Help me....

Replies

Chris Northcross August 25, 2015 at 12:33am

You need to create a Paint Action Sequence (PASeq) BEFORE you have Studio Artist process your images. Currently, you are routing the canvas to the source editor. But the canvas has nothing routed to it other than white so when Studio Artist processes your images, the input is the white canvas.

The "canvas to source" command is taking the white canvas and loading it into the source image for each image you are processing. What it sounds like you are trying to accomplish is to load each of your images onto the canvas and have Studio Artist record that image as a frame in your movie brush. To do that try the following:

Re-scale your canvas to your desired size.

Make sure the "rec" button in the PASeq editor is checked.

Click and hold the eraser button until the drop down menu appears. Select "Source Image"

Uncheck the "rec" button in the PASeq editor.

Select "Process With Paint Action Sequence - Image to Movie" from the "Action" tab in the menu bar and proceed as normal.
- Gad Eko Hendro H > Chris Northcross August 25, 2015 at 2:12am
  
  Thanks Chris...but when i did your instructions, the result is same as i did before... the movie brush is still blank. When i checked the record button and hold the eraser button bla..bla..bla...there's no red square box appear ini PASeq timeline.
  
  I tried follow step by step : http://www.synthetik.com/tips/2008/09/making-a-movie-brush-to-creat...
  
  but, i failed to create movie brush...(different menu) :(
Synthetik August 25, 2015 at 10:01am

Looking at the screen capture you posted, it appears that you don't have anything recorded in your paint action sequence. You need to record a single action step in your PASeq to use for processing that erases the canvas to the source image.

So, you turn on recording in the PASeq window.

Then you erase the canvas to the source image:

You also could have drag and dropped the source image to the canvas as an alternative way to erase the canvas to the source image. Or, used the Canvas : Erase to : Source Image menu command.

Now, your PASeq will have recorded a single action step that erases the canvas to the source image

So, then turn off PASeq recording, and then you are all set to run the action menu you uses to process a folder of images with the PASeq to generate a movie file.

Studio Artist will do exactly what you record in a Paint Action Sequence when you run any of the 'action : process with a paint action sequence' menu commands. This example is the simplest thing you could do, just erase the canvas to the current source image. So, if you are processing a folder of images with the PASeq, then each image is loaded as the current source image, and then the PAseq is run, and then the resulting canvas is output as the next movie frame in the movie file you are generating. What gets generated in the canvas and then written out to the movie frame is a function of the contents of the PASeq.

Think of the PASeq as a script of the actions you want to run to generate each movie frame. If the PAseq is empty, then nothing is going to happen. Or, if you did several paint steps, and then erased the canvas to white as the last action step, then white would be output for each frame (since it erase the painting prior to the canvas being written out to the newly rendered frame). It's all based on what you record in your PASeq that you are using to process a folder of images or a movie frame.

Here's an 'introduction to paint action sequences' tip.
- Gad Eko Hendro H > Synthetik August 25, 2015 at 11:42am
  
  Thanks John,
  
  as you see on the video, I've checked the record button. But the process still not recorded. What should I do now ?
  - Synthetik > Gad Eko Hendro H August 25, 2015 at 12:49pm
    
    If you look at your video, and if you read what i wrote above and look at the screenshots embedded in that text, you will see that you aren't running a command to erase the canvas to the source image.
    
    As Chris mentioned to you in his reply, you are running a canvas menu command that sets the source area to the current contents of the canvas. Specifically, you ran the 'Canvas : Canvas to : Source' menu command.
    
    So that's why it doesn't work for you. It does exactly what you told it to do, which is to replace the source image with the contents of the canvas. The canvas was white. The PASeq you recorded does nothing to change the condition of the canvas. So when you run the action command to process the folder of images with the PASeq, each image is read into the source area, and then you replace it with a white source image derived from your white canvas, and then the unchanged white canvas is written out as a movie frame.
    
    Record the 'Canvas : Erase to : Source Image' menu command in your 1 step PASeq.
    - Gad Eko Hendro H > Synthetik August 25, 2015 at 2:12pm
      
      Done !...by the way...can I make this step as a preset ?
    - Gad Eko Hendro H > Synthetik August 25, 2015 at 2:30pm
      
      and this is the result when i use my movie brush as a brush with preset mosaic "Grafiti". The movie is blank. (I use png file for my movie brush)
Synthetik August 25, 2015 at 2:46pm

Any of the Action menu commands in Studio Artist that process a movie file or an image folder with a Paint Action Sequence work as follows. For each frame in the movie being processed (or image in the folder being processed), the current Paint Action Sequence (PASeq for short) is run. After the PASeq finishes running, then whatever is in the canvas is output as the rendered movie frame, or output image if you are processing to a folder of images as opposed to frames in an output movie file.

So, if you are running into problems associated with processing a folder or images or a movie file with a PASeq, the first thing to do is to play the current PASeq and see what it does. Whatever processing it does to the canvas is what is going to end up being output. If it doesn't do anything to the canvas, then it's not going to do anything when you process a movie or folder of images with it. If it generates a white canvas, then when you process with it, every output image or output movie frame will be white.

If the PASeq doesn't do what you expect it to, then you need to look at the individual action steps in it, figure out what they are doing, and modify them accordingly to get the behavior you want.

If you record a custom PASeq, and would like to save it to use it again in the future, you can save it as a Paint Action Sequence preset file. Essentially anything you do in Studio Artist can be saved as some kind of associated preset file.

Here is a tip that discusses presets, the preset browser, and the factory preset folder organization.

Here is a tip that discusses how to make your own custom Favorites categories for presets, which is an easy way to organize your custom presets, or ones that you use frequently in your workflow.

Quicktime Player 7 is a great tool to examine and debug quicktime movie files. You can download it from apple's web site if you don't have it on your mac. I prefer it to the newer Quicktime X player, it has more features, and the Pro version is extremely useful for things like format conversion, or editing movie files.
- Gad Eko Hendro H > Synthetik August 25, 2015 at 3:56pm
  
  these video will explain what the real happen. Both method; generate movie brush with Studio Artis and Quicktime.
  
  and when i use as a brush, both are blank...:(
  - Synthetik > Gad Eko Hendro H August 25, 2015 at 6:31pm
    
    If you watch your first movie, you will see that you tried to render from Studio Artist to an open movie file (ie : a dialog comes up that says 'Error: cannot write to a movie file that is already open' ). At that point, you should have canceled the action processing and started again choosing an output movie name that isn't already opened by another program.
    
    I'm assuming the movie file that was open was your blank one from before? Seems like it.
    
    When you get an error message like that, it's a good idea to pay attention to it.
    
    Studio Artist action processing will still run in a situation like this, but it just provides a preview of the PASeq processing without writing out any frames. It's the equivalent to canceling the name the output movie file dialog when you run the Action Process with PASeq menu. You need to hit the spacebar to stop the processing. Again, it's designed so that you can preview the processing without outputting frames if you want to do that, and then stop it manually after checking it out for a few frames.
    
    If you load an all white or other solid colored frame movie file as a movie brush into the paint synthesizer, don't expect it to look very interesting when you paint with it. It will do exactly what you are asking it to do. It's the equivalent of a rectangular computational brush. And if you are painting with the brush as your Fill From source, then you will paint accordingly, with the solid color brush. No surprises there.