User Experiments

Prototyping a new transition effect in Studio Artist V5.5.5 using Warp Contexts in conjunction with a factory movie processing preset for the stylized paint look of the output.  The transition rolls into chaos, then rolls back into form over and over again.  The movement could be different each time, i kept it simple for prototyping purposes.

Working with some simple but effective vector paint effects in Studio Artist V5.5 to build a paint animation. I'm using the paint synthesizer's vector paint shadowing options to build something that works visually like a gradient lighting effect, but is all just built using vector paint. You flip the orientation of the vector diffuse shadowing by 180 degrees (some slop in this is good sometimes), and darken the shadow on one side, and then lighten the shadow on the other side (think about what gradient lighting does to the image). The nice thing about building your lighting effects as a direct part of the vector paint is that they then avoid introducing any resonance energy over time that a normal raster gradient lighting effect adds to a recursive paint animation process.

Watercolor paint animation experiment created in Studio Artist V5.5.  I've been trying some experiments recently where i just go into the factory manual paint presets, grab one at random that looks interesting, and try working with it in a Paint Action Sequence (PASeq) to build an animation.  I'm working with a Transition Context to build a virtual source based on multiple source movies that are transitioning between one another (algorithm 4) as the animation progresses.  

A bit of context: I am a composer and visual artist. I am new to StudioArtist. The art I have created so far with StudioArtist has been based on original photography and watercolours. As a composer I often write music first then create visual art from that inspiration,  although art has come first from time-to-time. I am looking forward to being able to input audio into the paint synthesizer to create art on the fly. I hope this feature will be able to work with multilple input channels. I work in quadraphonic (a bit of a relic) but also in full surround-sound and Atmos. Comments and suggestions are welcome. In particular best practices to rotoscope video into smooth animation. The video linked to this post (Travellers) was created from a photograph of tulips taken at the Royal Botanical Gardens. 

Simple bezier path embedded keyframe paint animation created in Studio Artist V5.5.5. I started with a single vector shadow paint synthesizer preset that painted bezier vector paths generated by an embedded Ip Op effect. I had 4 different source images key-framed into a Transition Context that feeds the source area with its output. They were key-framed 100 frames apart over a 300 frame timeline. I then ran a menu command that embedded the paint synthesizers draw paths directly into a second paint action step where every bezier path was directly stored in the embedded auto paint keyframes (as opposed to the original paint preset that auto-generates the bezier paths using an Ip Op effect every time it is run).

Automatically generated keyframed embedded bezier path vector paint animation.  Everything is derived off of vector bezier paths, so you can rescale any frame to any output size you want.

This particular movie is interesting because it is an example of proto-typing a V6 effect using V5.5.5 features.  I actually do this a lot, try out a potential new feature for the next version using existing Studio Artist features cobbled together in a Paint Action Sequence (PASeq) to implement what we ultimately end up turning into a single action step new visual effect.  In this simple example we basically re-conceptualizing 'old school raster effects' color gradient and color palette mapping effects as integral vector effects.

Once i had a mechanism for generating the bezier paths and painting them using the paint synthesizer, i then used a Transition Context with virtual sub-nest keyframes set to 15 and a Path menu command to auto convert each Transition Context virtual keyframe into an embedded bezier atuo paint action step in a PASeq.

Then i used two Embedded Bezier Frame menu commands to auto-normalize the number of bezier paths in each keyframe and then re-order their index positions to lead to a smoother animation effect.

So 3 menu commands generate the entire keyframe paint animation automatically after you build the initial PASeq for processing a frame and setup the timing of the Transition Context virtual keyframing.

This is a simple example of generating moving paint animation from a series of hand drawn paint sketches. 

You can use an arbitrary number of paint strokes for each sketch. After drawing one, you then convert it into a single embedded bezier auto paint preset.  I then option click recorded those at the appropriate keyframe times in a single AutoPaint action step in a Paint Action Sequence to build the animation in the PASeq Timeline.

I then used some timeline menu commands to auto-normalize the number of paint strokes recorded in each keyframe, and then sort them based on distance to get a smoother keyframe animation.

I used the mouse and the Onion Skin feature to do the drawing based off of a loaded source movie.  The mouse sucks for drawing, so i'm trying to use that as a stylistic feature in this example.

All of the Roto Promo videos i posted recently were done totally automatically. But you can also build hand painted animation in Studio Artist if you so desire.  I get the sense that people are mostly unaware that you can do it, so we'll be educating people more on the features as time goes on.  We're also trying to make it even easier in the next version.

Ghosting and Temporal Promo Movie from Synthetik - Studio Artist on Vimeo.

Another Studio Artist V5.5 promo video that showcases some of the factory Paint Action Sequence presets that were optimized for video processing effects.

55 Roto Video Promo USE from Synthetik - Studio Artist on Vimeo.

New promo video for Studio Artist V5.5 that shows off some of the factory Paint Action Sequence presets designed for video processing.

Free running Studio Artist V5.5 paint synthesizer time particle animation. Time particles are a feature of the paint synthesizer that let your paint strokes have continuity over time in an animation.

I used a Transition Context to create an ever evolving source for painting derived off of 5 different Transition Context key-framed still images. So the source being painted is virtual.  It is always changing and evolving over time. 

This animation shows of the dynamic interaction of the 2 main components of digital painting, the laying down of colored 'stuff' on the canvas, and the application of dissipative forces that smear and manipulate it in some way. I'm using 2 different applications of the Smart Blur IpOp effect to do the dissipation.  One is adaptive smoothing based on the virtual source orientation.  The other is adaptively smoothing based on the orientation of what is already in the canvas. So the first introduces visual components of the virtual source into the painted canvas. The second adaptively smooths detail already in the canvas, essentially reinforcing it as a visual component of the overall canvas image as it adaptively. smooths it.  So there are 2 different dissipative forces battling it out as the animation progresses.

This approach to working with time particles is one way to build procedural paint animation.  By procedural we mean that the movement in the animation is computationally derived from algorithms that work based off of the individual parameter settings in the 2 Time Particle control panels in the paint synthesizer.  The computational model used by the paint synthesizer time particles is very similar to how it generates paint paths for normal painting.  The difference is that the movement plays out over time rather than just being associated with the drawing of an individual paint path on the canvas in a static image.

An alternative approach to building animation movement would be to use key-framing in the PASeq Timeline. Or to build a set of bezier paths and then configure the paint synthesizer to move path start locations derived off of the shape and positioning of the individual bezier paths.

If you are not interested in animation and only work with static 2D art image output in your work you can still view this whole approach as a way to build a single static 2D painted image through a recursive process that plays out over time.  I believe this approach to 2D painting can be very effective, and is worth exploring in depth.  very subtle changes in how you apply dissipative or contrast 'expansive' forces to the canvas in a recursive process like this can dramatically influence the overall appearance of the end result.

Animation test that is a meditation on symmetry making and breaking as well as investigating what you can do with the SideChain IpOp effect.  I'm using source variance visual attribute modulation for the SideChain modulation.

I'm very interested in this notion of creating digital moving art paintings that could be hung on a wall in a digital picture frame.  So you are creating an animation that plays out over time. But something designed to be viewed like a painting would be viewed on a wall surface.  It is a very different way to think about building an animation (compared to what you are thinking about with normal video processing).  And i think it gives you more room for creativity when it comes to things like abstraction and bending the rules of image synthesis sideways.

This whole thing is built from a small folder of still photos taken on Waikiki beach on Oahu.  It is meant to convey the feeling of being in the place, or one feeling of many possible interpretations of physically being there.  So it is an artistic example of the Metaverse that facebook keeps barking about.  I think we can do better than Pixar film inspired emoji avatars when it comes to envisioning Metaverse content.

I key-framed the Waikiki beach still images in a Transition Context in a PASeq.  I expanded the timeline (probably not enough) to build transitions between the individual keyframes.  I routed the Transition Context output to the Source.  I then used visual attribute modulation to manipulate that artificial metaverse source imagery in several different ways. 

I used the Style buffer to build a recursive image synthesis process that plays out in the canvas while allowing me to pile on additional 'boost' and 'shape' effects afterwards in the PASeq that did not influence the inner recursive processing 'cook loop' in the PASeq.  So you set the Style to the current layer at the end of your inner recursive processing loop, and then add a Fixed Image Ip Op action step at the beginning of the recursive processing loop with lets say a 50% Mix feeding the Style as the Ip Source for the Fixed Image effect.  Could be 100%, could be 30%, you should experiment to see what the different effects are when you change it.  You could also keyframe those changes over time if it suits the mood of what you are trying to create.

I then used the Source Variance to modulate a direction warp effect.  You can do this in V5.5.5 using multiple PASeq action steps although it is way easier in pre-V6 because it is now a part of the SideChain IpOp effect (along with some additional SideChain modulation channel treatment effects).

I overuse MultiOctave Gradient Lighting effects on a regular basis, so they are sprinkled on here.  I cranked the DeNoise option up all the way for these.

I use SmartBlur IpOp effect with a canvas local orientation modulation and full symmetry curve tracking to adaptively smooth the canvas.

I use multiple applications of the Image Compressor with less than 100% Mix settings at different local adaptations to build the adaptive contrast boost recursively over time.  You want your contrast boost to occur over 10 frames or so, at least you want to think about it that way when setting up the Mix ratios for the individual processing steps.

Island tour through the lush tropical islands of Maui, Molokai, Kauai, and Oahu.

All of the imagery was shot on location, this is what it looks like here folks.  Everything was shot on video, either forward moving camera or panorama rotation camera.

The movie files were then processed by Studio Artist Temporal IpOp effects to build time smear panoramas.

Those panorama files were then loaded as keyframes into a Transition Context.  That drove the Source for a Vectorizer preset that mixes into the canvas over several frames in the animation.

Fun super simple Studio Artist animation experiment. I drew 3 bezier shapes and then recorded them in the paint synthesizer's internal bezier path memory. I turned on a path shape option that cycle interpolates through them as the animation progresses, and had them drawn as vector regions with a small drop shadow effect. I then auto-generated a bezier path built from the human pose points detected in the source video, and used to it to auto-draw a second canvas smear paint effect. A small amount of source modulated translation warp was added for the falling dissipative effect. And i used 6 repetitions of a 5% Mix Image Compeller IpOp (with random banding turned on) to push the local canvas statistics towards the source a little bit (the effect of this builds over time).