Animated layer order

AmigaMan · Post by **AmigaMan** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:42 am

In AS Pro 6 can you still reorder the layers during an animation?
I ask as the manual states....
"Layers can be re-ordered at any time, although their order is not dynamic over time. That is, the layer ordering cannot change in the middle of an animation, for example to make one object appear to move in front of another object."
I couldn't find any other reference to animating the layer order and I can't remember how I did it in 5.5 to test it out!

moorsel · Post by **moorsel** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 12:37 pm

I have the feeling this feature doesn't work the same way as it used to work in the previous version of AS Pro, at least it doesn't work for me anymore.

Frank

slice11217 · Post by **slice11217** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 1:59 pm

yeah....

I'm noticing that it doesn't even work! -Or maybe that it doesn't work like it used to. Is there some new step that has to be engaged, like using a layer reorder tool, or something?

AmigaMan · Post by **AmigaMan** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:02 pm

Moorsel, someone very kindly PM'd me to say it does work "you just need to enable layer ordering, at your group level. Go to depth sort and you'll see the check box."

I'm in the middle of tiling a kitchen floor (yeah, great fun!) at the moment so can't test this out until this evening!

If this does work it really should be in the manual as it's a major major feature! This was the Holy Grail as far as another company who demonstrated their software to us several years ago were concerned and they couldn't work out a way to implement it. They were aware Moho couldn't do it either (at the time) and used that as an indication of just how difficult it was to do!

Hmm, Slice...just noticed your post. Maybe it doesn't work now after all?

Vern.....can you confirm either way please?

Darramouss · Post by **Darramouss** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:06 pm

Yep, I just tried it and it worked. The "Enable Layer Ordering" checkbox is found on the "Depth Sort" tab in your group layer.

slice11217 · Post by **slice11217** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:16 pm

My bad -it's working but not as intuitively as before.

moorsel · Post by **moorsel** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 3:04 pm

yes, it works after enabling the enable layer ordering option in the layer properties

Frank

AmigaMan · Post by **AmigaMan** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 3:12 pm

Thanks Darramouss and everyone. That's one hell of an omission from the manual!

Oh well, the important thing is that it can still be done. Woohooo!

JCook · Post by **JCook** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:56 pm

I think it's a good thing that you need to enable it in order to make it work. This prevents accidental layer order animation that you don't want. I was working on a project in 5.6 about two weeks ago when I noticed that some of my layers were changing location during the animation - an effect I did not want. Apparently I had inadvertently moved a layer or two without realizing it and ASPro keyframed it automatically without my realizing it. When I finally figured out what happened I had a heck of a time correcting it. So this way, you have to KNOW that you want to animate layer ordering, and do it intentionally.

Jack

Darramouss · Post by **Darramouss** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:01 pm

Firstly, full agreement with you, AmigaMan. I use that feature extensively and would have been in a lot of trouble without it!!

Secondly, full agreement with you, JCook. I've had that issue in the past and I think being able to select only the items you want is a good idea.

Damn, I'm agreeable today!!

AmigaMan · Post by **AmigaMan** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:49 pm

....And I'm in total agreement with both of you

I just think it's a great shame such a major feature is missing from the manual. Only because I think this software is amazing and I'd like to see it get the full recognition it deserves and people be able to use it to it's full potential. No other reason

JCook · Post by **JCook** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:38 pm

I find the manual to be better than the help in 5.6, only because it's a pdf file, and it has a lot more information in it. But the information is difficult to find when you want to find out something specific. There is still no index, no way to look something up. It seems to be organized into a series of tutorials rather than informational chapters, but I have a very hard time finding anything. For example, the What's New section mentioned morph targets, but there were no chapter or tutorial headings that mentioned them, and no index. I finally found the info about morph targets totally by accident when looking at something else. I could have gone for weeks on end without finding out about that. Manuals that are not user friendly are one of my pet peeves. Who knows what else is missing - or hidden - in this manual?

Not to be a total sour grape - ASPro 6 so far looks pretty good, and I'm happy to have it!

Jack

Darramouss · Post by **Darramouss** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:15 am

I think the difficulty with manuals is that they're written by people who have such an implicit knowledge of the product. They're aware of every single tiny item in the product that things could be missed due to an implied "implied knowledge".

Kind of like when you use work jargon to your friends. You're so intimately aware of your work terminology that you can unwittingly assume that the people around you must have that knowledge, too.

Still, I think the manual for ASP6 is a big leap over the manual in ASP5. I've found the What's New section in the front very handy. I did searches for every What's New item before I read the manual whole. Gave me a good grasp on the changes.

Imago · Post by **Imago** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 6:35 pm

Darramouss wrote:Yep, I just tried it and it worked. The "Enable Layer Ordering" checkbox is found on the "Depth Sort" tab in your group layer.

Please, help me! I can't find the checkbox to enable layer ordering!
Where are exactly?

Post by **Víctor Paredes** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:41 pm

Imago wrote:
Darramouss wrote:Yep, I just tried it and it worked. The "Enable Layer Ordering" checkbox is found on the "Depth Sort" tab in your group layer.
Please, help me! I can't find the checkbox to enable layer ordering!
Where are exactly?

If you have AS 5 there is not checkbox at all. You can just move the layers on time and the animation will be marked on its parent (group, bone, whatever). The checkbox is an addition of version 6 for people which don't want to have every layer moving in time.

PD: the checkbox is on the proprieties of the parent layer, which can be a bone, group or whatever which can children layers inside. If you are in AS 6, double click that layer and you will found the depth sort tab.