Advantages of each level style.

[Dillon Wright]

Here's a question for all you OpenToonz users: Are there advantages of using different levels(like Vector or Raster(or their Toonz counterparts)?

[Rodney]

Yes, there are many advantages to each level type.

Here's a quicklist (I'm not trying to be all inclusive!):

(standard raster)   Primary benefit:  MyPaint brushes

Standard raster is also the format most important imagery will be in.

Toon Raster

The mainstay of Toonz/OpenToonz

This is the format that most work is colored in 

It has the benefit of paint fills and recoloring of lines and/or areas

Vector

Whereas raster images are bitmap and depend on resolution of an image vector lines are resolution independent so scaling up and down won't produce jagged edges.

Vector lines can also be edited independently and reshaped via control points.

There is an advantage of sticking with Toonz Raster and Vector in that these formats can easily be converted back and forth via copy/paste.

Toonz Raster and vector levels can also be pasted into standard raster levels.

BUT the reverse is not the case   Standard raster images can't be copy/posted into Toonz Raster or vector.

Instead they must be converted or cleaned up in order to take advantage of the benefits of Toonz Raster and vector levels.

That's skimming the surface of the various advantages/disadvantages.

Added:  I'd say I have a favorite level type but usually my favorite is the one I'm using at the time because we can use all three at the same time in a Scene.

Generally speaking I tend to use Toonz raster more than vector but both of these more than standard raster.

I mostly use standard raster for quick sketching (and using MyPaint brushes) and for dealing with imported imagery.

[Jane Eyre]

Personally I love to use the raster (mypaint) brushes to get really elaborate, painterly backgrounds. Out of the graphics programs I’ve used, these are my most favorite brushes & I like how easy they are to access/change in the style editor.

I see 3 major downsides to raster levels:
- the palettes and drawings are not dynamic
- no fill capability
- no type

When I want to work more precisely I use vector levels. These have the benefit of resizing, have more automated options, allow easy color adjustments, and have a variety of fill/brush options. The line thickness and line variatiom can be adjusted easily after drawing. The drawings themselves can be easily adjusted with the various vector tools.

The downsides to vector levels include:
- they don’t work well for painterly/sketch styles (too many control points create lag)
- fills can be glitchy (though the new gap size option for the fill tool resolves fill issues really well)

Toonz Raster levels certainly have some great capabilities (especially for cell shading) but I don’t especially like the line quality so I don’t tend to use them.

[openanim]

Personally, the main advantages and disadvantages in my use are for:

Raster level:

Advantages :
- Can draw fluidly
- use of Mypaint.

Disadvantages:
- The lack of dynamic parameters of the brush.

- No customizable tip.

The Mypaint software has a dynamic brush editor, this would be a great addition to my opinion. To create these own brushes. Maybe after that the opentoonz brush motor does not lend itself to it ?

Nevertheless, as a workaround it is possible to modify its brush on the desired dynamic parameters since mypaint and to install it in Opentoonz.

However, there is no possibility to use custom tips in mypaint as it's possible in Gimp / Krita / photoshop. Gimp and krita have excellent dynamic parameters too, that could also be suitable for opentoonz. 

Even if, the ideal would be to have dynamic parameters specific to the opentoonz brushes.

Toonz Raster:

Advantages :

- Coloring / Autopaint lines
- Animation of styles

Disadvantages:
- Same as Raster.

Toonz Vector:

Advantages :

- Inking and Vector Modification Tools
- Tweening
- Custom tips and pattern (but low performance)
- Animation of styles and parameters

Disadvantages:

- Not ideal for drawing
- Low performance when working with custom tips/brushes
Compared to Harlequin at this level, it can be discouraging to do it in opentoonz because it slows down a lot,not fluid,  copy paste are difficult.
- Difficult to close the gaps in the coloring process.