Masking problems

[dangag68]

Hi everyone!

I have some problems with masking multiple bone layers. First, I have a main bone layer for the character, inside I have a bone layer for the head and inside this one another bone layer for the eyes. The problem is the pupils are still invisible whatever I do. If I put the bone layer for the eyes outside the main bone, all work great.

Can you tell me what I'm doing wrong?

[heyvern]

Is the masking not working when you render? Depending on how your masking is set up it won't display properly in the preview but will render correctly.

If that is not the case, masking does not work outside of a group folder (bone layer). The masking set for a bone layer and its sub layers that are inside another bone layer, will not mask outside or up the grouping levels outside of the sub bone layer. So if you setup a sub group layer with it's own masking the group/bone layer result from that masking can be used to mask layers at the same level in the parent group but the masking settings INSIDE the sub layer won't effect layers or masking outside of that group. Just think of the bone layer and whatever it looks like due to its own masking as a single layer that can be used to mask other layers.

And on top of that, this type of complicated masking will probably not display correctly in the preview, but it will render.

If I have a bunch of complex masking that doesn't display correctly in preview, I simply set some of the layers to not display in the preview so that I can see things I need to.

Hope I am explaining this correctly.

[dangag68]

Thanks heyvern for your explanations!

When I render, I can see the pupils. But, I wonder how the character Jai is set up. It seems I masked my character the same way and I don't get the same result. Sometimes, in the layer window(Jai), some of the vector shape has a red dot (like adding a new vector layer) and some doesn't, I'm wondering why.

[hayasidist]

red dot means "optimised" graphics.

When you’re creating an animation with the intent to produce an SWF file as output, there are several things to keep in mind. An important concern with SWF files is keeping the file size down. The key way to do this in Anime Studio is to keep as many layers “optimized” as possible. An optimized layer when exported to SWF will take up much less space than a non-optimized one. (For other formats, like QuickTime or AVI, it doesn’t matter.) You can tell which layers are optimized by looking for a little red dot next to the layer’s icon in the Layers window.

masking:

in a group layer if you set "hide all" then, by default, the bottom vector layer in this group is a mask that makes "holes" in the mask that hides all the higher layers ("add to mask"). If the layer above the masking layer is set to "mask this layer" then you can only see those parts of the layer that are visible through the holes.

So in Jai, in the Eyes group, the whites of the eyes are at the bottom of the stack and are "add to mask"; the pupils are "mask this layer" (so when they move outside the "hole in the hide all mask" made by the whites you can't see them). eyebrows are not masked and so are not hidden.


Now we need to go to the "head" group. This is also "hide all". It has child layers: (from the bottom) Hair back, head, shading, mouth, eyes, nose ...

"hair back" is set to "don't mask this layer". The first layer that affects the mask is the vector layer "head" - this is "clear the mask then add to mask" - which means "hide all above this layer, then use this layer to make the view hole"; shading is "mask this layer" (so will only appear where it is inside the "head") ; as are the layers "mouth" and "eyes" ... these are group layers but it's the layer masking options that are used here because they are "child" layers to the "head" (group).

So my guess is that you need to check that you have the right masking options in your "eye" group, and then those in the "head" group, bearing in mind that you might have made "holes in the hide all mask" by adding too many layers to the mask - or not made enough holes.

If you're still stuck, just post an example...

[dangag68]

Many Thanks hayasidist!
Great explanations!

I will try it.