You know, that might be an idea... build everything with respect to z-space...funksmaname wrote:i'm sure when south park started there was no library of assets - they just built up over time from necessity! There's no way you're going to plan ahead for every possible situation - i would spend less time making it futureproof and more time animating it to make it good enough to run that long
maybe another option is to have two layers, grouped in a folder so they can be easily accessed, and knock the back helmet layer away from the camera slightly in Z space? that way it should appear behind the rest? I've not tried it but should work...
All backgrounds negative, all objects that have an "inside" are split to negative and positive z space, then all characters at z=0
And with respect to planning ahead... of course assets are built up over time, but without having a workflow philosophy... you will be trapped in that decision forever.
You have to know HOW you will generally approach a massive workflow, right up front, or you are pretty screwed.
Was it Lincoln that said... if I have 9 hours to chop a tree, I'd spend 8 hours sharpening my axe.
Regards,
Ryder