List of available tags for help presets?

[Florence Artur]

Hi,

Two questions actually:

1- Is there a list of available tags that can be used to call commands in a custom help file?

2- Specifically, is there a way to load a specific image as a source using a tag in a help file?

Thanks!

Florence

[Synthetik]

There is no specific help command link to load a specific source image.

However, there's an indirect way to do it. In the paint Synth Evolution help page, there's a 'load random source image' command link. It chooses a random image from the current source image folder specified in the gallery show preferences tab. So if there was only one image in that folder, than that's the image that would load when you run that command link.

Also, you can drag and drop an image from the finder to the studio artist dock icon,or to the source area, and in either case that image will load as the new source image.

[Florence Artur]

Thank you John, and sorry I took so long to reply. I've been using the drag from finder method lately but I was wondering if there was a quicker and safer way (that would not put me at risk of activating the finder in the foreground). But it does work and it's probably the best method.

[Synthetik]

Two more ideas to think about:

You could put specific images in a movie file, load the movie file as the source, and then use the frame transport or frame location counter to move between specific images. So if you're thinking about some kind of live performance situation, this might be a way to access specific images quickly.

Also, you could preload a short series of source images before you start working, and then use the recent source image menus to load them again quickly while working. If you are just moving between a few specific source images, this might work for you.

[Florence Artur]

Thanks for the ideas. Yes, I am thinking of live performance (working with a musician now and we are planning to have one on June 21st for the "fête de la musique"). Ideally I would like to be able to customize keyboard shortcuts for this I think. It's a bit frustrating that my left hand is sitting there doing nothing, while my right hands is fumbling with selecting sources and paint presets. Using menus while in full screen mode on a two display configuration and using a tablet and stylus is simply out of the question for me. The movie idea is more feasible though, maybe I'll give it a try.

What I've been doing before is create a paseq with a step for each source image. It works, although the buttons are very small and I don't always hit them on the first try, plus there is no preview image, so it's fine if I follow the script, but if I want to improvise a bit more it's a bit random. What I need is a set of large buttons that I'm not too likely to miss, with preview images. So I guess using a finder folder with my source images with large icons is probably the best way.

[Synthetik]

You can use key commands to access favorites presets in a performance situation.

The favorites preset toolbar section of this tip talks about how to work with key commands to switch between different presets in live performance.

You could also use source context action steps in a PASeq to swap different source images in. So that's another way to setup a series of source images and then swap between them. Sounds like maybe you were trying that before?

You could use multiple keyframes. Or use the 'move forwards - move backwards' key commands available for paseqs as discussed in the PASeq Action Step section of the tip on live performance features.