Transformations using Vectorizer Keyframing

[Rondan]

RE:Transformations using Vectorizer Keyframing I am having a tough time getting anywhere with the above tutorial. I have gone back and reviewed the layers and movie video tutorials on disc #2 - but still not understanding how to do what the tutorial is implying. What would really be helpful to me is: A step by step tutorial with screen shots or a downloadable video tutorial showing what is being done at each step. This would enable me to duplicate your results and better understand your meaning. Including your source images would also be helpful. Thanks, Rondan

[Synthetik]

Are you referring to the tutorial on tutorial video disk #2 or something posted on this site somewhere?

[Rondan]

I am referring to Blog Entry: Transformations using Vectorizer Keyframing of 5/24/2006.
(The faces breaking apart and reforming into a new face. I review the disk #2 to see if that would help me to understand it- but so far I still don't understand what to do and how to do it.)

[Synthetik]

Well, there are tutorial moves on disc 2 that run you through a way to do this. They are the 3 Vectorized Paint Tween Animation videos (Paint tween 1,2,3). They use the menu commands under layer keyframe commands to do it. In version 3.5 you can do something similar using the new paseq menu commands that work with paseq keyframes.

What i would suggest is that you look at the 3 tutorial movies i mention above and then post here what steps you don't understand or are having problem with. Other wise i might just generate another tutorial that basically says the same things (not explaining some step in detail enough that you are finding confusing). This is probably one of the more complex things you can do in studio artist, so let's figure out which steps you are finding confusing and we'll see if we can provide some more detail on those.

[Rondan]

Holy Cow! Eureka! I am beginning to understand Daltonese.

I went to disk #2 videos primarily 33 and 34 and did the exercises along with the videos. The output I got (with different images seemed "jumpy"-definitely not smooth.

I went back to your notes on my 3rd video attempt and I changed the vectorizer setting from rec block to color simplify- this may have been a mistake(because the images were not as sharp as in the first 2 videos).
I set up the PASeq as per your blog entry, which was also a change from the video tutorial.
I also inserted the "normalization" and "minimal distance" commands before running the final step in your blog posting (Action : Generate Frames ; Run PASeq Animation menu command and the flat paint PASeq described above. )rather than the tutorial final step.

My 3rd video was much smoother than the first 2- but I am wondering if I should have used a different vectorizer setting so that the video images would be sharper?

It seemed to take a while to run the"normalization" and "minimal distance" commands on a G5. Is that usual?

So my questions additional are:

What do you feel is the best vectorizer setting to produce the sharpest video images?

Since the vectorizer seems to work on it's own why does the video tutorial have us go and click on the first vectorizer preset before going to the vectorizer?

Is their a way to load a whole file of images at once (in one step)(as keyframes) to do this process?

Rondan

[Synthetik]

< It seemed to take a while to run the"normalization" and "minimal distance" commands on a G5. Is that usual?

Yes, those 2 commands, especially minimal distance run very slow.

< What do you feel is the best vectorizer setting to produce the sharpest video images?

Well, you can always run something like the Image Compressor and a sharpening operation (Blur with an edge1 composite)on the source video prior to vectorizing so you start with an image with maximal contrast before vectorizing. I used the Rect Block vectorizer generator setting so that i would get lots of small regions as opposed to really large ones. This leads to less overall movement as the regions transition in the keyframing.

< Since the vectorizer seems to work on it's own why does the video tutorial have us go and click on the first vectorizer preset before going to the vectorizer?

It's just the convention fof the video tutorials that there is always a starting preset for people to be able to reproduce what we were doing in the tutorial.

< Is their a way to load a whole file of images at once (in one step)(as keyframes) to do this process?

That would be nice. Right now you have to do them one by one.