Moho Forum

How can someone create their own switch data file "by hand"

Just create a text file that looks like this: The number is what frame number it happens at, and the name is the name of the layer you want it to switch to.

Yes, I know. But in which program

Any program that can create text files. Notepad, for instance.

1. In my copy of Anime Studio, you cannot create a switch file by hand using any text editing program. It is posted in this thread that Notepad can be used to create the file. I dont see how. Notepad creates files with the .txt extension. The switch button that loads the data or audio file in Anime Studio will not load a file with an extension .txt. It will only load a file with extension .dat. Changing the .txt extension on a file created in notepad to .dat does NOT enable the file to run in Anime Studio. So far, I am disheartened by the claims of the publisher which I have been unable to implement in practice.

I've created working switch data files by hand in the past, using Notepad and also a programmer's text editor (personally I prefer the flexibility and portability of SciTE, but the configuration has a not insignificant learning curve).

The .dat files are just text (.txt) files with a different extension and a very specific layout - that's one reason I prefer using a programmer's text editor - you can usually reveal whitespace, etc. which you can't do in Notepad.

There should be a sample .dat file in the tutorials sub-directories (Tutorial 5.2), which you can test by doing the tutorial and then opening the .dat file in Notepad.
Under Windows, it should be at:
C:\Program Files\e frontier\Anime Studio\Tutorials\5 - Animation\vista.dat

The first "MohoSwitch1" line is important, as are the switch sub-layer names. Avoid blank lines.

If, for example, you've imported some .png files as switch sub-layers, they might be called something like "ai.png".
They have to exactly match the switch data names in both case and name, so you either have to have a switch data file with names like:
or you have to rename your switch sub-layers (which is probably easier and better).

Of course, you do have to created your switch sub-layers either as vectors within Anime Studio or from imported image files before the switch data file can be applied.

Regards, Myles.

Tip 1: In Notepad, when you save a file, change the "Save as type:" setting from "Text Documents (*.txt)" to "All Files" and you can give the file whatever extension you like.

Tip 2: In Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) change the settings to not hide file extensions - a silly idea by somebody at Microsoft in an attempt to apparently simplify things for users that often ends up causing problems.

Open up Windows Explorer, go into Tools; Folder Options; View tab; and untick the box in the "Advanced settings" list that says "Hide extensions for known file types".

This stops you from apparently saving a file from Notepad as "mydata.dat" and Windows sneakily calling it "mydata.dat.txt" but deceitfully showing it to you as "mydata.dat" while Anime Studio sees the full "mydata.dat.txt" filename and naturally does not recognise it as a .dat file.

This is a constant source of tech support headaches in all sorts of fields.

Regards, Myles.

I am happy to learn how to make the switch files. In actuality, Anime Studio could be the savior of my project. Also I wish to say in fairness to publishers its a miracle they can supply the tools for our use, even if not perfectly containing all our wishes. Since this forum proves Anime Studio is tech supported, I would recommend the program now.