MJW

It certainly counts. Most any design based on glass is fine. The reference to lynxster4's stained glass tutorial was just a suggestion.

EDIT: Decided to color it a bit. (I'm on the fence on that!) EDIT 2: Though I'm reluctant to post a link to the original large version, since the entries should be judged exclusively on the sig-sized version, I'll do so anyway in case any one wants to see it: Large Version

Many thanks for the congratulations, and congratulations to Dipstick and Barbieq and to the other creative entries. Thanks to Pixey for the interesting and challenging theme.

I found a short PDN forum thread that mentions Fant resampling. Rick Brewster says, "Fant is basically super sampling." That's consistent with what I've read elsewhere that for downscaling, Fant is equivalent to a box filter. (Though I can't say I'm certain, since other sites say Fant's method (Fant is a person, BTW) is CPU-intensive, but box filtering is about as simple as it comes.) EDIT: In any case, the PDN thread seems to indicate you're given a choice, and Fant is one of the choices. EDIT 2: It's not correct to say, "Fant's method is CPU-intensive, but box filtering is about as simple as it comes." Obviously, doing texture supersampling by summing up all the texture pixels that corresponded to each image pixel could be very CPU intensive!

I believe (based on a Google search) that FANT means the downscaling for the mipmap levels is done by using a box filter; which is to say the downscaled samples are formed by giving equal weight to all the samples that make them up. That's the standard way of doing it, and almost certainly the way PDN does it.

I have reason to believe PDN supports the following formats: DXT1, DXT3, DXT5, A8R8G8B8, X8R8G8B8, A8B8G8R8, X8B8G8R8, A4R4G4B4, A1R5G5B5, R8G8B8, and R5G6B5

I had no idea PDN has DDS built in. Perhaps someone who knows about that feature can fill us in on the details of what's implemented. (My previous comments were based on the incorrect assumption that PDN didn't natively support DDS.) EDIT: By gosh! I investigated a bit and discovered PDN does seem to compute the mipmap levels when saving DDS files.

I don't think that's much different from saying PS has a plugin, or the built-in ability, to read and write DDS files. I probably somewhat missed your original point, so my answer wasn't as clear as it might have been. What PDN would need (assuming it doesn't already have it) is a plugin to read and write DDS files. Assuming there's no fancy filtering going on (which I don't think is common), each level of a mipmap is just the average of four-pixel squares from the the previous level. That's pretty easy to compute, so I would expect opening the file just reads in the upper level, and saving the file computes the new lower levels. Because DDS is a standard format, you're more likely to find someone who might be interested in writing the file plugin. Unfortunately, writing PDN file plugins seems to be a rather arcane art.

I don't think it would unless there were a special file plugin to read and write mipmap files. Mipmap files are not much different from other image files except for the arrangement of the pixels. (That is, assuming all the levels are stored in a single file, since if each level is stored as a separate file, they can just be standard image files, with each level half as large in each dimension as the last.) If all the levels are saved in one file, PDN would need to know how the pixels are arranged. If the save-file routine computes the mipmap from an image (as it seems like it would have to), I would suppose the read-file routine would just read the upper level, since that's the level the lower levels are computed from. EDIT: Of course, this assumes there's someone who knows how to write file plugins who's interested enough in the problem to write the plugin. EDIT 2: I also don't really know what you mean by "embedded" mipmaps. Embedded in what? Is this another way of saying all the levels are stored in a single file? If not, how do they get into PDN in this embedded form? EDIT 3: According to my (quite old) copy of Foley and van Dam (a widely-used graphics reference), the R, G, and B channels are grouped separately. I don't recall this being the way it was done way back when I used them, but it's been a long time. It's the same size no matter what the order, so I don't see the advantage.

Paint.net doesn't use mipmaps. Mipmaps are a concept used by 3D renderers to render texture maps at various distances and view angles. PDN isn't a 3D renderer, so I don't see why it would have any use for them. It would likely be possible to write a file plugin to save images as mipmaps for use by other programs, provided the desired file format was specified.

It's quite easy to create a new layer and fill it with a color. A new layer can be added with one click of the Add New Layer button on the Layer menu. Then the entire layer can be selected with Edit>Select All (or Ctrl+D). and filled with Edit>Fill Selection (or Backspace).

You can merge down in PDN, but you need a layer to merge down to; which is to say, you need at least two layers. I'm not sure what you have in mind when you say a "default background," but for instance if you want to merge down to white, you can add a new layer under the original background layer and fill it with white. I'm also not sure what you mean by "8.8.8.8 ARGB 32 option." Each layer in PDN images is in ARGB (or BGRA, depending on how you think about it) format with eight bits per color channel (so 32 bits in all). The default file formats are PNG for single layer images and a custom format called PDN for multiple-layer images. Both are lossless formats that save the image as eight-bits-per-channel ARGB.

I hope maybe the previous list can be added to the competition forum, and kept current, to aid in selecting new SOTW topics that haven't already been done.

SOTW Past Themes 284. Boltbait's Text Fun Factory (Winners) 283. Christmas! (Winners) 282. G'Mic Plugin (Winners) 281. Thanksgiving (Winners) 280. Halloween (Winners) 279. Julia-Plus Fractal (Winners) 278. Filled Text (Winners) 277. Member's Choice (Winners) 276. Hot Metal Glow Plugin (Winners) 275. A Mural (Winners) 274. Mosaic/Tesserae (Winners) 273. Tone Gradient (Winners) 272. Springtime (Winners) 271. Abstract Art (Winners) 270. Easter (Winners) 269. G'mic Plugin (Winners) 268. Ballerina (Winners) 267. Magnificent Elephant (Winners) 266. Member's Choice (Winners) 265. Christmas (Winners) 264. Thanksgiving (Winners) 263. A Forest or Stand of Trees Winners 262. Wood Texture Winners 261. TGA Angle Winners 260. Reflect your Personality Winners 259. Member's Choice (Winners) 258. Anything Denim (Winners) 257. Father's Day (Winners) 256. Rainbowify (Winners) 255. Mother's Day (Winners) 254. Sports (Winners) 253. Video Games (Winners) 252. St. Paddy's Day (Winners) 251. Chaos Theory (Winners) 250. Spacescape (Winners) 249. Xhin's Transformation (Winners) 248. Winter Wonderland (Winners) 247. The Leaves of Fall (Winners) 246. A Necklace (Winners) 245. A Slice of Pie (Winners) 244 Dream Plugin (Winners) 243. Default Plugins (Winners) 242. Members Choice (Winners) 241. Idyllic Summer (Winners) 240. Freedom (Winners) 239. Third Dimension (Winners) 238. Stained Glass (Winners) 237. Bees (Winners) 236. Plugin Never Used Before (Winners) 235. Music (Winners) 234. Gossamer (Winners) 233. Valentine's Day (Winners) 232. Popcorn Fractal (Winners) 231. Christmas (Winners) 230. Royal Crowns (Winners) 229. Autumn Critters (Winners) 228. Haunted Halloween (Winners) 227. Droste Effect (Winners) 226. Numerals (Winners) 225. Geometric Pattern (Winners) 224. A Favorite Movie (Winners) 223. A Funky Signature (Winners) 222. Gold Text (Winners) 221. Anything Flowers (Winners) 220. Pasta Shapes (Winners) 219. Creative Text Pro (Winners) 218. Favorite Beverage (Winners) 217. Superheroes (Winners) 216. Friendship (Winners) 215. Member's Choice (Winners) 214. A Favorite Toy (Winners) 213. Santa Claus (Winners) 212. Original Graffiti (Winners) 211. In Memory of Woodsy (Winners) 210. Xhin's Lattice Transform (Winners) 209. Remake's Emboss+ (Winners) 208. Member's Choice (Winners) 207. Favorite Summertime Activity (Winners) 206. The Apollo Moon Landing (Winners) 205. Traditional Asian-Style Art (Winners) 204. Needlework (Winners) 203. A Desert Scene (Winners) 202. Pertaining to a Plumber (Winners) 201. Pertaining to a Lumberjack (Winners) 200. Minimalism Art (Winners) 199. The Moon as Seen from the Earth (Winners) 198. Mythological Animals (Winners) 197. Cartoon Character (Winners) 196. What Freedom Means to You (Winners) 195. Winter Scenery (Winners) 194. Religious Symbolism (Winners) 193. Autumn Inspired (Winners) 192. Piet Mondrian Style (Winners) 191. Pyrochild's 'Random Effect' Plugin (Winners) 190. Madjik's 'Fractal Attractor' Plugin (Winners) 189. Frogs~Toads (Winners) 188. Butterflies (Winners) 187. Greyscale Art (Winners) 186. Southwestern Art (Winners) 185. Faux Miniature Effect (Winners) 184. Red ochre's Clip Warp (Winners) 183. FurBlur (Winners) 182. Eroded Metal (Winners) 181. Valentine's Day (Winners) 180. Molten Metal (Winners) 179. Flowers (Winners) 178 Christmas/Holiday Garland (Winners) 177. Woven Photos (Winners) 176. TATTOO on skin/hide (Winners) 175. TR's Line Tracer (Winners) 174. TGMagnitude (Winners) 173. Night-time (Winners) 172. Baby Panda (Winners) 171. A Snail on a Salad Leaf (Winners) 170. Birds (Winners) 169. Independence Day (Winners) 168. Shadows (Winners) 167. Your Favorite Place (Winners) 166. Carnival/Circus Theme (Winners) 165. Postage Stamps (Winners) 164. Cubism (Winners) 163. Thermal (Winners) 162. Art Nouveau (Winners) 161. Mosaic (Winners) 160. Manga / Anime (Winners) 159. Pets (Winners) 158. Halloween (Winners) 157. Jigsaw Puzzle (Winners) 156. Bent it, Shape it (Winners) 155. Bugs / Insects 154. Impressionism 153. Graffiti / Urban Art 152. Water 151. Fire 150. Driving License 149. Decorative Glass 148. Text -- Just One of the Letters Elaborated/Distorted 147. Three Shapes and Three Colours 146. Red Ochre's Bevel Object (now Object Bevel) Plugin 145. TechnoRobbo’s Third Dimension Plugin 144. David Bowie Tribute 143. Teddy Bears 142. Christmas & New Years 141. Flags 140. Steampunk 139. Autumn/Fall 138. Silhouettes 137. Animal Heads 136. Vehicles 135. Sunshine 134. Ethereal/Fantasy Photomanipulation 133. Diamond Tutorial 132. MKT's Shape3D Plugin 131. Monsters 130. Fractal Art 129. Monochromatic 128. Sunrise 127. Dog Tags 126. The Alphabet 125. Seascape Tutorial 124. Polar Inversion Flowers 123. Water Drops 122. Celtic Knotwork 121. Freestyle Vertical 120. "Lost" 119. Owls 118. Infernal 117. Bank Cards 116. Typography: Quotes 115. Pastel Colors 114. 3D 113. World News TV Station 112. One Plugin from Red Ochre or TechnoRobbo 111. Clouds 110. Shiny 109. Tutorial(s) 108. Fifa World Cup 2014 107. Suburbia 106. Modern Society 105. At the Beach 104. Musical Colours 103. Pointillism 102. The Sun 101. Comics 100. Fruit 99. Jewels 98. Flowers 97. Glass and Glossy 96. Wood 95. Patterns 94. Science Fiction 93. Admin & Moderators 92. Favourite Movie 91. Alice in Wonderland 90. Oriental 89. Video Games 88. Soda Can 87. Bokeh Style 86. Metallic 85. Colours & Shapes 84. Dwelling 83. Mathematical / Numerical 82. Textile Pattern 81. Mondrian Style 80. Triangles 79. Art Deco 78. The First Signs of Spring 77. Explosion of Colour 76. Cityscape 75. Still Life 74. Escher Influenced 73. Native American Culture 72. Pop Art 71. Christmas 70. Famous Song Title 69. Sport 68. Underwater Scene 67. Tranquillity 66. 1960's Psychedelic Art 65. The Five Elements 64. Grunge 63. The Five Senses 62. Animation 61. The Olympics 60. Night or Mask 59. Seasons 58. Cartoon Characters 57. You Get a Choice 56. Typography 55. Reflections 53. 3D Text 53. Inner Space 52. Space Art 51. Snipers 50. Animals 49. Quotes 48. Main Focus 47. Vintage Cars 46. Render Signatures 45. Mayor's Choice 44. Aquatics 43. Music and Bands 42. Science 41. The Movies 40. The Supernatural 39. Time 38. Your Favorite Food 37. What Inspires You? 36. Fantasy 35. A Bit of History 34. Magazine 33. Steampunk 32. Your User Name 31. Music 30. Archaic 29. Grayscale 28. Vehicles 27. Halloween 26. Good Versus Evil 25. Fixed Stock

You can do that (though less elegantly) with the previously mentioned Extract Channel. But for the chroma-key effect, (the also previously mentioned) Hue/Saturation+ or HSV Eraser provide more flexible solutions, since the removed color can be any color, not just one of the channel primary colors, and the tolerance range is adjustable

I hope the crash report is more helpful to trained eyes than it was to mine. To me, it appeared to contain very little useful information on what was occurring at the moment of the crash. I expected a stack trace, but didn't see one.

No problem about the transposed initials. I hardly noticed. I'm much more concerned that the single-glass-layer method crashes when I can't see why it would.

I can see why the method that uses a layer for each glass section crashes due to lack of memory, since it must simultaneously allocate a lot of memory. I don't understand why the method that uses one layer for all the glass sections crashes. While there's a lot of memory allocation involved, since Gaussian Blur (Clamped) allocates a temporary surface, the memory is no longer referenced at the end of each step, so the garbage collector should be able to reclaim it if memory runs low. (For those who prefer the method that uses a separate layer for the glass sections, I think they should be able to immediately merge them into a combined layer at the end of each step, instead of waiting till the end to merge all the glass layers.)

You may want to convert the animal image to black and white. I think it looks more ghostly. Here is an example: I converted the wolf to B&W with Adjustments>Hue/Saturation with Saturation 0 and Lightness 26. I set the wolf layer's blend mode to Screen, and the Opacity to 150. I added a bit of glow to the wolf with Effects>Photo>Glow with Radius 3, Brightness -30, and Contrast 42. Other effects can be used to make the animal look more spectral. For example, I liked the look of applying Effects>Blurs>Zoom Blur with the Center on the wolf's nose, and the Zoom Amount set to 12. It might be spooky to make the animal black and white, but color the eyes. (Note: in case it's not obvious, the logo on the wolf is because it's a watermarked stock photo.)

I think the alpha-threshold control is the best solution. (Of course, I'm not exactly known for the conciseness of my own user interfaces.) I hope you don't mind me asking (and thus seeming to push my own pet ideas), but is it possible to use the fast distance transform I discussed in Plugin Developer's Central for Object Bevel? I don't know the exact algorithm used by Object Bevel, but I assume it basically determines the distances to the nearest object edges, transforms them to obtain the bevel profile, then applies the lighting. The fast distance transform can do the distance transformation so quickly that there would be very little delay even with very large images.

Cc4FuzzyHuggles, in IndirectUI there's no way to set controls to specific values, except to the default values, so I doubt Hue/Saturation+ could support multiple color choices while still using the range-slider interface. A similar control that uses a specified color and tolerances (like the HSV Eraser) could do it. That would probably be a useful plugin, but it wouldn't have the often-convenient ability to directly select the ranges. (I hope that's relatively clear.)

Thanks BoltBait. I haven't tried evanolds's Hue/Saturation plugin, but maybe I'll look at it. For the most part, Hue/Saturation+ does everything I need it to do, even without the Lightness range. There have been occasions, though, when Lightness controls would have been useful.

I like this plugin very much, and use it quite often, but I wish it had "From Value/To Value" (or "From Lightness/To Lightness") controls.

I forgot to mention BoltBait's very useful Hue / Saturation+.

Try Ed Harvey's Extract Channel. EDIT: Oops. I somehow missed IRON67's earlier reply.