Can someone please post a link to specific information about the use for and creation of Switch Layers?
I have searched your boards and while many articles come up that do in someway or other address certain aspects of switch layers none address the full scope of the general and the more specific functions.
Some specific items I would like to address are:
What is the pupose of a Switch Layer?
What command or series of commands does a Switch Layer replace?
Are Switch Layers relevant to 2D animation or are they geared for the 3D aspect of AS?
I thank you for your time and attention in advance.
Switch Layers
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
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tomfommber
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2007 5:44 pm
SWITCH layers...
ALso struggled with this one.
SWITCH LAYERS aren't really LAYERS. They're FOLDERS that contain a number of layers. A Switch Folder will only display ONE of it's layers at a time. So, if I make a SWICTH LAYER (really, more like a folder) and put lots of MOUTH SHAPES INSIDE that folder, only 1 mouth shape will appear at a time. This makes life very easy for me, because if I DIDN'T have a switch layer, I'd be having to hide and unhide mouth shapes, make sure 2 mouth shapes don't overlap each other, make sure the mouth shapes join neatly so as to not leave any gaps, etc.
You could use SWICTH LAYERS for ANYTHING. Say, for example, I wanted to have TEXT saying:
1. THE BEST ANIMATION IN THE WORLD
2. BY THE BEST GUY IN THE WORLD
3. AND YOU KNOW WHO THAT IS
and I wanted that text to come up one after the other. ie, SEQUENTIALLY. Either I could have 1 come on screen for a while, then manually hide it, then unhide 2 for a while, then manually hide 2, then have 3 come on for a while. Takes time to set this up.
-OR-
I could put the text, 1, 2, and 3 on seperate layers, all INSIDE a SWICTH LAYER (folder) and simply select along the timeline when 1 appears, when 2 appears, and when 3 appears. Much easier.
Yes, SWICH LAYERS do help with 3D, but I wouldn't worry about that now. Make a SWICTH LAYER, put some things inside the SWICTH LAYER, and experiment putting your marker along the timeline, then right-clicking the SWITCH LAYER and selecting what layer to show. You'll only really understand this by screwing around with a switch layer.
Good luck.
ALso struggled with this one.
SWITCH LAYERS aren't really LAYERS. They're FOLDERS that contain a number of layers. A Switch Folder will only display ONE of it's layers at a time. So, if I make a SWICTH LAYER (really, more like a folder) and put lots of MOUTH SHAPES INSIDE that folder, only 1 mouth shape will appear at a time. This makes life very easy for me, because if I DIDN'T have a switch layer, I'd be having to hide and unhide mouth shapes, make sure 2 mouth shapes don't overlap each other, make sure the mouth shapes join neatly so as to not leave any gaps, etc.
You could use SWICTH LAYERS for ANYTHING. Say, for example, I wanted to have TEXT saying:
1. THE BEST ANIMATION IN THE WORLD
2. BY THE BEST GUY IN THE WORLD
3. AND YOU KNOW WHO THAT IS
and I wanted that text to come up one after the other. ie, SEQUENTIALLY. Either I could have 1 come on screen for a while, then manually hide it, then unhide 2 for a while, then manually hide 2, then have 3 come on for a while. Takes time to set this up.
-OR-
I could put the text, 1, 2, and 3 on seperate layers, all INSIDE a SWICTH LAYER (folder) and simply select along the timeline when 1 appears, when 2 appears, and when 3 appears. Much easier.
Yes, SWICH LAYERS do help with 3D, but I wouldn't worry about that now. Make a SWICTH LAYER, put some things inside the SWICTH LAYER, and experiment putting your marker along the timeline, then right-clicking the SWITCH LAYER and selecting what layer to show. You'll only really understand this by screwing around with a switch layer.
Good luck.
Like many features switch layers started out originally with one specific purpose...
... lip sync. By putting different mouth shapes in a switch you could easily do quick lip syncing to a sound track. Since then switch layers have been used for untold new things... things that haven't found their way into the help or tutorials yet. One of the first innovations was to use a switch layer for doing head turns (the "3D" aspect). this is just one of many possible uses. You could for instance have entire "sets" or back grounds inside a switch and do quick "camera" switches from one scene to the next.
Mikdog is correct. The best way to see what a switch layer is capable of is to just play around with it... experiment.
-vern
... lip sync. By putting different mouth shapes in a switch you could easily do quick lip syncing to a sound track. Since then switch layers have been used for untold new things... things that haven't found their way into the help or tutorials yet. One of the first innovations was to use a switch layer for doing head turns (the "3D" aspect). this is just one of many possible uses. You could for instance have entire "sets" or back grounds inside a switch and do quick "camera" switches from one scene to the next.
Mikdog is correct. The best way to see what a switch layer is capable of is to just play around with it... experiment.
-vern
If you haven't yet mastered switch layers, you need to know that its user-interface, like most of AS, is not only unique to AS, but can best be described as bizarre.
I'll justify the use of the term "bizarre" by taking you through the process step by step.
- First, make sure your timeline is on frame zero before adding a new Switch Layer to the Layers list.
Your new Switch Layer item will display in the Layers list with a folder icon marked by a slanted black arrow sort of thing.
To add another item in the Layers list to the switch layer item:
- drag it to the Switch Layer item.
The switch layer item turns red during the moment in which it accepts that object.
The new switch item is indented to show that it belongs to the switch layer object.
Continue to add items to the Switch Layer.
When you are finished, throw out your expectation--based upon decades of constantly working with list objects in your operating system and on the Web--that you can manipulate the Switch Layer by working on the switch layer items directly.
No, instead, the Switch Layer item has a secret fly-out user interface which replicates the actual list you're already looking at.
Don't worry that the Switch Layer item doesn't even have a little fly-out arrow or even "..." to remind you it can (and must) be expanded. (In AS, we don't care about user expectations very much.)
Also don't worry that you can't get the secret list by clicking on the switch layers item. No. That would be too easy. In AS, we don't like easy.
You have to know the secret.
The secret handshake is a Right-click.
Do that, and you can choose which layer you want to switch to.
The selected item will display a checkmark.
Don't forget, however, that you must move the timeline to the desired frame before selecting from the switch layer.
As you assign the switch layer items to frames on the timeline, you'll see blue dots which correspond to each new keyframe. The interval between keyframes is displayed as pink.
When you've completed your switches, click the playback control to the first frame and hit play, and you'll be able to see the switching.
I'll justify the use of the term "bizarre" by taking you through the process step by step.
- First, make sure your timeline is on frame zero before adding a new Switch Layer to the Layers list.
Your new Switch Layer item will display in the Layers list with a folder icon marked by a slanted black arrow sort of thing.
To add another item in the Layers list to the switch layer item:
- drag it to the Switch Layer item.
The switch layer item turns red during the moment in which it accepts that object.
The new switch item is indented to show that it belongs to the switch layer object.
Continue to add items to the Switch Layer.
When you are finished, throw out your expectation--based upon decades of constantly working with list objects in your operating system and on the Web--that you can manipulate the Switch Layer by working on the switch layer items directly.
No, instead, the Switch Layer item has a secret fly-out user interface which replicates the actual list you're already looking at.
Don't worry that the Switch Layer item doesn't even have a little fly-out arrow or even "..." to remind you it can (and must) be expanded. (In AS, we don't care about user expectations very much.)
Also don't worry that you can't get the secret list by clicking on the switch layers item. No. That would be too easy. In AS, we don't like easy.
You have to know the secret.
The secret handshake is a Right-click.
Do that, and you can choose which layer you want to switch to.
The selected item will display a checkmark.
Don't forget, however, that you must move the timeline to the desired frame before selecting from the switch layer.
As you assign the switch layer items to frames on the timeline, you'll see blue dots which correspond to each new keyframe. The interval between keyframes is displayed as pink.
When you've completed your switches, click the playback control to the first frame and hit play, and you'll be able to see the switching.
Switch layers are great for 2D animation, although you can also see their equivalent in 3D (Aardman Animations uses replaceable character heads for lipsynch mouth positions in their claymation, and use a similar system in their 3D movie Flushed Away, a conscious choice rather than use the smoother shape interpolation used in a lot of 3D animation).
As well as lipsynch, one of the most common uses of switch layers, and the other examples given by Vern, they can also be useful for multiple sets of eyes (possibly with interpolation) and hands (possibly without interpolation).
if you watch the cartoon King Arthur's Disasters you can see good examples of hand switching (although they use CelAction2D rather than Anime Studio) as well as some other useful 2D techniques and a fun cartoon.
Vern has previously posted some very useful tips on how you can duplicate a vector layer within a switch layer/folder, then change the shape order in the new duplicated layer, as well as play with point location.
Add to this that you can add bones to a switch parent layer and there is potential for some interesting animation techniques - Vern posted a great example of a hand/paw that used bones, switch layers and modified shape order.
While you can use the quite efficient method in Human's secret handshake (information that is hidden in the manual but you have to read all of it quite well to find the two places it is documented), another way for people who prefer not-so-secret drop-down menus is to select the parent switch layer in the Layers panel, then select the Switch tool in the Tools panel. You can then set the frame in the timeline and set the switching keyframe from the visible drop down menu at the top of the workspace.
Human, great step-by-step description! (And I got a grin out of the secret handshake and associated "rant").
Regards, Myles.
As well as lipsynch, one of the most common uses of switch layers, and the other examples given by Vern, they can also be useful for multiple sets of eyes (possibly with interpolation) and hands (possibly without interpolation).
if you watch the cartoon King Arthur's Disasters you can see good examples of hand switching (although they use CelAction2D rather than Anime Studio) as well as some other useful 2D techniques and a fun cartoon.
Vern has previously posted some very useful tips on how you can duplicate a vector layer within a switch layer/folder, then change the shape order in the new duplicated layer, as well as play with point location.
Add to this that you can add bones to a switch parent layer and there is potential for some interesting animation techniques - Vern posted a great example of a hand/paw that used bones, switch layers and modified shape order.
While you can use the quite efficient method in Human's secret handshake (information that is hidden in the manual but you have to read all of it quite well to find the two places it is documented), another way for people who prefer not-so-secret drop-down menus is to select the parent switch layer in the Layers panel, then select the Switch tool in the Tools panel. You can then set the frame in the timeline and set the switching keyframe from the visible drop down menu at the top of the workspace.
Human, great step-by-step description! (And I got a grin out of the secret handshake and associated "rant").
Regards, Myles.
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted."
-- Groucho Marx
-- Groucho Marx