What is Onion Skin and How to Use it in 2D Animation

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What is Onion Skin in Animation

Onion skinning is a 2D animation technique. In the making of traditional animations, artists draw on very thin papers and place the papers on a light source. By doing so, an artist can see through the frames, and compare the keyframe and the inbetweens. On this page, we will guide you through the onion skin and lightbox feature in Animation Desk.

Onion Skin in Animation Desk

Enable the Onion Skin

Expand the Setting menu and switch to the last tab. You can enable the onion skin mode by tapping the toggle button. AnimationDesk_OnionSkin

Turn the Onion Skin on and off while Drawing

There is a Light Bulb button in the toolbar hanging on the left. When the lightbulb is orange, it means the onion skin effect is visible. If the lightbulb is gray, it means the lightbox is currently turned off, and you can’t see the onion skin effect.

Color-coded Onion Skin

Color-coded onion distinguishes the previous frame and the next frame with colors. The green lines mean the drawing in the previous frame. The red line represents the drawing in the next frame. AnimationDesk_OnionSkin AnimationDesk_OnionSkin

Let's Try it Out: Draw with Onion Skin

Design an animation sequence, try to draw the keyframes first. Enable the onion skin mode, and complete the rest of the animation.

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