Winmorph - User Guide
Winmorph - User Guide
WinMorph 3.01 User Guide Copyright 2002 Satish Kumar. All rights reserved. The information in this document is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by the author. The author assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document. The software described in this document is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. Adobe and Adobe Premiere are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated that may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Vegas Video is a trademark of Sonic Foundry Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other products or name brands are trademarks of their respective holders and are acknowledged.
Table of Contents
Introduction About WinMorph Installation Whats new in version 3.01 Using this guide Basics Background on warping and morphing How WinMorph works Tools available in WinMorph
5 5 5 6 7 8 8 8 9 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 21 22
Usage scenarios 3.1 WinMorph in standalone mode 3.1.1 Image warping 3.1.2 Image morphing 3.2 WinMorph Plug-in for Adobe Premiere 3.2.1 Image warping 3.2.2 Video warping 3.2.3 Image morphing 3.2.4 Video morphing 3.3 WinMorph Plug-in for Vegas Video 3.3.1 Image warping 3.3.2 Video warping 3.3.3 Image morphing 3.3.4 Video morphing 3.4 WinMorph Plug-in For Wax 3.4.1 Image warping 3.4.2 Video warping 3.4.3 Image morphing 3.4.4 Video morphing
User interface and advanced options 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 General Working with shapes Working with Sets Elements window Editing a shape Properties window Advanced properties window Preferences dialog Options dialog
4.10 Modes of Display 4.13.1 Wire frame mode 4.13.2 Preview mode 4.11 Main toolbar 4.12 Tools toolbar 4.13 Navigation toolbar 4.14 MiniNav toolbar 4.15 Window Palette toolbar 4.16 Shortcut keys 5 Tips and tweaks 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 General UI tips For Adobe Premiere and Vegas Video For Wax URLs of interest
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INTRODUCTION
1 I n t r o d u c t i o n
1.2 Installation
The installation package comes as a zip file with the install files. Unzip this file into any temporary folder and run "Setup.exe" to start installation. WinMorph setup comes with the plug-in files for all supported host video editors, and you can choose what plug-ins you want to install. For each plug-in, you will be asked to choose the folder where the particular host video editor is installed, and the plug-ins will be placed in the host specific plug-ins folder. If you want to use WinMorph as a standalone application for image warping/morphing, you need not install any plug-in files.
support for lots of popular image and video file formats, youve got no limitations. You can even save your effects as Flash videos for web design! Work flow In WinMorph 2.01, you choose the images while creating the project. You draw lines on one image and a corresponding line appears in the other image, which has to be adjusted accordingly there. Once you have drawn all shapes, you render to create the morph. In WinMorph 3.01, flow is different in standalone mode and plug-in mode. In standalone mode, creating a project is similar to earlier versions. Then you draw the shapes using better tools like freehand, ellipse, rectangle etc. After you have drawn the shapes, you have to specify which shape transforms to which other shape by linking the two. In v2.01 this linking of two shapes was predefined when you drew one shape in one image, the other shape will be automatically created and you have to adjust that. In v3.01 now you draw your shapes independently and later link them as you want. In plug-in mode, you first create a project in your video editor and add the two images/videos to the project. You then apply the WinMorph transition between the two images/videos (for morphing), or apply the WinMorph effect over the image/video (for warping). To adjust the morph/warp, you open the WinMorph plugin options window - that establishes a link between WinMorph core and your video editor. Now you can work on your effect in WinMorph, and save it back after returning to your host video editor.
BASICS
2 Basics
When working with videos, there is an extra effort involved. If a shape is drawn around an object and if the object is moving in the video, the shape must be modified in many frames in the video to match the object as it is moving. For example if you are working on the video of a person moving his head and you draw a shape around his eye in frame 1, his eye would have moved to a different position in subsequent frames so the shape has to be modified to closely outline the eye in those frames. This process is called keyframing and the frames in which you modify the shape are called Key frames. If you have 1 key frame in frame 1 and other key frame in a frame 20, WinMorph will interpolate the shape for all the frames between frame 1 and 20.
Transform - This tool can move/resize/rotate one or many shapes. Just select all the shapes you want to edit, and use the controlling frame around the shape to move/resize/rotate the shapes. Shift key resizes the shapes equally in horizontal and vertical directions. Ctrl key creates a copy of all selected shapes. Alt key each shape is resized with respect to its own center. If Alt key is not pressed and multiple shapes are selected, all shapes are resized with respect to their common center point. Ctrl + Shift key all key frames of selected shapes will be modified (by default only the current frame is modified, not all key frames). You can rotate the selected shapes by clicking on the (o) icon shown for each shape. This icon is present at the end of a line called the rotate handle. You click on the rotate handle and move the mouse to rotate the shapes. Pressing the Shift key while rotating will cause the shapes to be rotated of their centers instead of the common pivot point. When you are working with videos for warp/morph, the shapes you draw may have to be modified in many frames to fit to objects as they move. You can use the Edit and Transform tools to do these adjustments in any frame, and that frame will become a new Key frame for the shape. At any time, you can view the key frames of all shapes in the "Key frames" pane of the "Advanced Properties" window. This tool is called Associate and is used to link two shapes together. To do warping/morphing, you first draw one shape around the object, and then draw another shape showing how you want it to be warped, and then use this tool to associate the first shape to the second shape. (Remember you must always associate the first shape to second, not the second to first. The direction of association is very important). This association/link between two shapes is called a "Set". To associate one shape to another, choose this tool and WinMorph will display all available shapes. If you are doing a morph, you will be having two windows showing the source and target of the morph. Both windows will show their shapes in normal colour and shapes of the other window in dimmed-dotted-line style. Click on the first shape, drag the mouse till the second shape, and release it to associate the two shapes. Now WinMorph will display the association as a set of lines between the two shapes. You can modify the position of these lines in whichever way you want to get a good result. Miscellaneous tools Pan tool, used to move (pan) around the current window. Click at one point and drag the mouse to move the view in the current window. You can also pan the window when you are in any of Edit/Transform/Zoom/Pan tools by clicking both left and right mouse buttons, and dragging the mouse.
Zoom tool, used to zoom in/out of the current window. Click at a point with left mouse button to zoom in by a factor of 2, click with right mouse button to zoom out by a factor of 2. Click and drag to draw a rectangle and zoom that rectangular portion to full window. You can also zoom in/out when using any tool by using the mouse wheel (one rotation of the mouse wheel up will zoom in, rotating down will zoom out).
USAGE SCENARIOS
3 Usage scenario s
ii.
iii. iv. v.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image warping is available in docs\imagewarp.htm. Also, the sample project imagewarp.mrf can be used to learn how it works.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image morphing is available docs\imagemorph.htm. Also, the sample project imagemorph.mrf can be used to learn how it works.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image warping is available docs\imagewarp.htm. Also, the sample project imagewarp.ppj can be used to learn how it works.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video warping is available docs\videowarp.htm. Also, the sample project videowarp.ppj can be used to learn how it works.
v.
and associate them properly, and close the WinMorph window to return to Premiere's settings dialog. Remember to choose OK in the settings dialog, if you choose "Cancel" your changes will be discarded. Render or Preview the project to see your results.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image morphing is available docs\imagemorph.htm. Also, the sample project imagemorph.ppj can be used to learn how it works.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video morphing is available docs\videomorph.htm. Also, the sample project videomorph.ppj can be used to learn how it works.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image warp is available docs\imagewarp.htm. Also, the sample project imagewarp.veg can be used to learn how it works.
iii.
Steps for video warping are exactly same as above for image warping, except that you will be working with video input files instead of image files in Vegas Video.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video warping is available docs\videowarp.htm. Also, the sample project videowarp.veg can be used to learn how it works.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image morphing is available docs\imagemorph.htm. Also, the sample project imagemorph.veg can be used to learn how it works.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video morphing is available docs\videomorph.htm. Also, the sample project videomorph.veg can be used to learn how it works.
v.
your shapes, and associate them properly. You can either close the window and return to Wax, or keep it open and switch to the Wax window. Choose Project > Render or Preview the project in the workspace window to see your results.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image warping is available docs\imagewarp.htm. Also, the sample project imagewarp.wxp can be used to learn how it works.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video warping is available docs\videowarp.htm. Also, the sample project videowarp.wxp can be used to learn how it works.
iv. v.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image morphing is available docs\imagemorph.htm. Also, the sample project imagemorph.wxp can be used to learn how it works.
A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video morphing is available docs\videomorph.htm. Also, the sample project videomorph.wxp can be used to see how it works.
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4 U s e r i n t e r f a c e a n d a d v a n c e d o p t i o n s
Key frames of a shape can be viewed in the Advanced Properties window. You can also drag/drop keys between frames for easier editing. Cut, Copy and Paste features are available for Shapes and Sets. To copy a group of shapes, select them using the Edit or Transform tool and choose Copy. You can copy/paste shapes between multiple windows inside WinMorph, as well as multiple instances of WinMorph.
Selecting a Shape or Set here shows its properties and also selects it in the main window for editing.
Properties of a Shape
Properties of a Set
Name - Name of the shape. Rename the shape by pressing F2. Linked to - The other shape associated to this shape. Strength - Warping strength of this shape/set. This is the power with which it pulls pixels towards its path during the warp/morph process. If the strength value is small, only pixels very close to the shape/set will be influenced and vice versa. For a localized effect, set this value small.
Divisions - Granularity of the Shape/Set with which it is approximated. If this value is high, the approximation and the output will be good. Closed - Form a closed shape or keep it open. Convert - Convert between PolyLine and Curve. From - Source shape of the selected Set To - Target shape of the selected Set
Key frames A Key frame is a frame in which the user has modified the position/points of a particular shape. The shape's points are interpolated between key frames, to give a smooth transition from one key frame to another. This tab shows the key frames for all the shapes. Each line represents one shape. Key frames are shown with the 'diamond' icon. The brackets for each shape show the range of frames in which this shape is enabled. For example if you are working on the video of a man turning his head, features like his eyes and ears on one side will appear only as he is turning his head. So the shapes for this eye and ear should be enabled only for those frames where they are visible.
Shape Interpolation Each set has a shape interpolation curve. This curve specifies how the source shape must be transformed to the destination shape. This tab shows the shape interpolation curve for all the selected sets. The default curve is a straight line, so the source shape is linearly interpolated and transformed to the destination shape. To add points to a distortion curve, select the curve and click the add icon in the toolbar. Once a point is added you can drag that point to any position and adjust the curve using that.
This dialog shows the user preferences, including line style for shapes/sets and colours of each drawing element in the shape/set displays.
Save as - Output filename. To choose from a list of files, choose Browse Browse - Brings up the file save dialog box, where you can choose from a list of supported output file formats. You can choose to save the output morph as a video or a sequence of images Frame rate - Output video frame rate Number of frames - Number of frames in the output video Compression - Output video compression options Precision - Accuracy of morphing. High precision morphing takes more time to compute Antialias - Produces a very smooth finished output during the warp/morph, but takes a little more time than the un-anti-aliased output Smart Overlay - Allows you to morph between two shots of same scene at different position/angle and create a panning shot. When this option is on, the frames are intelligently blended for panning shots.
unwanted twists and turns in a few places, you can take a look at the frame in wire frame mode and find out where you are going wrong.
Navigation toolbar allows you to move focus to a different frame in the input image/video element. Use the navigation buttons to change the current frame.
This is a reduced version of the navigation toolbar for navigating among frames.
5.1 General
1. Shapes and Sets have a few common properties, like strength and divisions. If a shape is associated to another shape (i.e. if it is part of a set), the properties of the set override the shapes properties. So if a shape as part of a set, modify the sets properties and not the shapes properties. 2. The strength property is very useful in fine tuning your effect. By varying the strength, you can control how this shape/set will influence the pixels in the image. A small strength value will make the shape/set affect only close by pixels, and a larger value will affect far off pixels too. Once you finish drawing the shapes and sets, switch to preview mode and view your output frame by frame to find glitches. You can then select shapes/sets and adjust their strength values to fine tune the effect. 3. When associating a shape to another shape (i.e. creating a set), make sure you start from the correct shape and end in the correct shape. This order is very important. The set is used to transform the first shape to the second shape in the actual effect, and if this order is reversed your effect will not be correct. In case you have created a set in the wrong order, just select the set and click Swap in the Properties window to change the association order. 4. A shape that is not part of a set will create a default set on its own, itself being both the source and target shape. This means this shape will try to influence pixels around it even though it is not part of a set. So if you are not getting the effect you want, check whether all shapes have been associated properly. 5. When starting with a new project, draw a rectangle shape around one of the images/videos. As you draw other shapes and sets, they will be pulling pixels in their directions and this protective rectangle will keep the edges together. This will make your effect look clean. But remember to keep the strength value of this rectangle shape to a very small value so that it affects only pixels close to the edge. 6. If you want to draw very fine shapes and are not successful with it, zoom into the frame and draw. The precision of the shape drawing is high when you zoom in and draw.
7. The Precision option in the Warp > Options dialog controls how good your effect will be. If you set this to Medium or lower, the warp/morph will be very fast but the output sometimes will not be very accurate. High precision gives very good output but takes more time, and Accurate is the highest precision and takes a long time to render. In general, the default precision Medium gives good results at a decent rendering speed. 8. Once you finish creating your shapes and sets, switch to Wire Frame mode and view how the effect happens. Move frame by frame and see how the shapes change from one position to another. You can also animate the morph/effect using the Navigation toolbar. You can catch common errors in the wire frame mode and correct them before starting to render. 9. You can do a morph using the morph transition, or by using two warp effects. This works because a morph is actually done by warping both the images in opposite directions and fading one into the other. If you want to customize your morph with other effects, you can try doing it by separating it into two warps. Draw the shapes in both images/videos separately, and then copy the shapes of one to the other and associate them properly to create the warps. 10. Regularly save your project when working, and also take backups of it frequently. Since WinMorph is actively developed and many features are being added, there may be a few problems which were unknown at the time of the release. In case the program crashes, it will be helpful if you had a backup. And report the problem at the WinMorph User Forum to benefit other users.
5.2 UI tips
1. You can customize the toolbars in WinMorph by right-clicking on them and choosing customize, or double-clicking on them. 2. Pressing Tab key will show/hide the right-side panel (i.e. the Elements, Properties and Advanced Properties windows). 3. You can use the mouse wheel to zoom in/out. 4. When you are in Edit Shape or Transform shape tools, you can pan the window without switching to the Pan tool by pressing the left and right mouse buttons simultaneously and dragging the mouse. 5. To quickly create another copy of a shape press Ctrl, click on the shape and drag. If you have many shapes selected, press Ctrl and click on one of them and drag to create copies of all the selected shapes. You can copy the shape from one image window to another by the same procedure.