Varying Effects over Time in Studio Artist
[Page 3 of 3]

I want my second set of strokes to phase in after about two seconds, or 20 frames. This means I'll set my next keyframe at frame 44, using the method explained above. To fade this out, we'll also just use the method described above.

Additional effects
I mentioned earlier that I'm using two additional effects in my example for this tutorial–Image Compressor and Geodesic Watershed. These are my two favorite Image Operations in Studio Artist. They're called Image Operations because, unlike Paint Patches, they do not use individual strokes. Rather they process an image much like a Photoshop filter does.

Image Compressor is to an image what a compressor/limiter is to audio. That is, it restricts your image's colors to a certain range based on the color on your Canvas. The effect is similar to saturating an image. In fact, the Image Compressor I used for this footage was set only to affect saturation. The image was a bit muddy without it, so I thought it would help.

Before (top) and after using the Image Compressor.

Geodesic Watershed is another Image Operation, but this one makes your image look kind of soggy. You can see the before and after images below.

Before (top) and after using the Geodesic Watershed effect.

Processing your movie with PASeq
One final note: I mentioned earlier that Studio Artist animations look their best at about 10 frames per second. But what if the footage you're processing has a higher frame rate than 10, which it almost certainly does? Studio Artist gives you the option of processing movies at their native frame rate or at Studio Artist's frame rate. To make sure you're processing at the frame rate you want, open up the Process File Settings dialog (located under the Movie menu), and select "Timeline Animation FPS."

That's it. Save you PASeq for future use by selecting Action > Export Paint Action Sequence. To test out your animation (or do the final processing), select Movie > Process Movie File with PASeq > To Movie. Remember, this will not overwrite your original footage. It will create a completely new uncompressed QuickTime file. After you name your new file, you'll see each frame of this great technique rendered right before your eyes.

Go to Page [ 1, 2, 3, Complete, Home ]

Post a message in the Creative Mac World Wide User Group.