How to become the arm in front of a table ??

[evma96]

Hi Guys i have a problem in my Animation short!
I have 4 Characters in this short they are sit behind a Table! Now i need the hands of all the Characters, sometimes in front of the table and in other szenes behind!
How can I bring the hands in front of the table ???

Thanks!

[Víctor Paredes]

Put the table inside the character and bind its point (or the entire layer) it to "nothing". Then change the arms layers order to achieve what you want. Remember to check the animated layer order on the character bone layer.

For example

-Character
--Arm 1
--Table
--Arm 2
--Body

[evma96]

I have try something like this but the Problem is i have 4 Character (4 Bone Layers) i cannot get the table in each bone layer because the result would be that just from one Character (from four) the arms are visible because it's ever just the upper table visible.

For example:
-Character
--Arm
--Table
--Arm2
--Body
-Character
--Arm
--Table
--Arm2
--Body
...
and so on

[hayasidist]

one way is to use masking in each character group (in very simple terms):

group - group masking: reveal all; layer mask: mask this layer
> body: mask this layer
> arm: mask this layer
> table (a duplicate of the table itself): subtract from mask


and, as Selgin said, enable animated layer order and move the (fore)arm group to be above the mask (i.e. "hidden" by it as in the set-up above) or below the mask (i.e. not hidden). I've said forearm group because you may want to include forearm and hand in that group.


group
> body
> table (the mask)
> arm


then the set up is:

Character 1
Character 2
etc
Table

[slowtiger]

Or you can easily cut the table into parts to be put inside each characters' hierarchy.

[evma96]

Or you can easily cut the table into parts to be put inside each characters' hierarchy.

Yes that was also a Idea of me
Thanks for help!

[hayasidist]

... as long as someone's arms don't stray outside "their" patch of table...

[3deeguy]

The way I do it is I duplicate the 'forearm' layer. One behind the table and the other in front. I've tried switch layers and visibility. I also keep the upper-arm on a separate layer from the forearm because I don't want to see the shoulder 'popping'.

[evma96]

I do the same now Thanks!

[reneuend]

The way I do it is I duplicate the 'forearm' layer. One behind the table and the other in front. I've tried switch layers and visibility. I also keep the upper-arm on a separate layer from the forearm because I don't want to see the shoulder 'popping'.

Does using the Switch layer in this manner work? I haven't tried this yet, but was browsing the forum and saw this clever solution.

[RichardU]

one way is to use masking in each character group (in very simple terms):

group - group masking: reveal all; layer mask: mask this layer
> body: mask this layer
> arm: mask this layer
> table (a duplicate of the table itself): subtract from mask


and, as Selgin said, enable animated layer order and move the (fore)arm group to be above the mask (i.e. "hidden" by it as in the set-up above) or below the mask (i.e. not hidden). I've said forearm group because you may want to include forearm and hand in that group.


group
> body
> table (the mask)
> arm


then the set up is:

Character 1
Character 2
etc
Table

I really want to make this work. When I do it, the file looks right on the screen, but when I render, both arms are behind the table. Any idea what am I missing?

[RichardU]

Here is a link to a simple test file. Looks correct on screen, but not during render.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7z0ly1e78dn6o ... .anme?dl=0

[hayasidist]

yep - that's not right... I've raised a bug report.

Quick and dirty fix:

have an extra masking layer as in this: https://www.mediafire.com/?213fz69h5tq9ew2 Look at the group: "masking group ok" -- this has a second vector layer that does not have to be visible (merely present) that has a full screen shape. This makes the render match the on screen display:

Group -- masking = reveal all
body vector layer - mask this layer
table mask vector layer - subtract from mask
full screen shape - clear mask / add to mask / keep invisible
forearm vector layer - mask this layer (this is the layer that moves!)


===
In essence what this extra layer does (even though you shouldn't need it!! And I really don't understand why it works even though the layer itself doesn't have to be visible??!! ) is to remind / hammer it home to the render engine that everything in that group is to be visible except the parts that are "subtracted" -- but IMO it should know that already - that's what "reveal all" is!?

[RichardU]

yep - that's not right... I've raised a bug report.

Quick and dirty fix:

Hayasidist, you are awesome. Thanks. I much prefer using this method to cutting up table sections.

Perhaps someday I will have a full understanding of the masking system. After all, I finally cracked the Styles enigma. In the meanwhile, I can take some comfort from revealing a glitch in the masking / rendering engine.

[RichardU]

New complication.

I want the table to hide parts of the torso and show parts. No problem. The torso goes above the mask.
I want the forearm to show above the table. The forearm goes below the mask. So far so good.
Except the forearm needs to be in front of the torso, if say, it crosses across the chest.

How can I have the forearm in front of the torso when it needs to be below for the masking to work?

I'm really hoping there is some kind of masking wizardry that can solve this.

Thanks, Richard