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Squirklewarp


Red ochre

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Squirklewarp

This tool will distort the current layer in a 'squirkular' shape. In other words anything from a diamond through circle/ellipse to a rounded rectangular form.

It is useful for producing glass type objects, buttons and warping text layers.

It is in my updated Red ochre plugin pack

I have changed the default shape to circular as this is the one I use most.

All feedback appreciated. :)

Here's what it can do:-

candlewarp3.jpg

squirklewarp.jpg

squirklewarpUI.jpg

Notes on use:

I assume that position, angle, wide... tall and size are self explanatory.

shape exponent: this changes the shape from a diamond through circle/ellipse and 'squirkle' to a

rectangle with rounded corners. To see what you are doing it may be worth pushing the shading slider

up to maximum (with shading pattern left at default), and then change the shape slider to see the

range of shapes. The default shape exponent is 2.5 (a squirkle) - you may find an exponent of 2 (a circle)

is most useful for standard bubble, lens and sphere effects.

magnification: the distortion (all types) is based on the the distance from the centre of the shape,

this is then multiplied by the magnification. Hence if the magnification is zero, there will be no distortion.

If the magnification is close to zero, it will be subtle and if large it will try to reference outside of the

original image. This will result in 'holes' or bits missing from the shape unless the repeat type is set to

'reflect repeat' or 'fly's eye'.

curvature: the distance from the centre divided by the maximum radius is converted into an angle. A trigonometrical function is then applied to this angle to achieve the distortion. Curvature multiplies that angle. What this really means is that a small curvature could be compared to a shallow disc (if semi-squirkular) or shallow pyramid (if pyramid)

and a large curvature will produce a more curved surface. If using the rings or ripples curve types, increased curvature will produce more rings or ripples.

Magnification and curvature work together to produce the distortion. When the edge is not locked - think of the effect as a lens in front of the source image. The magnification is the distance of the lens from the paper, curvature is the curvature of the lens.

If the 'lock edge' control is ticked, then it is more like stretching the source image over a domed shape.

Sorry - so difficult to explain!

I would recommend using the effect on a grid or simple photo and adjusting these two controls until you get a feel

for how they work.

curve type: It is almost impossible to give descriptive names to previously unseen distortions!

Some are subtly different, some are bizarre - try them all! - and see the difference when 'lock to edge'

is unlocked/locked. If holes appear, because the distortion is extreme or the shape is near to the edge of the

image then try using the 'repeat type' button, to fill the holes.

lock edge to background: when ticked (the default), this reduces the distortion at the edge. This gives the

appearance of the surface of the image bulging. When unchecked the effect behaves more like a lens.

Unchecked is better for more extreme effects, the compound (fly's) eye type effect for example.

shading: this determines the amount of shading from the primary color. Since this is normally black it will

shade the squirkle to give a 3D effect. I've found that for bubbles a white primary color works well, and selecting

a more vibrant colour can give good coloured glass results.

It is also really useful to see the edge of the shape, even if it is turned down before rendering.

shading pattern: for each curve type I have devised a pattern of shading that I feel works. However,

this list gives the ability to try different patterns. I recommend trying the grid pattern, as it gives some clue

as to what the distortion is doing. Generally the first ones shade according to the position within the squirkle,

the latter shade the source image. I recommend using the 'butterfly' shading with the 'butterfly' distortion

(I could not set that as the relevant default type within the program).

background transparent: this will make the area outside of the squirkle transparent. I tend to duplicate the original layer

then produce the squirkle on the top layer with a transparent background - this gives more opportunities to adjust the image. Add a shadow, blur the source image or add more shading to the squirkle, for instance.

I have also found interesting results from running the effect again on the object layer.

repeat type: with the default of 'none' the distortion will stop when the edges of the source image are reached. This can

create some interesting shapes, especially if used on an object layer. If however you want to make a 'bubble' , then the

'reflect repeat' will be best as it will give the appearance of a seamless join to the filled area. The 'fly's eye' option simply

repeats the original image - so if there is a gradient on this then the joints between the repeats will be very noticeable.

Known issues: Although the outside of the squirkle is smoothed, edges within the squirkle - at the source image edges where 'holes' appear, or between the 'old rings' are not smoothed. If this is a problem I would suggest ticking the transparent background button and subsequently using the 'feather' plugin on the object layer produced.

Also, the averaging method I've used only averages the nearest 4 pixels, so when the distortion references widely spaced pixels the appearance is not perfect. If I corrected this the effect would take an age to run, I don't think the loss of quality is that great as this only really applies to extreme distortions where the eye is not examining closely.

Here are some screenshots showing the effect UI, which may explain better ;)

http://i1127.photobu...ples/holes1.jpg

http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l621/Red_ochre/squirklewarp%20examples/holes2filled.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...ingsquirkle.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...ingsdiamond.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...lyeyelowexp.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...ples/flyeye.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...flectrepeat.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...mondshading.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...utterflyeye.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...terflyweave.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...ainbowweave.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...eavepattern.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...s/weavegrid.jpg

http://i1127.photobu.../urchinwarp.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...les/bubbles.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...quarebubble.jpg

http://i1127.photobu...les/ripples.jpg

ceasarsbubblessmall.jpg

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Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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Thanks 'Welshy' ;),

I can't believe how quickly you posted - I'd only just pressed the post button.

Nice work on the 'Red John' picture (not relating to me I hope) - a bit too scary now you've added the scalpel !

Wonderful copper colours on the keyhole and great wood textures as ever.

Cheers John (Red ochre).

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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I am downloading this for two reasons.

  1. It looks damn epic
  2. Myself and my friends fell in love with the word squirkle a few years back and we believe it is a word that should be used more often. So I am willing to support in any way that amazing word and all things related boltbait.lol.png

Decided to play with it a little... and got this :)

(I did use bevel selection to make it come out better... might make it my sig xD)

post-87020-132321364733_thumb.png

Edited by toxicdj
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index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=5558

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toxicdj - Glad you're having fun with it! - what you've made looks great - but the edges may need a little 'feathering' - you could try using my 'Tweaktransparency' (in the pack) - with settings of edge = blur, middle = source, & transparency up to opaque (It's a damn confusing interface I'm afraid!).

Oma - Happy Christmas! - I actually thought it could be useful for current glass abstract landscape comp, so thought I'd better publish early.

'Queen of Paint 2010' - does that mean I can put 'by royal appointment' on my sig? :lol:

Thanks for positive feedback.

Generally, for bubble/magnifying distorts, it's best to keep the 'magnification' near to zero, but do try all the settings - you can get some great patterns when run on a grid background with the settings quite extreme. - Or try putting a highlight on a transparent layer then distorting it to fit over the existing 'squirkle'.

Edited by Red ochre

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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I've updated this now.

I can't do too much about the percieved low quality on the original 'rings' distortion - this is mainly due to the Tan function referencing points on the source image which are a long way apart. And hence do not appear as smooth as the other types of distortion - It is also really hard to add edge smoothing to this one, as the edges of the rings are not at the edge of the 'squirkle' - did you understand a word of that - I didn't and I'm writing it! :lol:

Anyway I've left that but added 2 more types of rings which are smoother and added better smoothing for the edges of the other types of distortion too.

In general, if the distortion appears 'rough' - try moving the 'magnification' slider closer to zero.

Hope this helps - have fun :D

Edited by Red ochre

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Done some more work on this one. The new .dll is above and will shortly be in the pack too.

It now has a button to lock the edge to the background making it better for 'bubble' type effects and also I've added 2 repeat options - which can produce images like the candle one above. Also some interesting shading options.

Enjoy ;)

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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Okay this last revision opened up some more for me at least. Got some sloppy test examples ... flipping a coin on posting or not still. (heads, I lose)

Main point I wanted to make was the shading does allow for some great new gradient base creations to turn into other things from my limited testing. Especially when starting with basic gradient shapes. So many options, so little time sadly. (Seriously, the interface allows for much more than it appears from where I'm sitting.) I'm still stuck on how to turn every plugin into a gradient tool on some level though, so perhaps I'm not taking advantage of the tool as intended yet.

Thanks for the improvements and new options. Grid shading especially looks to be extremely useful ... even if its just for a masking layer to help draw perspective ... Though that in and of itself was something I was using snapshots from other rendering software to try and learn from, so I guess that's really a positive.

**EDIT: Posting rough tests.

Basic/primitive fading perspective using a diamond gradient (not sure leaving the settings on top of it was a good idea or not, just figured it might be simpler than trying to post them as text ... plus it shows the starting image):

th_sqw_faded_box_perspective.png

Moving dots op-art of sorts from seeing what the grid could come up with:

th_sqw_opart_minordots.png

And just something random from mashing a radial gradient. (Like the idea of being able to get a certain amount of chaos from running the same settings multiple times, but that will require some work to control):

th_newsqwarp4.png

Edited by delpart
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Hello Delpart, - thanks for reporting back - glad you're exploring what it can do ;)

Interesting that you are using to make perspective grids - I actually did a lot of work trying to make a fish-eye perspective grid plugin - but I got a bit stuck - I may go back to it, having had the experiencing of writing this one.

The results of the unpublished 'Fish-eye perspective grid' plugin are shown below - It's relatively easy to do out of phase sine curves for the left and right vanishing points but these will only line up with parallel verticals - like in Escher's ' House of stairs' - I would like to get a distortion going in all directions - that lines up - easier said than done!

I may go back to it - obviously normal 3 point perspective is just fisheye perspective with no curvature (I hope!) - anyway as I'm not a real programmer and not a mathematician this may take a while :)

Thanks again for responding!

fisheyeperspectivegrid.png

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Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 9 years later...

Red Ochre! I got most of my Effects back! It was a miracle! but I did not get my " FurBlur". ooohhhhh darn!. Is there anyway you can put it on her by itself in a zip folder for me? I promise I will love ya forever and donate to you.

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@Cakie67  All plugins can be found here:  

 

 

Just type or select 'Red ochre' from the 'Author' drop-down menu and all his published plugins will pop up...and Fur Blur will be listed.

 

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@Cakie67

Please read through how to instal plugins HERE

 

The free version of paint.net and the Microsoft store version keep the plugins in different places. Perhaps it is in the wrong folder?

If you have the file 'Furblur.dll' in the correct folder and have re-started paint.net then it should be listed under Effects/Blurs/Furblur when paint.net is running.

 

... Good luck!

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Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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Oh Red Ochre, You are the Best! and My Favorite of all the Plugin Creators. I only have a 9th grade education, this is all new stuff to me. I read what you said and wrote it down. I will go to my documents /Paint.net folder and create New folder with 3 separate folders  &  name them  as you said. So far  I am still missing 12 of my most used and Favorite  plugins, Furblur is No.1, . So far I have failed to extract and get the other files I downloaded from the Forum . That is before I got this message from you just now.

I really really appreciate all your time and help. You are kind and very helpful .You are really Special. Thank you.

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@Cakie67


If you cannot find the 'Furblur.dll' on your computer you can always download the separate zipped effect '.dlls' by clicking the GREY button here.

 

Then find the downloaded zipped folder in your downloads folder and right-click on it and choose 'Extract All'. Then open the unzipped folder and copy/paste the 'Furblur.dll' into the  'Documents/paint.net App Files/Effects' folder you have just created... then restart paint.net.

 

It sounds more complicated than it really is! 😉

 

Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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  • 2 years later...

>>> Here are some screenshots showing the effect UI, which may explain better ;)

 

Then i see a dozen (or so)  URLs in text form, but i have to click on them to see the images....   

 

How come the images are not embedded and shown on this page???

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1 hour ago, HenryH said:

How come the images are not embedded and shown on this page???

 

Those images were hosted on Photobucket. It looks like the hosting server is down or that they changed the link.

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The forum changed years ago to only display images with SSL link addresses. I edited the important images by changing the 'http' to 'https' but left the others as clickable links for those that were interested... they still work... and are SSL as they are hosted on Photobucket... just not displayed (probably better for page load time).

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Red ochre Plugin pack.............. Diabolical Drawings ................Real Paintings

 

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