1. question number one, gradient problems
Hey, I have only had the program for a few days now but while building a classroom set I noticed some problems with the "gradient fill". On the large parts of the room the gradient does not fill but rather changes between all the colors in the gradient depending on the angle of the camera, so when exported as an animation it has the effect of a wall constantly changing color. On the smaller vectors you can in fact at least see a gradient but it also changes blend colors depending on the camera angle. Did I miss a checkbox somewhere or something?
2. Question number two Masking
I made a bunch of eye vector/layer combinations and found that the easiest to animate is to have the pupil on its own layer masked so that I can translate the layer when i want my character to look in a different direction.. however since its being masked it also clips over top of the eye lashes and all "outlines" on the layer. Is there any way to make my outlines immune to masks or a way to make a specific vector on a layer (ex. eyelashes attached to an eye) immune to masking even though the rest of that layer is in the mask?
Gradients are based on the"bounding box" of the shape, the outer dimensions and gradients don't "rotate" automatically to "follow" the shape. They aren't "fixed". If the shape changes size or rotates a gradient remains staitionary and changes based on the total volume of the shape. That is why it is shifting when the camera angle moves.
As Slowtiger said, a mask masks the whole layer. If you want parts of a layer to not be masked you need to put those items on a separate layer that isn't masked. If there is a stroke on the mask you want to "see" that stroke should not be part of the mask but on it's own layer.
And just so you don't think you are stupid or something, that eye thing (with masks) is my number one complaint about AS and masking. Which is to say it *should* work the way you are trying to get it to work (because it would then be real useful -- as it is, masking in AS ain't all that helpful).
Thank you for all the quick replies! I think my only chance at combating my eye mask is to jus tmake two switches, one for the eyelash and one for the whites of the eyes, and just change BOTH switches for every eye change (probably not the most efficient but the best idea i can think of).
As for the gradient problem, I'm still confused. Maybe I didn't explain the problem very well so I made a short movie of the problem I am having
Give a special attention to the "flickering" wall color on the left, also take a look at the world map on the wall. The world map is more consistant with what I would expect the gradient to do in Anime Studio, however I cannot bring myself to believe that the same tool is responsible for the larger wall. There has got to be something minor I am missing to combat this problem. I mean I can live with jus tnot using a gradient on large objects, I just want to know for sure that this is working as intended.
Without seeing the actual AS file it's hard to say what might be causing the flickering. The earlier subtle changing of the gradient is due to what I mentioned, that is how AS gradients behave when the shape changes size.
The flickering might be due to "accidental" key frames in the gradient effect of the shape. You can't delete those. You would have to delete the shape and recreate it. Not the mesh or the points, just remove the shape and make a new shape. You may want to try this anyway to see if it helps.
The flickering also might be due to the fact that most of the gradient at that point is way off screen. Like I said AS bases gradients on the mesh shape but it also has some other issues with vectors/meshes close to the edge of the render area. Specifically if a point is "exactly" or close to the blue line of the visible area.
Tough to guess or even track down the issue based on the output.
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So the gradient in the wall map is done in AS? Or is it an image layer? Hmm... interesting that it doesn't shift like the wall. It should. Maybe the colors are subtle and it's hard to see.
thelemonache wrote:Thank you for all the quick replies! I think my only chance at combating my eye mask is to jus tmake two switches, one for the eyelash and one for the whites of the eyes, and just change BOTH switches for every eye change (probably not the most efficient but the best idea i can think of)
This is what I do (actually, since I have upper AND lower lids, I have three sets of switches. However, I have actions which define all the common positions, so I can just drop an action on the timeline for "eyes wide open" for example, and it sets all three switches accordingly).
There is also a layer script for switch layers that will slave one switch to another. As long as they have the same layers with the same names you can link them together. It would be perfect for this situation. You just make the main "eye" switch the master and any time you set those keys the other layer/s will automatically update.
I haven't used that script in a long time. I think it is called "switch slave" or something like that if you want to search the forum.
Well I'm one of the few (including Vern) who don't seem to have much trouble with AS masking. There are two ways to handle this sort of thing, IMO.
1) Do all of your animation (which is much easier if you are using actions or interpolated switch layers, since these are easily reusable at any time). Then duplicate the layer that includes your eye opening, give it only a fill, and only mask the pupil with it. Your eyelashes can be unmasked and set above the masked pupil.
2) Using the layer script meshinstance, the two layers you need for the mask and the eyelashes/eyelids can be kept in sync.
