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  • I like this, would you please tell me how to force SA to have at least changes in the next frame? when I create animation render each frame separately thus each of my frames has its own properties but your animation has a continuse background and changes are more at the horse not the full frame. (of course maybe your source is with at least changes in background?).

    thank you

  • Hi Sam,

    Thanks! 

    The thing to understand about this video (and why there is minimal motion or vibration in the background area) is that the fundamental step used in my paint action sequence was an Image Operation called Simple Texture. The paseq has no painted steps in it. Paint presets tend to exhibit much more "action" in the paint strokes, frame-to-frame. So they can require much more effort to keep the output video "calm". I address that subject below. But for now I will show you the core process I used for the effect you like in this video.

    Although it feels like only the horse is moving and the background is not, that’s not exactly what’s happening. The Simple Texture settings are using the luminance of the source video to affect (modulate) the canvas. And because the source video has a background that is fairly smooth and the luminance is fairly stable in the background, the textures in those parts of the image also stay stable. But you’ll notice that the splashing water and texture in the beach sand have a fair amount of action in them. So the result on the canvas is for the texture to change over time in those areas too... not just in the horse's body. So, this is an example of a paseq being designed for a specific image (something I do all the time). I also had added a halo or gobo effect (the iris like circle around the frame of the source video) knowing that too would translate into an interesting texture at the edges of the frame.

    Here is a screenshot of the Simple Texture settings (in Image Operations editor) I used in one of my paseq steps. There were approx 10 other steps. But they were there mostly to enhance and add color after this core Simple Texture step.

    10069462687?profile=RESIZE_930x

    ____________

    As far as the previously mentioned subject of ways to keep painted style animation from flickering, squirming and vibrating too much from frame-to-frame… there are four or five things to keep in mind that can help with that. These are not listed in order of importance.

    • Select proper source material. Simple forms and minimal texture in the source video can help.

    • Reduce noise in source footage before using it as source. Sometimes I take footage that that has too much texture and detail in it and run it through Studio Artist once. I process it with a simplifying Image Operation (like Rank Area Filter) to clean it up, reduce detail and purify form & color. The "Adjust" tools can help be used to intensify and color or luminance qualities. Then I use this newly purified video output as my new source instead of using the original video as source.

    • Decrease randomizing settings in the paint synthesizer. Studio Artist has tons of settings I can add randomization. This is intentional. It's part of what makes Studio Artist paint presets feel so human and real-world. Rich, organic qualities come from such randomization. For still images this can't be beat! But when processing a video, sometimes too much randomization can create a distracting amount of change, frame-to-frame; sometimes it needs to be toned down. So as you look through your paint synthesizer settings (path color, path angle, path length, brush size and modulation, etc.) noticed any settings that have the word "random" or "modulate" in them. Turning randomization and modulation down can sometimes help. It can sometimes take a lot of searching to find the one control panel that has the settings you want to adjust as you try to "calm down" a preset.

    • Select proper frames per second for your video output. Processing a 30fps source video to 30fps Studio Artist output movie can create a video that feels more like a filter than an animation. 30fps can also create a manically vibrating feeling in the rendered output. No real animation is ever done at full video fps. 15 is good; 12fps, even 10. Which I use depends on the nature of my source video, the effect I am working on and the amount of motion in the shot. Personally, when I can, I love rendering out at 8fps. This may seem a bit extreme. But I like it because the animation feels more like like a series of drawings… yet the motion is still smooth. Lower than that feels like a flip-book. Much faster than that and things starts to feel too much like processed video. Not all projects can handle such a low frame rate. But I never animate at 30fps unless someone asks me to.

    • Overpaint rather than erase canvas after each frame. This is one of the most important techniques to help minimize frame-to-frame vibration and change. Instead of erasing the canvas after each frame is complete, just draw on top of it to create the next frame. Really? Rather than erase the canvas (and start anew on the next one)… either don't erase it at all or erase it slightly by making the first step of your paseq be an Image Operation like Fixed Color (set it to a percentage other than 100).  So, for instance, if the first step is Image Operation Fixed Color white (10%), you would be lightening the canvas by 10% before beginning to paint on it for the next frame. This has the effect of fading the old canvas to white over time and focusing the viewers mind on the newest paint strokes applied on top of the old canvas. Of course you can do this with black or any color. I often I often use a variation of this technique… adding a step with another Image Operation, like Blur, Rank Area Filter Smart Blur or Smart Displace. So in addition to lightning or darkening the canvas, I also smudge and blur the previous canvas before drawing on top of it. You can see examples of this approach in this video: https://victrolux.com/portfolio/dance-styles-r/

    I hope some of this helps,
    Victor


    https://victrolux.com
    https://vimeo.com/victrolux

     

     

     

     

     

     

    https://victrolux.com/portfolio/dance-styles-r/
  • Thank you very much for your full response, I tested and you were correct, I also could produce an acceptable work.
    Just another question, the frame speed of horse in your work is more like animation, but the speed of my frames is like a movie, should I change SA properties for looking like an animation or use other apps for this purpose? if answer is SA, Please take a screenshot like above. 
    If the answer is no, Do you think how many frames must I set to make a good animation?

  • I'm glad I could help. I hope I understand your question. Actually the frame rate of this video is very high. So it doesn't actually follow my "rule" stated in my previous reply about using a low frame rate. As far as setting your output video fps... you can set that from within the Studio Artist preference (sorry no screenshot right now since I am away from my computer as I write this). But, with the recent changes in Apple's QuickTime software, outputting a movie in all video codecs has gotten a bit problematic. I can do it, but I can't get the video codec of my choice. So now, instead of rendering to a QuickTime movie, I render to an image sequence (a folder full of still images) and use Apple's Compressor to convert the image sequence into a movie in the codec I want. 

  • Thank you again, My generation even with low fps is not like animation, I asked; please tell me how to solve this if you know any option in SA.

  • Hi Sam, 

    That is a huge question. It could mean so many different things. Probably the best way to discuss this is for you to show an example of what you've created and then describe what you don't like about it or what you would like to improve. maybe we would have a better idea then.

    Thanks,

    Victor

  •  Your discussions are very valuable!Victor's work is great!The five points you outlined and the techniques you mentioned are all good

  • thank you Zuobei... much appreciated!

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