Vector are not applying Effects

[HowlingAbandon]

Hello,
New to MoHo 13.5

I'm trying to apply a "soft edges" effect to a layer. I select the layer... click the effect and apply it then use the paint bucket to apply it to the vector for good measure. When I select the vector shape again and click on the fill effect menu it shows the effect is applied but I'm not seeing any changes on the canvas, the shape is still solid... and I'm running a heavy duty PC and graphics card with the display settings as high as possible in MoHo.

Any ideas what I may be doing wrong or if it's a bug I need to reinstall for?



Thanks!

[Greenlaw]

That's a post process effect so you need to render it to see it. To see a preview render, use Ctrl-R. For a final quality render use Moho Exporter or Export Animation.

You can preview some of these effects in the Workspace if you use GPU Acceleration but it's not an accurate match to the final quality render. Personally, I prefer to leave GPU Acceleration disabled, check the effect with Ctrl-R, and then move on knowing that the effect should render correctly when I'm ready to render the project.

[HowlingAbandon]

That's a post process effect so you need to render it to see it. To see a preview render, use Ctrl-R. For a final quality render use Moho Exporter or Export Animation.

You can preview some of these effects in the Workspace if you use GPU Acceleration but it's not an accurate match to the final quality render. Personally, I prefer to leave GPU Acceleration disabled, check the effect with Ctrl-R, and then move on knowing that the effect should render correctly when I'm ready to render the project.

That's really good to know. I figured it was a low resolution shortcut for the application to run smoother... kind of like working in proxies, you don't see the full, full, full render.

I know about the Render Previe Ctrl-R but it is so low resolution it's hard to tell if the effect is applied... I may need to increase the effect as result. However, I am also curious if one can increase the render-preview resolution high than it is... I believe it's set to 500-some pixels. Not looking for HD but a little clarity would be appreciated from a render preview... haha.

Again, You rock Greenlaw!

[Greenlaw]

Render Preview (Ctrl-R) uses the resolution setting chosen in Project Settings, so if you chose an HD setting (i.e., 1280x720 or 1920x1080), it should render with that setting.

If you have a high resolution setting selected or entered in Project Settings, it could be that your preview window's zoom and/or size is too small, in which case clicking the Restore button in the lower right corner will set it to the actual render size.

Hope this helps.

[Greenlaw]

BTW, this is not the case with Preview Animation (Ctrl+Shift-R). This command just captures the workspace using the current display settings, and depending on your display resolution it might render the animation at half res. When I use this, I like to reset the view so it captures what the camera sees. My MQC panel does that for you automatically when clicking the Preview Animation+ button. Preview Animation is good when you want to quickly check only the animation and Moho is unable to play it in realtime from the timeline.

To see the animation fully rendered, you need to use Render Animation or Moho Exporter. I suggest Moho Exporter because it has many more options, like the ability to break out Layer Comps and saving render profiles.

[HowlingAbandon]

Well damn...

Still nothing. When I got home yesterday I worked on applying a "soft edge" effect to a vector shape, I made it a very high feathering then did a full render...

...

...

NOTHING.

The vector shape is still completely solid. I am so confused.

Should I reinstall the application? Or is there a direct contact MoHo has for troubleshooting bug issues?

[hayasidist]

The vector shape is still completely solid. I am so confused.

Just to make sure we're not a cross purposes: "soft edge" in a Shape option (not a layer option) -- so I'm assuming you DO mean Shape Soft Edge and not Layer Blur.

===
A step-by-step approach to getting "soft edge" on an existing shape:

1 Select the shape -> default tool shortcut: Q

2 Clear out any existing fills (depending on the shape, using paint bucket might create multiple fills) -> use the "Delete Shape" tool (looks like a hollow X) until all that's left is the "path" (the drawn points and the construction lines that link them)

3 Activate the "Create Shape" tool -> default tool shortcut: U. Then select all the points you want to be in the final shape. Make sure that the "fill" button is on (and, for soft edge, it's usual NOT to want "stroke" / "both")

4 Over in the Style window, either make sure "advanced" mode is not active or make sure you're working on the Fill Effect 1. Choose "soft edge" from the dropdown and set the Blur radius to be whatever is appropriate. (A big blur on a small shape will make the shape seem to disappear; a small blur on a big shape won't show much blur.) Clear the "threshold" checkbox. Choose the fill colour you want.

5 Back in the main window - in the Create Shape tool bar press the "Create Shape" button.

6 Ctrl-R to preview the soft edge.
===

A step-by-step approach for a shape you haven't created yet.

a: Step 4 as above.

b: Activate the Draw Shape tool (S) or Add Point (A). Make sure that autofill is ON (and usually you'll want autostroke off)

c: draw a closed shape

d: Step 6 as above

===

Hope that helps!

[Greenlaw]

It really should work but it's been awhile since I last used Soft Edge so I decided to check it out for myself in 13.5.5 to make sure the feature didn't get broken. Good news: In separate tests, I applied Soft Edge to the Stroke and Fill and it works fine. However, after conducting these tests, I wondered if the result is just not very obvious.

Here's an exercise to demonstrate how this works and what to look for:

1. Make a circle, fill it white and stroke it black with a width of 4. Be sure the shape is selected with the Select Shape tool before continuing.

2. Apply the Soft Effect to the stroke. You can use the default setting.

3. Press Ctrl-R. The result should be a white circle with a fuzzy gray edge.

4. Remove the effect from the stroke property and apply Soft Edge to the fill.

5. Press Ctrl-R. The stroke line should now be sharp and black and the fill should be blurred behind the stroke, however the result might not be obvious because we've blurred a white shape against a light colored background (assuming you're using Moho's default UI color scheme.)

6. Create a new Vector layer and move it under the 'circle' layer. Draw a large rectangle and fill it 50% black (a darkish gray). Make sure the rectangle is a lot bigger than the circle. This will serve as a backdrop.

7. Press Ctrl-R. You should see a sharp stroke line and the fill's blurry edge should now be more obvious against the gray backdrop layer, and you should see the blurring extend behind the inside and outside of the stroke line.

If you want both the stroke and fill to be soft, you need to apply the effect to both properties. Alternatively, you can use Blur Radius in Layer Settings, which blurs the entire layer.

Let me know if that's not how it works for you.

[Greenlaw]

Bonus Tip
By the way, in my example above the fill is always blurred behind the stroke but if you want, the fill can be blurred on top of the stroke by making the fill and stroke two separate shapes and then sending the stroke shape behind the fill shape. (Yes, multiple shapes can share the same curves and points.)

Hope these tips are helpful.