Working with Large Images in StudioArtist

I figure this was one of those things that weren't brought up as much but I think I'll start a discussion on it.

I've been using StudioArtist for about... I guess a year or two and sometimes I find myself working on large images mostly for background work. One thing I realized was that the paint synth usually works happily with small images but for large images I'd need to go in and tweak it to suit the image's scale. Large = around 4000px and above.

Here are some of the parameters I usually tweak:

min / max path length
max stroke for auto paint - usually set it to -1.
brush size
any texture on the brush needs some tweaking (scaling a procedural noise pattern for example.)
can't list them all because I this happens case by case.

For example, if I had a image that's 5000px across, I'd set the min / max path length to a much larger number so the line length suits the image's size. The brush size needs to be enlarged so it doesn't make super thin lines... etc. So that to me is a mild hassle, but I still work with it and also do have a small preset library that works with large images. I think I can share that/start a thread on the cool presets group.

Unlike Photoshop's brushes where you only have to tweak probably 1 or 2 parameters to suit the image's scale, StudioArtist kinda leaves you off with a bundle of parameters to scale up and down.

I also get this feeling that the paint presets in general just work better with small images. Small I mean around 2500px and below.

So here are some thoughts I had:

There can be presets intended for large images.
Maybe... have an ability to scale brush parameters like max path length relative to brush size. (If the user changes the brush size, then increase the max path length, that type of thing).
Or have a nice way of adjusting multiple parameters at once via selection. So like an ability to add or subtract values to or from the current value on multiple numerical parameters.

Potentially many points/feature requests here. I guess macro controls has already been discussed and I see that being one solution to this.

In the mean time I was wondering if anybody works with large images in StudioArtist and that if anybody has a nice workflow / method of painting on large canvases.

Thanks!

Using the b key to resize a brush adjusts all kinds of things in addition to the source brush size, like internal procedural textures, etc.

Do you feel that the max path length should adjust when we do a b hot key brush resize?

Right now it only happens if the ReRender Scaling parameter is setup for that to happen. There are some atypical paint presets where what the user perceives as the brush size is actually created by auto-drawing a region, so only adjusting the max path length is what visually resizes those atypical presets.

When Studio Artist was first released, the paint synthesizer followed a standard place nibs of raster paint on a vector path model, so resizing was much more straightforward. But as we added additional features over time, the range of possible effects increased quite a bit, and some of them don't really follow that original nibs of paint on a path model.

We used to have a 'resize brush' check-box option in the resize canvas dialog. And if that was checked, then when you resized the canvas it also resized the current paint preset accordingly. Do you want to see that come back?

You can record paint presets in a PASeq, and then turn on the ReScale PASeq check box in the resize canvas dialog. That will scale each of the action steps accordingly. So that will rescale the path length in addition to the brush size and internal procedural textures, etc. So you could try that as an alternative to manually readjusting everything for a set of presets.

We're been playing around with trying to increase the range of paint effects you can create using vector paint. The nice thing about vector paint effects is that you can output as eps or svg vector files. So you could conceivably work with a relatively small canvas size so that you can work quickly. Record that in a PASeq. Then output the PASeq as a vector file. And then re-render that vector file at a higher dpi raster resolution for printing or use in generating a high dpi raster image. So that might be an alternative work flow to working directly on a high res canvas.

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Synthetik December 29, 2014 at 10:18am

Using the b key to resize a brush adjusts all kinds of things in addition to the source brush size, like internal procedural textures, etc.

Do you feel that the max path length should adjust when we do a b hot key brush resize?

Right now it only happens if the ReRender Scaling parameter is setup for that to happen. There are some atypical paint presets where what the user perceives as the brush size is actually created by auto-drawing a region, so only adjusting the max path length is what visually resizes those atypical presets.

When Studio Artist was first released, the paint synthesizer followed a standard place nibs of raster paint on a vector path model, so resizing was much more straightforward. But as we added additional features over time, the range of possible effects increased quite a bit, and some of them don't really follow that original nibs of paint on a path model.

We used to have a 'resize brush' check-box option in the resize canvas dialog. And if that was checked, then when you resized the canvas it also resized the current paint preset accordingly. Do you want to see that come back?

You can record paint presets in a PASeq, and then turn on the ReScale PASeq check box in the resize canvas dialog. That will scale each of the action steps accordingly. So that will rescale the path length in addition to the brush size and internal procedural textures, etc. So you could try that as an alternative to manually readjusting everything for a set of presets.

We're been playing around with trying to increase the range of paint effects you can create using vector paint. The nice thing about vector paint effects is that you can output as eps or svg vector files. So you could conceivably work with a relatively small canvas size so that you can work quickly. Record that in a PASeq. Then output the PASeq as a vector file. And then re-render that vector file at a higher dpi raster resolution for printing or use in generating a high dpi raster image. So that might be an alternative work flow to working directly on a high res canvas.
- Yuya Takeda > Synthetik December 31, 2014 at 3:42am
  
  Do you feel that the max path length should adjust when we do a b hot key brush resize?
  
  I figure currently the program's got both of those short cuts separate b and p so I think it's fine as it is. Although it's best to have perhaps like a checkbox to auto scale to whatever the canvas size currently is.
  
  We used to have a 'resize brush' check-box option in the resize canvas dialog. And if that was checked, then when you resized the canvas it also resized the current paint preset accordingly. Do you want to see that come back?
  
  Do you mean in order for the brush to be scaled I'd have to go and resize the canvas?
  
  We're been playing around with trying to increase the range of paint effects you can create using vector paint.
  
  That's really welcoming. I've tried working with vector brushes but felt the mild limitation to be a bit difficult to work with. If you look at what I do I basically rely heavily on that brushy appearance and distortion. Since then I've just stuck to procedural brush types. The big question to me has been if vector output would really help me with matte painting and stuff. I'd have to really see what it can do both within StudioArtist and outside in other programs.
Yuya Takeda December 28, 2014 at 11:41pm

Bonus note: I mean I guess I already know some shortcut keys but you know... in the end it always seems like there are more things the paint synth wants me to change.

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Studio Artist Feature Requests

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