Masking

[Lukas]

I'd like to request the ability to mask a layer with another layer.

(I know we can draw in stencil mode, but that's not the same thing at all.)

[Fabrice]

this request need a picture to be understood.

"masks" uses to cover many things depending on the user country and software.

[Lukas]

Here's an example.

[qt]640,480,http://www.lukaskrepel.nl/temp/TVP/masking.mov[/qt]

Here I use 'Add' to mimic masking, but that doesn't work with multiple layers.
If I had a background, the yellow circle would also appear on the background (when using 'Add').

It would be nice if it would be possible to only have it visible on the chosen layer, in this case the red circle, while still having all the pixels of the original masked layer (if you'd use stencil mode, pixels outside the mask(/stencil) are not drawn.

It would be very usefull to have! It's pretty standard in most graphic design software.

Hope that's clear

[slowtiger]

So you're only complaining about he result of a mask/stencil operation not visible while still editing it?

[Lukas]

I'm not sure what you mean Slowtiger.
My biggest problem with the current system is that you actually LOSE the pixels outside of the mask.
Here's how it works in Photoshop. The way it works there would be ideal in TVPaint.

[qt]640,480,http://www.lukaskrepel.nl/temp/TVP/masking2.mov[/qt]

[slowtiger]

Now I understand: you want a clipping mask.

That's against the underlying concept of TVP, where each edit results in a newly rendered bitmap frame. Unless they change the paradigm, I'm afraid this feature will not come. (It's on the same level as having artwork outside the project window.)

[Trumpatrick]

This would be a really fantastic feature, but I understand what slowtiger is saying. I have to ask though, wouldn't it be a smart move to change this part of TVpaint's underlying structure? Since all the other programs I use are capable of this kind of functionality, TVpaints limitations are slowly starting to make the program feel, well..., limited in comparison. But maybe this is an entirely different discussion.

[Elodie]

Ok, that makes sense. Anyway, I don't know if this kind of feature could be added in the current architecture of TVPaint.

[Lukas]

Ok, that makes sense. Anyway, I don't know if this kind of feature could be added in the current architecture of TVPaint.

I'm pretty sure it's possible, look at this file + video.

The only problem is, in this file the way layers are ordered don't make any sense, and there's some bizarre blending modes used.

We might need a new blending mode/masking tools or something to have this working in an intuitive way, I'm sure there are some smart programmers who can do this in the current architecture.

[qt]640,480,http://www.lukaskrepel.nl/temp/TVP/maskingworks.mov[/qt]

I attached the file (you need pro, because of the blending modes).

[Trumpatrick]

Ow oh oh, it's magic!If this could be combined into one new kind of layer, that would be fantastic!

[Elodie]

I'm sure there are some smart programmers who can do this in the current architecture.

Unfortunately, I'm not a developper. I'm not even smart

[Trumpatrick]

Does that mean you will ask the smarter guys from the TV paint team to program this for us? Because it would be a huge improvement to the software.

[Fabrice]

It is not a problem of being smart or not
Doing it in a resonable amount of time depends on our internal C++ code structure.

Also, a such feature can have a lot of consequences in the current workflow management.
It needs to be deeply studied before changing all the related code.

[Peter Wassink]

i think that if layers could be linked together in such a way that the blendmode they are on is only active on the linked layer(s)
that would be a tremendous step.

This way only the erase blendmode already opens up the possibility of non destructive masks and crossfades.
But apart from the coding side, very importantly some clear and workable UI has to be thought out for this

something along the lines of the PS layer mask maybe.
It could be as simple as adding a colomn in the layerpanel head.

[Fabrice]

But apart from the coding side, very importantly some clear and workable UI has to be thought out for this

something along the lines of the PS layer mask maybe.
It could be as simple as adding a colomn in the layerpanel head.

yes, but this is coding too