Video Background (version 6.6.1)
First, render the video file to a sequence of images. It can be done easily with VirtualDub (free).
Second, use Terranim8or (Add To Project... -> Animated Background), which applies each image on a rectangle in the scene, showing a successive image in each frame of the animation.
Perform the following steps:
1. Terranim8or: Add To Project -> Animated Background
2. Terranim8or: In the dialog that pops up, enter the height and width for the background (has to be large enough for covering the screen, try it previously), optionally specify a name for it. Click Material Editor.
3. Terranim8or: In the material editor enter the starting and ending frames.
Set the material as you like. I suggest ambient = diffuse = specular = 0, emissive = 1 for both panels. If you follow my suggestion, enter your texture sequence as emissive texture. (If you make other settings, enter the images as diffuse texture)
To enter the image sequence, you have to select the first image of the sequence in the texture selection dialog box (only in the left pane). Your images must have their names ending in successive numbers, ex:
MyImage0001.jpg, MyImage0002.jpg. Click OK
4. Terranim8or: In the file selection dialog that pops up, select the file where you want to add the background
5. Anim8or: Open the file containing the background. Set the background object’s position and orientation as you wish by selecting, moving and rotating the "TAN8sequencetarget". Enjoy the animation!
Note: if you add the images as emissive texture, they may show up only at rendering (depending on the graphics card).
Terranim8or’s blur menus are wizard driven to reduce the
possibilities for mistakes. Someone mastering the basics of Anim8or should have
no difficulties to follow the instructions. Before proceeding with a blur type,
check the limitations applying for it.
Important!
It is mandatory to do the tasks asked by the wizard in the specified order
before going to the next step, otherwise Terranim8or will be confused, resulting
in a wrong output. The operation can be cancelled at any time.
What kind of blur to use?
Use “Simple Blur” if you have one, or just a few
objects in the scene that need blurring, like a crystal ball in the hands of the
evil witch, or a hologram character in a SF scene. The blur effect is a child of
the blurred object, so you can move the whole effect moving the original object
in the scene. The scene and the blurred object can be animated.
Limitations: Do not use default, or file materials! This version does not
support them, giving unreadable files. All the materials of the object to
receive the blur should be object materials. Objects composed of multiple parts,
or groups, do not blur properly. Best-suited shapes for this kind of blur are
spherical volumes. Stretched objects and objects having narrow parts will
display unequal blur.
Use “Focal Blur” to simulate a focalized camera,
or to highlight the main motive of a scene. Executing the instructions of the
focal blur wizard, you will set the focus point of the camera. The wizzard will
tell you to move the "TAN8focalblurtarget" where you want the focus
point to be. If your scene is crowded and have problems selecting the target
(located in the origin), simply expand the Track Bar and select the target
there, as the last element of the "world" tree.
You will have to render nine images of the scene (Let’s say Image0, Image1, ..., Image8).
It is not essential to render them antialiased, they will be antialiazed
automatically at the next step! The
wizard will ask you to blend them. That can be done in Anim8or, using
Terranim8or’s “Add To Project -> Blend Images” menu. Terranim8or will
set up for you the blending, without any effort from your side. If you decide to
do the blending in an image editor (for higher final quality), do the following
steps (explained for Paint Shop Pro – for other programs use the similar menu
items). It may look complicated, but it’s not - and takes no more than
five minutes:
Open in Paint Shop Pro Image1 and Image2. Do “Image -> Arithmetic”,
select the two images (if not selected by default), check “Average” and
click OK. You will get a new image, let’s say Image1&2. You can close
Image1 and Image2.
Open Image3 and Image4 and average them like you did for the first two images.
You will get Image3&4.
Repeat that for the 5+6 and 7+8 image pairs, obtaining Image5&6 and
Image7&8.
Now average Image1&2 with Image3&4, obtaining Image1234, and
Image5&6 with Image7&8, obtaining Image5678.
Blend Image1234 with Image5678, obtaining Image12345678. This image is holding
all the images form 1 to 8 with equal contributions. Unfortunately, there is one
more image to blend, Image0, which is the render of the original scene (without
blur). You have to average Image12345678 with Image0, obtaining – say –
Image0&All. Now, average Image12345678with Image0&All, obtaining
Image0&TwiceAll. As the last step, average Image12345678 with Image0&TwiceAll,
obtaining the final focal blurred image. This image is an equal blend of images
1 to 8, having a slightly higher contribution from Image0.
Limitations: Works only for still scenes. The camera should be
oriented relative to world and should have no other object as parent.
“Depth Of Field Blur” should be used for gentle
blur effect on high depth outdoor scenes. Don’t try to apply this kind of blur
in a room! To make the blur noticeable, you will have to add a high blur value,
ending up blurring the foreground objects also! If you need depth of field
effect on short depth, use instead “Focal Blur”, setting the focus point at
the distance of the closest foreground object.
Limitations and image blending technique the same as for “Focal Blur”.
“Motion Blur” applies for rapidly moving
objects. It is important to set up the scene completely before applying the
motion blur, no changes can be made to the moving object’s path afterwards! It
is recommended to orient the moving object relative to the path. That will
assure a correct orientation of the blur trail. If the object is set relative to
the path, it should be oriented in the object editor along positive z-axis.
Terranim8or will add to the project a “TAN8dummy” object, which can be
tweaked for a custom blur. You may stretch this object along z-axis (non-uniform
scale), or you may move it on the z-axis to positive values. In this way, the
object will get blurred not only at its tail, but also on its front end, like it
is in the reality. Alternately, you may uniform-scale it – without
exaggerating! You may change also the transparency and specularity of
“TAN8dummy” object, watching to do it proportionally for all the materials.
Be aware that it could take some time for Terranim8or to do the task, while it
appears freezing!
Requires the ParticleTrail plug-in, downloadable here,
unzipped into the same directory with Terranim8or.exe.
There must be a scene with a moving object (leader object), having a key-framed
path. This object will receive the trail. Select the leader object and click
Plugins > ParticleTrail. A window opens for trail settings. For the first
try, leave any setting at its default value and just click OK. That's all! Click
the Play button to view the animation.
Now, when you see how easy it was, repeat it with some different trail settings
and see how the trail changes. Then change the particle (make it bigger,
smaller, replace it with something else, add it some material, transparency,
etc.) and watch again the animation.
Most settings of the trail are explained on the Terranim8or site under
"Parameters, settings". The optional rotation of the trail particles
is given in rot/sec. The user is allowed to enter a custom ASL script for
scaling the particles (useful for rocket starts, for example). An explanation
regarding the particle trails can be found also under "How to use it".
Use Terranim8or with the Explosion
plug-in (downloadable here). As with any other
Terranim8or plug-in, you have to unzip the plug-in in the same directory with
Terranim8or.exe. Creating an explosion is very easy:
1. Open in Terranim8or the file where you
want an explosion
2. Switch to Scene mode, go to the scene
where you want the explosion to appear.
3. Click Plugins > Explosion. The
Explosion editor appears, where you may set the properties of the effect. I
suggest accepting the defaults if you are doing it for the first time, so just
click OK.
4. Save the file and open it in Anim8or.
Render to file the animation (preferably with a dark background) and watch the
video!
NOTES:
- This effect uses a special material with
a transparency map. This is why the effect is not visible in the workspace
(neither in Terranim8or, nor in Anim8or). You have to render the animation to
see it! If you want just stills, make sure you are rendering the proper frames.
On the first frames there will be no explosion! If you get empty frames, make
sure the TAN8expl.jpg texture is properly selected as transparency map in the
explosion material!
- By default, Terranim8or places the
explosion in the center of the scene. If you want it in a different place, find
and select the TAN8explosion target (you'll find it expanding the scene tree).
Moving this target, the whole explosion effect will move along with it.
- If you decide you want different
settings for the explosion, just delete the TAN8explosion target and the
explosion effect will be deleted. You may run the plug-in again for a new
explosion
- You may have more than one explosions in
the same scene - just run the plug-in multiple times!
I hope this is enough for starting.
Experiment with different settings!