Just bought Moho Debut and...

[WolfOfWinter22]

I had just bought Moho Debut and I've already encountered a possible bug?

A while ago I was able to click and drag two psd files into Moho Debut and the import layers individually prompt appeared both times for the psd files, I clicked on the individually option and the psd files were able to load both times, I could see all the layers, though some of the layers were black, blank layers, I thought that was a bit odd, then I noticed that my character in one of the psds had some colors bleeding outside the lineart, I thought that was a clipping mask issue that needed sorted out so I opened Clip Studio Paint to try and fix that, so I closed Moho but then decided to open Moho again because I wanted to try something else out and tried to click and drag the psd back into Moho Debut, but instead of getting the import layers individually prompt again, all that loaded up was a single image. I've tried to open the psd in several different ways, but it seems like when I try that it can not find any supported psd files???

So, does this mean that I actually cannot open psd files in debut? Or am I? I am very confused...

[synthsin75]

If you did that in Debut it was a glitch. Are you sure you weren't using the Pro trial version or something?
Per the manual, Debut can only import layered PSDs by using the Photoshop script found in the Custom Content Folder > Extra Files folder.

Also, not all PSD features will translate to Moho files.

[Greenlaw]

To me, it sounds like Debut somehow got confused when it imported the file. Normally Debut has limited support for PSD, meaning it can import a layered PSD only as a single flattened image. For full support of Layered PSD, you need to upgrade to Moho Pro.

That said, even Moho Pro doesn't support special Photoshop layer features that have no equivalent in Moho...Clipping Mask is probably one of them. When I'm using a complex Layered PSD for Moho, I make a copy of the file and simplify the Layered PSD for Moho. Then, when I need to rework something, I can still make changes in the original complex version and copy the changes to the simple version. But most of the time, I just avoid using complex layer features when setting up 'puppet' artwork for rigging...it just complicates things and really isn't necessary. Also, you want to give each layer a unique and descriptive name. When the file is prepared properly for Moho, it should import with the layers perfectly.

But we're talking about Debut. If you want to use a PSD file's layers in Debut, I suggest using your paint program's export to layers command set to save PNG files. Two programs I know of that can do this are Photoshop and the free Krita.

If you have Photoshop, I recommend getting the free Photoshop-Export-Layers-to-Files-Fast script. This tool has a ton more capabilities than the native export layers as files feature in Photoshop, and it's a lot faster too. I usually set up a Photoshop Layer Comp to show only the layers I want to export and set the tool to export only visible layers. Also, be sure to set it to Overwrite so Debut can automatically update any changes you might make later. I used Photoshop-Export-Layers-to-Files-Fast routinely with Moho Pro because (until recently) this was more reliable than Moho's Layered PSD support. (Layered PSD support was greatly improved in Moho 13.5 and I tend to prefer using it nowadays.)

Krita has a simpler version found in Tools >Scripts> Export Layers. It's not nearly as featured as the above but it gets the job done.

I'm not sure about Clip Studio Paint. I use CSP for drawing my comics but not for painting Moho art. I can check on that later today.

[Greenlaw]

I looked around for how to do this in CSP and the solution is kinda funny. Basically, you drop your layers inside an Animation folder and then render the timeline as an Image Sequence. Not ideal but I guess it works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w2W3K1l6jk

[WolfOfWinter22]

Thanks for the responses, I had figured it was a glitch... Previously, I believe I had used the pro trial a few months back so that is probably why the program had gotten confused.

Thanks Greenlaw for the suggestions, It seems like pngs are the way to go for now, and I will try Krita and maybe that animation folder trick in csp and see how things go.

I have had used photoshop for a very long time and at one point created a 2d puppet for Live2D so I have some experience with sorting layers and whatnot in a certain way for a puppet.

As much as I loved photoshop I recently had to switch from photoshop to clip studio paint as I was sick of paying for it monthly. XD

Thanks again!

[Greenlaw]

I like using CSP for my comics (CSP is the tops for that) and it's a great paint program too, but Krita also is a great paint program and a surprisingly good companion for Moho. I think Krita's export layers script makes it a good fit for Debut.