Re: [Gimp-user] GAP Onionskin Question
On Fri, Oct 24, 2008 at 12:14 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have some comments on Bhaaluu's onion-skinning tutorial which is included at the end of this message. WOW! Your comments and suggestions are invaluable! This post is a keeper. One other little thing that I did that I found very helpful. Usually a pencil-test that is made into a video doesn't translate very well into an MPEG video because the pencil lines are too light/thin, or something. What I did to make the lines darker was this on each PPM that I saved: Filters Artistic Cartoon... [X] Preview Mask Radius: 23.27 Percent black: 0.500 Now, I really don't know what those things do, so I just played with the sliders until I got what I wanted. What I wanted just turned out to be the above settings. I can't wait to try the new tutorial out! Gimp-GAP tutorials are hard to find, even with Google, so this is a jewel. Thank you ever so much, saulgoode. -- b h a a l u u at g m a i l dot c o m Kid on Bus: What are you gonna do today, Napoleon? Napoleon Dynamite: Whatever I feel like I wanna do. Gosh! Step 9 instructs the user to perform a File-Open the second frame (f_02.xcf). When using GAP, you should not use File-Open to navigate frames; use one of the commands: Video-Go To (which is useful to assign keyboard shortcuts), Video-Playback (which provides some nice scrubbing functionality), or Video-VCR Navigator (which provides easy cut-n-pasting of frames). Not only will the operation take much less time, but some operations depend upon GAP managing the displays. Step 9 should instruct Video-Go To-Next Frame. In Step 8, the Stack Position line should have a 0 in it; specifying that the onionskin layer should be placed at the top of the layerstack. Stack Position: 0 [From Top] In Step 10, the onion-skin layer should appear above the background layer in the layerstack and it should be unnecessary to lower it (if the instructions in the preceding comment are followed). In Steps 11 to 14, it would probably be better to use the Move Tool to align the layers, rather than the Selection Tool. The method that Bhaaluu proposed will only work with older versions (2.2 and earlier) of GIMP, whereas using the Move Tool works with all versions. The Move Tool permits the keyboard cursor keys to be used for moving in single-pixel increments (or SHIFT-cursor for larger steps). This also eliminates the need to make a selection and the need to anchor the layer. Instead of performing Steps 15 and 16, just move on to the next frame. Because the onionskin setup includes the Auto delete before saving, the XCF file which gets saved (before you go to a different frame) will not have the onionskin layer. After you are done with all of your editing, delete the onionskin configuration, and use the Video-Frames Convert... command to save your results as PNM files. In Step 17, again File-Open should not be used. To navigate to the second frame, use one of the methods suggested in my first comment. Finally, the instructions of Step 19 suggest that using onionskin layers is not the best approach for this task. Onionskinning is useful if you want to align frame 2 with frame 1, frame 3 with frame 2, frame 4 with frame 3, and so on. It is not a particularly good method to align frame 2 with frame 1, frame 3 with frame 1, frame 4 with frame 1, etc. I would propose the following approach to accomplish the latter task (the first seven steps are identical to Bhaaluu's tutorial): 1. Create new directory and save all PNM files to the new directory. 2. Change to the new directory, and create a directory: PNM 3. Copy all the PNM files to the PNM directory. This is a backup. 4. Open The Gimp. 5. File Open f_01.pnm 6. Video Frames Convert... Extension: .xcf GAP saves all the PNM files as XCF files, in sequential order. 7. Close f_01.pnm. 8. In f_01.xcf window, perform an Image-Duplicate. A new Untitled image should be displayed. 9. In f_01.xcf window, perform a Video-Move Path. Change the Stepmode to None and change the Opacity to 50% (the From and To frames should be the first and last frames). Press OK. -- this will create a copy of the first frame as the top layer of each of the frames. 10. Perform a Video-Go To-Next frame. (You should assign this command to a keyboard shortcut. I have assigned my F5, F6, F7, and F8 keys to First, Previous, Next, and Last frame commands respectively.) 11. Activate the bottom layer (Layer-Stack-Select Bottom Layer). This is conveniently accomplished with the END key. 12. Activate the Move Tool (keyboard shortcut M). Hold down the SHIFT key and use the mouse to align your registration points (or use the cursor keys) Repeat Steps 10 through 12. This amounts to the following keystrokes: F7, END, cursor keys and should be rather quick to accomplish. If it is necessary to use the Rotate Tool, you will have to anchor the floating
Re: [Gimp-user] GAP Onionskin Question
Greetings! Thank you so very much for all the wonderful, fantastic help you provided! My Summary of how I implemented your information is included in this post, below your very helpful post. Perhaps it will serve to help someone else who needs to do something similar? I hope so. On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 8:39 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I would recommend first reading the reference documentation that is included with the source code. Online at: http://svn.gnome.org/viewvc/gimp-gap/trunk/docs/reference/txt/plug-in-gap-onionskin-configuration.txt?revision=470view=markup Next, your scanned files should be named sequentially in the form frame_0001.pnm, frame_0002.pnm, frame_0003.pnm, etc. The frame part can be different, and the extension should match the filetype. The numbering should be consecutive with no gaps. Once your scanned files are named properly, you should open up the first one in GIMP, then perform a Video-Frames convert; specifying an extension of .xcf (you can change the basename and/or the directory path should you wish). You should then close your PNM image window and work with the copy. Yes, you MUST use XCF format for onion-skinning to function properly. Using XCF is also necessary for other useful GAP functionality (masking, selections, etc). As I've mentioned above, I'd like to be able to do two things: 1. Place one drawing over another and see the bottom drawing through the top drawing so I can lasso stuff in the top drawing and 'register' it with the bottom drawing. Use the following Onionskin settings... Reference Mode: Normal Onionskin Layers: 1 Frame Reference: -1 Stack Position: 0 [From Top] Opacity: 50% 100% Select Mode: All visible Auto create after load Auto delete before save should both be checked. All other settings should use their defaults. 2. Place two 'key frame' drawings beneath the top drawing, and be able to do an 'in-between' drawing on the page on top, seeing both the bottom drawings through the top page. Alter the above settings as follows... Reference Mode: Bidirectional (double) Onionskin Layers: 2 This will result in the onion layers appearing ABOVE your frame layer (not underneath it as you specified). This is, in my opinion, preferable so that you don't have to adjust the opacity of your frame layer to see the previous and next frame layers. ___ Gimp-user mailing list Gimp-user@lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU https://lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user Recently, I asked a question about how to use the Onionskin feature of the Gimp Animation Package. The following is a Summary of what I did to align a series of drawings that had registration crosshairs with the crosshairs on the first drawing, so all the drawings would be registered with each other. The drawings were all scanned into the computer using a flatbed scanner. All the drawings were saved as PNM image files from the scanner. The directions I was given were good for onionskinning a drawing with the one right behind it in numerical order. I slightly modified those instructions to align all 62 drawings with the very first drawing. 1. Create new directory and save all PNM files to the new directory. 2. Change to the new directory, and create a directory: PNM 3. Copy all the PNM files to the PNM directory. This is a backup. 4. Open The Gimp. 5. File Open f_01.pnm 6. Video Frames Convert... Extension: .xcf GAP saves all the PNM files as XCF files, in sequential order. 7. Close f_01.pnm. 8. In f_01.xcf window: Video Onionskin Configuration... Reference Mode: Normal Onionskin Layers: 1 Frame Reference: -1 Stack Position: [X] From Top Opacity: 50.0 / 100.0 Select Mode: All Visible (ignore pattern) [X] Auto create after load [X] Auto delete before save Click [Okay] 9. File Open f_02.xcf 10. In the Layers window, make sure the onionskin_01 layer is above the Background layer otherwise, the onionskin effect can't be seen. I used the down arrow in the Layers window to move the Background down one. That will make the onionskin appear. 11. Lasso both drawings. 12. View Zoom to whatever magnification you need to align the cross- hairs. I used 200%. 13. With the mouse cursor inside the lassoed area, press the mouse button and drag until the crosshairs are aligned. 14. Click outside of the lassed area to anchor the drawing. 15. Right click the onionskin_01 layer in the Layers windows and Delete Layer. Clean up drawing with eraser, or whatever. 16. Save the file. 17. File Open f_02.xcf 18. Move the Background under the onionskin layer in the Layers window. 19. Video Onionskin Configuration... Frame Reference: -2 Click [Okay] What this does is makes the first drawing the reference drawing. On
Re: [Gimp-user] GAP Onionskin Question
I have some comments on Bhaaluu's onion-skinning tutorial which is included at the end of this message. Step 9 instructs the user to perform a File-Open the second frame (f_02.xcf). When using GAP, you should not use File-Open to navigate frames; use one of the commands: Video-Go To (which is useful to assign keyboard shortcuts), Video-Playback (which provides some nice scrubbing functionality), or Video-VCR Navigator (which provides easy cut-n-pasting of frames). Not only will the operation take much less time, but some operations depend upon GAP managing the displays. Step 9 should instruct Video-Go To-Next Frame. In Step 8, the Stack Position line should have a 0 in it; specifying that the onionskin layer should be placed at the top of the layerstack. Stack Position: 0 [From Top] In Step 10, the onion-skin layer should appear above the background layer in the layerstack and it should be unnecessary to lower it (if the instructions in the preceding comment are followed). In Steps 11 to 14, it would probably be better to use the Move Tool to align the layers, rather than the Selection Tool. The method that Bhaaluu proposed will only work with older versions (2.2 and earlier) of GIMP, whereas using the Move Tool works with all versions. The Move Tool permits the keyboard cursor keys to be used for moving in single-pixel increments (or SHIFT-cursor for larger steps). This also eliminates the need to make a selection and the need to anchor the layer. Instead of performing Steps 15 and 16, just move on to the next frame. Because the onionskin setup includes the Auto delete before saving, the XCF file which gets saved (before you go to a different frame) will not have the onionskin layer. After you are done with all of your editing, delete the onionskin configuration, and use the Video-Frames Convert... command to save your results as PNM files. In Step 17, again File-Open should not be used. To navigate to the second frame, use one of the methods suggested in my first comment. Finally, the instructions of Step 19 suggest that using onionskin layers is not the best approach for this task. Onionskinning is useful if you want to align frame 2 with frame 1, frame 3 with frame 2, frame 4 with frame 3, and so on. It is not a particularly good method to align frame 2 with frame 1, frame 3 with frame 1, frame 4 with frame 1, etc. I would propose the following approach to accomplish the latter task (the first seven steps are identical to Bhaaluu's tutorial): 1. Create new directory and save all PNM files to the new directory. 2. Change to the new directory, and create a directory: PNM 3. Copy all the PNM files to the PNM directory. This is a backup. 4. Open The Gimp. 5. File Open f_01.pnm 6. Video Frames Convert... Extension: .xcf GAP saves all the PNM files as XCF files, in sequential order. 7. Close f_01.pnm. 8. In f_01.xcf window, perform an Image-Duplicate. A new Untitled image should be displayed. 9. In f_01.xcf window, perform a Video-Move Path. Change the Stepmode to None and change the Opacity to 50% (the From and To frames should be the first and last frames). Press OK. -- this will create a copy of the first frame as the top layer of each of the frames. 10. Perform a Video-Go To-Next frame. (You should assign this command to a keyboard shortcut. I have assigned my F5, F6, F7, and F8 keys to First, Previous, Next, and Last frame commands respectively.) 11. Activate the bottom layer (Layer-Stack-Select Bottom Layer). This is conveniently accomplished with the END key. 12. Activate the Move Tool (keyboard shortcut M). Hold down the SHIFT key and use the mouse to align your registration points (or use the cursor keys) Repeat Steps 10 through 12. This amounts to the following keystrokes: F7, END, cursor keys and should be rather quick to accomplish. If it is necessary to use the Rotate Tool, you will have to anchor the floating layer. 13. Go to the first frame (Video-Go To-First Frame) 14. Perform a Video-Frames Layer Delete and delete layerstack: 0 from the first to the last frame (leaving only your background). 15. Perform a Video-Frames Convert... as in Step 6, only change the extension to .pnm. The GAP is rather intimidating at first; but it can be a powerful tool for accomplishing repetitive image editing tasks, not just animations. == == START OF QUOTED TUTORIAL == == On Thu, 23 Oct 2008, Bhaaluu wrote: Recently, I asked a question about how to use the Onionskin feature of the Gimp Animation Package. The following is a Summary of what I did to align a series of drawings that had registration crosshairs with the crosshairs on the first drawing, so all the drawings would be registered with each other. The drawings were all
Re: [Gimp-user] GAP Onionskin Question
bhaaluu ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote (in part) (on 2008-10-18 at 11:20): I am running a Debian GNU/Linux 'Etch' distribution with The Gimp 2.2. Can you upgrade to Gimp 2.6.1? - Following probably works with Gimp 2.2 but I don't have it anymore. Next, I need to know how to actually implement the Onionskin feature. I don't know anything about Onionskin (or much about GAP either) ... I currently have a 62-frame scene that I'd like to work with. Each frame came off the scanner as a PNM image file. I've already rotated and cropped all the images, using ImageMagick and the bash shell scripting language. Is there any way of batch coverting all the PNM files to XFC files without opening each one of them and saving it to an XCF file? ImageMagick's 'convert' tool doesn't recognize XCF image files. In Gimp 2.6.1 (in Windows - I assume its the same in Linux) just open an image of the same size as your PNM files. In your Explorer equivalent in Linux select all 62 images, drag them as a group to the toolbox with the Layers dialog shown and drop. Result should be 63 layers (lowest the background) and above that the 62 PNM images named to match. Delete the lowest one. From there you can (for example) save as a GIF file with 62 frames or (I presume) do anything else you want to do with GAP-onionskin. If you really want them saved as separate files ... this thread looks on-point (found with Google: [gimp save layers as files] http://groups.google.fr/group/comp.graphics.apps.gimp/browse_thread/thread/010e01bd0930438a/d796da451195ed1e?lnk=raot -- Regards ... Alec ([EMAIL PROTECTED] WinLiveMess - [EMAIL PROTECTED]) ___ Gimp-user mailing list Gimp-user@lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU https://lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user
Re: [Gimp-user] GAP Onionskin Question
I would recommend first reading the reference documentation that is included with the source code. Online at: http://svn.gnome.org/viewvc/gimp-gap/trunk/docs/reference/txt/plug-in-gap-onionskin-configuration.txt?revision=470view=markup Next, your scanned files should be named sequentially in the form frame_0001.pnm, frame_0002.pnm, frame_0003.pnm, etc. The frame part can be different, and the extension should match the filetype. The numbering should be consecutive with no gaps. Once your scanned files are named properly, you should open up the first one in GIMP, then perform a Video-Frames convert; specifying an extension of .xcf (you can change the basename and/or the directory path should you wish). You should then close your PNM image window and work with the copy. Yes, you MUST use XCF format for onion-skinning to function properly. Using XCF is also necessary for other useful GAP functionality (masking, selections, etc). As I've mentioned above, I'd like to be able to do two things: 1. Place one drawing over another and see the bottom drawing through the top drawing so I can lasso stuff in the top drawing and 'register' it with the bottom drawing. Use the following Onionskin settings... Reference Mode: Normal Onionskin Layers: 1 Frame Reference: -1 Stack Position: 0 [From Top] Opacity: 50% 100% Select Mode: All visible Auto create after load Auto delete before save should both be checked. All other settings should use their defaults. 2. Place two 'key frame' drawings beneath the top drawing, and be able to do an 'in-between' drawing on the page on top, seeing both the bottom drawings through the top page. Alter the above settings as follows... Reference Mode: Bidirectional (double) Onionskin Layers: 2 This will result in the onion layers appearing ABOVE your frame layer (not underneath it as you specified). This is, in my opinion, preferable so that you don't have to adjust the opacity of your frame layer to see the previous and next frame layers. ___ Gimp-user mailing list Gimp-user@lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU https://lists.XCF.Berkeley.EDU/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user
