Moho Forum

I'm trying to figure out how to pull off this shape. The short bar appears between the two columns. GREAT.

Orbiting towards the right side, the short bar looks great.
BUT orbiting towards the LEFT side, the top and bottom of the short bar appears through the front.
True Distance is enabled in project settings and all group layers.
I'd appreciate the help!


PROJECT FILE:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=001 ... 4737986793


SCREENSHOT:

I **think** it may go like this:

with depth sort off AS renders layers in the order in the file (bottom up) doing all the masking etc on the way up the stack - but you know this.

if you have a vector that is wholly in the x,y plane and then rotate it (and/or rotate the camera), some points will evaluate to have a positive and some a negative z with respect to the original plane - in other words there will be a range of "depths" for a layer

with depth sort on, I think AS renders the layers in sequence according to the (evaluated) position of their origin (and not according to either the nearest or furthest point in the layer -- but I'll need to run a few experiments to test this out). Nonetheless it will generate an order in which to process the layers.

It will be ruthless when deciding between layers that are very nearly at the same place: 0 and 0.0000000001 are not the same. looking at the shape from different directions might easily give a different (albeit a tiny difference) in evaluated order.

I'm not sure how it resolves conflicts where two or more layers evaluate to the same depth - it might decide to use the last used (or designed) sequence.

I also think (but I'll need to run a test ot two to validate this!) that it is not smart enough to recognise when a rotated layer has a range of "depths" (i.e. it has parts in front of and also behind another layer -- it's only a 2d program - not a full CAD suite!) [there's a tutorial that explains this in 2d with 2 linked circles: you need to make three shapes: top part ring A, ring B, and the bottom half of ring A.]

these last three observations might help explain the "anomalous" behaviour???

I fixed the issue by:

1) Add the "Short Bar" group inside the "Columns" group.
2) Leave the "Short Bar" group Y Origin on default (0).

-Inside the "Short Bar" group
3) Adjust the "Front" layer's Y Origin.



Note: The "Front" layer's Y Origin had a sweet spot, where it allowed it to appear perfectly in between the columns.
No matter where it was viewed from. I adjusted, orbited (to check), adjusted, orbited again, repeat.

It's not a serious issue, but I'm intrigued.
I'm eager to learn the perfect way to use the Origin's X Y Z position.

hayasidist, I agree with you that it's not meant to be a 3D software, but everything seems possible as long as Origin Positions are used correctly.


Up for another Origin dillema?

The "Top Frame" disappears when orbiting. Orbiting from bottom up.
A) Disappears when "Top Frame" group's Origin Y is .3158
B) Appears when the "Top Frame" group's Origin Y is .0 (but then "Columns" appear over the "Top Frame".

Note: All group's Z positions are in front of the gray "Wall" group.

Screenshot:



Project File:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=235 ... 9286660680

AS is a 2D program with limited 3D abilities.

For something like you try to do I recommend a real 3D program.

slowtiger wrote:AS is a 2D program with limited 3D abilities.

For something like you try to do I recommend a real 3D program.

In the end, you guys are right. Which software do you guys recommend? I really enjoy the simplicity (except for Origins) of Anime Studio.
SlowTiger I'm not an artist, so the point-to-point vector drawing really helps. That's why I use AS.

diegoalexander wrote:Which software do you guys recommend?

really depends what you're trying to do. It looks more like you want an
"AutoCAD" http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-autocad/buy rather than a
"Maya" http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-maya/buy.

But those aren't cheap.

take a look at http://cad-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ and/or Poser http://poser.smithmicro.com/

but shop around for the one that fits what you want to do.

Good luck.