Saving & using L.I.E. : help!? :S

Godless8

Hello!

I am working on a piece of clothing and wish to use the layered image editor to create options for the user on how the clothing looks.

I have problems with LIE though and hope someone here could help me out with them.

I can't seem to get it to work the way I would like it too, I'm not 100% sure it's possible, but from what I ahve researched on it I thought it should be.

Here's what I am trying to do:

 - One piece of clothing, a Tshirt.

- the Tshirt has 3 layered opacity maps.

- one opacity map defines the base texture, above that, the second opacity map defines how long the sleeves are. above that, the third opacity maps, defines how long the torso part of the tshirt is.

The questions:

1) how do I save each individual layer ?

2) How do I apply each individual layer to rebuild the clothing as intended ?

The problems:

1) I have tried to save the clothing item with the layered image save option with all 3 layers applied. but then it saves all 3 layers and when trying to apply it it applies all 3 layers. I want it to apply the layers individualy, not all at the same time, so I can mix and match.

2) I tried saving the clothing item with the layered item save option with only 1 layer applied each time. But then when I apply this save to the clothing item, it overwrites the current layer instead of stacking it. and thus removing the previous layer. This is not what I want, I want to be able to stack 3 layers, by choosing 3 LIE saved presets. And thus have a lot of different options to create the look of the Tshirt.

3) I tried first making sure the opacity LIE has 3 layers BEFORE applying a LIE preset. In the hopes that now it would stack as intended instead of remove the previous layer. It STILL removes the previous layer.

Can someone help me please ? Can LIE even do what I want or am I trying something that can't be done with LIE ?

Thank you for your time!

Richard Haseltine

So you want to build up a single layered image from three layers, each of which can take different inputs? I think you might need to write a script for that, or instead of using a single LIE use a custom shader where each map is aplied to a different proeprty and the shader combines them.

Godless8

Thanks for the reply Richard!

I was afraid I was going to have to make a script for it. If that's truly the case. I have to say that the developers need to spend some more time on the L.I.E. implementation.

Being able to save individual layers and then being able to apply them in a stacking manner should be the very least it can do out of the box. It's a very good system, having a better implementation would be a massive boon to customers and content creators alike.

FenixPhoenix

You just neee to save each "layer" as a separate LIE preset. That way the user will simply have to apply each lie for the opacity mask to stack. Btw, it's important to save it as a Layered Image Editor preset and NOT a material preset (since this would replace rather than stack).

Godless8

FenixPhoenix said:

You just neee to save each "layer" as a separate LIE preset. That way the user will simply have to apply each lie for the opacity mask to stack. Btw, it's important to save it as a Layered Image Editor preset and NOT a material preset (since this would replace rather than stack).

 Okay I got it working, I swear I did that and it didn't work the first time. Oh well, at least it works as I want it too. Thank you!

FenixPhoenix

Godless8 said:

FenixPhoenix said:

You just neee to save each "layer" as a separate LIE preset. That way the user will simply have to apply each lie for the opacity mask to stack. Btw, it's important to save it as a Layered Image Editor preset and NOT a material preset (since this would replace rather than stack).

 Okay I got it working, I swear I did that and it didn't work the first time. Oh well, at least it works as I want it too. Thank you!

You're welcome :). It might have been that you saved the already stacked opacity mask and that's why it wasn't working before. Regardless, glad you got it working now :).

Richard Haseltine

FenixPhoenix said:

You just neee to save each "layer" as a separate LIE preset. That way the user will simply have to apply each lie for the opacity mask to stack. Btw, it's important to save it as a Layered Image Editor preset and NOT a material preset (since this would replace rather than stack).

True. I hadn't broken the problem down adequately - sorry.

Godless8

FenixPhoenix said:

Godless8 said:

FenixPhoenix said:

You just neee to save each "layer" as a separate LIE preset. That way the user will simply have to apply each lie for the opacity mask to stack. Btw, it's important to save it as a Layered Image Editor preset and NOT a material preset (since this would replace rather than stack).

 Okay I got it working, I swear I did that and it didn't work the first time. Oh well, at least it works as I want it too. Thank you!

You're welcome :). It might have been that you saved the already stacked opacity mask and that's why it wasn't working before. Regardless, glad you got it working now :).

Well! it broke again! I don't understand. It worked for a little while. I could apply the layers and they stacked as intended perfectly! So I went back to test it all again. And BAM!! it's broken AGAIN. now it replaces the layers again instead of stacking them.... And they are all saved as layered images. How can it work one minute, and a bit later be broken ? I'm at a loss.

FenixPhoenix

Godless8 said:

FenixPhoenix said:

Godless8 said:

FenixPhoenix said:

You just neee to save each "layer" as a separate LIE preset. That way the user will simply have to apply each lie for the opacity mask to stack. Btw, it's important to save it as a Layered Image Editor preset and NOT a material preset (since this would replace rather than stack).

 Okay I got it working, I swear I did that and it didn't work the first time. Oh well, at least it works as I want it too. Thank you!

You're welcome :). It might have been that you saved the already stacked opacity mask and that's why it wasn't working before. Regardless, glad you got it working now :).

Well! it broke again! I don't understand. It worked for a little while. I could apply the layers and they stacked as intended perfectly! So I went back to test it all again. And BAM!! it's broken AGAIN. now it replaces the layers again instead of stacking them.... And they are all saved as layered images. How can it work one minute, and a bit later be broken ? I'm at a loss.

So, just to make sure, you first want to add a white or black image to the opacity channel. Then build on top of that through the LIE. If you build everything inside the LIE (meaning you even place the first black layer there) then when you apply the LIE it will also apply a copy of the black layer (esentially wiping things underneath).

If you share the Layered Image Preset here I'll take a look at the code and see if I can spot what's causing the issue (as I'm extremely familiar with LIE) :).

Godless8

FenixPhoenix said:

Godless8 said:

FenixPhoenix said:

Godless8 said:

FenixPhoenix said:

You just neee to save each "layer" as a separate LIE preset. That way the user will simply have to apply each lie for the opacity mask to stack. Btw, it's important to save it as a Layered Image Editor preset and NOT a material preset (since this would replace rather than stack).

 Okay I got it working, I swear I did that and it didn't work the first time. Oh well, at least it works as I want it too. Thank you!

You're welcome :). It might have been that you saved the already stacked opacity mask and that's why it wasn't working before. Regardless, glad you got it working now :).

Well! it broke again! I don't understand. It worked for a little while. I could apply the layers and they stacked as intended perfectly! So I went back to test it all again. And BAM!! it's broken AGAIN. now it replaces the layers again instead of stacking them.... And they are all saved as layered images. How can it work one minute, and a bit later be broken ? I'm at a loss.

So, just to make sure, you first want to add a white or black image to the opacity channel. Then build on top of that through the LIE. If you build everything inside the LIE (meaning you even place the first black layer there) then when you apply the LIE it will also apply a copy of the black layer (esentially wiping things underneath).

If you share the Layered Image Preset here I'll take a look at the code and see if I can spot what's causing the issue (as I'm extremely familiar with LIE) :).

 Yes! this seems to have fixed it. I made a fully black image, and used that as the base. Then added a new layer in LIE, and added my texture for the top. then saved each one individually. Now they stack perfectly. Thank you for your help! That you need to add a base image before you apply a layer to save it correctly, should be info that needs to be pinned somewhere for future users of LIE. It's not organic knowledge. At least not to me. ty again for the help!

FenixPhoenix

Glad to help. Yes, I learned that by experimenting (trial and error) when building our LIE products.