Anim8or Community
General Category => Ongoing Anim8or Development => Topic started by: Steve on February 03, 2014, 03:48:54 pm
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The Object and Scene editors now support Layers. You can give each mesh or objects a layer and toggle the visibility and the ability to edit each layer in the top toolbar.
Everything is on layer 0 by default. You can set the layer to between 0 and 7 in the properties dialogs. Each layer can independently be displayed or hidden, and editable or locked. The top toolbar displays the layers' status. You toggle the visibility by left-clicking on a layer, and toggle whether is can be edited or not with the right mouse button. Locked layers have a little lock in the lower right corner. By default layer 7 is locked.
Questions:
1. Should the layer's status be saved to the .an8 file with each Object and Scene? I tend to think this would be useful but would like your feedback. -- Added in 1066.
2. Should layer 7 be locked by default? -- Removed in 1066.
3. Would layers be useful in the Figure editor? If so, how important is this (versus other potential improvements)?
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1. Definitely. I'd hate to have to reconfigure the layer setup every time I come back to a project, especially if I start making habit my own standard system of using the layers (ie layer 1 for reference images, 2 for base meshes, 3 for accessories, etc depending on the project and personal preferences).
2. Seems a weirdly arbitrary layer to lock? I don't really care either way.
3. I wouldn't rank this as very important *if* you implement the following suggestion: Retain layer visibility for object shapes throughout all the editors. Meaning, shapes in a hidden layer in the object editor remain hidden in the other editors. I like the idea of "out of sight, out of mind", even if the scene layer that the object is in is visible.
A few more suggestions:
How about a Selected Layer feature? New shapes/objects get added to the current selected layer, rather than defaulting to Layer 0. Also an easier layer assignment feature? For example, something like:
- Select Layer - Ctrl-click on the button and it selects the layer. Maybe a border around its button?
- Assign to layer - Shift-click on the layer's button and it assigns the selected shape(s) to that layer
- Layer indicator - It'd be nice if when you select a shape, it marks its layer button in such a way that it's easy to see which layer it's on
Bug: It seems the layer label for the dialog boxes is covering the input field, seems to need resizing or change of z-index.
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Good feedback. Yeah, I messed up all the layer dialogs when I fixed all the tab orders. I'll fix that and post an update.
I've fixed this and updated the exe.
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Interesting. I like it.
Two things I'd find useful: a transparency slider for each layer, instead of just a visibility toggle, can help with relative positioning; and being able to add select vertices - to a layer to change visibility and lock for editing - would be insanely useful on complicated meshes.
Gotta love scope creep.
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Nice ideas Water Music. Transparency sliders would be interesting. If layer selection is implemented then all you'd need is a single slider along the bottom of the row of buttons. Vertices/edges/faces visibility would be cool also, I wonder if that'd be much more difficult to implement.
Some more feedback from me as well.
Turns out you can select a shape (or vertex, edge, whatever), hide the layer, and still manipulate them while they are invisible. I think it might be better to deselect or disable the content in hidden layers so that unintended actions don't occur if someone leaves something selected by accident.
The lock mechanism seems incomplete. You can select a shape, then lock it, and then manipulate it still. Point edit operations also seem to affect the content within locked layers. I think layers will become a powerful tool if a locked layer is absolutely, totally locked. Also, I think it would be wonderful if locked layers don't show the points in point-edit mode, or maybe put a locked layer GUI option set in Configure->GUI? Or Options->Layer dialog options for GUI settings on a per-layer basis?
I know we're kinda adding a ton of ideas onto this. Layers can have a lot of features to them, and some people might want more or less depending on what the layer's being used for. Personally, I'd like to know what your vision for layers is, Steve.
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I have been playing about with these layers but I cannot see the point of them or am l missing something here?
say I have an aircraft model with a transmap propeller I make the transmap object as another object , use that as layer1 ,but there is no way to multi select layer 0 and 1 together which kind of defeats the point of layers and I may as well just use the object tab and copy/paste to the original propless body.
l suggest layers should operate just like any graphics program ( Photoshop,gimp,corel)
As it stands at the moment will just add to confusion with any new user
l realize that is a development build, but I feel you should really be addressing some of the items that still are not implemented within anim8or
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Personally I find the layers to be a nice addition.
In their most basic form they allow different elements of your model to be
selectively hidden as opposed to copy/paste or the all encompassing 'Hide' option.
I would be in favor of saving the layer status with all layers toggled on during startup.
I don't see a point in having a layer locked by default.
I think layers in figure mode would be nice but less useful then in object mode.
There are several improvements I would rather see happen first in figure mode.
EDIT: Forgot to mention.. as Raxx stated a visual cue as to which layer your selected mesh belongs to would help.
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1 definately
2 not essential
3 not essential...not above audio sync track.
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1. yes - it's always nice to come back to a project and find your workspace the way you left it.
2. i'd say no - initialise them all with the same settings, and leave the user to change what they want to change.
3. what raxx said...
3. I wouldn't rank this as very important *if* you implement the following suggestion: Retain layer visibility for object shapes throughout all the editors. Meaning, shapes in a hidden layer in the object editor remain hidden in the other editors. I like the idea of "out of sight, out of mind", even if the scene layer that the object is in is visible.
i'd also second raxx's suggestion of having new components get added to the current layer by default instead of defaulting to layer 0
one more suggestion to add: maybe when viewing flat-shaded or wireframe mode, the mesh for shapes/objects on a locked layer could show up in grey or something instead of black, as a visual indicator that they're unavailable for editing?
so, maybe one or two details to fine-tune, but on the whole this is a brilliant feature - i had an all-out squee moment when i saw you'd added it! :D
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Regards my previous Post, I downloaded another copy of the development build ... and it is now working.
Did I have a dud download?
This should be very useful , however my comments regards fixing outstanding items still remains.
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Layers are nice for keeping complex scenes a bit more managable, but I never really used them all that much in Caligari Truespace; I believe it supported up to 8 layers. Advanced model maker will probably come to appreciate the layer feature in Anim8or. Thanks, for adding the feature Steve. Leroy.
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3. what raxx said...
3. I wouldn't rank this as very important *if* you implement the following suggestion: Retain layer visibility for object shapes throughout all the editors. Meaning, shapes in a hidden layer in the object editor remain hidden in the other editors. I like the idea of "out of sight, out of mind", even if the scene layer that the object is in is visible.
even better: could you make this a toggle-able option? call it 'Cascade Layer Hiding' or something...
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Thank you Steve for these great new additions, just started to use the layers, could be very useful in the scene editor for animation?
Some 2D animation packages use layers, for example for facial expression, could be an alternative to morph targets?
The layers in blender were always useful, and I use layers in Photoshop all the time.
Check out these tutorials for animie studio and toon boom
http://anime.smithmicro.com/tutorials/as9/debut/switch-layers.html
Also for toon boom
https://www.toonboom.com/resources/video-tutorials/video/layers
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Good tutorials. They have some good ideas. I had thought of Layers as only an editing tool but I can see that they can also be useful in animation.
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I assume Layers are currently limited to just object mode, and scene mode is not implemented?
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They should work in scene mode too. There are separate settings for each Object and each Scene currently so if you hide a layer in the Object editor it does not change how the Scene editor works, as has been suggested in the forum. I'm considering how to proceed.
I've already added code to save the settings the the .an8 file and eliminated the default locking of layer 7. I'll post an update in a couple of days with that and some other changes.
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No its not functioning for me...
Windows 7 Ultimate.... I tried compatibility modes without any success at all does not seem to play ball on any computer I have at hand
Screenshots
(http://www.anim8orworld.com/files/Uspit-0bject.jpg)
(http://www.anim8orworld.com/files/Uspit-scene.jpg)
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Figure editor: I wanted to think about this before I replied before. First, I think that, yes, adding layers to it would be an improvement as rigging a skeleton can be tricky when there is lots of clutter. I would actually prefer, though, if the skeleton were its own layer in the object mode. That would probably muck up backwards compatibility, though it wouldn't be too tough to write a script to change the old format to the new format - run once per model and forget. Mostly I have to say that the figure editor is my least favourite section of Anim8or and I'd rather time be spent redesigning it, rather than adding to it. I'd rather see greater support for reusing and re-proportioning skeletons from one model to the next, more finite control over the weighting (influence sliders or alterable fields showing the precise degree of influence on each vertex), and a smoother control over the bones when positioning them. My thoughts, for what they're worth.
My other thought with the layers, specifically in object mode would that it would be useful to have a visibility priority level that one could set for each layer. For example, if I have a generic person model, wearing a shirt, with a necklace or backpack or sword harness overtop of that we would normally expect to see accessories over shirt over the figure. If you tried to build the three with separate objects then clipping and z-fighting is inevitable. Priority level would tell Anim8or to draw the back faces first, then overwrite with the figure, then the shirt, then other accessories or hair or whatever. For your consideration.
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Interesting ideas, Water Music. I hadn't thought of layers as a rendering aid. It's clear that layers will take more thought than I had first thought to get the most out of them.
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...it would be useful to have a visibility priority level that one could set for each layer...
this would have to be an optional thing, or at least have all layers set by default to the same priority, because otherwise it could open up quite a can of worms with more complex objects - for example, hypothetically, suppose you tried to model a jet engine, with the cowling on one layer and the turbine blades on another:
- if you set the blades layer to higher render priority, then in any view except straight-on to the front, you'd end up with the blades being visible through the near side of the cowling
- whereas if the cowling layer is higher priority, then the back of the cowling would completely occlude the blades when viewed from pretty much any angle.
...unless layer priorities were only effective within a certain (user-controllable?) distance, e.g. only affects faces within 1 unit of each other?
not saying it's a bad idea at all, just "proceed with caution" :)
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The newly posted build 1066 saves the layer settings in the .an8 file and doesn't lock layer 7 by default. See the initial post in this thread for details.
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in contrast to my previous post, i've just thought of an application where the ability to set layer z-priorities (per Water Music's suggestion) would be really useful: putting sky elements behind/around large scenes without having to make the sky pieces absurdly huge. some of my previous projects have involved mapping a sky texture onto an object several thousand units wide in order to cover the required area without clipping objects in the background of the scene. (i'm aware of the ability to render with a preset background image in scene mode, but that works less effectively with a moving camera!)
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I've noticed a small bug, or possibly something that was forgotten. If I try to put a group on a different layer, the parts of the group remain on layer 0 and behave with layer 0. Basically it's still on layer 0.
However when I show/hide the layer it belongs to, the group will behave correctly.
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AUGH I must see this layering system in action! I haven't DL'd any of the more recent releases :S Great stuff coming along, Steve
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Cordiali, that's how I intended it to work when I first implemented layers, but it could also be defined so that the group setting overrides the subgroup layers. Both ways are useful.
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I personally would prefer it that way. I don't know how the majority feels though.
I also discovered that when I set everything to level 1 and then group it, the group gets set to level 0 and behaves with level 0. Setting everything in the group to level 1 at once is much easier than one by one.
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had an idea out of the blue this morning - not sure how easy it would be to implement, but would it be possible to use layers as a rigging method, i.e. attach the object to a parent bone, but then attach different layers of that object to child bones? e.g. if you were building a wheeled vehicle, you could have the body on layer 0, the front wheels on object's layer 1 and sub-attached to a child bone to rotate them, and the back wheels on layer 2 sub-attached to another child bone. i can picture the concept inside my head, but i'm not sure if my description came out making sense there...
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Cordiali, that's how I intended it to work when I first implemented layers, but it could also be defined so that the group setting overrides the subgroup layers. Both ways are useful.
Aha. I was wondering about that when I run into this behavior.
I think the ability to toggle subgroup-parts its a interesting feature.
Although I also think its somewhat of a advanced feature that probably is in need of a some sort of additional user control(s) on it.
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been doing some modelling in Build 1103, and got a request: when you copy-and-paste and element which isn't set to layer 0, please could the pasted version stay on the same layer as the original instead of defaulting back to 0 every time? i understand new elements defaulting to 0, but when you copy-and-paste elements you kinda expect them to retain everything from the original - or at least that's how my brain works!
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Aggreed, This also goes back to Raxx's initial suggestion of Current Layer Selection where new items go into the current layer.
Trev
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thecolclough: Yes, I'll do that. It was just an oversight that it didn't work that way already.
Trevor and Raxx: I'm working on a default layer and better visibility into what layer an object uses. I'll have something ready soon.
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Good stuff. Keep it up, Steve. :)
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I'd add to that to keep the layer consistent when doing conversion to subdivision and the like. Since we're on the subject.
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Everyone: Currently Layers are local to Objects (and Figures, etc. once I add them there) so that each object has it's own settings for the enables and visibilities. The alternative is to make one global set of enables/visibilities for the Project. Please vote in the poll.
Water Music: That'll be in the next drop as well.
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Mmm. I'm kinda lost to what that "One global set" would entail.
(Defaulting to the more known option, "Separate enables and visibilities per Object/Figure/etc".)
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definitely keep the layer settings local. i'm sure people will end up wanting to use their layers in different ways for different parts of a project.
on a related note, i was doing a bit more work in Build 1103 lately; hid Layer 3 so i could see what i was doing while editing a mesh on Layer 0; several minutes later i reset 3 to visible, and found i'd accidentally made a horrible mess of another mesh there which i hadn't been able to see. fortunately i had a backup! i know the layer lock switch is meant to protect against that sort of thing, but would it be possible to automatically disable mesh-editing operations on unlocked-but-hidden layers too, just in case?
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MvGulik: with separate settings per object you can have different layers hidden or locked in each Object, Scene, etc. With global settings layer 1, for example, would be shown or hidden everywhere.
thecolclough: #098-021 - Components assigned to hidden or locked Layers can be altered by editing commands.
Don't forget to vote in the poll!
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just to clarify, i didn't have Layer 3 locked in my project. just hidden. not sure how clear i made that previously, and didn't want to make you think there were more bugs than there really are :P
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I don't think that you should be able to alter anything on a layer that's either Locked or Hidden. Currently there are a lot of little places where this can happen. I plan on fixing all of them in the next drop. I've just been lazy and not done the work to do this in the past :)
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i suspect you must be getting tired of me picking holes in your Layers code, but i'm afraid i just found another bug - grouped meshes seem to be affected by multiple different layer visibility settings. i've attached the project; the small meshes inside the round structure at the top of the first object are affected by the visibility settings for both layers 0 and 3. i'd guess this is because the group is set to Layer 3, but the meshes within the group are set to Layer 0?
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i'd guess this is because the group is set to Layer 3, but the meshes within the group are set to Layer 0?
Correct.
See post (http://www.anim8or.com/smf/index.php/topic,4797.msg35744.html#msg35744) and reply(second post down) (http://www.anim8or.com/smf/index.php/topic,4797.msg35747.html#msg35747)
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oops, my bad memory strikes again 8/
so... maybe groups could have a user-definable 'Override Subgroup Layers' property?
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Ah, that's a good idea, have a button to override group members to new single layer. Default is to have members retain original layers.
I'll actually need to play with this as I could be talking crap hehehe
Trev
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The same issue occurs between different editors. For example if you set Layers on parts of an Object in the Object editor, and then assign different Layers to the Elements that contain them in the Scene editor, which layer takes precedence? Does the Object layer apply to the components of each Object and the Scene layer applies to the Element? If either one is hidden then the component/element is not shown. At least that's the way that I have thought of it.
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I think I'm getting a better picture of the Global Set idea now.
One part is not clear to me yet.
Would this system work only upward in the [Obj, Fig, Seq, Sce] path, and not backwards ?
(so hiding/locking something in Object mode effects that element in the other/upper modes, but hiding/locking something in the other modes [Fig, Seq, Sce] would not effect the related elements in the Object(lower modes) editor.)
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Separate Enables: Here's my idea of how the different Layers in the Object and Scene editor will interact (the first choice in the poll):
In the Object editor: An Object has no single Layer number. Individual components of an Object, however, each have their own Layer. The properties of these Layers are set within the Object editor (Visible, Locked, etc.).
In the Scene editor: Each time you add an Object to a Scene, Anim8or creates a new Element to add to the Scene that references that Object. That Element has (will have :)) it's own Layer which uses the Scene's Layer properties.
For example: Create and Object named Bird with components named Wings (Layer = 1), Legs (Layer = 2), and Body (Layer 3), and then add two Birds to a Scene named Scene1 giving the two corresponding Elements the names Robin (Layer = 1) and Tweety (Layer = 2).
1: If you hide Bird.Layer 1 (i.e. Bird.Layer[1].Visible = false) then the wings of both Robin and Tweety will vanish from the Scene because:
Scene1.Robin.Wings.Layer.Visible = Bird.Layer[1].Visible = false.
Scene1.Tweety.Wings.Layer.Visible = Bird.Layer[1].Visible = false.
2. If you then hide Scene1.Layer 1 (Scene1.Layer[1] = false) the Robin will vanish completely but Tweety will still be there, with his wings still not visible Because:
Scene1.Robin.Layer.Visible = Scene1.Layer[1].Visible = false.
Scene1.Tweety.Layer.Visible = Scene1.Layer[2].Visible = true, but
Scene1.Tweety.Wings.Layer.Visible = Bird.Layer[1].Visible = false.
If you re-enable Layer1's visibility in the Object Bird then Tweety's wings will reappear in Scene1 but Robin will still be hidden.
Global Layers: Here's my idea of how one global set of Layers will interact (the second choice in the poll):
Same setup. Layer1.Visible = false:
In the Object editor: the wings of Bird will vanish.
In Scene1: Robin will vanish and the Tweety's wings will vanish.
If you re-enable Layer1's visibility Robin will reappear as will Tweety's wings.
Hope this clarifies things a bit!
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It did for me. Thanks.
(letting it sink in properly ...)
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Does the Object layer apply to the components of each Object and the Scene layer applies to the Element?
yes. if components within an object are assigned to a hidden layer, that setting should be 'baked' into the element as far as Figure or Scene mode is concerned, and the components shouldn't be made visible again by any layer settings you change within a figure or scene. Although having said that... what if, in Scene mode, an object or figure element's internal layer visibilities could be keyframed? *tries to stroke beard thoughtfully, but then remembers he doesn't currently have a beard*
Would this system work only upward in the [Obj, Fig, Seq, Sce] path, and not backwards ?
(so hiding/locking something in Object mode effects that element in the other/upper modes, but hiding/locking something in the other modes [Fig, Seq, Sce] would not effect the related elements in the Object(lower modes) editor.)
i would assume so, since pretty much everything else behaves that way - right, steve? obviously, locking something within an object would have no effect in Figure or Scene mode, as the operations layer locking restricts can only be done in the local mode anyway.
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I completly agree with steve on Seperate Enables objects as described and exampled.
This makes perfect sence and is what I think we are all asking for.
layer1 invisible in object1 then any refrence to object1 will also hide object1.layer1
object2 would be entirly visible.
if you assigned an object to a layer then as the tree goes only 1 way, there would be no effect in object mode.
Unlike Global, where any refrance to Layer1 would be hidden... this is bad.
Trev
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what if, in Scene mode, an object or figure element's internal layer visibilities could be keyframed?
If the default is "show (unless there is a active hidden somewhere)", the same should apply to a visibility key-frame (which could just be seen as a other/additional Hide setting, for that particular item/object.).
Would this system work only upward ...
i would assume so, ...
True. But that was before Steve last clarification. Where it was a lot less clearer to me. :)
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For Separate Enables, all layers associated with something need to be visible for it to show up. When an Object Bird is in a Scene, the Element Robin that contains it has a layer and each component of that object, Wings, Legs and Body have a layer. For the entire Element Robin to be shown all 4 layers must be visible.
It does not work the other way. Changing a layer in a Scene will not alter any part of the visibility of an Object .
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what if, in Scene mode, an object or figure element's internal layer visibilities could be keyframed?
If the default is "show (unless there is a active hidden somewhere)", the same should apply to a visibility key-frame (which could just be seen as a other/additional Hide setting, for that particular item/object.).
that's more or less what i was thinking - but i also think there would be a lot of useful applications for being able to override in the other direction too, i.e. using keyframes to make a normally-hidden layer become visible for part of a scene. the three keyframe options, as i see it, would be: obey presets (default), force to hidden, or force to visible.
in terms of a practical application, consider this: you know the figure-duplication method people keep using when they want a character to hold a prop in their hand? (as discussed here: http://www.anim8or.com/smf/index.php/topic,4938.0.html, for example.) this kind of thing could be made a lot smoother using layer visibility keyframes, like so:
suppose you've got a character who spends most of your movie wearing a top hat. for one scene only, he wears a crash helmet instead. and there are a few props you want to put in his hands in various scenes. so, you set up the figure with the main objects that comprise the character's body all on Layer 0, and his top hat on Layer 1, both set to visible. his crash helmet is on Layer 2, and Layers 3 to 7 contain the various props in his hands, all set to hidden. so, whenever you place the figure into a scene, he appears by default with his top hat, and no props (which is what you usually want). for the scene where you want him to wear the crash helmet, you could use keyframes to hide Layer 1 with the top hat and show Layer 2 with the helmet; whenever he picks up one of his props, you again use keyframes to temporarily show the usually-hidden prop layer. this method would allow you to have just one figure, instead of potentially quite a lot of variant figures cluttering up the project file which would be needed using the current method, and it would also eliminate the bother of trying to match up the position and movements of two separate variant figures within a scene to hide the transition.
hope that made sense... ?
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Layers are intended as a modeling tool. You can already animate the visibility of elements of a scene using the Visible controller.
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you know the figure-duplication method people keep using when they want a character to hold a prop in their hand?
Nope. But after reading up on it I get the general idea. (might work) :)
Unfortunately I feel way to rusty on Figures and Animation to dig into this at this time.
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Layers are intended as a modeling tool. You can already animate the visibility of elements of a scene using the Visible controller.
i get that; i was just wondering what the benefits might be if you could selectively animate the visibility of specific parts of a single element. no biggie if it isn't going to happen :)
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Trevor and Raxx: Check out the new default layer in build 1112.
Water Music: The layer number is preserved for converting to Mesh/Subdivided, duplication, editing, splitting, etc.
thecolclough: Bug fixed: #098-021 - Components assigned to hidden or locked Layers can be altered by editing commands.
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I really like the way layers have been streamlined on graphic editing software and I think you should head things in that direction a bit.
For example (refer to the attached image) in fireworks 8 you can add new layers and new layer folders by the dropdown menu on the layers tab (there is a couple other ways to do this but that mostly ties directly into the bitmap editing functions and is relevant here). The top most layers will appear on top of everything else and have priorty over everything below it. And I also like the folder feature as it can really help to organize your project especially when you have 50+ items that make up your image.
I think this could help in anim8or as you could group things into folders.
For example; lets say you have a model of a car with detailed interiors and parts like an engine. You could create a folder in the layers to keep all the engine stuff into, another one for the dash, one for the seats, and lastly one for the exterior. This way you don't have to cycle through a gazillion things to find just what you need, and you could also hide stuff based on these layers (hide a layer completely or just one object in that layer).
Using fireworks 8 again you can also lock a layer completely (which I think anim8or DRASTICALLY needs as it would help selection and editing of many vertices without accidentally editing something you don't want to), you can collapse a layer (for hiding of the layer's contents (NOT THE CONTENTS THEMSELVES!) for more organization) and you can even drag a layer with its contents to move it above or below another.
Also I figure this shouldn't be to hard to implement considering you already have grouping (which is still a completely separate thing to this, in fireworks you can have a group of a group in a layer but you can't group layers) and UI elements in place in the scene mode with the scene contents tree.
EDIT: I have to modify this again (second post in a row LOL) because I forgot to add the darn picture ::)
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Layers are now supported for Figure components for visibility. Locked support will come next.
I am using the Separate model so when you hide something in, say, the Object editor it vanishes everywhere. While this is the most generally useful, it makes it difficult to make a test render of the final look in the Scene editor, for example, without going though all the different parts of your project and making sure that it's all visible.
So I've decided to add a GUI option to toggle between a Modified Global mode that I'll call Override, and the currently used Separate. This new mode will assume everything in the other editors is set to Visible. It will allow you to do a final render without leaving the Scene editor by just enabling all Scene layers and changing the Layer mode to Override or whatever better name comes up :) .
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Thats actually a really great idea.
1 button override for render awsome.
Trev
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I really like the idea of this layer function, but just can't work it out? (http://s18.postimg.org/nbb3zykhh/Not_Happy_G.gif)
All i've been able to do with it is hide everything, by either clicking on the 0 layer in the top toolbar, or going to options -> layers and unticking/ticking layer 0.
I can't work out how to add an object to a paticular layer, (or is it adding a layer to an object), and the layer numbers in the top toolbar are just permanently greyed out, except layer 0.
going to 'options -> layers isn't really helping either.
Could someone please enlighten me here.?
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From the first post:
"You can set the layer to between 0 and 7 in the properties dialogs. Each layer can independently be displayed or hidden, and editable or locked. The top toolbar displays the layers' status. You toggle the visibility by left-clicking on a layer, and toggle whether is can be edited or not with the right mouse button. Locked layers have a little lock in the lower right corner."
Example: in object mode,create a sphere.Double click on it to see properties dialog
and set layer to 3.
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Double click on it to see properties dialog
That's all i was missing..
Was going up to object -> properties....(http://s6.postimg.org/zd57j8ja5/gryrolleyes.gif)
Thanks Claude (http://s6.postimg.org/p4cqdev8d/grysmile.gif)
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I'm so sorry i missed this whole 'layers' conversation.....don't ask...(http://s13.postimg.org/668ay1knn/blush1gry.gif)
...but i have read this thread a few times now and copied a list of posts which referred to my observation/question. but there was so much i probly shouldn't quote it all.
But/So, here's my thinking.
I think the last update for layers was build 1124? November 2014.
Layers enabled for Figure components.
and steves last post here. nov1 , 2014,
I am using the Separate model so when you hide something in, say, the Object editor it vanishes everywhere......
So, from what i understand, we're just waiting on the update now. (http://s6.postimg.org/4y98eizkt/grywink.gif)
Alrighty. Thats good. I more understand these layers now, and they're really handy. I can see these becoming very usefull indeed.
Just today a possible use came to mind relating to 'seeing inside' things, and using perspective view in scene mode to do so, re this post
http://www.anim8or.com/smf/index.php/topic,5062.15.html
Using layers would be an ideal solution for working 'inside' things.
This will mean i can have 4 walls in an object. each wall on a seprate layer. If i turn off ,eg:layer 3 = invisible,in object mode, then that wall will be invisible in scene mode too.
Yes. Thats Awesome.
And great idea for an override, as a solution to 'needing to make all layers visible in one hit, for rendering'. Layers has evolved nicely, just like i would've voted for too.
We're nearly in february already, but when 'layers' is finished, it'll be like New Year all over again.
Very nice addition steve. Absolutely cool. (http://s8.postimg.org/j64xwcx9d/Big_Grin_Gry.gif)...oops...(http://s24.postimg.org/cn9xhqr5t/SSG03_G.gif) ...cool
:)
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johnar - double-click an element to open its properties dialogue, and you'll find a new section towards the bottom labelled 'Editing Properties', containing a little text box labelled 'Layer'. change the text in that box to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, and that reassigns the element in question onto the new layer. the toolbar button relating to the layer in question will then become clickable, allowing you to hide/show and lock/unlock the affected element(s). if you want to put the element back on the original layer, just change the text back to 0.
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The layer is in the properties dialogs (i.e. when you double click on something).
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I need some clarification- the 'Layers' system applies to, sort of, groups of OBJECTS, not textures, right?
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thecolclough Thanks m8. Got it now. Was looking in the wrong place for the object properties, everything else is pretty clear now.
Steve
The layer is in the properties dialogs (i.e. when you double click on something).
Lol. Yip, my bad. Clean forgot that double clicking on object brings up another object properties dialog.
Sort've surprised anim8or doesn't yet have right click options. like, right click on object could bring up not only object properties, but other, present and future, object options as well.
Must admit, i right clicked the object several times looking for options. Are you not a fan of the standard 'right click for options' function, steve.?
davdud101 Doesn't seem to apply to textures, except for the fact that your 'textured' object is hidden when layer is hidden. The texture remains in the texture/material colum, and is still useable on other objects......which is probably a good thing....(http://s6.postimg.org/p4cqdev8d/grysmile.gif)
Edit: davdud101 After a little more thought, the ability to temporarilly hide materials could actually be quite a usefull thing, couldn't it?
Not sure how it would operate in conjunction with layers tho ................ might be more of a 'material settings' thing....?............. . hide/show material?.......
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Sorry johnar- I hadn't read thoroughly and I only just tried the latest build... I was thinking along the lines of applying and layering up multiple different alpha-mapped textures onto one object to create effects like dry rust or a scratch on a shiny surface
I see what it is now, though... Pretty dang cool!
EDIT: I'm actually making use of it- very useful for designing the interior of, for example, a spacecraft (wink wink)