BAO Layer Sculptor
  • Tanner WickwareTanner Wickware
    Seems like a great alternative to the Revision plugin at a cheaper price. 
  • Roger HarrisRoger Harris
    Cool. Can you tell me how this is different from the built-in reshape tool, which works in a very similar way. Also, I'd be interested to know how it differs from Reflex warp from Revision even though that plugin is way too expensive.

    Edit... Actually, it looks much better than the built in Reshape tool.. Open masks for one! I'll buy!

    Thanks

  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Hi!

    Glad you like it!
    Layer Sculptor is definitely in the 'same family' than built-in reshape tool and re-flex warp.
    But it's much more precise and fast than AE's tool, and (in my opinion) more animation oriented than Revision's tool (and much cheaper!).

    Cheers,
    François
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Hi everyone!

    A new version of the plugin is available with a new feature suggested by Roger Harris:

    Reference masks

    This feature allows you to base distortion on reference masks, which means the reference can be a moving mask. Ideal for video distortion!

    Watch the new feature tutorial here: https://youtu.be/VY8Nk0KjDc0

    Cheers,
    François
  • Roger HarrisRoger Harris
    The new feature is fantastic François! Being able to distort over time with open masks is really powerful.

    It's worth mentioning that it works a treat with mamoworlds 'mocha import +' script which allows you to track masks in mocha AE and bring them in using expressions rather than keyframes, this makes it simple to adjust your Layer Sculptor distortion masks over time with one or two added keyframes. :-)

    Thanks so much for implementing this feature!

    Cheers,
    Roger


  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    :-)
  • Werner RadlerWerner Radler
    Hi, this is a very cool plugin. I've made a short Teaser for a 80*s coverband with it. I didn*t have much time, so I could not find out how all parameters work, but I will dive deeper into it.
    Regards, Werner
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Glad you like it! :-)

    François
  • Bram VreugdenhilBram Vreugdenhil
    I'm working in cc2019. For some reason when I apply the 2nd mask in the drop down the layer I'm working on scales down instantly and the masks stay in the same place. When looking at the scale properties of the layer the are unchanged, still 100%. I've tried different approaches with precomps etc. but no luck.
    Is it a cc2019 problem?

    Bram
  • Lloyd AlvarezLloyd Alvarez
    Bram Vreugdenhil said:

    I'm working in cc2019. For some reason when I apply the 2nd mask in the drop down the layer I'm working on scales down instantly and the masks stay in the same place. When looking at the scale properties of the layer the are unchanged, still 100%. I've tried different approaches with precomps etc. but no luck.
    Is it a cc2019 problem?

    Bram
    Please open a support ticket https://aescripts.com/contact/?direct=1
  • Ronny KhalilRonny Khalil
    I really love all your plugins Francois! Each one seems to have so many uses and possibilities, on label and off. I just discovered the Bones comprehensive user guide by chance (missed it on the project page, found it google searching BAO Bones walk cycle) and it helped me understand and appreciate that plugin sooo much more! I hope you can eventually make one for the Layer Sculptor plugin. Thanks and keep up the amazing work!
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Ronny Khalil said:
    I really love all your plugins Francois! Each one seems to have so many uses and possibilities, on label and off. I just discovered the Bones comprehensive user guide by chance (missed it on the project page, found it google searching BAO Bones walk cycle) and it helped me understand and appreciate that plugin sooo much more! I hope you can eventually make one for the Layer Sculptor plugin. Thanks and keep up the amazing work!
    Hi Ronny,

    Well, glad you like it :-)
    Unfortunately, I won't be able to make a user's guide as thorough soon... It took a very long time!
    But if I can, I'll try to make some new tutorials.

    Cheers,
    François
  • Peter SolomonPeter Solomon
    Here it is August 2019 and I have just purchased Bao's "Layer Sculptor", only to find like "Mask Brush" it is designed for 8bit. Isn't it high time that video plugin developers made 16bit the default for their products, upwards compatible to 32bit?
    Peter Solomon
    Australia
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Peter Solomon said:
    Here it is August 2019 and I have just purchased Bao's "Layer Sculptor", only to find like "Mask Brush" it is designed for 8bit. Isn't it high time that video plugin developers made 16bit the default for their products, upwards compatible to 32bit?
    Peter Solomon
    Australia
    Hi,

    I'm working on it, but it takes time (rewriting stuff and keeping backwards compatibility is actually harder than writing from scratch)... A new version of Boa was released today with 16 bits support, the other plugins will follow as soon as possible.

    Cheers,
    François
  • Tommy HopkinsTommy Hopkins
    Hello. Is it possible somehow to animate Warp Amount % between Source and Reference mask?
    For example I have a video with animated source mask and animated reference mask. Is it possible to animate warp% from source mask to reference through the time? Or it can be only fixed at 100% warp? Thank you!
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Tommy Hopkins said:
    Hello. Is it possible somehow to animate Warp Amount % between Source and Reference mask?
    For example I have a video with animated source mask and animated reference mask. Is it possible to animate warp% from source mask to reference through the time? Or it can be only fixed at 100% warp? Thank you!
    Hi!

    You cannot animate the warp %, but it's actually a good idea :-)
    I keep it in my 'to do' list for the next update.

    In the meantime, you'll have to animate the masks themselves, or play with the 'selection time' parameter...

    Cheers,
    François
  • Avi JacobAvi Jacob
    Is there a way to use this without masktracker+? The tutorial seems to say to delete the keyframes, but then you seem to lose your track. Any advice? Thanks!
  • Lloyd AlvarezLloyd Alvarez
    Avi Jacob said:
    Is there a way to use this without masktracker+? The tutorial seems to say to delete the keyframes, but then you seem to lose your track. Any advice? Thanks!
    Are you sure this comment is for this product?  If you need technical assistance please open a support ticket https://aescripts.com/contact/?direct=1 ;
  • jonathan alenskasjonathan alenskas
    PLEASE PLEASE CAN YOU UPDATE YOUR PRODUCTS FOR ae 2022
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    jonathan alenskas said:
    PLEASE PLEASE CAN YOU UPDATE YOUR PRODUCTS FOR ae 2022
    Done :-)
  • jonathan alenskasjonathan alenskas
    leroy francois said:
    jonathan alenskas said:
    PLEASE PLEASE CAN YOU UPDATE YOUR PRODUCTS FOR ae 2022
    Done :-)
    thank you :D
  • Ronny KhalilRonny Khalil
    leroy francois said:
    jonathan alenskas said:
    PLEASE PLEASE CAN YOU UPDATE YOUR PRODUCTS FOR ae 2022
    Done :-)
    Done as is done done? Or as in, we can expect it soon? (thank you!)
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Ronny Khalil said:
    leroy francois said:
    jonathan alenskas said:
    PLEASE PLEASE CAN YOU UPDATE YOUR PRODUCTS FOR ae 2022
    Done :-)
    Done as is done done? Or as in, we can expect it soon? (thank you!)
    Done done :-)
    All the products have been updated for AE 2022
  • Matthew ReinhartMatthew Reinhart
    Hi, is there any plan to support multiple instances of layer sculptor in the same comp? On AE 2022 if I have more than one effect present it randomly glitches/disappears/swaps the images between the different layers. Works if I precomp everything, but it's a bit of a pain. Thanks!
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Matthew Reinhart said:
    Hi, is there any plan to support multiple instances of layer sculptor in the same comp? On AE 2022 if I have more than one effect present it randomly glitches/disappears/swaps the images between the different layers. Works if I precomp everything, but it's a bit of a pain. Thanks!
    Hi,

    sorry to hear it causes glitches on your side. It's probably some GPU issue... Can you open a support ticket and send me your project? I'll have a look at it, see if I can find what triggers the issue.

    Cheers,
    François
  • aki nishiaki nishi
    Hi, I cannot open my Premiere Pro projects containing AE comps via Dynamiclink.
    This only occurs when using Layer Sculptor plug-in, so install LS when creating or modifyiing AE projects to render comps,
    then uninstall it and open Premiere projects.
    Works when I launch AE first, but an error occurs when exporting video says "Offline media detected and will be encoded using the Offline Media graphic. Missing Asset: compname/AEname.aep".
    I would be grateful if someone could help me...

    Mac mini (M1, 2020) 16GB RAM
    macOS Big Sur 11.5.2

    Premiere Pro 2022 v22.4 (and some previous versions)
    Premiere Pro 2021 v18.4.1
    After Effects 2022 v22.4 (and some previous versions)
    After Effects 2021 v18.4.1
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    aki nishi said:
    Hi, I cannot open my Premiere Pro projects containing AE comps via Dynamiclink.
    This only occurs when using Layer Sculptor plug-in, so install LS when creating or modifyiing AE projects to render comps,
    then uninstall it and open Premiere projects.
    Works when I launch AE first, but an error occurs when exporting video says "Offline media detected and will be encoded using the Offline Media graphic. Missing Asset: compname/AEname.aep".
    I would be grateful if someone could help me...

    Mac mini (M1, 2020) 16GB RAM
    macOS Big Sur 11.5.2

    Premiere Pro 2022 v22.4 (and some previous versions)
    Premiere Pro 2021 v18.4.1
    After Effects 2022 v22.4 (and some previous versions)
    After Effects 2021 v18.4.1
    Hi,

    Layer Sculptor is designed to work in AE only, not Premiere.
    Sorry, I can't help you more on this...

    Cheers,
    François
  • aki nishiaki nishi
    leroy francois said:
    Layer Sculptor is designed to work in AE only, not Premiere.
    Sorry, I can't help you more on this...

    Of course, I use Layer Sculptor in AE.
    Do you mean that AE comps using Layer Sculptor cannot be connected to Premiere via 'dynamiclink'?
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    aki nishi said:
    Of course, I use Layer Sculptor in AE.
    Do you mean that AE comps using Layer Sculptor cannot be connected to Premiere via 'dynamiclink'?
    Hi again,

    As far as I know, when Premiere uses an AE comp via dynamic link, it still uses Premiere's engine to render it. I guess it is why you can't use your AE comp if it contains an effect not built for Premiere, even if it's an AE comp.

    Cheers,
    François
  • aki nishiaki nishi

    I now understand why.

    After some testing, AE projects containing even one comp with LayerSculptor could not be opened from Premiere due to dynamiclink errors. This problem also occurs when inporting comps without LayerSculptor (but the project contains other comps with LayerSculpter) as well.

    I hope that this problem will be solved in the future.

    Thank you anyway for your kind support.

    leroy francois said:
    Hi again,

    As far as I know, when Premiere uses an AE comp via dynamic link, it still uses Premiere's engine to render it. I guess it is why you can't use your AE comp if it contains an effect not built for Premiere, even if it's an AE comp.

    Cheers,
    François

  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    aki nishi said:

    I now understand why.

    After some testing, AE projects containing even one comp with LayerSculptor could not be opened from Premiere due to dynamiclink errors. This problem also occurs when inporting comps without LayerSculptor (but the project contains other comps with LayerSculpter) as well.

    I hope that this problem will be solved in the future.

    Thank you anyway for your kind support.

    Thanks for the detailed feedback. I'll investigate, see if I can do something about it.

    Cheers,
    François
  • Will HarveyWill Harvey
    I'm having issues with Layer Sculptor not rendering the entire comp size. It only goes to a certain size and then the rest is black space. The comp size is not a normal size and is very wide aspect ratio.
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Will Harvey said:
    I'm having issues with Layer Sculptor not rendering the entire comp size. It only goes to a certain size and then the rest is black space. The comp size is not a normal size and is very wide aspect ratio.
    Hi,

    I think you reached the limit of your GPU's texture memory...
    The best way to fix it is to split your layer to fit the maximum size.

    Cheers,
    François
  • David SummersDavid Summers
    Hello - I just bought this and have spent hours trying to get it to work with no luck.  I've searched everywhere and watched every tutorial I can find (not many) but still can't figure it out.  I wish there was more documentation for this.

    Here's what I'm doing:
    New comp with one layer that contains photoshop artwork of a dolphin with an alpha channel.  Apply Layer Sculptor to this layer.  Draw an open mask on my artwork.  Select this mask in the plugin under "Mask 1".  When I move the vertices of my mask nothing happens.  The mask moves but there is no warping happening at all.

    Somebody please help! 

    Thanks,

    David
  • Perry KrollPerry Kroll
    Hey all - chiming in with another weird discovery related to dynamic link!

    I have Layer Sculptor somewhere in an AE project.

    Not in the comps in question today, and haven't even opened the comp that has Layer Sculptor in days.

    I am trying to use Warp Stabilizer on a clip, and I keep getting the error "unable to obtain dynamic link".

    I am debugging this, trying in a fresh project, it works there. Trying different file formats, all okay. Trying in a fresh new comp back in the old project, same error.

    Every time I quit AE and re-open I noticed it is telling me that Layer Sculptor may have been responsible for a crash. There was actually no crash, so I am ignoring that warning.

    Finally I decide to let AE disable Layer Sculptor... immediately, Warp Stabilizer is working again in this project!

    So it appears that having Layer Sculptor anywhere in an AE project can interfere with Warp Stabilizer being able to work?!
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Perry Kroll said:
    Hey all - chiming in with another weird discovery related to dynamic link!

    I have Layer Sculptor somewhere in an AE project.

    Not in the comps in question today, and haven't even opened the comp that has Layer Sculptor in days.

    I am trying to use Warp Stabilizer on a clip, and I keep getting the error "unable to obtain dynamic link".

    I am debugging this, trying in a fresh project, it works there. Trying different file formats, all okay. Trying in a fresh new comp back in the old project, same error.

    Every time I quit AE and re-open I noticed it is telling me that Layer Sculptor may have been responsible for a crash. There was actually no crash, so I am ignoring that warning.

    Finally I decide to let AE disable Layer Sculptor... immediately, Warp Stabilizer is working again in this project!

    So it appears that having Layer Sculptor anywhere in an AE project can interfere with Warp Stabilizer being able to work?!
    Hi!

    Thanks for the detailed feedback. I'll try to reproduce it on my side (and hopefully fix it if I can...).

    Cheers,
    François
  • leroy francoisleroy francois
    Perry Kroll said:
    Hey all - chiming in with another weird discovery related to dynamic link!

    I have Layer Sculptor somewhere in an AE project.

    Not in the comps in question today, and haven't even opened the comp that has Layer Sculptor in days.

    I am trying to use Warp Stabilizer on a clip, and I keep getting the error "unable to obtain dynamic link".

    I am debugging this, trying in a fresh project, it works there. Trying different file formats, all okay. Trying in a fresh new comp back in the old project, same error.

    Every time I quit AE and re-open I noticed it is telling me that Layer Sculptor may have been responsible for a crash. There was actually no crash, so I am ignoring that warning.

    Finally I decide to let AE disable Layer Sculptor... immediately, Warp Stabilizer is working again in this project!

    So it appears that having Layer Sculptor anywhere in an AE project can interfere with Warp Stabilizer being able to work?!
    Hi again,

    I've tried to run Warp stabilizer on a comp containing a layer with Layer Sculptor applied, and it worked just fine...
    I guess there is some unresolved issue with Layer Sculptor on your machine, and that's why you're receiving a crash report even if you don't experience one. Which is tricky to solve...
    Just a guess here: do you have Multi-Frame Rendering on ? Layer Sculptor is not supposed to handle it, so it could be a reason...
    If you still have issues with it, you can open a support ticket and send me one of your projects, so I can try to reproduce it on my side.

    Cheers,
    François
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