Create layers from mask image

[dvoromar]

If you would like to use an external image editor to prepare layers for Monster Mash, you can use "Create layer from mask…" in the Open button's sub-menu. This option expects the supplied image to either have an alpha channel, of which fully transparent parts are treated as background, or in case alpha channel is missing, black color is supposed to denote background. You can load multiple layers this way, which are stacked on top of each other. You can then move layers as needed. Note that the supplied image will be scaled to fit the canvas if it has a resolution other than 1000x800. If you don't want any scaling, please stick to the specified resolution.

Using this option, it's also possible to create layers with holes. You can try it yourself by creating a layer in Monster Mash from the attached image.

Layers with interconnections are not supported now.

[polo]

the more i dig into monster and the more i feel a fascination(?)
like i did in with the fractals..long time ago!
thanks.download/file.php?mode=view&id=59

[DarthR2`]

This is a huge improvement and opens up so many possibilities; thanks! I can't wait till connected mask layers are implemented!

Yesterday I tried to download and compile the desktop app. I saw that it looks like the Git Hub hasn't been updated in two years. When I ran the desktop app, it was literally just the paint window of MM without any of the menus or controls, not the desktop version in the demo videos that I was hoping for. Is that just how it is or did I do something wrong or is there a newer version? Especially with this new way of adding layers, I would love to mess around with the code a bit and see if I could automate a workflow to make lots of transparent PNGs into .obj models quickly.

[dvoromar]

That's right, the desktop version is just a canvas without any user interface. The main purpose of the desktop version is to speed up the development - no need to build and load the web page every time you make a code change. We had an older Qt-based version which was used for preparing demos for our SIGGRAPH paper, but it's no longer being developed. We abandoned Qt because of a license that didn't meet our needs. There is an opportunity for a contributor to add UI to the desktop app.