#Autodesk&XAOS
16 messages in this thread
I've read in several different places, inluding here that Autodesk and
Xaos have signed some kind of deal.
I was just curious in what kind of effects are going to available, and
how they will be accessed from within 3DS. Will it be an IXP in videopost or
some other type of IPAS? Also will the effects be similar in what you can do
in Xaos's Pandemonium?
thanx,
Fred Nilsson
The name of the product XAOS is developig is called Rapture. It will be an IXP
called from video post, and will provide an incredibly flexible, sophisticated
array of image processing tools like the image processing part of Pandemonium.
Other effects from Pandemonium will be ported later.
Basically, you can create a "brush" (pixel mover kind of thingy) in any
package, including flic brushes, and apply them to images by stuff like hue,
brightness, radial and other geometric patterns, over periods of time
(animated), for transitions from one image (series of images) to another. It
has a preview window that will preveiw a single image in whatever color depth
your graphics card/driver is capable of, and lots more.
No, I don't work for XAOS, but I saw the product demo at NAB <g>.
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
John
Could you tell me more about the application of rapture? How could I use this
in a presentation? Since I fit nicely at the lower end of the animation curve
I feel pretty dumb for asking these kind of questions. thanks, Gary
Rapture will be a high-end image processing IPAS. It will allow the user to
create very original image processes, using one's own brushes created in a
paint or animation package, and using a wide range of parameters for applying
the process to the image and transition image.
Some uses, off the top of my head, would be interesting, brush-driven
transitions (instead of a wipe or cross-fade), softening, adding artsy,
animated brush strokes to all or part of an animation, etc. It is a tool for
utilizing graphics power in animations, similar to the Photoshop plug-ins that
are available (except Photoshop/styler plug-ins are not animateable, and it's
harder to design one's own brush effects).
John Tissavary
John,
I just got "Premiere" from Adobe and it supports all of the Photoshop plug-ins
on an "over time" basis. It appears that doing any thing with large images will
take a very _long_ time.
This program is kind of neat.. I'm trying to use it for basic story board work
for my video work. I can capture the various video segments and incorporate the
various animations into an .avi format for proof of concept. I render the
animation at small frame sizes and then they load directly into Premiere.
This saves a lot of time on the edit side of my studio since I can figure out
where all of the transitions and cuts should occur, as well as how the
animation segment segue into the video footage.
You might want to check it out if you have a need for Photoshop specific filter
over time. From what I read, the windoze version is not up to the Mac version
in capabilities but I expect that will change quickly.
Thomas,
>> "Premiere" from Adobe and it supports all of the Photoshop plug-ins on an
"over time" basis.
Will it accept AND write out sequencial TGA's or will it just output
AVI and the like? If I can apply the standard Pshop filters that ship with it
over a series of frames automatically, then it just might save my butt on a
project I'm working on now.
Thanks,
David
David,
The answer is unfortunately _no_ at this time. It won't do this directly but
I'm working on a way to get there. You can create an avi from targa files, just
don't expect to play it…<g> I also think the processing times are
significant.. no real data just fiddling with the program.
I'll let you know if I get the Targa in/out working without to much hassle.
Tom
Tom,
Figures. I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up. Let me know if you come up
with a workable solution. Thanks.
David
David,
Just talked to Adobe support, and I'm getting the new 1.1 upgrade to the 1.0
version that is in the stores (Free upgrade). The new version supports the
importing of numbered targa files!! Think this will do what you need but not
sure if it will do the same targ000x.tga format as an output but there are
other ways to get there. You can output avi files as 24bpp .bmp files and then
video post them.
Tom
Tom,
Looks like I might give adobe tech a call sometime soon (or take a
visit to their forum). The stumbling block now would be field rendering. We'll
see.
Thanx,
David
In addition, I don't believe it is 60 fields/sec capable; only 30 frames/sec.
Premier sounds very interesting, and would probably be neat for doing off-line
EDL's so I can save money in the edit suite. I don't think it'll output what I
need (does it do .tga's ?), though. And I have always like XAOS' image
processing above all others'.
The big difference is with Photoshop type plug ins you're limited to what they
give you, and it's pretty hard for me to use the custom filter interface. I
like the XAOS Rapture method a WHOLE lot more. Plus, I doubt Premier will
apply flics as brushes/filters.
John Tissavary (LUNA cie)
John,
Your comments are valid about the plugin flexibility…
I just got the program so I haven't got all of the ways to manipulate images
figured out yet. It does support alpha and luma keying in various ways. It also
doesn't support the .tga format directly but you can get their via TIFF and
some file gymnastics. From the windows AVI format you can export a sequence of
24 bit .dib (same as .bmp). you could then use video post to render eqivalent
.tga files.
The program has some potential for some of the esoteric background image stuff,
like swirls waves etc, don't know what the quality is since I haven't done much
yet as I said. I'm still trying to figure out a way to get .tga files into the
program in a sequence. I have read that the newest upgrade that was just
anounced will support this kind of thing. (free to registered users.)
I'll let you know if it has any negative effects on images and how well it
works….
Tom
>> The big difference is with Photoshop type plug ins you're limited to
>> what they give you…
The Mac version of the Xaos stuff is exactly that. They are Photoshop type
plug ins. In fact, that's about what they are in all platforms in one way or
another.
Adobe styles plug ins are pretty flexible. You can do just about anything
(just take a look at Kay Power Tools for instance). They work ok on the Mac
too. What you think is bad is the user interface (and general slimy
programming) of most of this stuff. The problem with the Windows version
(like I need to tell you) is that, to begin with, it's Windows and its all
might crappy memory management. Second, the majority of the folks doing this
stuff are real good Mac dudes who knows shlitz about PC's, most of them using
some sort of "cross-platform" conversion software. They are just adding
molasses to a bowl full of tar. It's like moving a pixel from San Francisco
to Sausalito but stopping in New York, New Delhi, Sidney, Pluto…
The cross-platform part probably only applies to the GUI, right? If memory
management is the problem, I'd blame Microsoft's malloc(). Have you ever seen
the literature from a company that makes a product called SmartHeap? It makes
you want to call Bill G and scream. You can pay $150 for the compiler, then
$500 to fix it with tools from a third party. 🙂
I am in full aggreement about the
Machead-to-Windoze-around-the-world-in-eighty-days syndrome. And also about
Windoze's miserable memory handling. Although I am coming to rely on, and get
used to the windows environment, that is one point (among a few others) that
constantly irritates me.
The interesting thing to me about XAOS' ipas is that I will be able to create
my own "brushes", even animated flic brushes, and will not be limited to what's
been programmed. I've never used Paint Alchemy, but I seem to remember
Pandemonium works the same way.
John Tissavary (LUNA cie)