the Creative Cloud desktop application. You have now given me a great idea for a new video though. I think this workflow may benefit others. For more information on the CC Libraries, check out: helpx.adobe.com/animate/using/library.html
Hey Stephen, thanks a lot for this! I am studying animation atm and I was wondering if it was possible to get a certain "watercolor" style brush in adobe animate? Thanks in regards
Pardon the delay in responding. Great to hear this was helpful. Since the brushes in Animate are vector-based, and not bitmap-based, you are not going to be able to mimic a watercolor style very well. You could change the opacity (alpha) brush strokes, but the edges will not be able to feather (soften the hard edges) around the perimeter of the shape. You can also turn on the Object Drawing mode (shortcut key j) which allows the shapes to overlay when they are semi-opaque. Without drawing object mode enabled, the shapes will combine when they are drawn over one another on the same layer. I hope this helps.
Is there any way to see the drawn line in real time rather then whatever strange default thing Animate is doing? I tried different preview modes and they all do the same thing.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you refer to the "strange default thing Animate is doing". Is this in the video, or something you see in animate when you are drawing?
Hi, it's seen in both. You know when drawing a stroke on the artboard you don't see your brush stroke as you draw, but rather a weird "ladder" type trail until you lift your pen off the tablet to reveal the brush stroke? That's what I mean. In photoshop for example you see the stroke as you draw, in real time, but in Animate you don't see it until you lift the pen from the drawing tablet. Does that make more sense at all? @@StephenAnimates
Oh, okay, I see what you mean now. When using the Paint Brush Tool, you see lines crossing the stroke until you stop. Unfortunately, I do not think you can do anything to change that. The "weird ladder type trail" represents the angle of the points along the stroke as they are perpendicular to the line. It is intended to show both the direction of each vector point along the path and how close they are together. Since animate is a vector-based animation software it doesn't behave quite like Photoshop. I will say though, that the Paint Brush Tool is a legacy brush from the pre-animate Flash era. If you have the Fluid Brush, use that as it's much more like using a Paint Brush in PS. I know that's not the answer you were hoping for, but I do hope it helps.
Hey thanks so much! YeahI love Adobe and wanted SO badly for Animate to be my go to animation program, but I just can't get over the feel of drawing on it, it just feels so far removed from pencil to paper and can't keep up with my hand really. I might look into Clip Studio, I bought that also and seems like it may have what I need. Thanks for talking me through that man. Appreciate it!@@StephenAnimates
Yes, no problem. I do wish that Adobe would either create 2D animation software or add a better animation process to Photoshop or add bitmap based tools in Animate. I've never used Clip Studio, and have heard from some that it is not ideal either, but I have been using TVPaint and have used Sketchbook Pro that contains a Flipbook (animation) interface. Both have a lot of tools that mimic traditional 2D animation. Something to look into if you're interested.
I'm missing the style drop down in my brush tool properties. Did they get rid of this in Animate 2024 or is there a way to reset the preferences or something? It's only on the line tool that that shows up
The *Style* drop-down menu is still in the *Properties* window (Tool tab) in Animate 2024. Make sure you are using the *Paint Brush Tool* (Y is the shortcut for the tool) or the *Pencil Tool* and not the Fluid or Classic brush. Let me know if that helps.
There is no "Smooth Brush" in Adobe Animate. Maybe you are asking about the smooth settings for the brush tool? If so there are a lot of reasons this may not be working for you. It could be merely the brush settings are incorrect, but other reasons could be due to your computer or graphics card configuration. It's rather impossible to diagnose without seeing what problem you are having.
The quick answer is no. However, there is not really any difference between the Paint Brush tool and the Pencil tool when it comes to creating a stroke with either. The Paint Brush tool actually has more options than the Pencil tool. Both tools merely create a line with a brush style applied. However, the custom brush stroke will not show up in the Style menu for the pencil. If you really want to apply a custom stroke when using the Pencil tool, you can draw a stroke, then double click the stroke with the Selection tool, then in the Properties panel choose the Tool button at the top, then change the Style (drop-down menu) to a different or custom brush stroke. I hope that helps.
You can certainly customize a brush to look like a pencil stroke, you can just choose one that looks the most like a pencil from the library. You can customize one of those brushes to suit your needs. Look at the Artistic brushes in the Library or the Vector Pack Brushes which contains Hand Drawn brushes.
Not that I am aware of. I do not know of any downloadable Brush presets. Although, you can just copy and paste any vector shape into an new empty Adobe Animate project and use that to make a new brush preset. For example, if you use Adobe Illustrator, you can add one of the brushes from presets into a new Illustrator document. Then you can copy that and paste it into a new scene in Adobe Animate and add that as a brush preset. I hope that helps. You can do this with any vector shape.
DUDE! You changed my life with this video man... I used Toon Boom for years so I never knew this function on Animate... Just though Adobe didnt care enough. Thanks for the very clear tutorials!
Happy to hear it was clear and helpful! I do enjoy Toon Boom, and I believe Adobe started caring more about this software after Flash was no longer necessary on the web. Which is why they rebranded it as Animate. It's good to see further development of this to attempt to make it useful for 2D vector-based animation.
Oh my god you’re a life saver, I’ve been struggling for MONTHS
LOL… that’s awesome that it helped. So sorry that took months though.
Thank you so much! I had no idea these tools existed and I wish I'd known sooner so I had more variety in my line style lol.
I'm glad this helped you out. Good that you know the tools exist now!
question! when you make a stroke, it shows those many little lines outlining what the stroke will look like, do you know how to change that? i find it really annoying and hard to draw with...
I believe you are talking about the lines that appear with the Paint Brush Tool when you start to click and drag to draw. These are intended to show where the brush is drawn and the orientation of the brush stroke. They are perpendicular to the direction of the path (or stroke) as it is being drawn and will be applied but will not show what the final brush looks like when drawn. You can see this in action as you draw if you draw out the brush stroke slowly and then change the direction you will see the most recent lines change direction a bit. Yes, they can be annoying, especially if you are attempting to be precise. My only suggestion is to zoom into the canvas, but the lines will still be displayed when you are drawing.
I was hoping there was a fix for this :((
thank you so much, i was so frustrated don't understand how to unlock the different brushes from the library ! :)
Great to hear I could help!
Great help! ✨
Happy to hear that!
Can you please explain how to get the 'STYLE' option in brush properties? i don't have them in there and there is no way to choose from the custom brushes in the library.
The Style drop down is the stroke for the Paint Brush or Pencil Tool only. If you have added these two different tools to the default tool box, when you select one of these two tools you will see the Style options appear in the properties panel. There is no Style options for the Classic Brush tool nor the Fluid Brush tool. I hope that helps.
Thank you so much for making this video but i have one question
When I overlap in the same stroke it creates a gap in the middle of the lines (not sure how to explain it well) is there a way to fix it?
That’s an interesting issue. I’m not sure I’ve seen that. I tried to replicate what you might be seeing, but I didn’t see anything that was similar to what you are seeing. If you are using the Paint Brush perhaps smoothing is enabled. If so maybe change the smoothing under paint brush options. The paint brush draws in a vector, and would usually connect the curves where they overlap. Let me know if that helps, or if you moved on from that.
Hey there! I'm looking to share my custom brushes with the rest of my team. Could you guide me on how to export the brush file or let me know where these brushes are saved? Thanks a bunch!
Hi @BabyChokoRabbit, while you can merely add the brush stroke to an Animate Document, save the document, and then share it with everyone, I'm assuming you are looking for an easier solution though, or you may want to share a lot of brushes that everyone will have access to. If that's the case, I would suggest using the Creative Cloud Library.
If you create a custom brush and draw it on the stage (in a *scene* or a *symbol* ) and select the stoke using the *Selection* tool, then open the *CC Libraries* panel (Window > CC Libraries). With the stroke still selected, click the plus sign at the bottom of the CC Libraries panel. A menu will give you options based on what you have selected to save in the library. With the stoke selected, you should see that you can save the stroke color, the brush, or the entire animation, or all. You can then rename it, create a folder for the vector brushes, and then share that folder directly from animate, or from the Creative Cloud desktop application.
You have now given me a great idea for a new video though. I think this workflow may benefit others. For more information on the CC Libraries, check out: helpx.adobe.com/animate/using/library.html
Dude thank you so so much you are like legit a lifesaver
😎 Happy to help!
thanks i understand now
Hey Stephen, thanks a lot for this!
I am studying animation atm and I was wondering if it was possible to get a certain "watercolor" style brush in adobe animate?
Thanks in regards
Pardon the delay in responding. Great to hear this was helpful. Since the brushes in Animate are vector-based, and not bitmap-based, you are not going to be able to mimic a watercolor style very well. You could change the opacity (alpha) brush strokes, but the edges will not be able to feather (soften the hard edges) around the perimeter of the shape.
You can also turn on the Object Drawing mode (shortcut key j) which allows the shapes to overlay when they are semi-opaque. Without drawing object mode enabled, the shapes will combine when they are drawn over one another on the same layer. I hope this helps.
Is there any way to see the drawn line in real time rather then whatever strange default thing Animate is doing? I tried different preview modes and they all do the same thing.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you refer to the "strange default thing Animate is doing". Is this in the video, or something you see in animate when you are drawing?
Hi, it's seen in both. You know when drawing a stroke on the artboard you don't see your brush stroke as you draw, but rather a weird "ladder" type trail until you lift your pen off the tablet to reveal the brush stroke? That's what I mean. In photoshop for example you see the stroke as you draw, in real time, but in Animate you don't see it until you lift the pen from the drawing tablet. Does that make more sense at all?
@@StephenAnimates
Oh, okay, I see what you mean now. When using the Paint Brush Tool, you see lines crossing the stroke until you stop. Unfortunately, I do not think you can do anything to change that. The "weird ladder type trail" represents the angle of the points along the stroke as they are perpendicular to the line. It is intended to show both the direction of each vector point along the path and how close they are together. Since animate is a vector-based animation software it doesn't behave quite like Photoshop. I will say though, that the Paint Brush Tool is a legacy brush from the pre-animate Flash era. If you have the Fluid Brush, use that as it's much more like using a Paint Brush in PS. I know that's not the answer you were hoping for, but I do hope it helps.
Hey thanks so much! YeahI love Adobe and wanted SO badly for Animate to be my go to animation program, but I just can't get over the feel of drawing on it, it just feels so far removed from pencil to paper and can't keep up with my hand really. I might look into Clip Studio, I bought that also and seems like it may have what I need. Thanks for talking me through that man. Appreciate it!@@StephenAnimates
Yes, no problem. I do wish that Adobe would either create 2D animation software or add a better animation process to Photoshop or add bitmap based tools in Animate. I've never used Clip Studio, and have heard from some that it is not ideal either, but I have been using TVPaint and have used Sketchbook Pro that contains a Flipbook (animation) interface. Both have a lot of tools that mimic traditional 2D animation. Something to look into if you're interested.
I'm missing the style drop down in my brush tool properties. Did they get rid of this in Animate 2024 or is there a way to reset the preferences or something? It's only on the line tool that that shows up
The *Style* drop-down menu is still in the *Properties* window (Tool tab) in Animate 2024. Make sure you are using the *Paint Brush Tool* (Y is the shortcut for the tool) or the *Pencil Tool* and not the Fluid or Classic brush. Let me know if that helps.
do you know why a smooth brush may not work in adobe animation?
There is no "Smooth Brush" in Adobe Animate. Maybe you are asking about the smooth settings for the brush tool? If so there are a lot of reasons this may not be working for you. It could be merely the brush settings are incorrect, but other reasons could be due to your computer or graphics card configuration. It's rather impossible to diagnose without seeing what problem you are having.
Very helpful!
Happy to hear it helped.
W tutorial
Can you do same with pencil to have different strokes?
The quick answer is no. However, there is not really any difference between the Paint Brush tool and the Pencil tool when it comes to creating a stroke with either. The Paint Brush tool actually has more options than the Pencil tool. Both tools merely create a line with a brush style applied. However, the custom brush stroke will not show up in the Style menu for the pencil. If you really want to apply a custom stroke when using the Pencil tool, you can draw a stroke, then double click the stroke with the Selection tool, then in the Properties panel choose the Tool button at the top, then change the Style (drop-down menu) to a different or custom brush stroke. I hope that helps.
@@StephenAnimates Can I make Paint brush strokes to be look like pencil sketch?
You can certainly customize a brush to look like a pencil stroke, you can just choose one that looks the most like a pencil from the library. You can customize one of those brushes to suit your needs. Look at the Artistic brushes in the Library or the Vector Pack Brushes which contains Hand Drawn brushes.
@@StephenAnimates Can you download brushes for adobe animated? If you know, is there site I can download for free
Not that I am aware of. I do not know of any downloadable Brush presets. Although, you can just copy and paste any vector shape into an new empty Adobe Animate project and use that to make a new brush preset. For example, if you use Adobe Illustrator, you can add one of the brushes from presets into a new Illustrator document. Then you can copy that and paste it into a new scene in Adobe Animate and add that as a brush preset. I hope that helps. You can do this with any vector shape.
Thank you! Now I can make duh cartoonz of mah dreams 😋
thank god I watched this
I'm guessing it helped?
Stephen's Animations ya something like that ;)
Nah but for real it did a lot you got right to the point and gave the info I needed
Lifesaver
muchas gracias
De nada
Thank you!!
You're welcome!
Muito Obrigada !
Thanks 😊
No problem 😊
❤