Render multiple layers in XNA

Answer 1

You can easily do this with RenderTargets :-) There are lots of resources on how to use them on the web (example).

If you're just starting yoru project though, consider installing the XNA 4.0 (in CTP right now via the windows phone SDK). It's gotten a lot easier in the new version ... from an article that Shawn Hargreaves put out recently, RenderTarget changes in XNA Game Studio 4.0.

List<Texture2D> textures = new List<Texture2D>();

for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
{
    RenderTarget2D rt = new RenderTarget2D(...);

    GraphicsDevice.SetRenderTarget(rt);
    DrawCharacterAnimationFrame(i);
    GraphicsDevice.SetRenderTarget(null);

    textures.Add(rt);
}

And the "tinting" feature you were asking about is braindead easy with this because you can just call the Clear method when you go to render each render target with whatever color you want.

Answer 2

You can just sort your objects into groups then render each group in order with clipping

device.ClipPlanes[0].Plane = plane;
device.ClipPlanes[0].IsEnabled = true;