Creating from Scratch

GP Creator

The following is instructions for creating your own scenes using Fred’s Tool, and some of the skills and knowlege that is useful for ground-up creation.

Creating a New Character with EasyGP Creator

  1. Ensure you’re on the first frame of the target camera shot

  2. Shift+Right-Click to place 3D cursor at character’s origin point

  3. Run EasyGPCreator.py (Text Editor → Play button or custom keybind)

  4. Type character name (e.g., “James”) — without GP_ prefix

  5. Select target camera shot from dropdown (defaults to active camera)

  6. Click OK — object created with all layers, materials, drivers, and effects

  7. Immediately draw a placeholder stroke (Shift+1 → squiggle) so object remains selectable

  8. If character exists elsewhere in file, materials/modifiers/effects auto-copy from the match

Setting Up a New Camera Shot

Prerequisites

Camera must be named camera_shot_N, pass index set. Existing characters must follow GP_Name_ShotN / ANIM_Name_ShotN naming.

  1. Move timeline to desired frame

  2. Shift+Right-Click to place 3D cursor where camera should go

  3. Shift+A → Add Camera (or Shift+D to duplicate existing)

  4. Rename both object and data block to camera_shot_N (N = shot number)

  5. Set object pass index to N (Properties → Object → Relations → Pass Index)

  6. Move timeline to frame where camera switch should occur

  7. Press Ctrl+B to create camera marker

  8. Navigate markers with Ctrl+Alt+Z/X

Note

Several animators forgot step 4 (data block naming) and step 5 (pass index). Consider adding a checklist callout in docs.

Setting up the Shadows and Highlights

(needs new set of steps) Shadow layer has ALL other layers as masks (except highlight and mouth mask)

Visibility Driver Setup (Manual)

  1. Right-click on a purple driver icon (visibility) on any GP object with drivers

  2. Select “Copy Driver” (or press C)

  3. Go to target object’s visibility icons (monitor + camera in Outliner)

  4. Right-click → “Paste Driver” (or press P) on each icon

  5. Verify by scrubbing timeline — objects should toggle with camera changes

Note

Works on ANY object type (meshes, lights, etc.), not just GP.

Keyframed Visibility (Alternative to Drivers)

  1. Go to frame where object should be visible

  2. Hover mouse over visibility icon → press I (keyframe)

  3. Go to frame where object should be hidden

  4. Click visibility off → press I

  5. Yellow diamonds appear in timeline; move as needed

Warning

Keyframes don’t auto-follow camera marker moves; drivers do.