TVP Brush Design Basics

David Meslin
Welcome!
This tutorial covers the basics of creating brushes for animation using TVP Animation
9.5 Professional Edition. It’s targeted at TVP animators who are interested in creating
dynamic brushes that will complement their personal line qualities. An understanding
of dimensional drawing and the basic use of TVP is presumed.

Why bother with bitmaps?

Two-dimensional (“2D”), or drawn animation, has become increasingly digital
in the past 20 years or so. Initially computers were used only for the ink and paint
process; now with the advent of tablet displays like the Wacom Cintiq, entirely pa-
perless 2D productions are not only possible, but commonplace. Most of these pro-
ductions primarily employ vector graphics rather than a ”pixel-based” approach
(usually referred to as bitmap or raster). A common explanation for this is that vec-
tor imagery can be reused more easily, as they can be scaled and transformed with-
out losing their edge quality. Bitmap images necessarily erode as they rotate or scale,
and a high-resolution reference must be retained. Compare the following images:

Even with anti-aliasing (smoothing), the bitmap image shows erosion when it’s enlarged,
whereas the vector image retains its edges. The vector curves can be pulled around for
refinement, too, which is not possible with bitmaps.

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But these limitations of pixel-based images can also be seen as advantages. An uncom-
pressed bitmap image is the same file size no matter what’s drawn in it. This means that
TVP brushes can use extremely complex patterns and subtleties without significantly
adding to the computer processor’s load. A vector brush that might appear photographi-
cally similar to any natural media is too processor-intensive for current computing tech-
nology. And it would likely lose its photorealism if it were resized or transformed. The
following set of brush strokes, achieved quite simply in TVP, are practically impossible to
reproduce with a vector technique:

Animating with a pencil on paper affords the animator the luxury of superfluous line-
work. An image can be visualized in many possible directions, and the commitment
to a final image can be made gradually. Vector images, while flexible and efficient with
streamlined shapes and curves, are not suitable for exploratory sketching. For drawing
digitally as one would draw with a pencil on paper, pixels are more appropriate than vec-
tors, and the stigma of “pixellated” imagery can be avoided by working in sufficiently
high resolutions.

Imagination and Exhaustion

Those are the two primary boundaries concerning the possibilities of animation, ac-
cording to Dan McLaughlin, independent animator and former director of the UCLA
Animation Workshop. With that in mind, this tutorial has a serious regard for the
reasonable limits of complexity in hand-drawn animation. Beautiful illustrations are
not necessarily feasible to animate, and so brushes that create unmanageably com-
plex patterns will not be addressed, nor will those that spatter images of seashells or
ladybugs. Due to the author’s aesthetic preferences in animation, the focus will be
on brushes that can be used to draw volumetric shapes that can turn convincingly.

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Animation and Line Quality
It’s of course permissible to draw and animate in any style that one desires. However,
it’s indisputable that certain methods of representing images are easier for an audience to
decipher than others. If the animator has an interest in the legibility of her images and
image sequences, it is valuable to understand the concept of nodes. As first described by
art historian and psychologist Rudolf Arnheim, nodes are areas in an image that attract
the eye, due to contrast, convergence, or gesture. The animator must be concerned with
the the presence of nodes in each image and also in all of the images through time. Ide-
ally, there should be no accidentally occurring nodes. Nodes that affect the continuity
of the animation are often called “signatures,” and animation that is rife with uninten-
tional discontuity is said to “boil.” An animator may of course employ this effect as a
style at his own peril, as it affects the legibility, and therefore the meaning, of his story.

As with all creative software, TVP cannot be concerned with aesthetics; the operator
must decide which possibilities are desirable. Because the TVP brush engine is so ver-
satile, and able to consider so many input factors, it tends to generate repetition and
clutter unless we’re vigilant. Although it can be enchanting to behold the power of
a thousand brush dabs deploying in a responsive sequence, it’s rarely necessary or us-
able. It is the author’s opinion that no brush can extend the image-making abili-
ties of the animator; the best brushes will merely complement her existing skill-
set and style, and perhaps allow for fuller expression. This is actually quite a lofty
goal for a digital tool, and it does warrant the effort necessary to achieve it. Through-
out this tutorial, we will examine brush strokes to determine whether they can be im-
proved by eradicating uninentional nodes, repetitive marks, or needlessly noisy patterns.
Hopefully this will arm the reader with the perceptual tools necessary to go beyond the
techniques described here, on to other software, and even to non-digital artmaking.
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The TVP Brush Window
Now that we’ve covered some basic theory, we ought to take a look at the tools at our
disposal. Below is the brush window with the “AirBrush” tool selected.
The names and functions of the buttons are all well-covered in the
TVP manual. It’s important to understand the unique properties
of all of the basic tools so that we don’t expend unnecessary effort
creating custom brushes when a default tool will suffice. Before we
explore the unique virtues of the default brushes, some technical
details: sample strokes were created using a Wacom Intuos3 6”x8”,
and in TVP the subpixel option is on (Edit -> Preferences : Tablet :
SubPixel) for optimum curve smoothness.

AirBrush: Typically, digital airbrush tools are used at a large

brush size for subtle shading, but the host of stylus connection set-
tings within the TVP AirBrush tool means it can fill many roles.
With a “firm” edge at a small size, the airbrush serves as a nice digi-
tal pencil-style sketching tool.

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By changing the tip profile curve, a hard edge is achieved, and the AirBrush tool func-
tions as an ink pen. Sometimes a super-swelling ink pen can encourage bold shadows
while still allowing for hatching or detail. If you find a setting you like, don’t forget to
add it to the bin by clicking the “Bin” tab and then clicking in a blank space.

A hard-edged AirBrush with the Power set low and a constant Size can be used as a mass-
ing brush by toggling between the Color and Erase modes (F2 and F4 hotkeys, respec-
tively). Mass drawing (as opposed to line drawing) employs a more painterly technique
and is more difficult to animate.

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 PenBrush: This tool is essentially made redundant by the AirBrush tool, since the
AirBrush tool encompasses its entire functionality, with the exception of disabling anti-
aliasing. Only useful if you prefer to separate your inking tools in their own Bin.

Mechanical Pencil: A simple tool that only one size, which is approximately one
pixel in diameter. Very responsive Power setting that affects the opacity of the line, usu-
ally regulated controlled by stylus pressure. The main adjustment with the Mechanical
Pencil is the Power setting’s profile curve. For very busy linework, the Opacity setting
could be brought down, and the Power profile curve strengthened.

OilBrush: This has limited use for animation. Its unique quality is the built-in
appearance of depth, controlled with the “Light” setting. Useful for creating textures or
simulating the appearance of clay painting (it doesn’t actually look like oil paint because
the colors don’t blend).

PencilBrush: The built-in grain is a useful trait, especially with the advent of the
“Alpha Difference” mode. Mark Chong, a prolific contributor to the TVP community,
developed a brush called “NaturalSketch” which cleverly uses the tilt direction of the
stylus to determine the angle of the brush tip, and the degree of tilt to control the size
and aspect of the tip. This way, the brush can produce both precise lines and broad fills.