Animation in Xara

[dcahall]

Can someone please give me a clue on how to create a Displacement Map. I am being stubborn and would like to create an experiment (not a waving flag) but something else I want to try for some grins.

[Gare]

David—

Take a look in the displacement maps folder that the plug-in added. The examples should give you a clue or two. Lighter colors "push" your target artwork in one direction, and darker colors "push" them in the opposite direction.

The easiest way to make your own displacement maps is with a paint program. Xara does a lot of things with bitmaps, but it doesn't have a true bitmap brush, so go download Go get ArtWeaver Free.

Create a canvas of about 300 by 300 pixels as an experiment. Fill it with 50% black. Then on the Brush panel, choose General, Photo>Add Contrast, and then choose the Darken category and make some strokes. Then choose the Lighten category and make more strokes. Save it as a JPEG, and then load the image, the same as the tutorial this month.

Here's a Xara file with some paintings in them.



-g

[dcahall]

Thanks Gary, I will go off and have some fun with this. I appreciate the feedback and the link to the tool. I will try to create something in both Xara and the other tool to a) compare them and b) to learn.

[Gare]

Do it, David!

If you're looking for the bitmaps I painted, they should be in the Bitmap Gallery. If you can't find the Bitmap Gallery (palette, panel), go to Utilities>Galleries.

• To use the paintings I did as shading in Stained Glass mode (just like the tutorial) you drag the thumbnail from the Gallery to the page.

• To use my paintings as displacement maps, click on a thumbnail in the Bitmap Gallery, click the Save button, and then export it as a PNG or a JPEG file. Then copy or move it from wherever you saved it, to the Displacement Maps folder, wherever you installed Image Skills' plug-in.

I think using several black to white gradients really messes up artwork in an interesting way!

My Best,

Gary

[stygg2003]

I've not downloaded the paint programme you posted Gary but I wanted to see what effect I'd get on the hand using the black&white stripe painting, added the lines and altered saturation and temp. Quite an interesting effect, think I'll put it up for the Turner prize, it would make a change from paintings of cows and sheep insides!

Stygg

[Gare]

Nice, and hardly looks like innards!

I wish Xara or MAGIX would buy ArtWeaver off the fellow who designed it, so we could "work under one roof", as it were!

My Best,

Gary

[dcahall]

OK - I used the ArtWeaver tool to create a couple different sets of displacement maps. In the images below, I did not go through the steps to add the shadow/highlight effects like Gary did in the August tutorial because my concentration was on the diplacement facility. For each of the images I started with a flat "grid" object. I went off and created to sets of displacement maps. For the first one, I created a series of maps that had a single dot that moved just a little way from one map to the next. In the second set, I created a set of maps that had several lines that I moved a few pixels from one map to the next.

For each image, I created frame 1 that was the grid not modified. Then I copied Frame 1 and applied one of the displacement maps to it. I repeated that process for each of the images until I had a series of frames that applied all of the maps I had created of that type (i.e. the dot series for one and the line series for the other). Then I deleted the original frame from each animation so that it took away some of the "jerkyness" of the "flat" starting point.


(click on an image to see it anomate)


When I learn to create better displacement maps and also apply the shadow/highlights from Gary's tutorial, I think you could build a pretty sophisticated wavig flag. I think the keys are to build a "series" of displacement maps that progressively move the displacement to achieve the results with "series" being the key phrase. It does not have to be a ton of them but the more you build and the smaller the increment between the changes in the map coupled with adjusting the speed of the frames, you could do some pretty classy stuff. At least this is one way to defeat the discussion we have had about the Mold Tool and work around some limitation of how much you can apply it to an object. As Gary said before there is a way if you want to apply a little effort.

BTW Gary: I am going to see if I can create a displacment map with ArtRage, I know you have that tool as well. Just a thought........

[Gare]

Silly me, David. Yes, I just remembered you have Art Rage. By all means use it; use greyscale values, though. The displacement plug-in disregards any hues.

And check out my examples in post #82.

My Best,

Gary

[dcahall]

Yes, I downloaded them. I just had to try my silly little experiment. Your tutorial had me thinking about this from the first time I saw it. I just do not seem to get the hang of developing one like the one you produced for the tutorial.

[Gare]

Don't try so hard, and it might come to you.

I'm serious, David.

"Re-focusing" especially when one becomes a little too driven for a solution, can do a world of good.

-g