Sliding Textures...how?

[Greenlaw]

Hi,

Anime Studio is quite nice at deforming texture maps that are imported within a shape. But is there a way to apply a texture that tracks with a character but does not deform with bones?

The desire for sliding textures might sound like a odd request but some examples of what I'm talking about can be seen in Cartoon Network's Chowder or the series Gankutsuou (The Count of Monte Cristo).

I know how do this in comp as a post effect but I wish to avoid the extra steps that would take, and get this effect directly out from ASP if possible.

The only way I can think of to do this (but haven't tried it yet,) is to import the texture as a full screen layer, and use the shapes in the character as a mask. Then, perhaps link this texture layer to a non-deforming root bone of the character to get the it to track with the character. Does this sound like a practical approach? Has anybody done something like this in ASP yet? Any alternative thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any helpful info. I'll probably experiment with the above technique later this week but I didn't want to spend too much time on this if somebody already had a good technique, especially if it's an easier or more efficient method.

G.

[slowtiger]

Two ways doing this in AS:

Masks: Each of your vector shapes can be a mask. You decide which layer is affected by bones, so the texture may stay still although the bones move. This can be done with indivdual shapes as well as with all shapes/layers within a bone layer forming one mask.

Transfer mode combined with masking: I use textures set to multiply a lot, in combination with all of a groups/bone layer's content as a mask. As long as you have black outlines (or none) this works fine.

[Greenlaw]

Thank you slowtiger! I'll keep these suggestions in mind when I start my tests this week.

G.

[slowtiger]

I should add that of course any image layer can serve as mask too. (I do that all the time.)

[Greenlaw]

I hadn't even thought of that! I guess it actually makes sense but for some reason I had it in my head that only AS spline could be used as masks. Thanks for the tip!

G.

[synthsin75]

...or the series Gankutsuou (The Count of Monte Cristo).

To duplicate that I would use layer and point binding so that the main root bone could have enough strength to hold all the image textures. That way they move horizontally with the character but not with any other bone or point motion.

[Greenlaw]

Thanks! That was the part I was most unsure about.

G.