Masking inside Switch layers?!?!

[sillyanimate]

I was working on an animation, I want to do a head turn for my character
So I decided to use masking....
the problem is that I don't want all the layers inside the switch layer to be masked....
You see, I put the switch layers for the eyebrows inside the head layer for easy masking......

Help?

[sbtamu]

I do not think it is possible with the set up you have.

[sillyanimate]

the problem is that I want some layers inside a switch layer to be masked not all of the layers

[sbtamu]

the problem is that I want some layers inside a switch layer to be masked not all of the layers

Yep, I reread your post and change my response. Try this, add a group layer inside the switch layer then put the vector layer in that group layer then add the mask to the group layer.

[sillyanimate]

i tried that it didn't work for all of them

[Greenlaw]

I agree with sbtamu: I don't think you can mask directly inside the Switch Layer itself.

However, you can use individually masked groups within the Switch Layer--I do this all the time at work, like using a mouth shape to mask teeth and tongue, or eye shapes to mask pupil layers, etc. You can also mask the Switch Layer within the group it's inside of.

But when I try to get one mask group to affect a bunch of nested masks, I find that it can get 'messy' and produce errors as far as openGL and rendering goes. It's best to avoid that situation.

What I've found most reliable is to keep mask groups simple and direct, rather than trying to get masks to affect nested masks. You will probably wind up with a lot more groups and masks in your rig this way but the result can be cleaner and more predictable for preview and rendering. Also, keep in mind that you can use Reference Layers for duplicate masks--this is handy when you need to repeat a morphing element used as a mask in several places. Just be careful that you only edit the source layer to make changes to the art--I usually color my Reference layers red and label them with a REF prefix to remind me not to touch them. (This is where Layer Locks would really come in handy. Hopefully someday.)

Hope this helps.

G.

[slowtiger]

A switch layer cannot have masking inside because inside a switch layer only one layer is active at any time. Masking needs at least 2 layers inside a group or bone layer to work: the mask, and the layer to be masked.

However, you can have a switch layer inside another group/bone layer and have it masked or be a mask. And you can have group/bone layers as the elements inside a switch layer, each with its own masking setup inside.

[hayasidist]

and see the reply to your question over in the other place http://www.kelleytown.com/forum/animato ... IC_ID=3328

[sillyanimate]

Oh, I am dumb.....
I should had render things before making assumptions
Thx for your help

[Greenlaw]

Glad you got it working.

FYI, usually--but not always--the masks will look correct in the normal display. If your masking does not look right in the display, try disabling GPU Acceleration in the Display Options. If you still see problems, try also disabling Enable GPU in the Preferences. Obviously, Masking should be enabled in the Display Options.

However, this won't always correct the issue. I think some masking situations simply won't look correct in the display no matter what you do, but they can look correct in the render. For example, in two of the characters I had set up at work, when they turn their heads, one of the eyes is supposed to get clipped by a head shape mask. But what happens is that the 'exiting' eye will remain visible outside the head, even though the pupil will get masked by the head shape. It's really not that a big deal though--we can still animate the head and eyes properly and it will render correctly, so we just ignore the 'floating eye' error.

I know the error has to do with how I nested the eye and head masks. Now that I'm thinking about it, when I find the time, I should revisit these characters and see if it's possible to improve this.

But, anyway, so long as the error doesn't affect your ability to animate and properly render the scene, try not to obsess over it too much. It's more important to get your projects done.

G.