Masking to individual layer WITHIN a group?
Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 9:09 pm
I use masking A LOT with character designs and I've gotten pretty good at it but there is one thing that I can't figure out about it and that is to mask one individual layer to ONLY the layer directly under it but still be within a group of multiple layers but not subject to the very bottom layer of the group. It's hard to explain but I'll try. I have a character (a bear) with a head shape which is on the bottom of the group and needs to be on the bottom so the other components of the face are above it. I then have a muzzle (shape layer) which is basically the shape of the mouth area. It is independent of the head layer so it can move for head rotation purposes. I then have a switch mouth layer on top of the muzzle which is also independent because for the head rotation and tilting to look correctly they will have to be offset. So what I want to do is make the make the switch layer only appear on the muzzle and no where else because I want to deform them when rotating the head but the way the mouths are constructed, when they are moved to the side of the muzzle the edges overlap it. I can't combine layers because I need (or rather want) to use switch layers for the mouth. So the question is, can you mask individual layers be masked to a specific layer without having to use the very bottom layer as the mask? I know it sounds crazy as masking in anime studio it tricky already so this question might only be for uber users! LOL! If no one responds I might make a video so you guys can see what I mean! Any help is appreciated!!! 
