Moho Animation Forum

Hi,

I may have posted my last question in the wrong forum section and maybe that is why it is not getting any replies, so I thought I'd ask another question here - assuming this is the right place to do so.

Does Anime Studio Pro have any kind of Symmetry plane that can be turned on? So that any changes you make to the left get changed by mirror on the right and vice versa? Or so anything you draw on the right gets drawn mirrored on the left? Or any bones you move on the right gets move-mirrored on the left as well?

Also, do vector layers have a pivot point, and can that layer's position be modified numerically? i.e. lets say I have 2 objects - one for the left and one for the right and I want to ensure they are EXACTLY mirrored? How can I do this? And how can I ensure that their bone placements or pivots are perfectly symmetrical so similar movements make exactly the same motion (except of course for the fact that I would want those motions mirrored)?

thanks for any help with this!

Ok I've found the "Set Origin" tool for the layer (please forgive my noobness), but is there a way to set the origin to a perfect center of select points? so that the origin is mathematically perfect for a group of selected points as opposed to me just eyeball placing it in the layer?

Still curious about symmetry as well...

There is no tool to modify points symmetrically. You can either do this by hand or create one side of your character first and then copy and flip and connect (this is what I do).

If you want the points centered on the layer select all of the points and then use the translate points tool and set the numeric values (located at the top of the window with that tool selected) of the x and y to 0.

All point locations are relative to the layer origin.

thanks for your reply.

What units are the positions in? Is there a way to use "real-world" sizes like meters/millimeters ? (in order to keep different assets appropriately scaled for each other)

Also, with the Set Origin tool, is there a way to move that to the precise center of a group of points so I can be sure that the pivot is exactly where I want it? Or can I snap it to a particular point?

No, there's no unit you could use. To maintain uniformity you need to be very careful when creating a character: use point scaling instead of layer scaling, use the grid, use styles, etc.

You can always draw a shape, then duplicate it and us the mirror tool.

psvfx wrote: Also, with the Set Origin tool, is there a way to move that to the precise center of a group of points so I can be sure that the pivot is exactly where I want it? Or can I snap it to a particular point?

Dagnabbit! So sorry. I got layer origin confused with layer Position.

As Slowtiger already said there are no "units" when moving the layer. Anime Studio uses it's own system of units that doesn't change even at different sized project pixel dimensions. The units used for layer position is always based on a square grid using the height of the project. The height, or top of the document is always 1. The center of the layer is 0, and the bottom of the project is -1. The width is based on the same square units/grid and varies based on the proportions set in the project settings.

Point positions are based on the layer position grid and NOT the layer origin. Changing layer origin has no effect on the point positions. They are always based on the "actual" layer position with the center of the layer at 0. Layer origin changes the layer rotation and position center when animating layer properties, but the "actual" layer grid remains unchanged. For example if you animate the layer position and you have layer paths displayed (the blue path showing layer movement) that path follows the layer origin.

Phew!

Layer origin is for changing the center of layer property animation. Point positions are still based on the "real" layer position. If you change the layer origin, the points positions won't change value. it a points position is 0.5 x , 0.5 y and you move the origin of the layer the value for the points positions on x and y won't change. This can be... confusing but makes sense.

Think of the layer origin the same as a separate value of the layer like the point locations. The real or actual layer grid x y values never changes. The origin is based on that grid.

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You can set the layer origin to match the center of a group of points. There is no tool or automated way to do this but you can simply copy the x and y location of the points to the x and y of the layer origin.

For example, if you drew a hand on a layer and it was off to the right and down low on the layer, and you wanted to rotate the hand layer it won't rotate correctly because the origin is in the center of the layer. You can move the layer origin to the top of of the hand points so the layer rotates at the wrist. You could also copy the point locations x and y to the layer origin.

Sorry if this is confusing. It makes sense if you simply play around with these settings in a simple document with one vector layer and a simple shape like a circle or square.

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To be honest, there is a much easier way to rotate and control layers without having to worry about the layer origin. Use a bone layer and bones. Binding a layer to a bone is a more clearly visible way to see how the layer will be controlled and you don't have to select the layer to rotate or move it, and you don't have to touch the origin of the layer.