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Apple calls you the night before your launch and asks for significant changes. What do you do? On this episode, hear how we reacted.
We also talk post-launch blues and taking a leap of faith. We discuss how we made the business sustainable, what ultimately moved the needle for us, and how Apple Pencil changed everything. We talk about how the Minnesota Cup connected us with mentors that changed the direction of our business. Finally, we discuss managing our psychology and why knowing your limitations as a founder is critical.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts.
Episode Summary
Astro Pad 1 0 Inch
- [0:50] Followup: 'Stay aggressive!'
- [1:40] Our post-launch blues.
- [3:30] Taking a leap of faith and going fulltime on the business.
- [4:30] A late-night call from Apple.
- [7:10] A phase of doubt.
- [10:00] Making the switch to the App Store.
- [12:00] Turning the tide with marketing campaigns.
- [16:30] Minnesota Cup and finding the right mentors.
- [20:00] Apple Pencil changes everything.
- [23:00] Knowing your limitations as a founder.
- [24:50] Why managing your psychology is critical.
Links and resources
Astro Pad 1 0 Inches
My setup:
Macbook Pro 15'
macOS: 10.15.4iPad Pro 12.9' (2nd Generation)
iOS: 13.4.1Apple Pencil (1st Generation)
Astropad (Standard)
Ver. 3.4.0
*Used a wire connectionAnimation Paper File setup
Canvas Size: 2732 x 2048
FPS 12
on TwosDisclaimer: I didn't get a chance to test out the first alpha, due to being discouraged that it didn't work upon attempting to download the app on my main desktop computer. However at some point after being sent Alpha 2, I downloaded it in my laptop and it works as far as I am aware of. Although my iPad is capable of running the Sidecar, both my computer and laptop don't, so I'll be using Astropad instead. For the purpose of feedback I'll be basing my testing from the tutorial videos and be using the Apple Pencil whenever possible.
Animation Paper
-When doing small curves quickly, it breaks the line. Drawing slowly will give you the intended results. Personally it is not a deal breaker for me as the only time you would do it that quickly would be during a shading process.
-Delete Layer (cmd-shift-del) not working despite the other command combinations working.
-Rubber Eraser doesn't look any different than the Vinyl Eraser despite the tutorial video stating it should give a soft edge. Even zooming in I didn't see any noticeable difference. Could be due the Astropad's pen pressure.
-On the view tools with the Apple pencil:
-The Pan works fine
-Zoom tool sometimes work, like around 80% as it is kind of fidgety in various strokes
-Rotate works fine, but I am not entirely sure without knowing the pivot point to know if I am rotating based on the Apple Pencil's point of origin.
-Comment on the Light Table intensity adjustment: I would like a more in-depth information for this to know the difference in regards to using Setting A & B, as I find myself using setting B for the in-betweens.
-For Speed dial it works after I tapped it with my Apple Pencil. I would imagine it would work extremely well with the Apple Pencil 2's tap function once you're able to map it.
-Clone drawing by dragging with Apple Pencil works.Astropad
-The pen pressure works well by my standards as it does like you would with a Wacom tablet. Unless there is a proper pen pressure testing processing that I should be doing for more accurate results, at the very least it is passible in a casual setting.
-Using the Brush size functionally works, but I do not know how much it increases incrementally, but you can easily tell by the size change of the cursor at least.
-Initially I had assumed that using Astropad's toolbar wouldn't work correctly with Animation Paper (My 'undo' in Astropad's toolbar is cmd-alt-Z, which activates the peg off function instead). I reset my Astropad's toolbar to default and it work as intended with Animation Paper's tools, least with Astropad's default tools setting. I imagine that Astropad's tool preference can be setup to work with Animation Paper's keyboard shortcut, but I didn't test further so it is possible that the function would work to some various degree
-Zoom and pan by finger touch does not work, but that is already expected
-Due to Astropad's screen setting. It is likely there will be some issue with the drawing size with my iPad relative to Animation Paper's canvas
-Despite using a wire connection to get the best response possible, the Apple pencil's latency response for the Animation Paper is kinda slow. This is a case by case basis however as it is not at a point for the drawing to lag far behind.Personal Thoughts
– I often find myself using a different keyboard shortcuts due to my habit with other programs, but that is a minor issue since the keyboard shortcut preference will be implemented at some point anyway.
-Finally there is a program that uses the X-sheet format! Can't wait to use along with my homemade X-sheet excel file for my animation process. Though I am a bit concerned about other people knowing how to use an X-sheet, however this assumes someone didn't read the Animator Survival Kit (particularly on page 70-77) which they should have read it anyway.
-Overall the Animation Paper works well with the Astropad.Really appreciate the work.
Hi Acel! Thanks for this extensive feedback. Appreciated!
I'll answer your questions/comments one by one below…
Animation Paper
-When doing small curves quickly, it breaks the line. Drawing slowly will give you the intended results. Personally it is not a deal breaker for me as the only time you would do it that quickly would be during a shading process.That's odd. Not supposed to happen. Maybe try running with a lower resolution and see if that helps? If you need the high resolution for your output, you can always change it to the higher res before you export (your drawings will update to be fully crisp, without any loss og degradation).
-Delete Layer (cmd-shift-del) not working despite the other command combinations working.
Weird. Maybe something else (other software, like Astropad?) is blocking this key combination? It works just fine in all our test environments.
-Rubber Eraser doesn't look any different than the Vinyl Eraser despite the tutorial video stating it should give a soft edge. Even zooming in I didn't see any noticeable difference. Could be due the Astropad's pen pressure.
You are right, it is VERY subtle. You need to basically regard the Rubber Eraser as the thin version of the bold Vinyl Eraser.
-On the view tools with the Apple pencil: -The Pan works fine -Zoom tool sometimes work, like around 80% as it is kind of fidgety in various strokes -Rotate works fine, but I am not entirely sure without knowing the pivot point to know if I am rotating based on the Apple Pencil's point of origin.
Could the 20% not working be because you are dragging diagonally bottom/left to top/right? The zoom reacts to up/down or left/right. Doing 'both' will cancel it out.
When you rotate it is always rotating around the center of the view.
-Comment on the Light Table intensity adjustment: I would like a more in-depth information for this to know the difference in regards to using Setting A & B, as I find myself using setting B for the in-betweens.
A and B is just like two different presets. 1password 6 8 8 – powerful password manager chrome extension. Often it is nice to have two different settings (like for rough and for clean up purposes or something else). This way you can keep two different settings and easily switch between the two.
-For Speed dial it works after I tapped it with my Apple Pencil. I would imagine it would work extremely well with the Apple Pencil 2's tap function once you're able to map it.
Cool.
-Clone drawing by dragging with Apple Pencil works.
Nice.
– Astropad
Thanks for all your remarks. Good to know. As for the zooming/rotating using touch/gestures. This has not been implemented yet – will come soon.
Mediatrans 4 0 download free. – Personal Thoughts
Thanks a lot! Glad you like the proper traditional X-Sheet way of doing it. 😉Best,
Niels
