Hello,
I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to get a look that is similar to this image op, but that runs faster?
In the same vein, are there any image op tricks (with configurations similar to what I've got going) that are useful tips for speeding things up (like the tip regarding the distance between paths having a large impact on speed when it comes to auto-painting?
Thanks, Michael
Replies
Reducing the number of iterations (the Iter control) will speed up the Sketch Edge ip op. But at the cost of reduced complexity in the sketch.
DIfferent algorithms specified by the Edge parameter setting, may run at different speed as well. So Thick is probably going to run a lot slower than Thin for example.
Just a comment, if you turn on the Draw Method to AntiAlia 1 you'll get smooth anti-aliased lines (as opposed to the rougher pixelated effect when using the Pixel Draw Method.
Thanks, John, that is helpful (I'm using the rough pixel setting because I blur it later, and I guessed that it'd be faster than antiAliasing).
In a similar vein, I'm wondering if there is a way, perhaps using path memories, to do something like the following:
1) generate paths from the ImageOp (Path->GeneratePaths->From Im Op)
2) read these paths into the paint synthesizer
3) randomly choose which parts of the path record to paint (on a frame by frame basis), and paint only a limited number of them (not the entirety of the paths that were recorded)
In other words, something like the effect you'd get if you made an animation by keyframing a paint patch with the Generator set to "smooth random," and the Max Stroke set to, say, 5 (or some small number), but where the paint that gets put down comes from the paths that were picked up from the Image Op. (I often do something like this, building up an animation by putting down only a little bit of paint at a time over previous frames.)
Is that possible?
Thanks!, Michael
I'm not quite sure what you want to do.
Do you want to split up the paths generated from a single image and then interpolate between them in an animation? Or just generate paths every N frames and then interpolate between them? Or am i not understanding what you want to do?
You could do either of the 2 things i mentioned. If you can provide a little more detail about what you want to do i'll explain how to do it.
Sorry, let me try to explain it more clearly. Incidentally, this is all in the context of wanting to build up an animation.
When I run the Sketch Edge Im Op, I get an image that I like. However, it isn't realistic for me (at the moment) to spare that processing power/time on every frame.
Therefore, I was wondering if, instead of filling the entire frame with the results of that Im Op, I could randomly fill each frame with a small portion of what would have been the overall processed image. Over time (if one doesn't erase the screen at the beginning of each frame step), the results would resemble what one would have gotten by filling the frame each time.
I'm thinking of this as being analogous with a strategy I use with the paint synthesizer to build up an animation. Instead of painting the whole frame for every frame of the animation, I set "Max Strokes" to some small number, set the Generator to "smooth random," and I then I get results that I like within a workable time frame, by having each frame only paint a small, randomly chosen part of the frame. Over time the entire image gets full.
So I'm wondering if I can take that look that I like--from running Sketch Edge Im Op--and somehow take the paths that result from that Im Op, and randomly paint them from the paint synthesizer. Or, use some other strategy from within the Im Op to only process a small number of the resulting paths.
Did that clarify anything?
I thought of another way to ask this question:
Is there any way to take the Sketch Edge Ip OP (as attached above), and convert it to a Paint Synthesizer patch, such that, when one presses the action button, you get virtually the same processed image?
If so, then presumably one could then Max Strokes to a small number, and only paint part of the frame (with the paths that are the same as you'd get from the Sketch Edge Ip Op).
Not sure how much overlap there is between these things under the hood, i.e., how much the paint synthesizer can access the same algorithms that produce the sketch edge ip op...
There's a Edge Sketch and Adjacent Edge Sketch path start Generator option that will let you set a specific number of path starts spaced out along the edge features of the source image.
You could also auto-generate bezier paths via the Path : Generate Paths : from Ip Op, record them into the internal bezier path memory in the paint synthesizer, and then do things like Random Internal Bezier Path Memory option for the Path Type.
The issue with this for auto-rotoscoping is that you can't currently record the bezier path layer to internal bezier path memory step as an action step. This has been brought up as a feature request in the past, so here's another apparent use for it. I'll think about adding that in 4.04, because it seems like that would open up the kinds of things you'd like to do if you could record manipulations of the bezier path memories as PASeq actions steps.