Using the Clock transition it's easy to create a reasonable animated empty circle or square. But my attempt at a rectangle gives this rather unsatisfactory approach:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ofe9l96iep4zd86/RectWipe-1.mxv?raw=1
Anyone know a technique for creating a smoother version, with a roughly constant drawing speed please?
Hi Terry
Do you mean something like this:
Here is the timeline - red image keyframed as required for height, width, duration as you require
HTH
John EB
Thanks John, looks promising but I cannot play your video. Can you upload it to Dropbox please?
EDIT, a minute later: YES, great that looks fine!
It wouldn't open in my Waterfox browser but did so in Chrome.
Can you upload or email me the MVP please? How difficult was placing the KFs?
Hi Terry
The MVP file is here - it should work straight away as it uses the MEP test images.
You may need to adjust the height/width/top/left parameters of Size and Position and timing of the keyframes. As you will see each image has only 2 KF.
Timing is proportional to the expanded length of each 'line' of the rectangle - the MVP may not be truly accurate as it is a quick example, however the maths is relatively easy.
HTH
John EB
looks well - thank you 😂
some variation
John, Walter: Thanks both.
I usually prefer an oval ('letter box') shape for walk start and end map locations. Here's one, but made with the simple Clock wipe transition method. It would no doubt prove more difficult with the smoother KF approach.
A possible 'hybrid' might be to combine a rectangle (KF method) and two masked circles (wipe method).
Cool!
Hi
. . . . It would no doubt prove more difficult with the smoother KF approach . . . .
After a lot of testing (it has been raining hard here) I have come to the conclusion that it is nearly impossible to get the animation smooth and continuous using MEP so I resorted to alternative 'method' - ie I used Blender - and came up with this:
John EB
Hi John,
Nice and smooth. But as it's quite compact, the Clock transition is almost as good:
A stretched version of yours (like my earlier example) is noticeably irregular, while I expect your Blender method may be a consistent speed? But then, the example below took only a minute to make and didn't need another video program 🙂
Hi Terry,
Is this what you are trying to do?
You may have to wait a minute for the video to be uploaded.
John CB
Hi Terry
. . . . A stretched version of yours (like my earlier example) is noticeably irregular . . .
That is the only problem 😭.
. . . . A stretched version of yours (like my earlier example) is noticeably irregular . . .
True they are quicker, are you clock wiping a round end rectangle image? If so you would get the same effect with stretching and line width reduction on scaling down.
Blender is probably as quick if you need different sizes and need a constant line width - two meshes to scale - the shape and the width control mesh followed by export.
Xara?
John EB
The oval was drawn with Xara, but the effect is a transition using Pixelan SpiceMaster 2 (not 3).
Note the curve to get the effect smoother. The curve can be adjusted to make it even smoother.
I found that the curve in Magix Alpha Magic starts too fast and then slows down to a crawl.
Xara animation would require a mask(s) so there is no real advantage there.
John CB
made with Prox 11 (quick and dirty)
One point is here:
https://www.magix.info/de/tutorials/ein-spiel-mit-ringen-oder-kreisen--1187444/
one point is a mxv with a circle drawing
Hi Terry,
I thought that maybe you had taken up running on a track.
I also saw your difficulties in creating a lozenge on the PSP forum.
Xara is the quickest and easiest way to make these. I could have made a dozen different shapes and exported them in the time it took me to make this reply.
You have Xara, so this would be a good opportunity to try it out. Simply open it, do a File, New and select either a page or, my preference, blank photo.
Click on the rectangle tool on the side toolbar and select either rectangle, circle or star. Hold down the mouse button and drag (you may have to hold down Alt while doing this). The rectangle tool at the top has an arc. Click on it and you'll get handles at the corner. Drag a handle to make the shape.
You now have a solid actually composed of a line and filled shape. Click on the blank square in the bottom colour tool bar to make the shape transparent. Right-click on a colour and you'll see the line. In the top toolbar, change the line thickness from 0.67px to something else.
Then export to png with transparency.
I usually use a template that I made up that has a 1920x1080 rectangle and use it to get approximate pixel sizes so that when an object is imported into MEP it only needs to be slightly resized.
John CB
Thanks John. Although I now have a couple of ways of making lozenges (which I’d previously wrongly called ovaIs) I’ll try Xara too soon.
But I do get a certain glow from doing as much as possible within MEP itself! 🙂
Good one!
Nice work John!
I must resist the inevitable temptation to try something similarly cool right now, as my backlog of ‘MEP stuff to try’ is growing by the hour 🙂