XenoDream and Project Dogwaffle - - loading an image sequence as an animation

of Xeno-waffles and Dog-Dreams: Using XenoDream with Project Dogwaffle

Here's a few tutorials on how to play and have fun in Project Dogwaffle using output created in XenoDream.

Getting Started

Loading an image from file into the Custom brush

Loading Multiple images into separate brushes

Loading an animation from an image sequence

transfering an animation from AVI file into a custom brush

To Probe Further:

XenoDream.com

Loading and working with Image Sequences

Ok, so you've rendered an animation in XenoDream, perhaps as a Jpeg image sequence, or better yet a Targa.

resampled down to 256x256 and saved as AVI, then converted to Flash video in another program:

original

reversed

The original images are 512x512 pixels in size. The above animations show after resampling to 256x256, and after reversing the frame sequence.

Now we 're going to load the sequence of image files directly into PD Pro as an animation, and do a little bit of editing: Resample to smaller size and reverse the frame sequence.

Loading an Animation from Image File Sequence

When you have a sequence of images that were rendered for example in XenoDream 2, you can load such image sequence into Project Dogwaffle:

Animation > Load sequence...

The popup window lets you navigate to the folder which contains the files.

You should select the 'Pattern' that describes the image format (e.g. *.tga for Targa files)

In the right half, you'll see a list of files of the seelcted type.

Click the first file in your sequence... and start dragging down to add to the selection.

or you could just shift-click the last file of the desired range.

If you want the whole image sequence from the folder, scroll down to the bottom as you drag the mouse to make the selection

Then click
'Load selected'

Note that the default format is Targa. Other image formats are available.

PD Pro will load the file sequence. Targa format loads fastest. It's a good format for animation.

The Animation toolbar now shows the image sequence if you set the Filmstrip mode option.

The FPS (Frames Per Second) button opens a Frame rate panel.

Select a preset speed or enter your own.

This is a realtime preview feature of PD Pro where you can see what it looks like when played back at different speed.

Simple press the Play button to start the animation playback

Try a higher speed too.

The Filmstrip of the Animation toolbar offers a number of frame editing and manipulation tools when right-clicking. The same menu is also available from the menu: Animation>Frames...

Resample (Resizing) the frame sequence to a different dimension

Often times you have an image sequence that's at higher resolution than what you want to show on a website. You can easily resample the whole image sequence, i.e. the animation.

Use the Image menu:

Image > Resample...

For example, if the size is 512x512 and you want it half that, i.e. 256x256, just click the "/2" button to divide the sides by two.

Then click OK

It will take a few seconds to allocate all the memory needed for this.

Eventually you'll see the progress bar which does the resizing and sampling to the new dimension.

It is highly recommended to save the new animation. Don't use the AVI format quite yet. First, save as native Dogwaffle animation (.dwa file).

This is a fast memory dump, with very little overhead. It will be done in a snap!

There is no compression, no codec to specify. Just the filename and location:

Later, if you want to load this animation again, it is quickly selected and very fast to load.

Note that you can find a free DWA player to also view such raw animations in dwa format.

Look here for DWAviewer

After saving in native DWA format you can also save to AVI format.

This is your last chance to select the desired playback speed, which will be recorded in the header of the AVI file.

Most players can't change the playback speed and will try to use just the indicated speed. A few players can dynamically change the playback speed, such as Irfanview.

When saving to AVI you need to select a compression codec. Please keep in mind that many codecs come with restrictions. For example, the width or height of the animation may have to be multiples of 4, or even 8. There may be other limitations. So don't assume that you can always save to AVI format in just any format. You may need to resample the animation, especially if you cropped it manually to a portion of the original, larger image size. CHances are that it's an odd number in width or height, which is likely to be causing problems with some codecs.

After the save is complted, be sure to click 'Show' to show the saved file. Your default movie player will be used, such as Windows Movie Player, or Irfanview

After verifying that the AVI file plays and looks right you can switch to other applications, for example to convert or embed the avi file into a Flash videoo

resampled down to 256x256 and saved as AVI, then converted to Flash video in another program:

original

reversed