PSD Import seems better in 13.5.2

[strider2000]

This is just a quick note to those who, like me, may have been wondering about 13.5.2 and psd import (among other things). I use clip studio paint and export as psd. In the past, that worked ok for the initial import, but didn't seem to track psd updates, so I didn't do a lot of bitmap animation.

With 13.5.2 the psd import seems to work really well. I've tried

• editing layers
• changing transparency
• adding new layers
• deleting layers
• renaming layers (even renaming to a duplicate name)
• reordering layers (this doesn't seem to work)

Things seem to work really well. The only thing that didn't seem to work for me is reordering layers. That's probably not much of an issue for animation, but it's something to be aware of. I hope that's helpful to people who might be interested in 13.5.2 and psd.

I'm really liking 13.5.2 so far. I also love the help videos on youtube. Thanks Victor and others

One idea I had recently. I think people would find it really helpful to have an a "why did I do it that way" kind of video for each of the characters that come with Moho (of course focusing on the new characters). The teams do such a great job on the characters, and it's a worthwhile exercise for users to study how they're made, but it might be really helpful to have the character creators do videos on why it was rigged a certain way. The characters always show the cool features of the upgrade and I think lots of people would like the learn from the thought process. But of course, it could just be me

The biggest challenge I have with Moho (or really any 2D animation software) is trying to understand the limits and stay within them as I think of my ideas. Any videos on that would be great.

Anyway. I love the software. Keep it up

[Greenlaw]

Yeah, Layered PSD import is a lot smarter now. I think the big change is that it prioritizes Layer Names first, and then Layer IDs and Layer Order, which makes editing the layers in Photoshop (or whichever PSD compatible program you use) easier and more predictable from a user's perspective. I don't know exactly how Moho decides the user's intent, but it seems to work as expected in most common circumstances.

Have you tried merging layers? The new system is pretty smart about that too. Technically, you could merge layers with the old system but you had to be extra careful about how the layers were stacked before merging or the whole thing failed in Moho. With the new system, it just works. Just watch those layer names because Photoshop always keeps the name of the topmost layer. You will probably need to rename the result whatever the bottom layer was called before you save the PSD in Photoshop for Moho to recognize it as the same layer.*

I can still get some odd results when I try to (I described one the other day in another thread,) but when it does, it's easily manageable. With normal use, I've yet to see the new system break like it could in the old system. I have to emphasize 'normal use' because I'm certain there are advanced Photoshop layer options and features that won't translate to Moho.

*NOTE: Edited for more info about merging layers in Photoshop for Moho 13.5.2.

[chucky]

Hey Strider,
Your welcome to come ( as is anyone) to the discord and talk/ jam out any ideas you have about what you'd like to see with PSD in Moho.
Personally I'd love to find an app or py script that will rename PSD layers with unique layer names if the are not already.
This is mostly when I do fbf animation in the PSD format , particularly in CLip studio which makes new groups automatically with each new 'frame' these groups contain fill, colour and various clipped light shade passed. Each groups internal layers have matching names which works brilliantly for the FBF process.
Importing into Moho however becomes a big problem in13.5.2.... now if I could parse ( is that the right terminology?) the file through an app that can rename those many layers to be unique, everything would be cool.
https://discord.gg/YT3pEJ6W

[strider2000]

Hi Greenlaw. I haven't tried merging. I guess, back in 9 or 10, I decided to just stick with the vectors, since there were too many challenges with psd files. The new system is making the bitmap work much more attractive. So I might start playing with it and of course merging is a good next thing to try

Hi Chucky. As I'd expect, from work you've shared on the forum, I'm sure you've pushed the limits of the bitmap support. I've only played with animation in packages like Clip Studio Paint and Krita and I've never tried to pull them into Moho. However, it seems like things are getting to the point that they're close and worth trying out. Thanks for letting me know about the discord. I'm sure there are interesting discussions.

I guess the real problem with Moho is that my day job takes up my time so I can't spend as much time as I want trying things out

[OttoKirby]

Yeah! I'm digging the PSD import and update. It works great! The only thing that didn't work was the clipping mask layers. Those come in with the art on the layer but not masked. I use clip paint studio as well! Love it. And I'm even a long-time PS user.

-OK

[Greenlaw]

Being able to merge is important to me because whenever I'm editing a paint layer, I like to paint in a clean layer on top instead of painting directly inside the layer I want to change...this gives me greater flexibility until I'm ready to commit to my edits by merging the layers. In previous versions of Moho (13.0 and earlier), Moho could get confused because the Layer ID could change after merging, but in Moho 13.5.2, so long as the merged layer maintains the layer name before you save the PSD, the image should update just fine. (Just remember that Photoshop always keeps the layer name of the topmost layer in a merge, so you may need to rename the result.)

[Greenlaw]

Yeah! I'm digging the PSD import and update. It works great! The only thing that didn't work was the clipping mask layers.

Oh, I hadn't tried clipping mask because I assumed it wouldn't work. However, I just did a quick clipping mask test using Photoshop and all I had to do in Moho to make it work was right-click the group layer and select Mask - Inside Bottom Layer.

For example, create the Clipping Mask in Photoshop...



Then after import to Moho, select the group and right-click select Mask - Inside Bottom Layer...



Not bad, just one extra step to remember.

Layer Masking, on the other hand, translates directly. For example, this Layer Mask in Photoshop...



...will update in Moho as...



Moho simply reads the Layer Mask as an alpha channel. Cool Beans!

[OttoKirby]

Awesome! That's great that the clip masks work and layer masks as well. It's nice to have it all updating like this and being able to work in your paint program.

[synthsin75]

Personally I'd love to find an app or py script that will rename PSD layers with unique layer names if the are not already.
This is mostly when I do fbf animation in the PSD format , particularly in CLip studio which makes new groups automatically with each new 'frame' these groups contain fill, colour and various clipped light shade passed. Each groups internal layers have matching names which works brilliantly for the FBF process.
Importing into Moho however becomes a big problem in13.5.2.... now if I could parse ( is that the right terminology?) the file through an app that can rename those many layers to be unique, everything would be cool.

Here's a python script for GIMP that will rename all the layers in a PSD: https://www.reddit.com/r/GifTutorials/c ... _pythonfu/
There's probably something similar for PS, but haven't found anything for CSP.

[chucky]

Thanks Wes, for finding that fella

I'm afraid the situation is a bit more complex than that,
Clip already has a great option that numbers layers either by timeline or layer order.
I really need a script that searches the groups and adds a prefix or suffix to the already numbered layers.

So group ' name' contains layers 1- 50
Their maybe be several groups 1-50 with different group names.

Each layers would then become name 1, name 2 etc

There are other situations where the groups would be already placed as frame , so group name 1-50.
Each group would contain several layers that make the frame's image ( line, light , shade, fill.) those names are automatically created with the same layers by clip when animating, only the group gets numbered .

Then I would need t rename the group's layers ( this is the really painful one) name line 1, name light1, name shade 1, name fill 1) etc etc

That's is the really ouchy one.

[synthsin75]

Seems that GIMP script could be modified to do that, but I'm not familiar with GIMP scripting, so I couldn't just whip something up.

[chucky]

Seems that GIMP script could be modified to do that, but I'm not familiar with GIMP scripting, so I couldn't just whip something up.

Oh no problem, Wes I would not expect it, seems like a lot of work for anyone.
I sent a feature request to Clip... I wonder how that might go... we'll see.