I come from a Photoshop background to make my photo art, and I work in IT, but even after watching a bunch of tutorials, poring through the user guide and searching in these forums, I keep getting held up by one obstacle after another in even just setting up my workflow. Is there anyone out there who might be willing and interested in a screen share session or two to help me move beyond this frustrating place?
I know I can ask specific questions here and I appreciate that, but I'm feeling so stuck on so many basic concepts that it's overwhelming to try and address each individual issue, when looking up each resolution seems to spawn several more new questions/roadblocks. I can see the potential of this amazing software (I just bought it after being mentioned by an artist I admire, but don't know personally), but right this moment my level of frustration is so high that I'm not sure I can overcome this on my own.
Some of the things that are plaguing me from the start: adjusting brush size, paint opacity, layer blending, layer opacity, viewing grid lines (to find the absolute center of my canvas), understanding options when using Warp (I make kaleidoscopic art). If anyone has the bandwidth to spare some time and brain cells to help me out, I would love to know. I'm a quick learner and know my way around a bunch of terminology. Thank you!
Replies
I'll try to provide some answers here for the list of questions you brought up. Covering everything will probably take a few separate posts in this thread.
Since you know photoshop well, you need to be aware that Studio Artist is not photoshop, which is probably apparent after using it a little bit. We are not trying to emulate how photoshop works, we're trying to do something different. If you expect Studio Artist to work like photoshop does, you will become frustrated. It has a very different internal design strategy.
Software tools for digital artists, be they tools for creating music, creating visual art, whatever, by the very nature of how they are designed and built, tend to steer their artist users in very specific stylistic directions due to the conceptual logic of how the tool is constructed. By having a different internal logic than other visual tools that tend to directly emulate how photoshop works, we are trying to push people into new artistic directions in their work.
Brush Size
The quick approach is to hold down the b key, then if you use your pen or cursor in the canvas you can interactively resize the brush based on the movement of the cursor from where you b clicked to where you moved it to.
Studio Artist makes extensive use of 'hot key' modifiers that influence what the cursor (or pen) does when you use it. There is a help page in the help browser that details all of the various hot key options available in the program.
The more detailed answer about brush size involves diving in the paint synthesizer editor.
Here's a tip on adjusting the brush size that explains what is really going on with brush size adjustment.
The tip discusses the Brush Source and Brush Modulation control panels in the paint synthesizer editor. The overall size of the brush source is set in the Brush Source control panel, but it is then perhaps modified by various settings in the Brush Modulation control panel.
The photoshop model of a brush you paint with is a very simple one essentially based on dragging a colored image brush around the canvas. You can do all of that in Studio Artist, but you can get way more elaborate as far as what a digital paint brush is really all about.
At the most basic level, you can work with an image brush, a movie brush, or an image folder brush. If you have an image folder or movie brush, then which frame of the collection of images that define that brush you are painting with at any given time can be based on some kind of internal modulation.
But some or all of the components of the brush could also be procedural (generative) in nature. What you as the artist perceive as a 'brush' could also be virtual in nature. Imagine a paint brush as being composed of a set of smaller particles whose movement and interaction over time generate something that you perceive as a larger sized virtual brush.
Paint Opacity
You have to dive into the Paint Fill Apply control panel in the paint synthesizer editor.
The Blend % parameter is what you are looking for.
If you have Composite parameter in there set to Replace, then there is no Blend % available. Changing that to Blend would bring up the additional controls associated with it.
Grid Lines
Yes, it would be nice to have them. There is no grid display option available right now. Maybe in v6.
Here's a tip on the hot key guide.
Warp
Studio Artist is based around different kinds of Operation modes.
Here's a tip that discusses the different operation modes.
Interactive Warp is one of the operation modes. It allows for interactively warping an image based on your movement of the cursor in the canvas.
You can see in the screen shot above that i am in Interactive Warp operation mode.
To define the warp, i mouse (or pen) down in the canvas somewhere, and then move the cursor to change the warp interactively. Horizontal and vertical movement of the cursor defines the warp. A few of them marked (Wacom) appropriately are also using pressure (press the space bar to end the warp if you are also pressure modulating since lifting the pen will change the pressure).
The particular warp effect i am working with is the Circular Ripple one. There are many different ones to choose from in that popup at the top of the Editor.
The Editor always provides a set of adjustable parameters associated with any operation mode. The paint synth as many internal control panels in the Editor, simpler op modes like Warp just have one control panel.
Source defines what is the input to be warped. So we are warping what is in the current layer above, but it could be the source image, or something else.
Composite defines how the output of the effect (the warp in this case) is composited into the current layer. We have it set to replace above, but it could be any of a long list of different compositing operations. Some of them like Min or Max or Edge you may be familiar with, others (Extrenum for example) you probably aren't familiar with.
Since you are photoshop centric, let's stop for a second and consider what is going on in any of the Studio Artist effects. Because they all have a certain set of standard 'Generic' controls. The Paint Synthesizer deviates from the standard Generic control thing somewhat, but Warp, Image Operations, vectorizer, etc all use the same set of Generic controls (Ip Source, Composite, Mix).
In photoshop if you wanted to composite an effected image with some other image you would need 2 different layers to do it. But in Studio Artist you can do it all in a single operation in a single layer. Every effect in Studio Artist allows you to composite the results of the effect into the current layer. So in reality, the vast majority of the time you don't need more than one layer to do very sophisticated effects that would require many different layers to pull of (if you could pull it off) in photoshop.
The biggest mistake that photoshop centric users do when starting out in Studio Artist is that they set out to build every effect using multiple layers like they would in photoshop. You need to break free of this photoshop centric way of thinking about the world when using Studio Artist.
If you want to learn more about working with multiple layers in Studio Artist, here is an introduction to layers tip.
There are a number of different tutorial videos available here. Included in that set of tutorial videos is one on Interactive Warp.
I should point out that there are many other ways to construct warp style effects in Studio Artist beside just using the Interactive Warp operation mode to do it.
You could use something like the Displacement effect (in image operation mode) to do it.
You could also build custom paint synthesizer presets that do it.
And of couse you can build all kinds of different warp effects using MSG (modular synthesized graphics).
A few other key differences between Studio Artist and photoshop to be aware of.
Photoshop basically always has alpha compositing turned on. If you are using multiple layers in Studio Artist, you can turn alpha compositing on or off. the default setting when you start the program is turned off.
Also, you are free to use the alpha channel in every layer as you see fit in Studio Artist. You could use it as an alpha mask, but you could also just use it as a swap buffer, or a place to store selections, or whatever serves your purpose.
Here's a tip on working with alpha.
I thought about this a little bit, and most of the uses of multiple layers with alpha in photoshop can just be done in Studio Artist within a single layer using masking for specific effects. When you build a Paint Action Sequence (PASeq), the state of the masking (on or off) is stored in each action step. You can configure PASeq playback to playback the masking state as well as the effect if you want to.
Here's a tip on an introduction to paint action sequences.
Here's a tip on specific PASeq editor settings, which discusses how to turn on or off the mask playback.
A big key to wrapping your head around how Studio Artist is designed, and how it is different than how photoshop is designed, is to understand what you can do with paint action sequences (PASeq). A paint action sequence is a series of individual action steps. Any automatic or manual action in Studio Artist can be recorded as an action step in a PASeq. You can then save them all as a PASeq preset.
Rather than working with alpha channels in multiple layers, in Studio Artist you can just be working with masking effects in individual action steps.
The selection masks themselves could be generated with additional action steps, since any effect can be routed to the selection buffer instead of the canvas if you want that (it's one of the generic Composite options). Or you can record interactive selection operations as an action step if you are manually selecting.
I understand your frustration. I tend to jump back and forth between Paintshop Pro( a cheaper version of Photoshop)and SA. This is partly because I already know how to complete the operation using Paintshop Pro, but I would have to break from my comfort zone and re-learn how to do the same operation in Studio Artist. I believe most of the operations can be also be repeated in Studio Artist but in general feel the user interface is very different between the two softwares, and as a result causes a lot of confusion.
I always wonder why Studio Artist is not set up more like traditional graphic software and use more of a tool/palette user interface for example? I understand that Studio Artist is not trying to be Photoshop, and has its own unique purpose in mind. However, just to help people that are already familiar with the more common types of software, having a more traditional user interface would be very helpful.
Studio Artist is a great program that you are able to accomplish things that are not possible in other programs, but the learning curve I find is difficult.
Hi Maggie. I may be able to help. I'm not super deep with layers (sometimes mapping one apps workflow onto another can be clunky). But I have been using SA for more than one decade. eek! So I might be of some use.
~victor
victor@victrolux.com
www.victrolux.com
Let's take a look at a completely different approach to building kaleidoscopic warp effects in Studio Artist. In a previous post in this thread i showed how to use the Interactive Warp operation mode to interactively create warp (including kaleidoscopic) effects. In this post we'll take a look at using MSG (modular synthesized graphics) to do it.
To get started, i switched to MSG operation mode. I then selected a MSG preset from a kaleido preset category. When i select a MSG preset, it comes up as the current live MSG preset in the MSG Advanced Editor. If i then click on the MSG preview icon in the MSG Advanced Editor, mutated versions of the current MSG preset will propagate the Evolution Editor. If i then click on any of those mutated MSG previews in the Evolution Editor, the one i click will become the current MSG preset in the Advanced Editor.
To run the preset in the MSG Advanced Editor, i can either drag and drop the preview icon into the canvas, or i can press the main Action button.
It occurred to me that one of the reasons why you wanted to see grid lines to mark the center of the canvas was to center kaleidoscopic effects you might be generating using Interactive warp. I will discuss an approach to automatically centering the MSG kaleidoscopic effects in the discussion below.
MSG is a whole different approach to working with creating visual effects than something like interactive warp. Each MSG preset is composed of a series of Processors, each of which are modular image processing effects. Some of the modular processors might be purely generative in nature, others might be effects that have one of more inputs and an output (the output might have 3 channels if it outputs a color image). You can route the connections between modules in the processor chain. But you can also adjust individual editable parameters associated with each individual processor.
In the screen shot above, i selected the Kaleidoscope1 MSG preset.
You can see in the screen shot of the MSG Advanced Editor that this particular MSG effect has just one Processor in it, called 3C Kaleido.
In the screen shot above we are looking at the IO (input-output) routing for the selected 3CKaleido processor used in this MSG preset. So the RGB source is routed in to the 3 RGB input ports of the processor, and the 3 RGB output ports of the processor are routed to the RGB Out image for the MSG effect.
If i then click on the Parm (parameter) tab on the right side of the MSG Advanced Editor, then i can see the adjustable parameters associated with the selected 3CKaleido processor.
You can interactively adjust any of the individual processors and see the MSG preview adjust in real time.
Try adjusting the angle processor and see how the kaleidoscopic effect rotates when you do that. At any time, you can drag and drop the MSG preview into the canvas if you want to render the MSG effect into the larger canvas.
Note that the aspect ratio of the canvas is different than the MSG preview cell. The MSG effect conforms to the different aspect ratio of the canvas when you render it int the canvas. most Studio Artist effects do this (map to the current canvas aspect ratio).
As i said earlier, if you click on the MSgG preview cell, then mutated versions of it propagate to the Evolution Editor preview cells.
You can see different mutated versions of the MSG effect above. Mutated means that individual parameter settings for the MSG effect are different in the various Evolution Editor previews. Clicking on any of the individual preview cells will make it the current active MSG preset in the MSG Advanced editor. The parameter settings in the MSG Advanced Editor will change if you do that to reflect the new settings associated with the preview effect you clicked on.
Now if you want your kaleidoscopic effect to be centered as you mutate different variations of it, you can use the Lock feature associated with individual parameters in MSG presets.
To fully center this particular MSG effect, i had to lock the 4 individual parameters shown above. There are H,V centering parameters for both the input and the output of the kaleidoscopic effect in this particular implementation of it.
H,V stands for horizontal, vertical respectively.
The 3 in 3CKaleido in the naming of the MSG processors stands for 3 channel.
If i click on the MSG preview cell in the MSG Advanced Editor after locking the centering parameters as shown above, i get the following results for mutated MSG effects made in the Evolution Editor.
Note that all of the individual mutated kaleidoscopic effects are now centered automatically (because of the parameters i locked at 50% value).
Studio Artist ships with thousands of different pre-built factory presets. You can of couse edit these if you so desire to customize them. And you can create your own individual presets from scratch as well.
Examining how the individual factory presets are built is essentially a master class in how to use Studio Artist. You should really take the time to examine some of the factory presets to see how they were constructed, what is going on inside of them.
When you boot up Studio Artist, it comes up in Paint Action Sequence operation mode. And the Preset Browser is propagated with different Paint Action Sequence factory presets.
A great way to learn how Studio Artist works is to examine some of the individual factory presets in depth. Look at how they are constructed. Look at what is going on in each individual action step in a factory Paint Action Sequence (PASeq) preset.
When you click on any individual preset in the preset browser, it loads into the Studio Artist interface. A Paint Action Sequence (PASeq) preset will open in the Paint Action Sequence palette. You can see below that this particular factory PASeq preset is composed of 18 different individual action steps. Each action step is a visual effect generated in one of Studio Artist's other operation modes. They work together in a PASeq to build up a complete visual effect.
If you press play, the entire set of individual actions steps will run in sequence to generate the complete effect.
But you can also click on individual action steps red keyframe cells to play back the individual action steps one at a time. This is a great way to see what they do. When you click on a red action step keyframe cell, the operation mode will change to the appropriate one for that individual action step, and the Editor will be updated with the individual parameter settings for that operation mode that are stored in the action step.
If you click on the first 3 red keyframe cells for the first 3 action steps in the A Watercolor Blot Palletized PASeq preset in sequence, you get the following.
First the canvas was erased to white.
Then the paint synthesizer paints in the canvas from top to bottom with a particular paint effect.
Then the Gradient Lighting Image Operation (IpOp) effect was run.
You can see all of the individual parameter settings for the Gradient Lighting IpOp effect used in this factory preset in the Editor.
Pay close attention to the IpSource and Composite settings in the Editor.
The original source image (not the painted in canvas) was used as the input to the gradient lighting effect. The output of the gradient lighting effect (the one processing the original source image) was then Multitply1 composited directly into the current layer.
If you analyze this PASeq preset in detail for all of the individual action steps you will see that 10 different action steps are compositing inline into the current layer.
If you tried to build this same effect from scratch using a photoshop mindset, you would need at least 10 different layers to pull it off. But in Studio Artist you can easily build the entire effect using just 1 layer.
So you really need to spend some time understanding how Studio Artist is built, and how the factory preset designers approach building up effects from multiple operation modes.
If you just approach Studio Artist how you would approach working with photoshop, you are going to miss some key components of how the program is actually designed to work.
None of the factory presets we currently ship with Studio Artist use more than 1 layer to build up their effects.
Again, this is because inline compositing is an essential feature built into every Studio Artist effect.
This is a very different mindset than how photoshop is/was designed. Analyzing individual factory presets in Studio Artist is a great way to help wrap your brain around how to optimally build visual effects in Studio Artist.
I am so heartened by the response to my thread. Synthetik you are so very thorough and responsive - that's such a plus! And Victor Ingrassia I will PM you, thank you for your offer. I know from being on the other side of this kind of stuff that having someone to bounce a q or clarification is often the key.
My day job has picked up unexpectedly (for which I'm thankful) so I may not have time to dive into all the helpful tips here for another day or two, but you'd better believe I will examine all of this info very carefully and see if it helps me cross that line between frustration and inspiration. Thank you all so much! I feel very welcomed into the community :)
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next