I have been scanning the forums for an answer to this and can't find an explanation, so hopefully someone will know what I am talking about.
After creating a character which uses reasonably complex bone rigging and switch layers (masking for eyes, lip synch for mouth, etc.), I tried to import it as an Anime Studio Object into a new project to animate for a walk cycle. I have found that while I had no problem manipulating the object in the project it was created in, the Imported Object slows the entire program down to a crawl, making even simple playback impossible (even with Frame Skipping disabled).
Is there some obvious solution I'm overlooking, given the complexity of the file? Is it possible to remedy this at all? Please help!
What else was in the "new" project you imported into? Did you have other complex layers and rigs? I know first hand how quickly a complex character/layer/rig set up can slow down performance. Some of my rigs have had up to 300 bones and were slow as molasseses.
There is no way importing the exact same file into a new empty project would slow it down more so than the original. Importing that way is the same as creating it from scratch. Check the display settings and make sure those are the same. Things like anti-alising in the preveiw can really slow things down. Smooth images can slow down performance (if you use image layers). But if the two files are the same there shouldn't be any difference. More importantly though would be what other layers you have in the "new" project file.
That's the funny thing: the two project files are almost exactly identical: the only thing different was that i added a new bone + vector image to give it a prop to hold.
Part of the reason why the character is so complicated is that it is made up of multiple switch layers with bones for head and body turns. Really, all I did was import it into a new project, give it a cane to hold, and it all came to a screeching halt.
I even tried putting the display quality down to wireframe levels when animating...but even that only affected things very slightly. Overall, any action I make in the new project file takes way too much time to respond...and forget about smooth playback. It really doesnt make sense.
I'd try and import it into a new file again and again, changing stuff after that differently, like:
- erase all animation from the new document
- erase half of the layers
- erase any bitmap layers
- erase particle layers
and test if any of that makes a difference.
Other options have been mentioned already:
- change display settings
- change timeline visibility
Make sure to really start with a new file. I remember having similar difficulties, those where sometimes solved after a restart, and I had video files and sound files included which sometimes caused this behaviour.
You said you added an image layer? How big is the image? Images can slow thiings down. It is possible that adding the prop layers just pushed it over the top. I'm not suggesting that AS is NOT running very slow due to a large complex file. My only skepticism revolves around the claim that importing the file into a new project makes AS run slower. This isn't possible if it is the same file.
Now, adding a couple of extra layers you might think would not decrease performance but it all depends on what those layers are and the "tipping" point of the file. Another thing to consider. Key frames. they can add considerably to the file. Maybe a lot of key frames on a bunch of layers has bloated the file so that performance suffers.
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And finally... one last thing. "Perception".
You said the slow performance happens only when importing to a new project. However you are doing "different" things in the new project. You are animating a walk cycle. You are probably trying to move quicker than before. Scrubbing keys more to see the results.
Bear with me on this. Similar thing happened to me. Big complex rig. Lots of layers. creating it was no problem. Simple poses to test the rig had no problems. What happened later, with the same file, is that when you start trying to do more "intense" animation over many key frames the lack of performance you previously didn't notice becomes much worse because of what you are doing. The performance could be the same but the tasks you need to achieve make performance more of an issue and become more obvious. I have seen this psychological effect first hand and even tested it on different files. It was all in my head... but of course... my head is much stranger than most.
Honestly, good point about the keyframes, Heyvern. Test-manipulating the bones is one thing, adding in multiple keyframes for each bone in the skeleton is another.
I'm gonna have to try tweaking what gets imported into the new file, as well as adjusting the settings you suggested, slowtiger. The original project is roughly 60 MB...because i have a full skeleton for each angle of the character. I'm probably going to have to resort to importing in just the angle I need at the time to avoid stretching the program too far. Thanks, everyone....I'll keep you posted!
A 60 mb AS file??!?!? Holy cow. Biggest I've gotten was 5-10mb and that was an intensely complex rig, with drawn hair with lots of points, bunches of layers and all kinds of shape effects. That 60mb file size is going to really choke AS.
Having ALL angles for the character in ONE file is overkill. If you have a storyboard, figure out what angles are absolutely needed for each scene or shot and delete the others. Or try to figure out a way to simplify the switch layers.
Keep in mind each switch layer is a DUPLICATE of the whole vector layer. A lot of redundancy. If those switch layers were actions or just keys on the main layer you wouldn't have so much stuff. You would have one vector layer with keys. Saves you a ton of wasted space in the file size. If you open up AS files in a text editor the way I do a lot, you can see first hand how much space in the file a vector layer takes up compared to just keys on one vector layer.
