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 Project Dogwaffle - PD Pro 3.2 Post
Work Tutorial #3
Advanced Timeline -
Using Keyframes
(best
viewed with 1024x768 or higher screen resolution - yup,it's the 21st
century alrighty :-)
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In this
segment of the tutorials, you're going to see how easy it is to use the
keyframes in the Timeline editor.
By using Keyframes, you can change the parameter(s) of a filter
over
time. For example you can make the Gaussian blur effect go from fully
present to totally gone. Or you can fade the brightness from 100% down
to pitch black.
Not all filters have user controllable parameters, but when a filter
does offer a parameter which can be set through a slider, then you can
make that parameter change from one end of the timeline to the other by
freezing their values at distinct points along the timeline, using what
are called keyframes.
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Setting Keyframes
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Here you see the part of the Timeline editor which displays every frame
along the timeline as a tickmark. The animation flows from left
to right, and you can scrub through it with the yellow vertical marker
which indicates the current position.
In this example, the filter which is selected is the Snowfall filter.
We could for example wnat to use keyframes to change the size of the
flakes over time, or the speed, perhaps to make a transition from snow
to heavy wet snow and eventually to rain drops.
Slide the marker all the way to the left to be on the first frame
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.When
you have parameters set for the desired effect (as seen in the preview
to the upper-left of the Timeline editor window), set a new keyframe by
clicking the "Set key" icon.
This will record all parameter's values for that location along the
timeline.
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You can
now choose a different position along the timeline. Just grab the
yellow vertical scrub bar and place it more to the right. Then set
another keyframe.
If no values of the parametersliders were changed you should see a
steady set of horizontal curves. (light purple)
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Along
the top of the timeline you also will see a red marker indicating the
position in the timeline where that latest keyfram,e was set.
Now move the position a bit more to the right, and change one of the
sliders. For example, change the "Wind speed" value from -10 to 30 or
thereabouts.
Then set the new keyframe.
You now see one of the curves change to the new (higher) value.
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Repeat
this for yet another keyframe, this one with a more negative value on
the Wind speed slider. The curve will go down again for that keyframe.
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You can
repeat this a few times.
This makes sense for example if you want to show some sort of
whipplash, whereas the wind is shifting quickly right to left and back
again. Perhaps this is used during snowfall effects for showing the
shockwave of an explosion, or a bullet train passing by.
Or, in an underwater scene like this one, it might just help show a bit
of turbulence due to the swimming action, leg movement, etc...
essentially an underwater 'wake'.
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Here's
the result of several more keyframes. Notice that we have gradually
diminished the intensity of the whipplash. The first peak is higher
than the next, which is followed by an even lower one. Eventually the
disturbence settles and fades away.
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You can
also Delete an existing keyframe, in order to place it at another
location in time.
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The
Turbulence parameter can also be useful in this instance to cause the
'bubbles' to wiggle crazily during the peak of the disturbence.
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When
you're done setting the few keyframes, Dogwaffle is ready to render the
sequence of effects over the whole timeline by interpolation of the
values found in the keyframes. Note that it will perform a Spline
interpolation by default but you can change it also to a simple linear
transition.
<<<
Rendering in Progress, Click to enlarge
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Other Effects, Masks and
Filters
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If you
still have that blobby alpha mask ready to go, Replace it to
activate it and ensure that the timeline's filter will only affect
certain areas of the image. For example, allow it to affect the left
side more, so as to appear where the animal is swimming and causing
most of the disturbance.
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Another
filter that can be useful is the Ghost filter, next to the Snowfall
filter. Ghosting creates something similar to motion blur by
accumulating a fading sequence of the prior frames.
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When
you're underwater, one thing that can also help are wave distortions to
convey the watery look. Keep the Displacement and frequency low and it
will softly and gently bob and wave portions of the image. This filter
is in the Transform collection.
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The Transform filter can add
interesting camera movement to increase the drama of the action. For
example to jolt the camera during an explosion when the shockwave
reaches the 'viewer'
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This
constitutes perhaps just tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of
filters and special fx in PD Pro, and more being added regularly.
There are some particularly interesting brush features too, based on
fractal particles and animated brushes. You can also use an image in
the Swap buffer to displace or otherwise combine the images in the main
buffer frame sequence. In a newer version of PD Pro you can even use
such images as forcefields which affect and control the spread of
particle brush emmissions.
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See new
plugins here:
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This concludes this portion of the tutorials. You are now free to roam
around and experiment in Timeline-space.
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