Moho Forum

hi guys, i have a little problem. let me explain, i have a background with an armchair all drawn in moho, then i exported this background as a PNG file. Now i want one of the arm rest of the chair to sit on top of that background as a png file, but i keep having the moho background colour coming up as a grey square blogking the Background layer. i do i work on the opacity of the arm rest layer, any ideas.
thanks a million
dekka
rock on

Why do you have the arm rest on top as another png file?

Couldn't that be a vector layer?

Is there a specific reason all these layers need to be png?

-Vern

Sounds like an export issue with the PNG file. This needs to be 24bit +Alpha = 32 bit in order for the background to be transparent.

hi heyvern, the reason i have png is to keep a fairly busy background as a very small file, but i need the arm rest to work as a mask. i could keep them as vector but i just wanted to see the result i could get compositing with a png background, now i can't get what surrounds the arm rest to be transparent. any idea

[quote]This needs to be 24bit +Alpha = 32 bit in order for the background to be transparent
i am not sure what you mean, could you explain a little more, where do i make the choice for the aplha, i had a look and could not find it. maybe i am becoming blind, again!!!
thanks jahnocli

Sorry about that! Well, I can talk about how I would export a PNG file with transparency from Photoshop; I think other bitmap paint programs are similar.

Let's assume you already have a picture. Open up a new picture in Photoshop, make sure the background is set to "transparent", and that the dimensions are big enough to accomodate your cutout. Go back to your original picture and cut out what you need (I usually use the Lasso tool and Alt, 'cos I'm lazy). Copy it.

Bring up your empty new file, and paste in your selection. The background should be grey and white chequerboard.

No go to the File menu, and choose "Save for Web". This brings up a window with various options. Choose "PNG" and "24bit transparent". Save it. You can also save your picture as a PSD file (This is a good idea, if you need to edit it or come back to it in the future).

Voila -- a png file with a transparent background...

Okay...

Just so you know... an masked image doesn't always show in preview.

Sometimes it does... sometimes not... it always renders properly though. I think it depends on if the group is set to "show all" or "hide all".... I think hide all won't show masking on an image.

My suggestion would be to have the arm rest as vector with the background as png.... then you don't have to mask. The arm rest would be on a layer over the character or whatever and the background. If you need to just eliminate the arm rest from the exported png.

As for using photoshop with exported PNGs... I would reccomend using the export animation function. I am not sure why but I get completely bizarre unusable PNGs when using the save as in the render window from Moho.

The transparency seems to be based on the value of the pixels rather than the actual transparency in the document... black lines are 100% transparent... colors vary in transparency based on their "darkness value".

-Vern

thanks for the help janocli heyvern, that was what i needed.

[/My suggestion would be to have the arm rest as vector with the background as png]
i did that early on nut there is a very noticeable difference in the quality of the picture so that's why i wanted to keep using png file. but anyway i have my answer, thanks to you both
rock on

If you have access to photoshop you can create a PNG that will work in Moho for the arm rest.

Also check the box in the export animation that says high quality images... this should give you smoother results.

I had to use an image texture in an animation for a skirt that matched the line weights of the rest of the vector layers.

I was getting funky results untill I upped the resolution of the image and also checked extra smooth images or whatever it is in the export animation window.

-Vern

hi heyvern,
i do have photoshop but i am not what we can call a master on it so those info are really precious, thank you. i'll try that...
rock on