Hello, I’m a new Synfig user. 
I’ve followed the tutorials, and I must say that Synfig is truly an amazing program! It has some confusing bits, but that can easily be taken care of. The tween vector is simple and helps in animation 5 times faster than done in Flash. I’m really starting to love this tool, so much I’ll be using this entirely for my animated AMV shot.
Although I do have a few questions.
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Shading: I have not yet found how I can shade vectors to show shadows and highlights, especially in objects and faces. If I create another object then I need to be careful how it is aligned the object below. If there is a simpler way with effects, how do I do that?
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Camera: Actually, I think I have found that answer. 
Camera widget
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Tablet: I’m using Genius MousePen 8x6 tablet, and I can’t seem to rightclick in Synfig. But when I use my mouse, I can. But when I do use a tablet I can’t use the mouse unless I exit the program and restart it. But I guess Bline Tool is good, so I’ll resolve to using a mouse.
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Effects: I wanted to know how I could make Anime-like lightning effects, like a gradient of white solid and blurred blue?
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Stroke: How do I add a black stroke to the object? I just need about 1 or 2 pixel width animatable stoke
Thank you for your time. Your help is appreciated.
Hello! I’ve not a very good artist, but I’ll try to help you out.
1/4. Effects and shading are typically done with layers and the blend mode parameter. See Tutorial: Adding Layers and Blend Method Parameter.
So for coloring, a layer of blend “over” is put above a BLine region. Morevna Project does shadows by doing a full black BLine region, with blend “multiply” and an amount slightly greater than 0.5
- Synfig manages outlines a separate from an object. Outlines are “Outline” layers, and together with a Region they create an object. To add an outline to existing regions (or vice versa) you can do the following:
a) Create a new outline (>Layer>New Layer>Geometry>Outline). Place it above the region layer
b) Select both layers in the layers panel.
c) Go to the parameters panel, right click vertices, and click “Link”
If you’re looking for sample files, Morevna Project git repository is a good source. There are also more sources available on the gallery page.
This is all I can say, hope it helps. Good luck using Synfig.
P.S. Wow!.. your art over at dA is amazing!
You might also want to check out the prologue video from Voria studios - there’s a link to the sources (for educational use only) at synfig.org/Gallery#Videos . There’s some great examples of characters moving into and out of shade/highlights.
The right click is extremely picky. I think the pen moves slightly as the button is depressed, and it registers the click as a drag. Rapidly right clicking on the pen helps me sometimes, but I agree it’s extremely annoying.
Chris
Yeah, I reckon Morevna Project’s way of shading is quite convenient, as they have more handling on the shading part. I suppose I can try that. If only Synfig wouldn’t keep crashing on WinXP! xDDD
Thanks for the source, pixel! Helps a lot. I wasn’t sure if it does register as a drag or not, but perhaps it’s driver conflict or someone; my tablet sucks. Hahaha! But I’ll try again anyway.
XD Thanks for the help and compliment, nikitakit. I have experience in Flash and traditional animation, so I guess I can catch up with Synfig well when it comes to learning steep, although I do admit certain things are confusing to me. As for the outline, well, that helps, especially when I need to show joined vectors. Although I think I’ve found a unique way of creating nice outlines, exactly how I make them in Flash. ^^ I haven’t tried it though. Once I do I’ll let you guys know, because the same technique could be used for making electric sparks, I reckon.