Technical issues I need help with

[CodyBDrawin']

I need to be clear that when I looked in the categories in Moho Discussion (like "How do I...?" and all that), I didn't see anything about technical assistance and was wondering if I could get some here, since I'm having several issues with 13.5 that I didn't have with 12.

First one: every time I export an animation as a video file (an .MP4), using the same settings I had with 12 (re: resolution), it takes much longer to finish (and it's the same level of depth as far as animations I make go, so it's not like I'm exporting a highly detailed, feature film-length animation), and the video file either won't open/upload at all on certain platforms (such as Twitter), won't play (on Discord), and is of a crappier resolution (on Facebook).

Second: it's much laggier, when it comes to things ranging from panning and scrolling (and understand that A) I'm running this on a high-end PC that can run high-performance video games with no problems; and B) it's the same PC I was running 12 on) to playing/previewing the animation, there's a considerable delay in actions and picture quality that I didn't have with 12.

Third: there's some sort of "bug" (and I put quotes on it because I don't know what it is exactly) where every so often, I'm doing something and then all of a sudden, my zoom is maxed all the way out and I have to scroll back in to see everything I'm working on again. I don't know what it is and how to make it stop.

13.5 is really cool, and in no way am I implying otherwise, but these technical issues are really getting on my nerves. If there's some way to fix them - be it with a certain setup of preferences/settings in the program, or manual tweaks to be made to files, please let me know what the solutions are. Thank you.

[synthsin75]

First one: every time I export an animation as a video file (an .MP4), using the same settings I had with 12 (re: resolution), it takes much longer to finish (and it's the same level of depth as far as animations I make go, so it's not like I'm exporting a highly detailed, feature film-length animation),

13.5 introduced a setting for how many threads to use while rendering. You may want to experiment to find what's optimal for your system, as more isn't always better. For instance, my 8 core computer seems to do better using only 6 threads.

and the video file either won't open/upload at all on certain platforms (such as Twitter), won't play (on Discord), and is of a crappier resolution (on Facebook).

That sounds like your using a codec those platforms don't like. See their recommendations on which codecs to use. If it's poorer quality than rendered, they are re-encoding your uploaded video.

Second: it's much laggier, when it comes to things ranging from panning and scrolling (and understand that A) I'm running this on a high-end PC that can run high-performance video games with no problems; and B) it's the same PC I was running 12 on) to playing/previewing the animation, there's a considerable delay in actions and picture quality that I didn't have with 12.

On any laggy file, try my negative keyframe script: viewtopic.php?t=32714
Sometimes Moho writes keyframes to the negative timeline that don't get cleaned up properly.

If that lag exists when opening new files, it may be your system isn't running Moho on your dedicated graphics card, but is using integrated graphics instead.

Third: there's some sort of "bug" (and I put quotes on it because I don't know what it is exactly) where every so often, I'm doing something and then all of a sudden, my zoom is maxed all the way out and I have to scroll back in to see everything I'm working on again. I don't know what it is and how to make it stop.

Certain things will do that, but even on v12. The paint bucket comes to mind.

[CodyBDrawin']

Many thanks for the in-depth answers, my man. Re: the cores, both 12 and 13 set it to four by default, and I have eight on my PC.

How would I go about get Moho to run on my proper graphics card in the event that it isn't doing so by default?

[synthsin75]

If you're on Windows 10, have a look here: https://pureinfotech.com/set-gpu-app-windows-10/
Otherwise, you'll need to look up how for your OS.

[General uknow]

I need help moho 13.5.4 has no bitmap drawing...only shows vector layers even after
Installing and unistalling...
Moho 13 had bitmap brushes but mine has none...
The bitmap image layer only opens window tab...
How do i fix this huge set back...tell me?

[Karl Toon]

Moho 13 had bitmap brushes but mine has none...

They were removed in 13.5

[Greenlaw]

Some additional info...

if you have 8 threads available, 6 is probably a good place to start. Like Wes, I have 8 available and enabled 6, and Moho renders very quickly. The optimal really depends on how much RAM you have available; the more threads you enable, the more RAM you will need, especially for heavy projects. You'll want to experiment with the number used to find what works best on your computer.

Keep in mind that you may need to reduce the number of threads or even disable multithreading altogether for extra complicated or extra large renders.

This might be incorrect or overly simplified but here's my understanding of what's going on with multithreading: When using multithreading, Moho is trying to render multiple instances of the project at the same time, and the computer needs a certain amount RAM for each instance. If there isn't enough RAM available, the computer needs to page the data which can slow down or crash the computer.

I think a modern computer with decent specs shouldn't run into trouble with most typical projects using the default settings.

BTW, rendering to a movie file requires more RAM and processing. If this is causing trouble for you (i.e., slow rendering,) try rendering to an image sequence and then compiling the frames to a movie file in a separate render pass. FWIW, in actual studio production, it's common to render to an image sequence first because this offers more flexibility when you need to re-render only a section of the animation. Also, if Moho crashes while rendering, with an image sequence you can pick up where Moho left off, while with a movie render, you need to start over completely. In short, rendering to an image sequence first is more efficient.

When you're ready to render the movie file, create a project and import the image sequence to the project. Since Moho only needs to compile the frames and doesn't need to process all animation and effects data, your computer should have a much easier (and faster) time with rendering this project. Tip: If you use Moho Exporter, you can set up a single profile to render the 'animation' project followed by the 'compile movie' as a single batch render.

As for video codec, it depends on your hardware specs and what you intend to do with the movie file. I don't normally render a movie file from Moho (I prefer to do that from a compositing program like After Effects, Nuke or Fusion,) but when I do render a movie file from Moho, I use H.265 or ProRes. If an alpha channel is required in the movie file, use ProRes with PNG with Alpha. (When you need an alpha channel in a movie file, it's always best to use an uncompressed or lossless compression to prevent 'chewy' matte edges.)

Regarding bitmaps, the bitmap tools introduced in Moho 13.0 were removed because they simply didn't work very well. My understanding is the developers are evaluating the future of bitmap tools and they may introduce a better version in the future.

For now, it's much better to use a dedicated paint program like Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, or Krita, especially in Moho 13.5.4 because of its significantly improved layered PSD support. If you don't have Photoshop or CSP, I highly recommend Krita...it's a great paint program with FBF option, and it's free. (If you use it regularly, please support it with a donation.) When you paint with a third party program, just save your file as a layered PSD and import it to Moho. When you change the painting in the paint program and resave it, Moho will automatically update the imported layers. In previous versions of Moho, Moho could get confused when you merged, deleted or created new layers but the new PSD support in Moho 13.5.4 is much smarter about this.

Tip: You want to give each layer a unique and descriptive name because Moho 13.5.4 uses a combination of layer name and layer ID to keep track of the layers. Previous versions used only Layer ID which wasn't always reliable.

Hope this helps.

[synthsin75]

I need help moho 13.5.4 has no bitmap drawing...only shows vector layers even after
Installing and unistalling...
Moho 13 had bitmap brushes but mine has none...
The bitmap image layer only opens window tab...
How do i fix this huge set back...tell me?

Those unfinished tools were removed from 13.5. But you can have 13 and 13.5.4 both installed. So if you really need the Moho 13 bitmap tools, you can use them in v13 and then open that file (or import layers) in 13.5.4 to use the new features. Best of both worlds.

[Greenlaw]

Just be aware that the Smart Bone Action ID problems in Moho 13.0 can mess up a rig. In other words, don't work on the rig in 13.0...use 13.0 only for bitmap editing then bring the file back into 13.5.4.

IMO, except for the simplest bitmap editing, you really should use a decent external paint program. The 13.0 bitmap tools lack too many basic features.

[synthsin75]

Just be aware that the Smart Bone Action ID problems in Moho 13.0 can mess up a rig. In other words, don't work on the rig in 13.0...use 13.0 only for bitmap editing then bring the file back into 13.5.4.

IMO, except for the simplest bitmap editing, you really should use a decent external paint program. The 13.0 bitmap tools lack too many basic features.

^^This.