tutorial for new live smart mesh creation 13.5.2

[Mattyj]

Hey there just wondering if there is a tutorial for the new live smart mesh creation? Will this work on an imported .psd?

Cheers,

Matto

[Greenlaw]

I would look at Victor's demo videos...they cover the workflow pretty thoroughly.

As for PSD support, yes, the SmartWarp automesher recognizes transparent areas in layered PSDs just like it does with PNGs. (You'll need to automesh each PSD layer separately of course.) The only catch is that if you change the layer art in Photoshop and the new boundary is different, Moho will automatically update the image but the mesh layer will not update--you will need to delete the mesh layer and run the command again for the revised image. This is expected behavior and not a bug; the mesh layer isn't meant to update dynamically to changes in the bitmap layer, only to vector changes in the layer itself.

(Edited for clarification about what changes dynamically.)

[Mattyj]

Legend thanks Greenlaw...so I will need to import each layer as a separate image and create a smart mesh layer with each import?

It's just that when I import the entire psd file (individually) the "create smart warp layer" option is greyed out in the draw menu.

[Greenlaw]

...so I will need to import each layer as a separate image and create a smart mesh layer with each import?

Not if you import the layered PSD using the Individually option. With this option, Moho imports all of the layers all at once. You will then need to apply the automesh command to each layer, which is what you want when importing this way.

If you want apply the automesh to the whole PSD drawing at once, you need to import the layered PSD with the Composite option. Then Moho imports the whole drawing as one layer, and you only need one mesh.

The method you choose depends on how you intend to rig and animate the artwork.

It's just that when I import the entire psd file (individually) the "create smart warp layer" option is greyed out in the draw menu.

Re: 'Grayed out', make sure you have a layer selected so Moho knows what you want to automesh. When you select a layer, the command will become active. If it's still inactive, you probably already have a mesh assigned to that layer. In this case, you need to either unassign the mesh or delete it.

[Mattyj]

Ok sweet I'll give it a go
Thanks again Greenlaw.

[Greenlaw]

Oh, I just thought of another reason Create Smart Warp Layer might be grayed out for you: make sure you're on frame 0 (the setup frame) to use this command. Like many Moho drawing tools, you can't use this feature on an animation frame. (Even if you disable Enable Drawing Tools Only On Frame 0.)

[Mattyj]

Awesome yeah managed to get it to work, I think the first point you raised was the reason, but cheers also for the reminder about frame 0