Using Moho & Crazy Talk together, separate layers = ugly gaps

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Welsh Jester
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Using Moho & Crazy Talk together, separate layers = ugly gaps

Post by Welsh Jester »

I decided to try combining Crazy Talk & Moho to see what I could do, first I just want to show this short clip I made which I think has a kind of amusing look to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MicepR ... e=youtu.be

I set out the layers in paint.net like this:

Image

You can see that there's no gaps or anything between the layers, I have also checked myself.

When I bring the layers into Moho, everything looks good at first without GPU acceleration:

Image

Until I render out an image, or enable GPU acceleration, then I get this ugly gap:

Image

There shouldn't be any gaps as all the layers were saved as the same size, and all looks fine when turning on/off the layers in Paint.net. To get it looking mostly normal I had to raise the lower layer up a bit, I think raising it up is also creating a barely visible seam line between the layers, which also doesn't make much sense because it just looks like the position needs altering slightly, but for the most part it's hard to see unless you zoom in. So it ends up looking pretty good in the video but not pixel perfect like it should be, why does this even happen in the first place? Anyone have any input?
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slowtiger
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Re: Using Moho & Crazy Talk together, separate layers = ugly gaps

Post by slowtiger »

By any chance: is there one half of the face in an image file so it's cut off in the middle by the file border? In that case it's a known glitch. In a bitmap file, always leave some 1 or 2 px of transparency at the borders, and take care to not have any straight borders - always make them a bit fuzzy (just a 1 px smooth border is enough). Also, if your bitmap editor shows that option, make sure to save as "don't pre-multiply alpha".
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Welsh Jester
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Re: Using Moho & Crazy Talk together, separate layers = ugly gaps

Post by Welsh Jester »

slowtiger wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2019 10:58 am By any chance: is there one half of the face in an image file so it's cut off in the middle by the file border? In that case it's a known glitch. In a bitmap file, always leave some 1 or 2 px of transparency at the borders, and take care to not have any straight borders - always make them a bit fuzzy (just a 1 px smooth border is enough). Also, if your bitmap editor shows that option, make sure to save as "don't pre-multiply alpha".
Hi,

Yes each image is either top half of the head, or lower half. Like this, and as in the layers tab

Image

The gap is not so much of a problem once imported into Moho, it's just that there's still a very slight uneven seam/join line between 2 layers no matter how much I try to line them up when imported, like a row of pixels look a bit off creating that seam. I guess it's close enough that it would go unnoticed, but it's still not the same as it looks in an image editor.

But as said in the first post, I can get it lined up right in Moho without GPU acceleration turned on, but as soon as I turn it on or go to render then there's the gap again. If I line everything up right with GPU acceleration turned on and then turn it off, I can see overlap in the pixels. Maybe that's what's creating the slight seam line.. but still it makes little sense to me. Maybe if I made all the images nearest neighbor then it would line up right.. but then the images would lose quality.
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slowtiger
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Re: Using Moho & Crazy Talk together, separate layers = ugly gaps

Post by slowtiger »

1. If you work with cutouts/bitmaps, always make sure that they overlap a bit.
2. Always leave a transparent gap at the file borders.
3. Straight line need to have a blurred appearance.
If you follow these points, there should be no visible lines in your renders.
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Welsh Jester
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Re: Using Moho & Crazy Talk together, separate layers = ugly gaps

Post by Welsh Jester »

slowtiger wrote: Sat Oct 26, 2019 8:58 am 1. If you work with cutouts/bitmaps, always make sure that they overlap a bit.
2. Always leave a transparent gap at the file borders.
3. Straight line need to have a blurred appearance.
If you follow these points, there should be no visible lines in your renders.
I saved each image with a big transparent space at the borders.

My point though is that while the overlap in Moho gets rid of that gap, it's then not 100% seamless between the top half and bottom half of the head.

If you cut a persons head in half in an image editor and then overlap the 2 images by just 1-2 pixels it's kind of like that, but only slightly visible. The pixels just don't match up because of the overlap.
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synthsin75
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Re: Using Moho & Crazy Talk together, separate layers = ugly gaps

Post by synthsin75 »

Don't just split one image. Split two, the top with the split a little lower and the bottom with the split a little higher. That way you're not pushing them together to overlap.
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Re: Using Moho & Crazy Talk together, separate layers = ugly gaps

Post by Welsh Jester »

synthsin75 wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:15 am Don't just split one image. Split two, the top with the split a little lower and the bottom with the split a little higher. That way you're not pushing them together to overlap.
Right of course, common sense. Now why didn't I do that in the first place?

I did that and also feathered the top part of the head, looks good

Top half of the head like this as a template

Image

Feathered/faded eye expressions

Image

Bottom half with different mouths etc

Image

Complete with eyes separate

Image

There might be easier ways to do all of it, but without it being too tedious ( it kind of already is a bit ) that's about the best i can do.
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