Simple masking in non-Pro Anime Studio: http://fiziwig.com/anim/index06.php
This method avoids the need for group layers since that feature is not in the basic version of AS. It also allows gradient masks.
Building a simple walk cycle: http://fiziwig.com/anim/index07.php
Step-by-step (with anme files to download) of a simple way to build a walk cycle. And also introducing "Egg Man", a character designed to be easily rotated from full to 3/4 to side view.
--gary
Two More Newbie Tutorials
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
Two More Newbie Tutorials
Last edited by fiziwig on Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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toonertime
- Posts: 595
- Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:34 am
- Location: ST. LOUIS
masking layers
hey i enjoy your blog!
I believe you can use a bone layer as a
masking layer. I haven't used masking
in a while but I believe if you do your
masking inside a bone layer everything
happens like it should.
I believe you can use a bone layer as a
masking layer. I haven't used masking
in a while but I believe if you do your
masking inside a bone layer everything
happens like it should.
Group layers in my opinion are totally useless. I never use them. Just use a bone layer instead. It works just like a group and has the bonus value of havig bones if you need them later.
So if you switched "group" layer with "bone" layer the original masking tutorial will still work with the standard version.
-vern
So if you switched "group" layer with "bone" layer the original masking tutorial will still work with the standard version.
-vern
Try this link:fiziwig wrote:Thanks Vern,
Good to know. (But I still don't understand AS masking.)
--gary
viewtopic.php?t=9669
-vern
-
toonertime
- Posts: 595
- Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:34 am
- Location: ST. LOUIS
Masking in general can be hard to grasp. I think the advantage I had is that I have been working with "masking" since... forever.
I started out as an airbrush artist before the computer came along. I think that masking for airbrushing is EXACTLY THE SAME as "channels" or "masking" in computer applications. A hard edge mask was a "frisket" stuck to the paper, cut away and sprayed through. A soft edge mask was a hole in a piece of acetate or paper held above the paper's surface while "spraying" the paint. Combining those two was the same as creating complex masks in AS or Photoshop.
I had the same situation trying to teach this concept waaaay back using version 2 or 3 of photoshop (before layers and layer masks).
The only way to create complex mixing and matching of channels or "masks" for compositing illustrations in Photoshop back then was to understand the mathematical idea of "adding" and "subtracting" or "multiplying" different masks or channels and using that to "apply" one image to another image (remember no layers back then. You had ONE single image in a Photoshop document).
I would have these long discussions with my colleagues at the time trying to explain how masks worked and their eyes would glaze over and they would pass out... I could get quite technical and boring I think.
One of the things that makes it especially difficult in AS is that multi-layered/nested masks don't preview correctly. In some cases rendering is the best way to preview the mask if it appears incorrect in preview. Another road block to experimental knowledge of masking in AS is that my old ideas of "value based" (gray scale) masking didn't work the same in AS. So what would happen is that you THINK you understand it then you try it and it doesn't look right and you don't know why so you try something else with a DIFFERENT result and you think you are going crazy and... uh... I went through that for a while until I got the idea.
Understanding "masking" as a general concept is helpful in understanding its use in AS.
-vern
I started out as an airbrush artist before the computer came along. I think that masking for airbrushing is EXACTLY THE SAME as "channels" or "masking" in computer applications. A hard edge mask was a "frisket" stuck to the paper, cut away and sprayed through. A soft edge mask was a hole in a piece of acetate or paper held above the paper's surface while "spraying" the paint. Combining those two was the same as creating complex masks in AS or Photoshop.
I had the same situation trying to teach this concept waaaay back using version 2 or 3 of photoshop (before layers and layer masks).
The only way to create complex mixing and matching of channels or "masks" for compositing illustrations in Photoshop back then was to understand the mathematical idea of "adding" and "subtracting" or "multiplying" different masks or channels and using that to "apply" one image to another image (remember no layers back then. You had ONE single image in a Photoshop document).
I would have these long discussions with my colleagues at the time trying to explain how masks worked and their eyes would glaze over and they would pass out... I could get quite technical and boring I think.
One of the things that makes it especially difficult in AS is that multi-layered/nested masks don't preview correctly. In some cases rendering is the best way to preview the mask if it appears incorrect in preview. Another road block to experimental knowledge of masking in AS is that my old ideas of "value based" (gray scale) masking didn't work the same in AS. So what would happen is that you THINK you understand it then you try it and it doesn't look right and you don't know why so you try something else with a DIFFERENT result and you think you are going crazy and... uh... I went through that for a while until I got the idea.
Understanding "masking" as a general concept is helpful in understanding its use in AS.
-vern
Hey Vern,
I went through some more masking tutorials and I think I sort of get it. But you know what? I can't think of a single situation where it wouldn't just be easier to build the mask as a separate vector layer and not even use the built-in masking. At least that way it shows correctly in preview, and it's immediately intuitive how it works. Every masking effect I've seen demonstrated so far can be easily duplicated without using built-in masking.
If you want to hide something, put the masking layer in front of the object.
If you want to show something through a hole, put the masking layer with a hole in front of the object.
If you want a gradient mask, put the masking layer in front of the object.
No settings to remember, no convoluted logic to forget.
It's all so simple and intuitive. Just think of it like a multi-layer drawing where you have a solid background and a stack of transparent "cells" on top of that. Why would I ever need the AS masking system?
I think I'll stick with using ordinary layers as "cell" masks.
Here are some examples:
Man walks behind a tree. Just put the tree on a higher layer than the man.
Light shines on a wall, but not the hole in the wall (tutorial). Put a black hole-shaped mask above the layer with the light.
Looking at a scene through binoculars. Put a black mask with a pair of transparent holes in front of the scene.
Man walks around a tree. Two layers with the same tree. When the man goes behind the tree the front layer has opacity 100%. When the man walks in front of the tree the front layer has opacity 0%.
Two people walk past a tree, one goes in front, one goes behind. Put the tree between the people layers.
--gary
I went through some more masking tutorials and I think I sort of get it. But you know what? I can't think of a single situation where it wouldn't just be easier to build the mask as a separate vector layer and not even use the built-in masking. At least that way it shows correctly in preview, and it's immediately intuitive how it works. Every masking effect I've seen demonstrated so far can be easily duplicated without using built-in masking.
If you want to hide something, put the masking layer in front of the object.
If you want to show something through a hole, put the masking layer with a hole in front of the object.
If you want a gradient mask, put the masking layer in front of the object.
No settings to remember, no convoluted logic to forget.
It's all so simple and intuitive. Just think of it like a multi-layer drawing where you have a solid background and a stack of transparent "cells" on top of that. Why would I ever need the AS masking system?
I think I'll stick with using ordinary layers as "cell" masks.
Here are some examples:
Man walks behind a tree. Just put the tree on a higher layer than the man.
Light shines on a wall, but not the hole in the wall (tutorial). Put a black hole-shaped mask above the layer with the light.
Looking at a scene through binoculars. Put a black mask with a pair of transparent holes in front of the scene.
Man walks around a tree. Two layers with the same tree. When the man goes behind the tree the front layer has opacity 100%. When the man walks in front of the tree the front layer has opacity 0%.
Two people walk past a tree, one goes in front, one goes behind. Put the tree between the people layers.
--gary
I have to disagree about masking. I think there are many situations when masking is either easier or necessary.
For instance a character with soft edge shading for shadows and highlights. These "fuzzy" shapes extend outside the edges of the character. Using masking I can "hide" the part of the shape outside the edges. Eyes inside a face also can require masking. For instance you can have a compound shape without masking to produce a hole for the eyes to show through under the face layer but if the eyes move to the edge of the face they "stick out" past it. A face "mask" prevents this.
http://www.lowrestv.com/moho_stuff/forum/sunny.mov
http://www.lowrestv.com/moho_stuff/forum/opening.mov
I couldn't have done the above example without masking. The "radial gradient" inside the "flames" is actually a soft edged fill shape masked by the flames. Radial gradients won't work here because I can't change the "scale" of the gradient and if I use squash and stretch on the character the gradient won't "deform".
The "yellow glow" in the face is not "centered" as a radial gradient would be. It is a soft edge filled circle shape. The soft edge is very large and would extend beyond the outer edge of the larger orange circle and bleed into the blue back ground with out a mask.
The eyes themselves are a fairly complex mask setup because of several soft edge shapes that would extend beyond the edges of the fill. Plus the eyeballs are very large and when the head turns they would stick outside of the head or face area.
The back layer of "trees" is an png image with an alpha channel. Once I imported I wanted more control over the "opacity" to change the distance. I was able to put a copy of the gradient back ground fill shape OVER the image layer and mask it with the image itself. I then change the opacity of the gradient to "fade" the trees image layer. I could have changed the opacity of the trees but then the sunny character shows through.
You could use "holes" in shapes to hide and show things but then you could have trouble with back ground layers that need show behind a masked shape. For instance there is no way to cut a "moving hole" in an image layer without using a mask. In the above example I would have to have another animated copy of the flames that produces a "hole" in the gradient back ground layer on top of the sunny character.
-vern
For instance a character with soft edge shading for shadows and highlights. These "fuzzy" shapes extend outside the edges of the character. Using masking I can "hide" the part of the shape outside the edges. Eyes inside a face also can require masking. For instance you can have a compound shape without masking to produce a hole for the eyes to show through under the face layer but if the eyes move to the edge of the face they "stick out" past it. A face "mask" prevents this.
http://www.lowrestv.com/moho_stuff/forum/sunny.mov
http://www.lowrestv.com/moho_stuff/forum/opening.mov
I couldn't have done the above example without masking. The "radial gradient" inside the "flames" is actually a soft edged fill shape masked by the flames. Radial gradients won't work here because I can't change the "scale" of the gradient and if I use squash and stretch on the character the gradient won't "deform".
The "yellow glow" in the face is not "centered" as a radial gradient would be. It is a soft edge filled circle shape. The soft edge is very large and would extend beyond the outer edge of the larger orange circle and bleed into the blue back ground with out a mask.
The eyes themselves are a fairly complex mask setup because of several soft edge shapes that would extend beyond the edges of the fill. Plus the eyeballs are very large and when the head turns they would stick outside of the head or face area.
The back layer of "trees" is an png image with an alpha channel. Once I imported I wanted more control over the "opacity" to change the distance. I was able to put a copy of the gradient back ground fill shape OVER the image layer and mask it with the image itself. I then change the opacity of the gradient to "fade" the trees image layer. I could have changed the opacity of the trees but then the sunny character shows through.
You could use "holes" in shapes to hide and show things but then you could have trouble with back ground layers that need show behind a masked shape. For instance there is no way to cut a "moving hole" in an image layer without using a mask. In the above example I would have to have another animated copy of the flames that produces a "hole" in the gradient back ground layer on top of the sunny character.
-vern
Very nice animations. I guess I'm not far enough along to need stuff that fancy
I suppose I'll have to learn masking some day. But for now, there's plenty of other stuff still waiting to be learned. Plus, the whole reason I got interested is I've got some stories I want to tell, so I want to get far enough along with the technicalities that I can start telling my stories.
--gary
I suppose I'll have to learn masking some day. But for now, there's plenty of other stuff still waiting to be learned. Plus, the whole reason I got interested is I've got some stories I want to tell, so I want to get far enough along with the technicalities that I can start telling my stories.
--gary
Your above tutor link that you was nice enough to provide us is showing some image errors please take a look for yourself. Please delete all browser cache before doing so, thank you.
Code: Select all
http://fiziwig.com/anim/index06.html