duplicate layer and name + add extension

[kariP]

Hi all,

I'm still working on tvp 10 and trying to figure out how to duplicate a layer, clear the heads and add a " _col" to the end of the duplicate name.
At the moment I'm using "duplicate the current layer and clear heads" button, but I'd like to learn how to take that a bit further and maybe learn something.

I understand that you can rename it with embedding this george command
tv_LayerRename 0 "_col"

But how to take the name of the original layer and add _col to the end with george?

[schwarzgrau]

I guess writing the script, which you try to create and commenting it helps the most for understanding the basics.
I'm a beginner in George too, so I guess there is always a better way of doing it. Especially the part which turns autobreak off and back on doesn't seem that smart to me, but at least it works.

Code: Select all

tv_LayerInfo
PARSE result layerDisplay layerPosition layerOpacity layerName layerType layerStart layerEnd layerPrelighttable layerPostlighttable layerSelection //get all informations about the current layer and parse them into variables

tv_LayerCurrentID							//Get layer ID
NormID = result
layerlength = layerEnd - layerStart + 1		//Get layerlength

tv_LayerDuplicate layerName"_col"			//duplicate layer and rename it
tv_LayerCurrentID
colID = result								//Get layer ID color

tv_layerautobreakinstance colID off			//Turn autobreak off

tv_LayerSelect layerStart layerlength		//select all frames

tv_Clear									//clear all frames

tv_layerautobreakinstance colID on			//Turn autobreak back on

[kariP]

thanks for your answer, this naming thing seems like a reasonably good practise to do.

Even though it seems quite straight forward, it's still too far for me. I was looking for a simpler solution by tweaking the existing button in tvpaint, like this

Screen Shot 2016-11-01 at 12.55.37.png (12.51 KiB) Viewed 1794 times

And my idea was simply to embed something small to make it work, like my first shoot in the dark :

tv_LayerCurrentID + "_col"

Obviously it didn't work... but you see, that was the idea what I was after. I'm looking something bitesize, and it feels it can't be that far. After all, the name is already there, and I can rename the layer with george.

Anyway, I'll try what your code does and try to understand it, maybe the answer is there!

[schwarzgrau]

Hehe ok, if you stack your button this way and only want to rename the duplicated layer you need to embed this script

Code: Select all

tv_LayerInfo
PARSE result layerDisplay layerPosition layerOpacity layerName layerType layerStart layerEnd layerPrelighttable layerPostlighttable layerSelection //get all informations about the current layer and parse them into variables

tv_LayerCurrentID							//Get layer ID
curlID = result
tv_LayerRename curlID layerName"_col"		//Rename the layer

You need "tv_Layerinfo" to get your current layername saved in the variable "layerName".
Then you run "tv_LayerCurrentID" to get the ID, cause you need it for "tv_LayerRename". Wait... maybe you don't even need the ID. Maybe this one works too:

Code: Select all

tv_LayerInfo
PARSE result layerDisplay layerPosition layerOpacity layerName layerType layerStart layerEnd layerPrelighttable layerPostlighttable layerSelection //get all informations about the current layer and parse them into variables
tv_LayerRename 0 layerName"_col"		//Rename the layer

Sometimes 0 instead of an ID works like "there is no ID, just choose the current layer".

[kariP]

That did it, whoah!

Perfect, this was exactly what I was looking for. I had no idea you have to do this kind of PARSEing for all the variables on the layer. I suppose, that after this, I could call any of the named variables and they would carry the data from the previous layer..

Thats one massive step for me, thanks a lot, Schwarzgrau! I'm really hyped now

[schwarzgrau]

Perfect, this was exactly what I was looking for. I had no idea you have to do this kind of PARSEing for all the variables on the layer. I suppose, that after this, I could call any of the named variables and they would carry the data from the previous layer..

Exactly! You always need to parse the result of a function somehow. In the case of the layerinformation you get a long string with all informations, seperated by a space. Parsing splits them everytime a space occurs and saves this part in one of the variables. After reading the sentence it sounds a lot more complicated than it is, but I guess you already got it.
Glad I could help.

[Svengali]

A trick on parsing:

tv_LayerInfo
parse result d d d LayerName d

If a command returns lots of variables you can parse out just the info you want and use dummy variables for the rest - Above, I use the letter d as dummies for all the extraneous info.

And any other unwanted variables (and spaces) that follow the explicit variable you're retrieving can all be lumped into a single dummy variable which is thrown away, anyway.

sven

[schwarzgrau]

Nice trick, thank you Sven

[kariP]

I did some testing yesterday, trying to figure out what is needed on this PARSE result line. I found out that I had to have all the variables before the one I need, to maintain order. And one variable after the one I need. This trick is making this case even more clear and rememberable, thanks a lot.