Continuing from last time where we went through the drawing part, this time our focus will be on the layering and preparing the file for import into Live2D.
Thoughts on setting the order of the model parts and layer clipping
One crucial thing to take note before importing any files to Live2D is to know what can and what cannot be imported.
Live2D allows imports from Photoshop files (.psd).
Any layer clipping with be reset when a file is imported, but can be clipped to another object once they are in Live2D.
Layers can't be edited in Live2D (so make sure the layers are cleaned properly before importing)
Live2D won't import layer effects (multiply etc.)
For people who are going to use the free version of Live2D (I will try to repeat myself too often, but it seems appropriate to repeat this information here):
Don't have more than 100 layers before importing the .psd into Live2D.
Don't have more than 30 folders before importing the .psd into Live2D.
You may have a .psd-File of any file resolution, but once the file is in Live2D, the final map export will be limited to 2048x2048 px, in other words, make the most out of the canvas you are working with.
It is a bit tricky to show visually how the drawing order of a model could be (how I usually set it up), but let's give it a shot.
Please take note that the screenshot here is a pre-merging one, meaning that most of these folders will be turned into single layers.
the basic folder structure can look like this:
Head Front (Group)
Front Hair (Group)
Left Eye (Group)
Left Top Eyelash (clip)
Left Bottom Eyelash (clip)
Left Eye Reflection (clip)
Left Eye Iris (clip)
Left Eye White
Right Eye (Group)
...
Nose
Mouth (Group)
Mouth Outline
Top Teeth (clip)
Bottom Teeth (clip)
Tongue (clip)
Mouth Back (clip)
Mouth Base
Face
Ears (Group)
Torso (Group)
Chest Parts of Clothes (optional)
Torso Parts of Clothes
Chest Base (optional)
Torso Base
Left Leg (Group)
Left Leg Parts of Clothes
Left Leg
Right Leg (Group)
...
Bottom (aka Butt Cheeks) (Group)
Bottom Parts of Clothes
Bottom
Left Arm (Group)
Left Arm Parts of Clothes
Left Arm
Right Arm (Group)
...
Clothes Back (Group)
Hair Back (Group)
Here's a quick example of how some of the layers of this model look like (just randomly dragged a couple of them to the side. Please take note that the t-shirt has its sleeves on separate layers which allows them to be rotated once I start rigging, same applies to the shoulders and legs.
Starting from my next post, we will see how the psd.-file looks like once it's been imported into Live2D.
I will merge the layers like I've listed above in between the posts since there really isn't much to talk about.
Maybe as a small tip, if you draw parts which are going to be clipped (mainly mouth and eyes), make sure to draw things which are currently not visible (e.g. teeth, the cut off part of the irises).