Grouping Rules for a Hierarchical Prop (New for v4.1)

You can combine parts or sprites into one single prop, and then arrange their layer orders to create animatable hierarchical objects. By following the intuitive PSD layer naming rules, you can set object hierarchy for structured animation.

Take the following PSD project as an example. It is a robot composed of several image layers, such as Hip, Eye, Right Arm, Left Arm, Right Foot, Left Foot, and so on.

After the PSD file is imported to Cartoon Animator, you can check the object list in the Scene Manager.
You will find that the PSD file is converted into one object named Robot under the Prop type.

Select the prop object and enter the Composer mode, you will further find that the PSD layers are converted into hierarchical Sprite images in the Scene Manager as shown below:

  • 1st Level (Root): Hip
  • 2nd Level: Eye, RArm, MArm, LArm, RThigh, and LThigh
  • 3rd Level: RForearm, MForearm, LForearm, RShank, and LShank
  • 4th Level: RHand1, RHand2, MHand1, MHand2, LHand1, LHand2, RFoot, and LFoot

To build such a hierarchy of Sprite images for a prop, you have to follow the Reallusion grouping rules.

After dragging the PSD file into Cartoon Animator, you can animate the multi-parts prop with the Prop Key Editor. Assign each sprite part with unique animations, and sequence their playback time.

You can refer to the following sections for more information: