striped toroid

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rar313
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striped toroid

Post by rar313 »

I saw, but could not find again, an anime studio/moho animation which shows two striped toroids, interlocked and turning. Does anyone know the link to this animation?

How was it done? Animated masks? Any similar tutorials?
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synthsin75
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Re: striped toroid

Post by synthsin75 »

Was it something like this?
Image

I made this for my old animated shape sorting script, but that feature was added in AS11.
rar313
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Re: striped toroid

Post by rar313 »

Interesting!, But the toroids were smooth and evenly striped. Sort of like a zebra. Rather than being composed of a series of balls, they were like two doughnuts interlocked and turning as your example shows. Two striped doughnuts.

Your example is cool. Is there a tutorial about this?
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hayasidist
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Re: striped toroid

Post by hayasidist »

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Greenlaw
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Re: striped toroid

Post by Greenlaw »

I'm not sure I saw the anim but I threw this one together in a few minutes:

Image

Here's the file if you want to look:

Torus_01.zip

The setup is not optimal and even a bit 'hacky' because I was in a hurry, but I can explain what I did later if you like.
Last edited by Greenlaw on Fri Oct 07, 2016 4:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Greenlaw
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Re: striped toroid

Post by Greenlaw »

Very quick break down:

1. Draw a torus and segment it into four shapes
2. In another layer, I drew the stripes. At frame 30, I shifted each stripe to match the position and shape of the next stripe to the right (use Onionskin to see where to move them.) Then I set the last keyframe to loop.
3. Group the shapes and use the torus layer as a mask for the stripes.
4. Duplicate the torus, move it above the stripes layer, and remove the fill. Set this layer to Don't Mask This Layer. This leaves you with strokes on top.
5. Disable anti-aliasing in the bottom torus (the mask) layer.
6. Create a reference of the group, move it above the original group and offset it to the right.
7. Duplicate this reference (making another reference) and move it below the original group.
8. In the top ref layer, delete the shapes in the bottom half of the torus. (Don’t edit the stripes layer.)
9. In the bottom ref layer,delete the shapes in the top half.
10. All done.

This was just what first came to mind so there may be better ways to do this. Maybe somebody can make suggestions/improvements?
Last edited by Greenlaw on Thu Oct 06, 2016 3:27 pm, edited 3 times in total.
rar313
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Re: striped toroid

Post by rar313 »

Hayasidist found it. Looking at it again, there is a little glitch where the white stripes darken or lighten as they move into or out of the the shadows. Still, pretty cool.

Thank you, Greenlaw, for your example. Yes, this is the effect. I will look at this more closely. Thank you for the file.
rar313
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Re: striped toroid

Post by rar313 »

Could not open the file. Got "bad file header" error.
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Greenlaw
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Re: striped toroid

Post by Greenlaw »

For the Torus.zip file? I'll check it this morning.
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Greenlaw
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Re: striped toroid

Post by Greenlaw »

Oh, I think I know why. Which version are you using, Moho 12, ASP 11, or an earlier version?
rar313
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Re: striped toroid

Post by rar313 »

ASP 11
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Greenlaw
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Re: striped toroid

Post by Greenlaw »

Okay, that must be it. Try the download link above again (Torus_01.zip). I added an ASP 11 version to the file. Hope it helps.

Interesting: I had to tweak the stripes because ASP 11 doesn't support Moho 12's beizier splines. It only took a minute to fix this but I think the result looks better in ASP 11. Not that I couldn't make it look as good or better with Moho 12 bezier curves, but I think that in this case the old curvature system is easier to draw these shapes with.

At least Moho gives you the option to switch modes on-the-fly. Just something to keep in mind.
Last edited by Greenlaw on Fri Oct 07, 2016 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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synthsin75
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Re: striped toroid

Post by synthsin75 »

Greenlaw wrote:Interesting: I had to tweak the stripes because ASP 11 doesn't support Moho 12's beizier splines.
Yeah, I always work with curvature until I really need beziers.
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Re: striped toroid

Post by rar313 »

Got the file. Thank you. What does the curved arrow/mask icon mean in the layer list? Is there a tutorial about this technique?
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Greenlaw
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Re: striped toroid

Post by Greenlaw »

It means it's a reference layer. If I change the animation in the original 'target' layer, the reference will inherit those changes. (In Moho, there is actually a target icon to help identify it.)

How to use a Reference Layer is covered in the standard tutorial and manual documents. Just select the file from the Help menu and look for Reference Layer. It should also be covered in a video on the SM website.

Good luck and have fun!
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